Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

Well I think I've found a new time to blog! I'm going to be working Saturdays now, and so far it appears that they may not be all that busy. So I'm trying to find things to do, and yes- I did bring my sketchbook to work so that I can get some drawing/creative time in.

But because all I have to do at work is sit in front of the computer, I've been looking at some of the things that Asos has on their website. Asos is pretty much my new favorite place to find cool shoes. Although I certainly can't afford to buy most of what I see. So here is my bored shameless shoe post!

First off, I really like these shoes and I kind of want to get them. They are about 45 dollars I think. I love the see-thru lace!



They also come in creme, but I'm not sure which is better and I'm kind of leaning toward black. What do you think?



I really like the colors and desgin of this shoe. It's so cute!

This shoe is a little 80's, but I'm still really digging it.

This shoe looks playful and fun!

Totally love metallic leopard print!

Words can't even express how cute this shoe is!

Okay, the interesting thing about this shoe is that I actually own it, but not in orange. I have it in grey suede and purple. I bought them at TJMaxx for about a third of the price that Asos is selling these for. It's interesting when you see a pair of shoes that you own on a website because sometimes they look completely different. In real life, these shoes have a super high arch. But looking at them in this picture it really doesn't seem like it.

How cute are these? They are velvet with bows! like little slippers. SOOO cute.

Side view!

Of course I had to throw in a few dresses. 

I like this. apparently I really like color blocking.

I SO wanted this dress but when I discovered it, they didn't have my size and probably still don't. I wish I could have it.

This dress is sort of cute. I guess I'm more attracted to the cut and fit of it than anything else. It probably wouldn't look that great on me in this color combination, but it certainly looks good on the model!

I also really like these Vince Camuto shoes at Dillards. I love metallic accents!

 Okay, well that's enough for now. If I had pictures of my plants then I would blog about those as well, but I don't. The temperature is still in the 70's and I can tell you that the two sunflowers seeds that were moms have sprung up already. So have my 2 zucchinis. I might actually plant more of both, though. I'm eagerly awaiting for my purple tomatoes to come up, but no sign of them yet!

New Beginnings for 2012!

The new year is here and I've been thinking about what 2012 has in store for me. I've never really been one to make resolutions, although I think I might try a few this year. I always end up breaking them so I gave up a long time ago.

Although November was very cold in Arizona (about 45-50 degrees during the day), December has been the opposite. The beginning of December was about 60 degrees every day and I figured it was the perfect time and temperature to try and grow some lettuce again. I planted some about a week ago, but since then the temperature has gone up more- to about 75 degrees during the day now. I'm not sure what the weather change will do to them and I'm also not sure if the we will have another cold snap.

To protect the seedlings, I thought I would try planting them in my Jiffy seedling tray, and I figured at the time since it was colder, that they would enjoy the warmth of the tray. However, now I think it might be too hot for them after all, because only one has sprouted. I also planted some in regular trays and left them outside. Those have been doing much better and nearly all of them have sprouted.

The Jiffy Seedling Tray. I have some metal stakes holding the lid on.   

Only one little sprout in the Jiffy Tray. It has become way too hot inside for them!

Meanwhile, the 'outside' lettuces have begun to sprout and appear to be doing well.

I'm really excited that the lettuce has sprouted in only a week! (And that it even sprouted at all). As soon as I saw the sprouts I became very excited and began to plant a bunch more seeds. Some of these seeds I acquired from my moms collection when I went home last year. I'm very excited about them. (Can you tell I'm excited yet?)

Yay for new seeds!

Now I have a whole bunch outside. Currently planted:

• Various colors of zinnias. I obtained the seeds from my mom.
• Marigolds - from mom.
• Lettuce, as I have mentioned. I planted "Caesar's Favorite," "Red and Green Romaine Blend," and "Mesclun- Gourmet Greens Mixture."
• Attempted some Lavender seeds again.
• 2 Mammoth Russian sunflower seeds (these are the kind I grew last year) as well as 2 Giant Gray Striped Sunflowers (from mom's garden).
• 2 Crimson Sweet Watermelons
• 2 white pumpkins for fun. (I think I'm actually supposed to plant them for fall, but oh well! =)
• zucchini (oh no!! not again!! but I have to plant zucchini just because its so simple to grow!)
• yellow (summer) squash. I tried to buy and grow yellow squash last year, but in both cases the plant died. I may as well try again, though.
• Large Fruited Cherry tomatoes- the kind that grew super-duper tall last year.
  
  Last but not least, I have planted 4 new seedlings. These seeds are very special. Why you may ask? Well because they are Blue Tomatoes!! Actually, I prefer to call them purple because they look more purple than blue. But apparently these special tomatoes were developed at Oregon State University, and it was only 2.99 for a pack and so I had to get some! One blogger says this:
  
  "This experimental blue tomato (sometimes going by the name P20) is being produced by Oregon State University in an attempt to create an uber-healthy tomato with a high level anthocyanin, the powerful antioxidant found in blueberries."

As you can see in this picture, I received the pack of seeds from Solana Seed Company, as well as a baggie of homegrown popping corn from mom. I've popped some of the corn already and it is terrific! (LOL, I almost typed pooped instead of popped!)



THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE, but the Blue Tomatoes should look something like this when they are full grown.



I'm not sure what they will taste like. Others have said they are pretty good. But I don't care much. I just want blue tomatoes, baby!

Also, while cleaning out the fridge, I found several cloves of garlic that were sprouting. I figured I might as well try and grow them instead of just throwing them away, so I planted one in my old marigold pot and a bunch of others in the regular sandy/clay soil ground. The one in the pot is doing the best so far.

I don't know anything about growing Garlic, so this should be interesting.

The garden, aka grave is being prepped!

Things I've been thinking about: I've been thinking about where I will plant things this season, and I think I'm going to move things around a bit. I learned my lesson last time about planting my zucchini in my garden. It immediately crowded out the eggplants. This time I think I'll plant the zucchini away from the garden and actually near the patio. That way the zucchini will have plenty of space to grow, full sun and plus when we look outside we will see some greenery and not just dirt.

• I think I might try to grow a few herbs- but I'll probably buy them from Lowe's.
• I'm not going to grow eggplants again, because I just don't know what to do with them!
• I'm going to try and figure out a good way to water my plants easily. Yes, I do have the drip/spray hoses, but my plants did so much better when I watered them by hand, especially the tomatoes. Time is a huge factor, since I know I'll be busy with classes. but I think that I will try to water everything by hand as much as possible. So maybe I should dig some kind of water trench or something.
• I don't know if I should grow a lot of sunflowers or just a few. After all, some of them didn't even grow that tall...so maybe I'll grow a lot and plant them elsewhere? Who knows.
• I'm nervous about the watermelons and pumpkins. Those will be entirely new to me.
• I'm hoping that my seeds have been started early enough. Last time I planted in February I think. If the seeds will grow earlier, I think I can avoid the pests that I encountered late in the season last year. (like squash bugs)

Well thats all for now. Later!

All I Want for Christmas

I've been compiling my christmas wishlist. Here are a few of the things I wish I could have!

I want this Liz Claiborne dress from JCPenneys! Tried it on in the store and it looks much better in real life than it does in this picture. It's super cute and feminine. Since the store didn't have my size I'd have to buy it online, although they've been changing the online price of it constantly. The other day it was like 49 and today its 59. So annoying.

I want these dolce vita boots! On sale from 200 down to 119. They only have size 8.5 left, whcih means if I want them I better order them now because they are selling out. Another problem is I don't really have anywhere to wear them (especially now that I no longer live in NYC). I suppose I could wear them around, although I've never been someone who wears high heels out shopping. BUT I could wear them to art shows.




I want this book! Not much to see here, yes it is a boring cover.



This little kit. Don't be fooled! It comes with a miniature anatomically correct skeleton which is useful for anatomy studies. Several artists have recommended it.



This book is sold by the Met and I got to take a peek inside of it. It has a bunch of drawings, which are amazing to look at.



This book has a ton of examples of fabric prints, which would be very useful for me.



I need a new camera! My camera is about 6-7 years old and I can't even buy the battery pack or SD cards for it anymore. This is a picture of the HD Hero 2 camera, which is actually mainly used for outdoor filming, but I wouldn't mind having it for everyday use. It's only 299.00 which is a far cry from the other camera I want, a Canon 5D which is thousands. Oh, wishful thinking!



Here is another book that would be fun to have.

All of these books are really only the tip of the iceberg. there are a ton of figure drawings and anatomy books I want, plus music CD's. If only I were rich!

Life of A Tortured Artist

I think I’m becoming a tortured artist. At least for the time being. Maybe it’s a phase that will pass, I don’t know. I’ve been trying to study art as much as possible and read books in the library about artists and techniques and the more I study and observe other artists work I have begun to question my own purpose in what I am creating.

Every artist has a vision right? Ideas pop into their heads or they are commissioned to do a piece on a certain subject. They think of an idea that has meaning, and a purpose. Some artists create pieces that may not have a purpose, and I’ve seen many other artists frown upon this. I’m not very eloquent with my words and I find it hard to express my point, but in short, there are many artists out there who create “vacuous art” where they really enjoy what they are creating, but it doesn’t seem to have a point. There’s no central idea or purpose behind the pretty picture. The picture may look great, but is it there just to look pretty and neat or is it there to convey an idea and a message? When I create something, I want people to like it, but also to feel what the piece is trying to say. If the piece doesn’t say anything, then they won’t feel anything. They will look at it and say ‘wow that’s cool,’ and then move on.

Another problem with vacuous art is that it is very comfortable for the artist to create. Thus, they get caught in a trap of making the same old pictures over and over. They think, as long as people like it and I feel comfortable making it, it should be okay. And so they never take risks or even try to change or push themselves out of the comfort zone. Look at Thomas Kinkade: He painted cute little cottages in the same old gaudy colors over and over and over. Since a lot of people liked his paintings he never bothered to do anything different or experiment in another direction. He figured that if it sells, it’s perfectly fine to create the same thing continuously. So the question is, is this okay? Or is he a “sell-out” who really has no thought or care about what he creates? Will people look at him and think: “wow, these cottages have so much meaning. The pastel blues and pinks give me a sense that while the cottage seeks to find comfort in its wooded glen, there is turmoil and a profound sense of grief in its mossy windows.” They probably won’t, because why bother to explain the meaning of a painting when there is none?

Here are a few examples of art that, while technically are very well done, do not seem to express a purpose or idea, let alone any emotion:

Vacuous girls

What I have realized, is that I’m probably guilty of this. I create “pretty pictures” and while I think they look neat, I don’t feel like any of them have a point. After comparing my work to others, I see that what I create doesn’t have a spirit, a message. I create a picture while doodling and then there it is: a beautiful person. But with no soul, and no message to the viewer. I don’t want to be a creator of vacuous girls. I want symbolism, emotion, feeling, warning, passion, purpose. Look at this work from the Slav Epic by Alphonse Mucha. Although he created many a poster of pretty women, he was quite capable of taking his art in an entirely different direction. How do you feel looking at this after you’ve examined the vacuous girls?

There is another problem that I have and that is direction. Many artists go through phases of what they like to create. Their work evolves as they explore new avenues. Much of what I have created is years old. And while I have started to produce work again, I feel as though I’m creating everything in the exact same way as I was before. My technique, work and subject hasn’t changed in about 5 years, and that is frightening to me. So I have been creating pictures of pretty people. But what is next? I have to somehow find the path that will lead me to create something I never have before in a whole new way.

I will be honest and say I really don’t like anything that I have been making recently. But the good news is that they say that if you are disgusted with your work, then they say you are making progress, getting better and it's a good thing. I really hope that’s true, and that I get better.

Like many people, sometimes I struggle with feelings of jealousy. Some artists out there seem to be more talented, prolific, smarter, cooler, and popular than me and even at a much younger age. It's hard not to feel immensely deficient when I see these kinds of people. I know that you shouldn't compare yourself to others but sometimes I think it is rather necessary so that you can see at what rate you are progressing. Most of the time I'm okay with who I am and what I do, but at other times there is an immense cloud of doubt hanging over my head and when I look at the "cool kids" I begin to wonder how I ever ended up where I'm at.

There is a girl in one of my classes who thinks it's wrong for someone to call themselves an artist. She said that the label of artist can only be applied to you by other people and that there are too many people who can't create anything yet call themselves an artist. Would others call me an artist? I don't know that they would, because I don't create enough pieces. Yet, I think I'm an artist because I have an artistic talent. (whether or not I use it all of the time.) Maybe I should only be a part-time artist, a hobbyist. But why have only a partial talent? Why not rely on it completely like so many others do every single day?

Okay, now I feel like I'm going in a million different directions, so I better stop writing! Laters!

Arkaik Clothing - A Review

So this is kind of a random off topic blog post, and it's more like a small thought. Today I went to the post office to mail a letter and I saw someone in line who had 3 large storage bins of kraft envelopes. Naturally I was slightly interested in what they could be sending with so much stuff. And I also wondered why they didn't have the postal service come directly to them to pick up the envelopes when it's so easy to do. (as well as buy shipping labels online.)

I took a peek at the envelopes as I was walking out and saw that they were being sent from Arkaik Clothing. Since I'm interested in independent clothing companies I thought I would google them and see what they are all about. I came home, looked them up and was mildly interested in what they had to offer. The owner is rather young, still in college and they operate out of Tempe. Apparently his business is doing well enough that he's got a number of employees working for him. Plus, he was mailing 3 bins of clothing!

I was pretty impressed by everything that I saw but there were a few problems. I would probably write them a letter if they had any contact info on their website. Well, if they ever happen to see this post then here are my friendly suggestions for them:

Dear Arkaik:

1. I will assume that maybe your website is brand new, because a lot of the links on your website don't work properly or are slightly confusing.

• When I click on the Careers tab it takes me to the "about" page. Whether or not you are hiring, it doesn't take long to make a seperate page just for this section.
• Clicking on the Artist Sponsorship tab at the bottom, it also takes me to the "about" page. Annoying! After some digging I found out that you have a very talented designer working for you. Why not feature him on this page? If you aren't sponsoring new artists then you may as well take off the link. The "Family>Artist Sponsorship" tab at the top shows a bunch of clothing labels, but it doesn't make sense. Are these clothing labels designed by other artists? Are those the artist's code names? I don't get it.
• The "Help" tab brings you to a "page not found." NOT good. You want to make it easy for people who need help to get help! It makes your company ethic look questionable.
• Clicking on "Shop" it brings me to a section with the different clothing categories. Very nice! I scroll down and click on "Girls" and bam, 0 products. None!? Are you sold out? Maybe you should say "new line coming soon" and when. So then I click on "shorts" and once again, "page not found."
• WHY do you have a picture of a guy (yourself?) on the Girls Tee's section? I will assume that all T-shirts in this area are mens sizes and fitting which will make me not want to buy.

2. While it's not necessary that you have the mens t-shirts modeled on guys, you should definitely have all of your female shirts modeled. Girls like to see the clothes modeled on other girls so they can understand how it will fit. For each shirt for sale you should have a picture of it on a girl, and if you so choose, another picture of it laying flat. I'm not likely going to buy a t-shirt that hasn't been modeled because I have no idea if it's actually a chick T or a mens size small. And trust me, they fit very differently!

3. Girls modeling the t-shirts should be free of tons of jewelry, piercings, and minimal tattoos. I'm aware that your apparel line is geared towards an edgier crowd, but I looked on your facebook and sometimes the girls you have modeling look....honestly a little overdone and "ew." The girls should look clean and refined with a little bit of sass.

4. It's nice that you have owned your own clothing business since 16 and yes, that is quite an accomplishment for such a young age. However, I keep seeing you blasting this information on all of your websites and it becomes a little annoying since it is rather irrelevant information to your company. On every website I visit I see stuff like:

".... and started it when I was 16!"

"20 Year old owner of Arkaik Clothing" 

"At the mere age of 16...."

"At just 20 years old..."

etc, etc...Okay so the thing is, you can really only tout your age for so long. Once you hit about 25 I would suggest you stop making a big deal of your age because at that point, there are a lot of other young people who have their own businesses by then and the cool factor has worn off.

 

5. Okay last thing I want to ask you: Why are you using American Apparel T-shirts? While some people don't give a hoot about American Apparel, you are losing out on the ones that do. Many people now refuse to buy american apparel because of their shady business dealings and seedy marketing tactics. The A.A. owner is pretty well known as a total scumbag. Why are you supporting him? You should take some effort into finding a more reputable clothing line that you can print your designs on. I like some of your designs and would buy but I really don't want to buy your t-shirts because I refuse to support A.A. Here are some more links about them if you aren't aware:

http://clamormagazine.org/issues/38/aa/straub.php
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm

Anyway I guess my small thought has turned into a large entry. And I really would have liked to send this in an email to your company, but you don't have a Contact section on your website. (Add it.) Well, until we pass by in the post office again, hope this helps for now.

Sincerely,

~The post office voyeur~

Blogger is so cray!

Yikes! Blogger has changed EVERYTHING about their layout! I'm not sure what to make of this...hopefully this will be a good thing since half the time I have problems with its functionality.

Okay so I realize that I haven't posted anything in a while. Is there any point in apologizing? Because I might just disappear again. I've been very busy with school and haven't done anything to my garden except for cut all the plants down. BUT the good news is that it's getting cooler here (as in the 90's, LOL!) so I might be able to do more stuff outside eventually. The strange thing about arizona is how fast it can cool down here. One day it will be 100, and then a few storms come in and then suddenly it's 90 and it doesn't go back up. I swear last fall the temperature went down by 30 degrees in one night.

I've also gained some sort of "junior 15," and I have a new goal to try and start jogging in the mornings to stay fit. I had bought a pair of running shorts and was all set to go when all of a sudden I came down with a mysterious illness. After that went away then I bruised my heel.....and well long story short, I'm apparently a sickly child and I haven't been able to start exercising. =(  I'm sure in another week or so I will be okay and I can begin. I'd really love to go jogging over in this industrial area close to where I live, because there is little traffic and it's quiet with a bunch of large factories all in a few blocks. However, it sounds like the perfect place to get grabbed by some wierdo also, especially if I'm by myself in the wee hours of the morn. So, I think I will just stick to the residential blocks.

I've also been busy with art. I'm trying to catch up on 10 years of doing very little hard-core drawing and studying. Last night I started a figure drawing class and it was really interesting to see what kind of students showed up. I thought the drawing sessions would be really popular, but there were only like 6-8 people who came. I was rather disappointed and surprised. There's a ton of art students at my college and they should be studying this. Where are they?? Even my grad-student drawing teacher apparently has something better to do on wednesdays nights than draw. (I've seen his work, and trust me he could use some practice! heheh!) Maybe I should do another post later on the kinds of artists you see that show up to these sessions. They can really be characters!

Okay so in closing, here is a picture of my garden:

See! I wasn't joking! It's all gone. There are some remains of a pepper plant, but thats it. Okay gotta run now, ttyl!

The beginning of Fall semester

Once again, many apologies for not updating. It’s mostly due to the fact that I’m not going outside as much these days since it is at least 100 degrees every day. Pretty much the only time it is even remotely cool is at 5 am, however I hardly ever get around to waking up at that time! I also lost my battery cable to my camera so I couldn’t charge the battery. I’ve found the cable now, BUT I’ve lost my camera.

I’ve started the process of killing my plants and throwing them into our compost bin. Since they are no longer bearing acceptable fruit, I’ve cruelly started to take each of their lives. It’s mean, I know…but I don’t see much point in keeping them alive if they aren’t producing anything. My zucchinis were actually still doing great, however since it’s too hot to go outside I haven’t been able to take care of them. So one of them was covered (every square inch) in aphids and the other had become the new home of dozens of squash bugs. So I had to perform a mercy killing of both. If it was cooler outside I would have stopped the bugs, but I pretty much chose the cool house over the health of my plants. I suppose that is mean of me. I don’t feel that bad though, because my plants are going right into the compost and helping whatever future plants I may grow. So it’s not like I’m really wasting anything.

I’ve also been taking summer classes, which are over now and have left me with a gaping void. Soon this void should be filled with my fall classes that will start this week. I’m pretty excited about going back to school but there are a few things that I could do without. I also noticed a funny thing- that I’m taking 1, 2, 3, and 400 level classes this semester. That’s pretty amusing since 100 level is for freshmen and 400 is for seniors. One thing that I’m super tired of is required classes that have nothing to do with my major and I also have to take an elementary drawing class (100 level) which will likely be full of non-art majors. It’s difficult to be in these classes as a somewhat experienced artist because you get to hear a lot of the younger students complaining that they aren’t as good and how they don’t care to even try because art isn’t their major anyway.

Another class I’m not excited for is my Introduction to Digital media class. (another 100 level class) They don’t have a real instructor teaching this class, it is just grad student. Actually…I wonder if my drawing class will be taught by a grad student too….hmmm. Not good. I’m not a fan of grad student teachers. I almost took this class last year and I remember that the guy who was teaching it was a California surfer/skate bum who really didn’t have much of an agenda. He told us to just “play around” with photoshop and create our first assignment. In my opinion, I can “just play around” in photoshop any time. But I would actually appreciate some instruction on how to use it too. Plus the computer lab we were in had nothing but mac computers, which I usually despise.

Long story short, much of the classes I’m taking I have already taken before since I’m a transfer student. So I’m very impatient to get to the good stuff- classes that I’ve never had before. One class that I’m excited about is my Greek art class which is bound to be lots of fun. Over the summer I took an art history course that I really enjoyed and I learned about a lot of incredible artists. I love Greek sculpture so this should be great!

Okay well that’s enough writing for now. Later I’ll have to do a review on Project Runway or something, but when I'm in a better mood. ;)