love him!

green things

make me happy. but if you know me, you already knew that. this is probably one of my favorite wall papers ever and it has in fact been my proverbial wall paper on my computer multiple times (i frequently change my background image...adds some spice to my life). a guys blog i used to stalk, who lived in fort wayne, but has now moved on to bigger and better things in seattle, took this image of actual wall paper during his travels and it has become one of my favorite things.

another color i am obsessed with recently is gray. i just can't get enough of it. whenever jacques and i get married, the color scheme will most likely be white, black, gray with a hint of green...classy with a touch of funk. haha. but enough of dream world...back to gray. last year i painted my room a warm "dorian gray" color. love it. lots of white accents and storage bins and some antique things and of course my favorite green color sprinkled throughout. i'll post pictures once it is completely finished. still working on a few things...the perfect room takes time, you know. other gray things...shirts, shoes, socks, scarves, bags, gray skinny jeans...anything that is gray automatically gets a second look. i know, it's not fair to the other colors out there, but i do have my favorites. now, back to work...to pay for those gray things along with school bills...yay!

much love!
michelle

writing...again.

so, here i am, at my desk again...taking a break from writing. soon this thing...this thing i call my thesis...will be over. it should have been done last semester, but due to lack of motivation and all of the other things going on, like my internship and other class work, i just did not put enough time and energy into the darn thing. luckily, i have an amazing adviser who gave me an extension until this coming friday. i just hope, now that i have the drive to finish it, that it gets done on time, and is still up to par! i was struggling with a lack of resources, but decided to just include that dilemma into my paper and offer suggestions as to why there is not much written about nostalgia in works of art. it's slow going, but thus far i have re-vamped my intro, addressed my dilemma and defined characteristics of nostalgia in works of art, and have started on my artistic influence section. this section starts with some of the female photographers back in late 1800s, early 1900s who were creating photographs for artistic purposes, and proving themselves to critics that their work was "High Art" just as painting was. Pictorialism was their sort of genre and a lot of the photographs have a softness to them. nostalgia was not their goal, but their imagery exudes it. i will talk about a few artists in between these early pictorialists and contemporary artists and then discuss my own work and how it is influenced by them and what i am trying to get across to the viewer. i'm about 1/4 done now, but hope to be more like 3/4 done by the end of today.



this image is one of maggie taylor's. i discovered her in my digital imaging class last semester and she will be included in my thesis. i think her work is just lovely. she has done a series on alice and wonderland that is quite beautiful and original to her style as well. you should check her out. seriously.

well, i just needed a moment of procrastination. thanks.

on shoes...

so, for some of you, this just might be a very boring post...actually for most it probably will be. please accept my up front apology. haha.

so shoes...
i have recently purchased two new pairs of shoes. both are earth brand because they rock and are very comfortable to wear all day when standing at work :) if you don't know much about earth shoes, they have a negative heel and you should google them and order a pair while you're at it. so, after christmas, i decided to use some funds and buy some much needed boots. haven't had a pair since middle school sledding and snow days. haha. those were fun. franke park, yes.

black, comfortable, on sale...right up my alley.

the second pair i bought are these gray lovelies. also very comfortable and trendy. yes, this was my splurge, but free shipping :)

these shoes will see much use and wear. standing all day means comfortable shoes are necessary. thank you earth shoes for providing that for me. haha. and now i'm done with my shoe rave. thanks for listening/reading. other brands i find comfortable and trendy: merrell, softs (although i don't own any yet, but jess is getting me hooked), clarks (the ones that don't look like everyday old lady shoes...because they do sell those too). but mostly earth shoes are what i wear.

now you tell me what your favorite shoes are...

and next time i'll write about something more interesting to you...promise!
michelle

hi again...it's me,

michelle...your long lost blogging friend. by demand of my uncle (or as he put it- "you're conditioning me NOT to look at your blog") here i am. just to say hi. much more fun postings to come...christmas pictures, artwork and other lovlies. i miss this...and you.

and i'm sure a post about the new year will be coming soon as well!

cheers!

my twenty page thesis paper

is not my favorite. i can't find enough sources to back up my ideas and thoughts. but i'm trying. here's my working thesis..."working" mind you!

"There is a trend in contemporary art today of artists using nostalgia in their work. The advancements in technology and industrialization in our society have caused some to long for the past. Artists working with this idea, portraying nostalgia of some sort through their work, are sending a powerful message to the viewer that things of the past still hold value."

(very beginning stages) although my intro has come along nicely. if you don't care much about this topic, please forgive this boring post. i just have to put down my ideas somewhere...so why not here.

in this paper i will be talking about specific artist working with this theme, mostly female artists and their calling back to domestic ways...if i can find enough info. i will also be addressing my own artwork and how it fits into this particular theme as well.

any thoughts???

michelle

a twig, a bird and a flower

scanner art. all you need are: objects to scan, a decent scanner, and photoshop. these three images are made completely from scanned items which i basically cut and pasted together. much more complicated than that, but you don't need those details. my idea was to take people from vintage advertisements and give them an environment. i started out really simplistic and like the way the images were turning out that i just added a bit of texture with some patterned paper, a vignette and called it a night. hope you like them :)