A Really Long Post Wherein I Talk About My Jaunt Across the Country to the Golden State

Last week my in-laws (Rick and Carolyn) took Eric,  Eric’s brother (Elliot), and I on a spectacular trip to California for my sister-in-law’s (Claudia) graduation from grad school.  <——That must have been quite confusing for you…sorry.
We arrived in San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, and settled into our hotel.  One of the first things that Eric wanted to do was to find the steepest hill and climb it.  I don’t know if we found the steepest, but this one felt like the steepest when we were walking up!

Friday evening was Claudia’s graduation ceremony in the most beautiful church.

The grad-school-conquering hero!

Saturday we went to Muir Woods where the Redwood trees are.  It was so beautiful!

There was even some family bonding going on as Elliot held hands with Claudia and Carolyn.

Sunday was a really fun day that I didn’t get any pictures of.  We went to Claudia’s church, then went to her graduation party.  It was so fun meeting all of her friends.  They are all really nice people with trendy jobs at places like Google, Wikipedia, Pottery Barn, and Kiva.  After the party we drove to Yosemite where we didn’t exactly camp…

One of Yosemite’s many gorgeous views!

The squirrels were my favorite…this one posed like this for a few minutes while people gathered around to take pictures.  He was quite well mannered while others would crawl onto people’s legs or sniff at their hands while they were resting.  Obviously, SOMEONE didn’t take the “Don’t feed the animals” signs to heart.

Ok, we were among those people.   And as it turns out, squirrels love apples and Clif bars.

Of course, we had to endure some hardships to see some of the most beautiful parts of God’s creation.  Some of these hardships included hiking for miles on steep trails that relentlessly led us up (and up and up) to the best lookouts,  getting drenched while hiking within a hundred feet of a huge waterfall, and even seeing snow!

But it was always worth it to see things like this:

We also went to the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite to see the GINORMOUS Sequoia trees.  I love trees, so the bigger the better.  You may not think this one is that big, but those tiny specks at the bottom of the photo are people!

This is the root structure of a fallen tree:

These trees made some pretty darn big pinecones too!

Rick may have thought that he was immune to Elliot’s hand-holding under the canopy of these seemingly fantastical trees, but he was wrong.

On Wednesday, after spending three amazing and tiring days at Yosemite, we said goodbye  to the park and headed back to San Fransisco.  This time around we stayed in Japantown at Hotel Tomo.  It was anime themed, and totally awesome.

On Thursday, Eric and I visited a school where one of Claudia’s friends teaches.  She generously let us spend an hour in her classroom to teach her students how to play the awesome game that Eric invented.  You may have heard me talk about the game before.  It’s called Animal Herders, and it’s a trading card game for kids.  The kids loved it, and we sold 18 decks!

Eric and I spent the rest of the day relaxing.  We walked across the street to two of the Japanese malls, and found a dollar store with tons of Japanese stuff.  Of course I went through and picked out all kinds of handmade papers and stuff for bookmaking.  Eric went crazy in the candy department.

That night all of us went to the California Academy of Sciences for the weekly NightLife event.  On these nights the museum is open to adults 21 and up, and they essentially transform the museum into a night club with a DJ, and drinks.  It was a strange, but cool event.  I loved the aquarium exhibits.

At NightLife the roof was open and there were long lines to view the night sky with telescopes.  We didn’t want to wait in line, but we did get some great info from a star expert.  He had a laser that pointed right to the stars, and was able to point out different constellations to the small group of people gathered around him.  I guess he worked for the museum.

Friday we packed up, took one last walk around Japantown, and boarded our plane.  And that, my friends, is the account of the spectacular time I spent in California with five of my favorite people.

**P.S. If you want to see the rest of my pictures from the trip, you can visit my brand spankin’ new Pigments of Imagination page on Facebook.  You don’t need to have a Facebook account to view it.  I didn’t want to include a lot of these pictures in the post because it’s just TMI.

Lamey McLamestersen

Today was going to be a great post.  My sister and I are working on a music video together about California, and I was going to post it today, but it’s not done yet.  Totally LAME!  So instead, I will leave you with a few parting words.  I probably won’t post until I get back from San Francisco in a little over a week.  After my return, I plan on getting back into my art in full swing.  I want to make some books for my Etsy shop, and finish these paintings.

I may even start some landscapes if I capture some good pictures of Yosemite!  I bid you adieu.  Have an amazing week!

D-E-X-T-E-R

My nephew Dexter’s letters are complete.  I didn’t do a how-to, but I will tell you a few things about the project.  I bought the plain letters at Michael’s.  It’s not the best place to get art supplies, but it was the most convenient.

I painted the designs on the letters with acrylic paint.  I mostly used paintbrushes to paint the letters, but I also used a rubber stamp (for the rain drops) that I made out of an eraser.  When I had painted the designs, I attached ribbon to the back of each letter using a staple gun.  After that, I added a few details with puffy paints (fabric paint).  This isn’t a necessary step, but I find that it adds some dimension and a little shine.

I apologize for the less than perfect pictures once again.  They really look a lot better in person!  Let me just leave you with this.  The man himself, Dexter Constantine Niphakis.  Yes, he will do great things!

Snapshots

My brother Micah (whose birthday was yesterday.  Happy 28th year, Micah!) sent me this awesome video.  It’s not about painting, but it does remind me  of my approach to finding a subject matter.  I like to think of life as a series of snapshots.  Think of all the different possibilities if you had a remote control for life and could pause life at any time?  I often look through my photos to find a reference for a painting.  I love the ones that capture a moment that happens in a split second like this one:

Or this one:

Ok, so here’s the video of snapshots.  Prepare to be amazed!

A Week From Tomorrow

A week from tomorrow, I am leaving for a place that I’ve never been to.  Here’s a hint:

If you guessed San Francisco, you’re right!  If you guessed something else, you may or may not be foreign.

My sister-in-law Claudia, who lives in SF, is graduating from grad school, and my in-laws are taking Eric and I out there to celebrate.  Why am I telling you this?  I want to give you an excuse for the less than amazing posts lately.  I’ve got some stuff to do around the house before I leave, and let’s be honest…it’s sort of hard to focus on art when I’m looking forward to this trip!  I’ve never been to CA or even the western side of the country.

I am hoping to gather some inspiration for my summer body of work.  We’re going to be in Yosemite for a few days, so I’m sure I can gather some inspiration there!

*image found here.

Don’t Forget the Little People

I have three nephews and one niece.  Their names are Asher,

and

Did you get that last one?  Dexter.  As you can tell, I’ve still got some work to do on that one.  I have letters for Asher, but I did them a while ago and don’t have a picture.  You can sort of spot them in this video that my sister made of my brother Nate’s family (Asher, Piper, and newborn Dexter).

Ok that was propoganda for nieces and nephews…if you have the means, I highly recommend picking some up…they are so choice. (name that movie!)

And because my brother Micah’s son Marin hasn’t been represented, here is a recent picture of him with Micah.

Isn’t that a great smile?

The Night When the Chocolate Flowed Like Wine

Remember the post where I tried to find a hobby?  As you may remember, I chose to start playing the ukulele and to take a chocolate class.   Wednesday night, I went to the chocolate class with my mother-in-law and minion.  It took place at Anstine’s Candy Box which is a local family run candy store.  The best part is that there were only four of us taking the class, so we got a lot of attention from the instructors.  For two hours, we learned about the different types and qualities of chocolate.  We learned how to make marshmallow, and truffle filling.  Then, in a small candy kitchen infused with the scent of chocolate, we created!  And it was….GLORIOUS!

The instructors gave us various tools to make chocolate covered macadamia nuts, craisins, peanuts, strawberries, and truffles.  Then we coated peanut butter (mixed with white chocolate) and homemade marshmallow in chocolate.  This is when I discovered that my artistic ability does not extent to chocolates.  Mine were really ugly, but they taste great!  After that, the instructors let us choose from over a thousand molds to make our own molded chocolates.  I chose seashells, mermaids, and horses.

It was so cool because we were allowed to try making whatever we wanted.  The instructors also gave us permission to sample whatever candies we wanted from their store.  And the best part?  We were allowed to take whatever we made home.   Here is what I ended up with after the class:

And that, my friends, is money well spent.

Austin Kleon’s Advice

I recently attended the York College senior art exhibition.  If you are in the area, I highly recommend seeing it.  There is some great stuff by promising artists.  Seriously, GO!

Annnway, during the artist presentations, one of the girls mentioned Austin Kleon and a cool post on his blog called “How to Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)”.  There are some great insights in the article on being an artist in this present age.  But it’s not just for artists.  I bet you can find something that applies to you no matter what you do.

I hope you’ll read the post and let me know what you think.  It’s long, but there are lots of pictures.  Is there an idea that resonates with you?

A World in a Jar

On Saturday, I made my first terrariums.  Minion and I went for a walk in the woods and collected a bunch of moss, mushrooms, and other good stuff.

Moss is great because its root system is very close to the surface of the soil.  This means that you can just peel it off of the ground and transplant it to a terrarium where it will continue to live.  Moss can often be found growing in the shade of big trees and close to water sources.  It is almost irresistible to me.  I knew I had gathered enough moss when my small bucket was about half way full.  But I couldn’t stop gathering it.  Every clump of moss seemed more glorious than the last.  I must have gathered five different varieties!

I had never made a terrarium before, so it was a purely experimental venture.  The lady over at weegreenspot puts activated charcoal in hers (to prevent odors), so I did the same.  My dad had some activated charcoal because of his fish tanks, and let me use some of his.  I rinsed it off, and placed a thin layer on the bottom of the jar.

My dad suggested putting peat moss and citrus soil in the terrarium.  Peat moss will absorb and hold water, and I put a layer of it in over the charcoal.  The soil will provide nutrients for the moss, and I put that in over the peat moss.  Then I placed the moss over the soil.  I wanted to create a bit of a hilly area, so I experimented with different layouts.

When I was happy with the layout, I decided where I was going to place the sheep, shepherd, and sheepdog.  I ended up taking out some of the moss so I could sew the figures onto it.  This way, they’ll stay in place.

You can see the thread holding the figures down in this picture:

Here is the first finished terrarium:

I made the second terrarium for my father-in-law who is recovering from back surgery.  I made it much the same way, only I placed a variety of plants and other organic items inside of this one. I have a cactus, a strange succulent called Living Stone, a mushroom, tree bark, a rock, and moss.

As I mentioned previously, these terrariums were purely experimental.  I kept one and gave the other away, but I will keep a close eye on both over the coming weeks.  They are in a sealed jar, so they only need a misting of water every two weeks or so.  They also need to stay out of direct sunlight, or the jar will act like a magnifying glass and the sun will dry everything out.  Other than that, I don’t really know what is going to work for them*.  I know that there is a small worm living in my sheep terrarium.  Is this a good or a bad thing?  Can I transplant a mushroom or will it die?  Can cacti thrive next to moss?  Nagging questions all, but I will have to wait patiently for the answers.

And now for the part where I tell you where I got everything and how much it cost:

Activated Charcoal: FREE (my dad’s)

Peat Moss: FREE (my dad’s)

Citrus Soil: FREE (my dad’s)

Moss: FREE (courtesy of the woods)

Mushroom, bark, and rock: FREE (courtesy of the woods)

Cactus and Succulent: $5 for both from Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill

Jars: About $2 each from Ross

Tiny sheep, shepherd and sheepdog:  FREE from my mom.  They were my great grandma’s and my mom found them lying around!

It doesn’t take a Rocket Surgeon (as my old professor used to say) to figure out that the cost of this project was time, and not a lot of money.  I can’t wait to make more!

*Update:  The sheep terrarium is still alive and well over seven months later even though I stopped watering it.  The other terrarium, however, got super moldy within a couple of weeks.  Next time I’ll make it without a lid.  It may mean watering it more frequently though.