break

group shot from Charlotte's holiday party
(taken with my new polaroid camera! I'm on the bottom second from left)

nice light

more nice light

me
(taken by Isabel)

So far, this break has been filled with lots of friends and cold weather and warm sweaters. I have to finish a poem I've been working on for a young artists and writers competition, but aside from that, having no major responsibilities feels pretty great. I hope everyone has been having a fantastic winter holiday and has spectacular New Years plans awaiting them.

love
H

cy twombly

Like most other artists I know, I discovered the work of Cy Twombly through the great congregation of virtual stuff that is tumblr. His drawings and paintings are beautifully texturized and interesting to look at on their own, but what really makes it all interesting to me is that he drew from one inspiration for essentially his entire career. Twombly was ever inspired by the Mediterranean classical culture (the Greeks and Romans etc.) as well as the great epic poems that arose from it.
Aside from the art itself though, you have to give Twombly extra cred because it's nearly impossible to associate him with any of the specific major art movements that happened during the twentieth century, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

images via tumblr

winter vibes

 Some photos I took on the day of the first snow. I must say, now that I have my driver's license, I honestly feel a bit nostalgic for quiet early morning school bus rides. Freedom is completely worth a half hour of silence though. Anyways, I thought these captured the things I like most about winter.

The quiet, the calm, the cold.

ana

People who are talented at many things are often the subject of my hatred. This may seem like a strong statement but to be honest, I'm human, and probably just like you, when faced with intimidation jealousy often rears its ugly head. However, with this "hatred" is also a type of idolization or worhip, and lately the fantastic Ana Kras has been the victim. A Serbian-born designer and photographer, she consistently produces amazing work, and seems (from what I've seen of her studio/living space) to have a beautiful aesthetic pertaining to every aspect of her life. It also doesn't hurt that she is gorgeous and has an impeccable sense of effortless style but I digress...

Pictured below are her lovely hand-strung bon bon lamps:

These have actually inspired me enough that I've now begun drafting a new project that I will tell more about when the time is right... anyways ... equally inspiring are her photographs (I hope you can tell at this point that I am utterly captivated by her entire aesthetic), her are a select few from her ikebana albums, essentially her online photo albums containing a plethora of personal and commercial images, all shot by Ana.

Again, here are a select few:

And the artist herself...

you get the point...

(all photos except the last one courtesy of Ana Kras)

flora

I'm not sure why but lately I have discovered a strange affinity towards plants that I didn't know I had. I'm not a bug person (they gross me out, I am not apologetic about it) so I've always steered away from gardening, yet now something about flora amazes me. Each shape, vein, or even spotty pattern of decay is fascinating. I blame this newfound interest on AP Environmental Science, which I am taking this year, and though I already had great respect for living things it seems I am now so intrigued as to have nearly idolized them? I pose this as question (rhetorical) just because the concept seems so strange. Anyways, I'm thankful for any newfound inspiration no matter what...school can drain the creative part of my mind faster than I would like it to.

images: tumblr

nothing gold can stay

I took this photograph two days ago. The past week and a half have been incredibly trying for me in many ways, so when I walked into my bedroom only to be greeted by the most glorious late afternoon light, it stayed with me a little longer, and the feel of this moment was buried a little more deeply in my being. I can dissect some of the most powerful things I have ever experienced into seconds, and the thirty seconds that the light was just like this has certainly created a mainstay in my top twenty. I feel lucky to have had my camera on hand so as to get some good snaps of it before it was gone. I myself have been having a hard time putting it into words however it made me think of one of my favorite poems "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost:

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour. 
Then leaf subsides to leaf. 
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day. 
Nothing gold can stay.  


The golden hour never disappoints. 

in progress

Here is a detail shot of a painting I've been working on lately. It is acrylic and heavy gel medium on canvas. I hardly ever plan out my paintings so I rarely know what they are going to look like when they are done. In this case, I can't figure out if it's a self portrait or not, though I'm not entirely sure it matters.

please give credit to me if you would like to use this image