Have you seen the shop Woodlandbelle? I have a crush. I want one of each.
Archive for April, 2010
Inspired by Katie’s list of occupations she’s daydreamed about working, I’ve compiled this list of jobs that I wanted to do when I grew up, in chronological order from when I was a little kid to today. A few might be embarrassing, a couple are pretty LEGEND still.
Elementary School
artist
veterinarian
architect
home decorator
crafter
commercial artist
Middle School
teacher
counselor working with homeless youth/runaways/throwaways
High School
graphic designer
magazine/zine publisher
silk screen t-shirt designer/printer
real world cast member
letterpress printer/designer
silkscreen poster artist (musicians/concerts)
College
artist general
art teacher
artist printmaker (silk screen/relief/litho/intaglio)
retail/service industry professional
professional internet surfer
Post College to Today
graphic designer
secretary
substitute teacher
crafter/designer/artist
librarian
printer/designer for a small-small press company
I have worked as a graphic designer for a newspaper and then for a printing company basically since I was a senior in high school. I’ve had short stints working weekend jobs as a nursery supervisor and a hotel audit clerk, and a short hiatus from design as middle school study hall aide… but, I think it’s cool how many jobs I’ve dreamed of that had to do with printing and designing of some sorts. Printing and designing are very close to my heart.
drawing table, originally uploaded by robayre.
For over a week I’ve had this idea for a new series of paintings. I’ve been so excited and inspired. I’ve filled pages in my journal with sketches, details and ideas… BUT as soon as I get home from work I can not get myself to work on it. All day I daydream of when I’ll be home and have the time to create but when the time comes it feels like torture and I can’t make myself begin. I’ll sit at my drawing table until I give up.
I think I’m afraid that it is not going to come out as I envision. And with the way I work, when something doesn’t come out as I see it in my head I’ll completely abandon it, rather than rework it. This is in complete contrast to what I know I should do, according to my art bible, Art & Fear.
Today I FINALLY went into my studio and started working. It started out great. I took this picture above on my camera phone, and although it’s not great quality, I really loved how it looked at this stage. I continued on and everything seemed to be fine. I was using acrylic paints and all sorts of different techniques to get textures for a background. Everything was going perfectly until I reached a stage which, according to this book, I needed to run the canvas under warm water with some soap ANNNNNNND I rubbed a little too hard and my painting started peeling off. Next thing I knew, I just said screw it and continued to blast it with hot water and peeled off the entire painting till I was back to a white canvas.
Gah! Back to square one. I hope I can go back at it and restart fresh and finally have something to share here soon. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I saw this “three things” list on Leethal’s blog and decided to participate myself.
Three names I go by:
1. Rob
2. Robbie
3. Robs
Three jobs I have had:
1. Night audit/ front desk clerk at a hotel
2. Nursery supervisor at a church
3. Study hall aide for 7th and 8th graders
Three places I have lived:
1. at my parents house (residential neighborhood)
2. In a farmhouse out in the country
3. In an apartment building, next door to a murderer (really, not kidding at all)
Three favorite drinks:
1. Slurpees
2. Thai iced tea
3. Boba drinks
Three TV shows I watch:
1. Lost
2. 30 Rock
3. Check Please (chicago pbs)
Three places I have been:
1. Juneau, Alaska (not on a cruise, thank-you-very-much)
2. Blarney Castle in Ireland (and yes I kissed the Blarney stone)
3. Breaking for “REAL BEEF JERKY” in Texas (I also break for cheese curds in Wisconsin)
Three places I would like to visit:
1. Japan
2. The East coast of the United States
3. Seattle (I’ve been, but only stayed overnight and didn’t get to see anything really)
Three favorite old TV shows:
1. Six Feet Under
2. Arrested Development
3. My So Called Life (but, I can’t watch it anymore. It’s like looking at old awkward pictures of yourself, it’s embarrasing and makes you start reflecting on a time you’d rather forget.)
Three favorite dishes:
1. Home cooked in the crock pot – Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana
2. Tuna Casserole (my mom’s dish)
3. Sausage & Rotini (my mom’s dish)
Three makeup/beauty products I cannot live without:
1. soap
2. deoderant
3. toothpaste (other than that, I really can’t think of anything I couldn’t live without. I won’t die if I can’t find my mascara.)
Three things I’m looking forward to:
1. This kind of makes me sad because a thing I’ve been hopefully looking forward to, will most likely not happen
2. I’ve been dealing with this today
3. And, it’s hard for me to think of anything else to look forward to right now.
Wow, that didn’t really end on an uplifting note. I think I will add another category just so it doesn’t seem so sad.
Three songs that make me happy:
1. As Is – Ani Difranco
2. Halloweenhead – Ryan Adams
3. Breakin’ Up – Rilo Kiley
And then just for fun, A bonus round: 3 things I made and added to my Etsy shop recently:
This handbound journal that I’m in love with. It’s similar to one of the very first items I made and sold on Etsy, eons ago. The inside pages are an assortment of different papers, and each page is next to a different kind of paper. There is watercolor paper, graph paper, and even some papers I designed and printed myself. I really need to make one for myself, because describing it right now, I want to take it out of my shop and just keep it. Control yourself, Robyn. lol.
This orange and aqua spiral stratum ring. I actually made it as a custom order for a customer who apparently decided they didn’t like it because it still sits there days later. booo. Oh well, I like it and I probably wouldn’t have thought to use those colors if they hadn’t requested it.
Lastly, here is one of the 3 or 4 alphabet badges I made. It’s also being featured in this alphabet inspired treasury. Cute!
Please play along! Let me know if you posted three things too, I’d love to read them.
This weekend I saw two things that have really stayed with me as the new week begins. The first was the above quote from a new-to-me blog liisforlovely. It’s a quote from the book Eat, Pray, Love, which I’ve been wanting to read for some time now. I really believe and agree with the quote, because I’ve felt it happen in my life.
The second thing, which I’m kind of embarrassed to admit, was the above performance by Taylor Swift. The embarrassment comes in because I’m not a popular country music fan, and I’ve judged Taylor as just a fluffy teen sensation, what with her constant head flips while performing. I was napping with the TV on, and while I slept some country music awards show came on. I woke up just when Taylor went on and with the above quote in my head still I felt this song held extra meaning from the moment she said “I believe in whatever you do”. The song, to me, captures that feeling of the above quote and how when you are around these types of people you can conquer the world. I have a copy of Taylor’s album on my ipod and if I’d heard that song before it had not left an impression. I think it was timing with the quote that finally got my attention.
Also, there is just something about Taylor that I really envy, and that is in the way she carries herself. It’s an unapologetic boldness and confidence that I desperately wish I had. I don’t have it now, or even when I was at her young age (I’m 32 now and she’s what? 19). And not to say that she really is bold and confident, or that she doesn’t have her own hang-ups, but she just has this presence to me that feels like a complete comfort in her own body. That has always been one of those things that I have striven for. I’ve made leaps and bounds since high school, but at this rate I probably won’t be fully confident and comfortable in my own skin until I’m an old lady. That’s fine with me though, because I fully plan on rocking it, even then.
Soooo, I have Fridays off and this Friday I was really scooting around town getting all sorts of stuff done. A very productive day. At one point I had to run into work and on the way back home I passed a tree that I’ve been passing often this spring and thinking “I should stop and take a picture”. Since it was my day off, I had the leisure time to pull over, run across the street and take some pictures in some random person’s front yard. Hopefully they weren’t home, but if there were, they probably could tell I meant no harm. That or they thought I was a little “weird” so they didn’t want to mess with me.
The tree is one of those tulip trees that just explode with flowers in the spring. I don’t know if it’s because of where the house is located and the sun hits it just so, and/or because the color of the flowers against the color of the house (very much like the blue sky) but for this fleeting period while the tree is in full bloom each year THAT house is Ahh-Mazing!
I was underneath this gorgeous tree and just snapping away, taking as many pics as possible, as quickly as possible before someone comes out and shoos me away. It was one of those moments where I felt really alive and just completely and fully happy, not to absolutely surrounded by beauty (above, around and below as you will see in the video). When I got home to see if any of the pictures were usable, meaning I could post them to flickr, and I clicked next, next, next, I saw that there were all okay, but they were even better put together like a slideshow. Watching them all together gives a better representation of what it was like to be there.
I used Windows Movie Maker and it was a real pain this time. I just wanted to make a quick simple video, but the program made sure that was not going to happen. I edited each picture frame to be on screen for 1 second exactly and when I finalized the film, some frames are extended right over other frames, eliminating them entirely and other frames I can tell are way shorter than 1 second. Humph. But, after toying with it for a day and barely being able to finalize it all anyway, I decided no one would even notice or care. It’s probably one of those things “if you hadn’t brought it to my attention, I’d never would have noticed.” but it bugged me enough that I had to bring it up. I hope you enjoy it all the same.
Oh yeah, and I put a song in the background, that went along better with the frames until WMM did it’s own editing, but it’s still nice, so please turn on the volume.
Happy Spring!
Please, please, please if you have a few minutes, stop by and read through Aprile Elcich’s finished digital thesis book.
In a perfect world, all design would feel like this to me. After viewing the book I had to declare that she is my new design idol. I love all the incorporated collages and the handwritten text.
I’ve worked as a professional “graphic designer” since I was 16 and I’m 32 now, and yet her work just blows my mind. Looking at Aprile’s book I realize she has done what I could only dream of doing professionally, bridging design and art. Can you imagine if you received a book like that in the mail? I’d keep it under my pillow, and I’m sure it would bring lovely dreams each night.
Check out the rest of her blog at You Are What You Love. Aprile is also the master-mind behind the blog Not Paper, where she interviews other collage artists. So much inspiration.
4.11 for buttons, originally uploaded by robayre.
It’s Sunday night and I’m procrastinating going to bed and getting ready for the new work week. I’ve started a bad habit since Thursday of staying up till 2 a.m. and sleeping in until 9 a.m. or later. This is not going to swing tomorrow morning when I have to be up and at work by 8. Haha, who’m I kidding, 8:15.
Sometimes I feel like a little kid still when it comes to going to bed. I hate going to be bed and it takes me FOREVER to shut down my mind and actually fall asleep. I mean, I’ll lie there for 30-45 minutes on average before I finally fall asleep. Some nights it’s horrible and it will be hours. Matt, in contrast, hits the pillow and he’s instantly snoring away. When I was little I remember my mom or sister told me to keep my eyes closed and just lay really still and I will eventually fall asleep. I think most kids are like that, but probably grow out of that by the time they become adults. Not me. I still feel tortured, keeping my body and mind still before falling asleep. I know my friend Nikki C. has the same kind of memory from her childhood and still has trouble shutting down as well as an adult, so I’m not alone.
Tonight, part of resisting going to bed has been playing with watercolors in my studio. I’ve had some button ideas in my mind lately and saw this picture on flickr earlier tonight which gave me the push to actually start. I like what I’ve done, but I haven’t punched out the circles yet. I think I’ll continue working on my buttons tomorrow, before I break out my button machine.
I miss having a pet rabbit and hope to have another one someday. This week Matt needed to buy a new hockey stick, so we went to a store that just happened to have a pet store next door. Perfect. He can take his time perusing sticks and I can waste time falling in love with all the fury animals.
After I’d been in the pet shop only a short while, Matt joined me, defeated by the sport’s store’s lack of variety. We lingered near the exit, where (just by chance) a bin of baby dutch rabbits sat. Matt put his hand in and a black and white hopped over and began licking him. He looked up at me to see if I saw it, and I said joking “it’s coming home with us”. Expecting him to respond with criticism, I was met with his puppy dog eyes saying “really?” Although I do have a hutch, and making home for a baby bunny wouldn’t be that difficult for me on a whim, I pride myself on not being one of those people who buys animals without preparing thoroughly. I had to laugh at the thought of bringing home a new pet unexpectedly, and to that he responded “now or never”. When we eventually left it was bunny-less.
Regardless of what he said, I do think I’ll be getting another rabbit, but when the time is right, and I’m fully prepared.
Today I found this blog about a home with two rabbits.
If you are interested in pet rabbits, please refer to the House Rabbit Society and this book.
Here is a yarn I spun on Monday. That was a record for me. One complete yarn in one day, woah. You can see other yarns I have spun over the years here in this flickr photoset.
And, I made a few more little book page spreads. The rest can be seen here.
