It’s been busy around these parts, but I wanted to post illustrations my youngest sister Thuy has been creating. Hope everyone is doing well!
not bad at all
Goodbye Spring Break, you gave me a much needed rest. Of course, I wish I could’ve done more. The last few days were filled with good eats at City Hall’s Farmer’s Market, visiting local shops for the first time, cooking, and visiting friends. Not bad at all!
- Thrift store basket
- Silk scarf patterns caught my eye
- Spring is here. Maybe I’ll wear the scarf like this?
- Learned how to bead. First creations…
- BJ bought Blexbolex’s Seasons from Domy Books
- One of my favorite pages from Seasons—check out more here.
- Working on the mushroom risotto and French onion soup
- Mismatched dinnerware. Waiting for the family to arrive
20 under 30
I recently picked up Print’s 20 under 30 issue, and Jeseok Yi‘s work most intensely spoke to me. Social design that looks cool, informs, compels the viewer to take action, and lingers in the mind for minutes, days, etc. is usually hard to come by. An exciting aspect of Yi’s work has nothing to do with “making type look great and doing Photoshop like a machine”—heavy on digital technique, light on ideas. Rather, it’s the way Yi stresses the simplicity and interaction between design and its real-world environment. I think his work will speak to my students too.
- For some, it’s Mt. Everest | American Disability  Association
- What goes around comes around for | Global Coalition for Peace
- Air pollution kills 60,000 people a year | Natural Resource Defense Council
On a slightly similar note, thank you, Jennifer for the smart reminder/tip about helping with Japan’s long term earthquake relief efforts, especially as we continue to learn more about the aftermath and where help is most needed.
finally getting it done
*digital collage of recent paintings and an old polaroid photo
For the past few days I’ve been spending long hours in front of the computer cleaning and organizing my work on different hard drives. The number of duplicate files in different folders—as well as the lack of work documented since I’ve left school (not that I’ve been producing a lot)—was slightly overwhelming. But I’m glad it’s finally getting done. I also came across photos of my time in Providence, Boston, and our family trip to the Grand Canyon. Funny how much things have changed (especially BJ’s hair), but also how little has changed. My work now seems lighter, a little more colorful, but still reveals the weakness for minimalism that I picked up earlier on. I’m looking forward to updating everything soon!
sun bathing sessions
It wouldn’t feel like Spring Break without the sun. It rained and thundered all morning, but after passing out from a sugar and food coma this afternoon, we woke up to clear skies and gorgeous sunlight. Igby was happy she got her daily sun bathing session in. (We’re watching her for a week while everyone is away)
pizza on a stick
My parents and siblings’ Spring Break trip to SCAD was delayed a few days, so we squeezed in a visit to the rodeo Saturday afternoon. Beautiful weather, great food (except my sister’s pizza on a stick), and plenty of people watching…
mini desserts and pastries
Houston. Please drive better. We had a scare Saturday morning: an impatient car abruptly moved right into our lane, driving us off the road, up over the curb, onto the sidewalk. And the driver didn’t even notice! Thankfully, we ended up with only dented hubcaps and no injuries—a blessing, but nonetheless, it was a little hard to shake off.
After a trip to Kaboom Books where I got to visit the owners’ sweet dog, the rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing: a good game of darts at my cousin’s birthday, tidying up the house, brunch at Shade, dinner for my mom’s birthday where forwent the traditional cake and instead shared mini desserts and pastries, working on personal projects, hunting for treasures at the Texas Art Asylum*, and catching a matinee of The Adjustment Bureau (3.5/5 stars: great cast, but maybe a bit anticlimactic).
* For you teachers, it’s less than a year old, but they have plans to open up another store down the road where teachers can grab bags of stuff for a few bucks.
Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein- part of an ongoing series of portraits for a friend. Philosophy isn’t my strong point, but it’s interesting to find fun facts about each person when I’m gathering ideas. Like Wittgenstein- Did you know Klimt painted a famous  portrait of his sister for her wedding(If you look above the ear, you can spot the top of the painting)?  For me, these little things make them a little more accessible and human.
Gratitude
Thank you Jennifer, Megan, and everyone for the sweet comments/posts about the brooches! I always find it hard to find time outside of work to make my own things and when I do, they usually never get completed or see the light of day. Hopefully, the upcoming spring break can be devoted to troubleshooting and wrapping up these projects. I’ll probably be missing New York City during that time, since it’s been sort of a tradition to spend my break there (I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve been getting caught up on all the past Gossip Girl seasons). June birthday in NYC, maybe?
I made these watercolor paper cuts while brainstorming lessons for my students. We’ll see how they turn out. Now I have to make some more “masculine” examples for the boys :)
– C