So excited to see our friend Geoff‘s work featured in ND Magazine. They are even more beautiful in person. More here.
Photo by Matt Cashore
along the way
With teaching, the little organizational tips I pick up along the way make a world of difference. This year, I made a step-by-step photo guide for forming a slab cup with pressed designs and labeled the glazes with text and color swatches. Last year, I spent a significant amount of time answering questions about how each glaze would look.
Okay, it doesn’t cut down all redundant questions. See the lids with only the the color swatches, I still had to direct confused students to read the label, but this year’s clay has run much more smoothly and after this tomorrow, I can say goodbye to dust in my food, hair, and clothes!
cone’s commute home
Lately, we’ve been getting our fill of Chick-fil-A cones. It’s ridiculous how happy it makes us. Feels like summer…
My cone’s commute home
Gimme more!
Henna courtesy of my students in our after school club. We had an Indian celebration with Bollywood music videos, samosas, curry, and lots of other goodies.
ahh, weekends
Ahh, weekends. I love you.
(click on image for more descriptions)
some time ago
A few watercolors from a series I finished some time ago. More here.
Boy, what a tough week. People are being let go and our department is getting smaller.
french fete
Last night, we went to the MFAH’s French Fete celebrating the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pieces from the National Gallery of Art. The super long lines and crowded galleries was still worth it, but we’ll definitely come back and use our comp tickets later to slowly take everything in. I’m probably late on recognizing this but there are so many dogs sweetly placed in Impressionist paintings! I spotted them in at least 8-10 paintings including one of our favorites Mary Cassatt’s Little Girl in a Blue Arm Chair.
National Gallery of Art
And from their permanent collection, I’m always in awe with the Greek Myrtle Wreath c330-250 B.C and a few of the sculptures on the first floor.
a blur
Teaching has been interesting. The first two years are a blur, and I was too busy and excited to get burnt out. It has definitely tested my patience, made me a little more organized, and kept me on my toes. I still tend to allow the one bad incident to taint the day versus all the good things that happen, but I’m starting to see how everyday is a fresh start even with the ones that try me the most.
This year I could no longer do the 4-5 hours of sleep and bringing home work every single day including weekends. I’ve given myself more breaks- sometimes not doing work after dinner, sleeping in on weekends, and taking naps. It allows me to spend more time with my family, friends, and personal work and I really think it has made a huge difference in my overall moral. In the back of my mind, I am a little nervous about what next year brings with the budget cuts and increase in enrollments looming ahead, but I’m crossing my fingers that there won’t be too many changes.
Few things that have distracted me from work stress:
- Bailey Doesn’t Bark cups from Jackie. How did you know we were running out of/breaking our cups?
- Scoring a super comfortable Herman Miller Eames office chair to paint and sew in.
- Learning how to bead. I strung together some practice shapes.
- Sometimes I have to be dragged to a movie because I’m a homebody. But we saw Jane Eyre last night and it was beautifully shot, touching, and funny. Of course, I cried and jumped a few times.
busy around these parts
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.