MLK Weekend: Austin Trip!

Teej was ever so kind to come visit me at school since he didn't go back to classes till the next week! It was extremely cold and rainy the whole weekend, but we decided to head down to Austin anyways!

 

 

For our first stop, we went to "Jerry's Artarama," an art supplies discount store. It was AMAZING! It was like an artist candy store. :) I was mesmerized by everything in there! Every canvas size you can think of, all sorts of paints and pens,...but best of all--the prices! The prices were insane! I looked at the Prismacolor pencil sets, and they were HALF price! How can they afford that? I don't know, but I'm not complaining!

I couldn't leave empty-handed! :)

 As we drove deeper into Austin, I tried to document what caught my eye: 

 

 

For the rest of our trip, we went to:

• Buffalo Exchange (So many amazing clothes!)
• Stopped for a pick-me-up at a local coffeeshop:

• TOY JOY! Toy shop... if you ever get the chance to go, GO!! 
• Then we ended the evening by eating delicious pizza at Mellow Mushroom! :)

We made the most of the rain, and we had a good day!

Thanks for following!

Sea Creatures!

Hello everyone,  It's been a while!

I hope you all had a good weekend! I know I enjoyed the extra day off from classes!

My boyfriend came for the weekend, and we spent the day in Austin on Friday (pictures coming soon!). It was a grand adventure, and I can't wait to share :)! I also bought the rest of my supplies for classes: a giant 3x4 canvas for my Painting II class, and some Medium Density Fiber board for Printmaking. I felt like such a grown up! Ha!

I also had a bit of time to work on personal little projects, and here they are! I've had an obsession with sea creatures lately!

Cute little octopus done in Acrylic:

And a sleepy-eyed eel in watercolor & ink:

Hope you all have a lovely week!

-Aubrey

The Adorable Twibirdy!

For my last week of freedom at home, I had a hankerin' to take some pictures! It had been a while since I had done any creative pictures, and I was in the mood to experiment! Thus, one of my favorite models (aka great friends) Twi, also known as Twibirdy, came over to be my guinea pig!

I usually go into photos with some sort of a plan, but I just wanted to shoot and see what would happen this time. She brought some outfits she thought might work, and I pulled some stuff out of the "costume closet" at my house. And...voila! The following are what turned out (be sure to get a closer look on my flickr):

First, she was already wearing a cute striped sweater so I decided to play up the black and add some cutesy little elements to her! I thought it was fun :) Plus, I love owls!

 

 

Next we went for a more fashion-inspired route and came up with these in her lovely floral dress!

 

 

 

Next we got crazy! Okay, I got crazy. I don't think Twi understood where I was going with the look, but she's faithful none the less! These are my favorites! She is overwhelmingly cute as a "leetle arteest":

 

 

And last but not least, masks and tulle always work! Especially with pretty sunlight:

 

 

 

A HUGE thankyou to Twi for always being so patient and willing to do the "crazy" things I ask of her! It was fun and I hope to shoot more when it gets warmer! 

 

See ya later!

-Aubrey

Finally! An Update!

Seems like forever since I have updated! Things in my life lately have been absolutely crazy and rushed, but it's all very good!

I recently moved back into my apartment at school, and have been trying to get back into the swing of academic life after an odd winter break. Finally feeling like myself again after having mono AND tonsillitis (yes, it was miserable), and ready to get working hard in school.

This semester I am taking:

• Printmaking (which I am SO excited for, I think it will be my favorite!)
• Painting II
• Photography II
• Sculpture 
• Color Theory

Sounds like a lot of fun, right? I'm ecstatic! All of my classes will require much time and effort, but I can't wait for the challenges and enjoyment they're going to bring!

I was talking to a friend about my major, Studio Art. He was totally benevolent, but mentioned that while he's glad our university teaches traditional art, everything is going digital, thus essentially more important. While I agree, and I have studied/looked into digital aspects of art here and there, I feel like traditional art is still very alive and necessary (Plus I couldn't sit clicking a mouse for hours on end, I want to make things!) I mean, look at Etsy! It's a phenomena of homemade and hand crafted, and it makes people happy. If you're looking for "big money", I doubt etsy is going to be the ideal career for you (in most cases), but my parents have always taught me to do what I love. Be smart, of course, learn the necessary business and networking tools, but ultimately do what you love. That's my opinion anyway!

Now that I've stepped off my soapbox, I leave you with what I did before I went to bed last night! I started a simple little watercolor from the "Tangled" watercolor book my mother got me for Christmas! (Who cares if I'm almost 21, it's adorable!):

Kirigami Snowflakes

Another one of the gifts Teej got me was this small package of sparkly papers and directions for origami and kirigami snowflakes. Origami obviously didn't require any scissors, and I have yet to tackle that, but the kirigami was fairly simple and so much fun to create!

Enjoy!

A Very Spoiled Christmas!

I thought I'd take a moment to brag and thank my wonderful boyfriend TJ for such awesome Christmas gifts! I was completely surprised and overwhelmed not only by the amount of wonderful things he gave, but also how much thought went into it all. I'm so very blessed and amazed! Thank you, once again.

I wanted to share with the rest of you since I love it all so much and concerns not only artsy things, but some of my favorite things that make me happy! :)

1. A pretty green journal and oil pastel set (I LOVE art supplies & journals, always!)

2. "Mistletoe Man Magnet" chocolate bar & Super Cute Coupon book

Mmmmm....

Some peeks into the precious coupon book he made me :) This makes me so happy <3

Probably one of my favorite things I got (while I love it all). He calls me bluebird :) and I love cute simple charm necklaces like this, it's perfect!

Blingin' Shiny heart necklace!

And last but not least, my TY Panda bear! Yet another thing with special meaning :) When we were first getting to know each other and planned our first dance party together, somehow the random idea of "glowing pandas" being at our party was just an inside joke that stuck with us! I can't wait to put the little guy on my desk at school to keep me company!

If you're wondering what I got him for Christmas, well, I wasn't nearly as good! Despite having mono and tonsillitis all break, I had to "cheat" a little. I gave him 3 handmade silver charm necklaces (pictures later?) that I made in my arts metals class at school. Which is great, but he already knew about them. I'm also doing a special painting of his choice for his apartment! I wish it had done before, but such is life! Teej is too great for his own good though. I feel so spoiled! But all in all, extremely grateful for someone who will put so much thought into these things!

-Aubrey

Watercolor Fun!

Well, let's see how this first "real" post looks! I started finally uploading work that I've done this semester, and found these watercolors inspired by one of my favorite artists, Ambird. I had so much fun with these! Oddly enough, I started the first painting w/ rollerskates in mind, and somehow ended up with this very magical owl! Who knows where my mind goes sometimes, but it's still my favorite. I plan on continuing the series! They were made with cheap supplies: Cheap watercolor paper, a cheap set of watercolors I got from Michael's and a cheap pack of brushes! I outlined them w/ my india ink pens and used a white paint pen for the accents of stars and jewels. Such a fun project!

New Years goals post soon? Maybe after I tackle the hill that is my laundry!
Enjoy for now!

-Aubrey

Let's See How this Works!

Hey there! Starting a new blog looking into my life and all of the crafty things that come with it :)

Bare with me as I get this all tidied up!

-AC