The best it's gonna get.

I have been in a kind of weird mood. I want to do crafts all the time. I want to paint. I want to clean and organize everything. Like I said, weird. But it's like my release from everything. It calms me when I am able to throw junk away. It relaxes me when I create something, anything. Recently Curt and I have been steadily cleaning out the things we don't need and utilizing the space we have (which is not much, but plenty for us). Our room right now is the cleanest it has ever been! We have never been able to close our closet doors until a few days ago; it looks so much bigger now. We were using out closet doors as a place to hang ties/belts/purses/scarves/and even pants. We finally found a solution for this messy situation. We bought an eight dollar door hanger thinger-ma-bob and voila! Space was created. It looks a ton better and when I walk into our room, I don't just stare at the hanging mess surrounding our closet with disgust and anxiety. Now I look with a pleasant satisfaction. We are living here for another year, and maybe another after that. Who knows. But we definitely are going to keep adding to our apartment little by little, making it more and more like home (but really all I need is Curt to feel at home). You can find me always on BHG.com, looking up new ideas for our little home. I get so inspired, Curt just thinks I'm transitioning into my grandma stage. But I love it so much! Ahhhh, so many great ideas out there. It makes me want our own home, one where we can paint and decorate as we wish. One day Vanessa, one day.

Here are a few snap shots of what our apartment looks like as of now. 

There's all of our ties/scarves/purses hanging on our door.

I finally got around to putting up our wedding pictures last week after I found these great frames at a thrift store. <3

Another one of my favorite thrifty finds. I bought this coat rack for $9 dollars and found these hats at antique shops around town.

TV stand.

More pictures I found at a thrift store. I <3 them.

Original Art Gallery.

 Friday, January 28, 2011

We finally set a date, for a date. It's kind of difficult to put a night aside as a date night. Because one, when you are married your life is ALWAYS a date. Two, we don't have many nights to spare. Most are filled with volleyball, homework, basketball, church, work, or studying. That doesn't leave much time for us. So, we decided to just do it-forget about everything else. I was in charge. I love being in charge.

This was the plan.

First make dinner. What is more romantic that Beef Fry Ri'. It was almost as good as Rice Cafe. Almost. We sliced up the meat, seasoned it appropriately, cooked it in our wok quickly, and fried up some rice and veggies. My stomach was so happy.

Next. We received a lovely frame, which can hold up to seven pictures, for our wedding. My goal was to fill this frame with pieces of our artwork. We had three categories: Portraits of each other, wildlife, and music. I made a time limit of 15-20 minutes. We could use anything from pencil to charcoal, paint to chalk to magazines. We definitely got creative.

Our first Isenbarger Exhibit.

Curt's beautiful interpretation of Music.

Curt's collage defining Wildlife.

My depiction of Music.

It's been a long long time since I've memorized your face

I know you have all been DYING to know about the wonderful Sufjan Stevens. It is no mystery to me, which is why I have prolonged this blog post for quite some time. It had nothing to do with the lack of time on my hands at all. Well, maybe.

Let's begin. The venue was a lot smaller than I expected. I was more like a local amphitheater and fit about 500 people there. So we were nice and cozy. I liked it. It felt like a bunch of people coming together around a campfire to sing songs- in a way.

This concert was very different from his past concerts. This is mainly because of his most recent album (The Age of Adz). This album is a completely different genre. Instead of being a folk, acoustic artist, he transitioned into the more electronic genre. I, personally, thought it was amazing. I think a true artist is one who is continually experimenting, expounding, and  developing a personal style. I also think that an artist is someone who has the ability to go excel in other aspects or genres. Sufjan does exactly that. Curt quoted his swim coach which better expresses what I am trying to say.

"You aren't a good swimmer unless you perfect every single stroke."

I feel that The Age of Adz is a progressive step for this artist. He is pushing his musical talent farther than he ever has before. I am in love with his powerful and captivating voice and his ability to express his emotions with such vigor. I experienced the anger, frustration, longing, and selfishness he expressed in his compositions. Not many artists can evoke such passion within the audience.

I had to put this one up. it is hilarious. Check our the texting/ facebooking mom and her not very happy son.

I used to think I was an artist.

Until today.

I was shown this website, a little sketical at first. The title of the article being:

She’s just 8, yet she’s painted art worth $250,000 

 How on Earth could an 8 year old girl sell a painting--that she made--for that much money? I was intrigued. 

Then I was bewildered. Amazed. Bewildered again. 

This child is a prodigy. I envy her. I yearn for the abilities that she was given from birth! I'll tell you a little about her. And you too will be amazed. This little girl, Autumn de Forest,  first painted when she was in her fives. No-not her forties or fifties- in her FIVES. She asked to paint for fun. A normal kid thing to do. Her father gave her a paint brush, some wood stain, and a piece of wood. She turned it into this abstract masterpiece! Who knew? Her parents then started taking her seriously. They bought her professional paint and canvases. 

She now paints on canvas 4 ft by 6 ft. She is approximately 4'2" tall. She needs a later to paint the entire canvas. The crazy thing is, she has never taken lessons! Are you kidding me?? Am I in school for nothing?? I should stay home and paint like Autumn, maybe then would I become an artist. I like that idea. 

Here are a few of her paintings:

She is incredible. A god given talent to this little girl. She paints with emotions years beyond her age. She paints with skill many never achieve.

article on autumn

trees are beauitful.

In my AD class, we are working with positive and negative spaces. My inspiration has been trees.

Actual Project. We were asked to manipulate the positive

space to create a reversal with the negative space.

                       

                             inspiration

 

 

 

 

                          

                   wall mural. love.

Now this is talent.

Today, my art teacher showed us this clip and I thought it was incredible! 




 This was done entirely with salt.