Taking Stock

Things were a little too harried to take stock of my goals at the true mid-point of the year, but now that we're heading into the second week of August I've realized that I need to start assessing and making some serious headway on my list. Technically, I've checked off twenty-two items (although, there are nine others that I've at least partially completed, but haven't written about yet).

Of the remaining goals, there are a number that I either no longer have much of a desire to complete (Number 81. Paint an accent wall in the bedroom) or might not get to due to time constraints. I'm okay with this. The point of the list was to inspire me to create, not to shame myself into madly working on things just to scratch them off (although, feel free to insult me in the comments section... I did ask you to after all...).

Now, my focus is moving towards highlighting the things that I really want to get done and making sure that I combine as many of these goals into projects as possible. High on my list are any goals relating to printmaking, painting, and bookbinding. I'll be getting around to more printmaking in October and November when I'm planning to start another Open Studio course and I'm hoping to work on some paintings two weekends from now. The bookmaking goals will be ongoing, partly because I want to include some of my prints into them, but I do want to practice a few new techniques before I have good quality pages to work with.

I have a few traditional-type books in mind, but I'm also hoping to work on a few experimental structures like this one that I made a few years ago.


Luckily, I have some great reference books for inspiration.

Curious Articles Indeed

One of my goals this year was to start following a new blog (8) and there have been a few that I could have already added to the rotation (and probably should). However, I'm so glad that I waited to officially tick this one off the list because I now have the chance to add Curious Articles to the list.

Curious Articles is a new blog created by none other than my best friend and I'm SO happy she decided to join the blogging world. In addition to being a brilliant scholar and all around fun loving gal, Wren is a fellow maker of all things handmade and wonderful. She has begun chronicling her latest creations online (and showcasing some polished product shots) and is the only person I know capable of effortlessly introducing her latest beaded creation with an excerpt from Robert Hooke's, Micrographia (Published in 1665).

Here are a few of my favourites from her latest posts:




Check out more here!

Nudes

Sunday drawing sessions are great at the TSA because they have two rooms and two models to choose from. Both rooms were frequent pose rooms this morning, so I produced lots of quick, scratchy drawings. I had a specific project in mind for these drawings, so I tried to focus on keeping the drawings a bit smaller.


I really liked this pose.





I'm planning to add some writing to these sketches to create something like this:
I still need to write the poems or stories that will accompany the images (the above text is just practice writing that I filled in quickly during one of our drawing breaks). I'm not really sure what direction I'm going to head in with the narratives, but I'll definitely need to perfect my scrawling penmanship before I start working on the final version.

I'm back!

Sorry, Everyone! I meant to write a quick post about a week and a half ago to let you know that the following events were very likely to/obviously did prevent me from posting:

- My in-laws are visiting from India and are staying in our apartment
- Visit = social events every night
- The final week of my busiest time of year at work was last week

Add two out-of-town trips, casino fun, boat cruises around 30,000 islands, the premiere of Mad Men, and a lot of dining out and, well, I'm sure you get the idea.

However, despite the madness of the week, I realized that I've been making some decent headway on my goals list (and forgetting to mark down a few key entries).

- 4. I finished my March fiction book (Brooklyn by Colm Toibin)
- 52. Start a new literary journal subscription (This Magazine)
- 61. Explore a part of the city you've never been to (Roncesvalles!)


The subscription to This Magazine came as part of the entry fee for their Great Canadian Literary Hunt. Since I decided to enter this, I figured I might as well count the magazine as my subscription. Looking forward to the first issue!

T and I actually explored Roncesvalles a few weeks ago, but I forgot to take pictures. Such a lovely street (if somewhat heavily weighted on the east side... so strange).

Things should be calming down in the next few days, so I'll be able to turn my attention back to the list. It's been ages since I've done any drawing, so I'm definitely going to get back to an open drawing class as soon as I can.

Let it Shine

Lit up the lantern last night after dark. It's not the most refined object I've every created, but I suppose that wasn't really the point. Definitely more suitable for a rustic setting...

Tin Can Lantern

I made my own homemade lantern tonight (96) inspired by the tutorial posted on Design*Sponge by maggie makes. There were beautiful geometric patterns posted on the maggie makes site, but I decided to try something a little more free hand - paisley!

I followed the advice of a number of commenters on the post and started by filling the can up with ice and freezing it so that I would have a solid base to hammer against without having to track down a 2x4 and clamps.




Now all I have to do is wait until the sun goes down to really test it out (and hope that my neighbours aren't going to give me dirty looks in the hallway after all the hammering I just did on the balcony!)

Sorry Pop-Up Book... You're Out!

I've officially decided to boot Number 96. Make a Pop-Up Book from my list in order to make room for a new, totally awesome, perfect-for-summer project.

I came across this tutorial on Design*Sponge (by way of Maggie Makes) and was immediately obsessed. Such a simple idea! Why haven't I seen this before?


Long story short, I absolutely must try to create one of these lanterns this weekend and I can't keep picking up new projects unless I start reorganizing my list. I did give myself a 10% change rule in January and this is the perfect reason to exercise it.

Can you tell I'm excited!