Some New and Old

     Figured out how to scan and get only one image instead of for or five for some of my pieces (mental note: get larger scanner someday).

Probably my favorite quote, and this is actually from over the summer. Just found it again.

The second vagabond girl, Sarabelle

The third Vagabond girl, Kassadi

      This was inspired by The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh, where he states "a true flower contains the whole universe." It stuck with me, and I definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you aren't Buddhist. I have a feeling I will be rereading it many times.

Thirteen cats. Mmmm, I've missed blind contour line drawing.

An old sketch that I finally drew over with a new pen (that is wonderful).

A drawing of Wiesendangen, Switzerland. One of my favorite places in the world.

Monster

     Bought a nice, new pen yesterday, along with some notebooks for hiking adventures and the like. First time I've ever had one like this and I love it. I'm going to finish him and then have some more stuff later today.

    

Mind Palace

     I first heard/read about this concept years ago, when I was probably no more than 15. And then promptly forgot. Only to have my memory stirred recently by an episode of the BBC's Sherlock last semester. And then forgotten until last week.
     Continuing a series of rash and sudden decisions, the decision was made to help memorize lists and equations for a couple of exams this past week.
     Why did I not do this sooner? Kicking myself because they are incredibly efficient, and while somewhat difficult to start, is an incredible aid.
     For those who don't know what a "mind palace" is, it is a mental space, usually based on somewhere well known (in my case, the hallway from the dorms I lived in my freshman year of collage). People have known for centuries that memory can be improved if it can be linked to a place or object. Put this together in your mind and you have a mental map/castle/dorm suite where you can stash what you need to know in the form of object, that when you look at them (many people do thin in order, such as remembering a grocery list), because the connection between the object and place is strong, you will be able to better remember what  you need to know later on.
     The challenging part is the stronger your mind palace, the more detail about the place you need to know, and be able to visualize. It needs to be real, which can take a lot of practice. I definitely think it's worth it. (Note: none of the following pictures are mine unless marked as such)

     I've always had a fascination with medieval Europe, so I am planning on turning my dorm hallway into an actual castle. This should help later on when I want to add on more information that isn't just class related.

     Such as the Palace of Versailles hall of mirrors, for remembering people's name and other necessary contact info.



Mine. Mont St. Michael, 2010



     Hehe, I feel like I'm in Middle School again with all of this castle research. Now, off to finish things and do some actual work...

     Bree out

 

 

Change jar

     I have to admit, I do love Adventure Time. It's a great ~10 minute break between tasks. I have a habit of squirrelling stuff like tissues, shot gun shells and change, so I decided to just keep all of my money in one place. Right now the contents are going towards gas money so I can do some hiking in a month when I'm on spring break (it'll be my last one before graduating, I'd like to have some fun).
     One down of three/four art-related tasks for this week. I'm going to try to finish a small painting tomorrow, sketch up a t-shirt design for TWS and finish the rough draft of my poetry book.
Toodles till then :)

So much started

It appears no one I know has a scanner that works well, so I'm going to see what I can do when I get back from lab this afternoon. Not included in this photo are my recent explorations into acrylic paint, which is proving interesting, and I hope to finish them up soon... One is on a glass jar,  which is always fun. My goal for this week is to finish everything I have started, and not start any new stuff, and start working in my little sketch book again, something I havn't done since the middle of last semester. My bad.

As I finish stuff up I'll be back, hopefully with scanned pictures.

New work

Hehe, It appears I can upload pictures again :D These are just some things I've been working on these last few weeks, some spontaneous, others for a purpose that will hopefully be revealed soon.

In the meantime I'm starting to put together a little book of poetry which is proving an adventure,  continuing a series of drawings I started over the summer-- we'll see where this goes-- and applying to jobs. All the jobs.

And plotting things for the next few months and what I'll do if I can't find a job, I don't want a repeat of last summer (read: I moped around the garden at my parent's house and chased insects calling it research).

I'm thinking of loading up my car with a few changes of clothes, my sleeping bag and some food and hitting the road. At this point I've seen more of Europe than my own country. I am very lucky for my experiences, don't get me wrong, and I wouldn't change a thing, but I want to remind myself why I love this place, which can be clouded by living in one area your whole life. If anyone has ever lived on the road, I would really appreciate some advice :)

Well, I should be off, slaying land use law dragons and learning New York birds :) I'll be back tomorrow or Sunday, depending if I can visit my family, with more stuff to share as it appears I have a backlog of work to share.

Toodles, and if you're in the North Eastern US I hope the blizzard doesn't cause too much trouble for you in the next few day, the best of luck

-Bree