After an amazing sunset walk around Lake Calhoun on Friday night, Jesse and I drove home to our St. Louis Park abode. While pulling into the driveway, I spied two gray, fluffy creatures on my deck, flanking the steps. I immediately thought it must be squirrels facing away from me with their poofy tails pointed toward the sky.
(Now, you need to understand that I have a hate/hate relationship with the squirrels who live in my tree because they dig up my potted plants and pluck leaves off my maple tree!)
While Jesse took a photograph of the symmetry of the animals to our deck stair case, I was determined to chase them away. As I moved closer to the deck, my eyes adjusted to the dark. And to my surprise, I realized that I was staring into two sets of owl eyes!! The birds flew into the maple tree. I curiously observed the maple tree and spotted another owl. After about 5 minutes of playing “Where’s Waldo,” Jesse and I counted five little owls in our yard!
I think (but I’m not sure) the owls are adolescent screech owls. Photos below by Jesse.
My $10 Target cowboy boots served me well. I wore them for a good 3 years. I say goodbye to the boots not because I no longer like them but because they have simply worn out. I wish my $10 Target boots were made out of leather instead of faux man-made materials, because I still love the style, but I don’t like how the faux material is crumbling off the surface.
I’ve been wanting to replace the Target boots for a while, in fact I received birthday money from my parents with the intention of purchasing some good quality leather cowboy boots (which don’t come cheap). Last night Jesse informed me that he noticed Ragstock in Uptown has a huge window display showing off their collection of cowboy boots. Naturally, it was our mission to find some new boots tonight after work.
I had my doubts about finding a good pair of boots for a variety of reasons:
My feet are size five. I have a hard time finding new shoes in my size.
Do I want to wear boots that have been broken in by another?
And finally, will I even find a pair that I could love as I have my beloved Target boots?
Amazingly, Ragstock had a few pairs of boots in my size! And when I laid eyes on this pair, they spoke to me. Two-toned leather. Awesome stitching. While the boots are definitely broken in, they look awesome. In a similar way to how a $200 pair of jeans can look weathered and ripped up in a cool “I broke these in,” kind of way. But these boots were not $200, they were $20! If you are pining for a pair of awesome cowboy boots but don’t have $200-300 to drop on a new pair, go to Ragstock Uptown. STAT!
I imagine that my “new” old boots have an amazing back story. Living on a ranch in Wyoming near to Yellowstone National Park was a charmed existence. Roping goats, riding horses, feeding pigs. Planting the summer garden and frolicking in the fields. These boots have done it all. As I washed away the caked-on wild west mud (or worse, manure?), I thought to myself, “Welcome to the city, cowboy boots.”
Art Buddies is my favorite non-profit organization. I started as a volunteer for the fall 2009 session and have since been asked to join the advisory board.
What is Art Buddies? It’s a mentor program that pairs creative mentors from the world of graphic design, advertising, architecture and interior design with children from low-income families in south Minneapolis. Art buddies is designed to help kids discover their creative gifts, build confidence and dream big dreams. Throughout the six-week program, mentors work one-on-one to help kids create something fanciful, unique and more ambitious than they may have imagined. At the end of the six-week sessions there’s a parade giving the kids the opportunity to show off their creations to the whole school!
We created animal costumes in the last two sessions. In the fall, I helped Sabrina make a dog costume because she is a loyal friend, likes to cuddle and is smart.
Sabrina dreams of being a web designer someday!
We had a lot of fun working together!
In the spring, I helped Erikc create his costume. Erikc is a super creative kid. His costume is a creature made up of 1/3 dog, 1/3 monkey and 1/3 beaver. Erikc loves to build stuff and dreams of becoming an architect.
Erikc followed a strict color palette in designing his costume.
Erikc wrote a story about his costume, which he's illustrating here.
Last week we had a fundraiser at Carmichael Lynch to raise money for Art Buddies. Art Buddies supporters sent letters to their contacts asking for contributions. I’d like to thank Carmichael Lynch for both hosting the event and sponsoring the dinner from Brasa.
Art Buddies is a non-profit which runs on grants and donations—from people like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Art Buddies. Visit artbuddies.org to donate. If you’re interested in becoming an Art Buddy for the fall session, please visit artbuddies.org and fill out the application.
We took a break from our letter writing at the fundraiser to see the sunset from the Carmichael Lynch rooftop. Here’s what it looks like:
Every year I go to the nursery and buy plants for the yard. I’ve never planted seeds. I’ve also never planted vegetables. 2010 is a year to try new things—so I did both! I put some vegetables in my window box and planted some sunflower seeds by the garage. I figured the bright orange-yellow would look super nice next to my blue siding.
I planted the seeds about two weeks ago and checked in today to find tiny little sunflowers sprouting! I’m so excited to see my seeds are growing (yes, excited even though the seed package says, “guaranteed to grow”). The sprouts are about an inch tall and here are the photos! As long as the plants survive, I’ll post pictures on the blog so you can watch them grow with me! As a bonus, I saw a beautiful caterpillar and photographed it, too!
Guaranteed to grow? Sold!
The seeds. I love all the different stripe patterns! Each sunflower seed is similar to the next yet totally unique—I find this level of detail amazing. We live in an awesome world.
Pushing up dirt!
Stretching out.
Reaching for the sun.
Isn't this a beautiful creature! I love the color combination of turquoise, gold and black. I dig the pattern.
Trying to find a good place to spin a cocoon.
Zoomed in so you can see the incredible detail!
P.S. Are you watching the Discovery Channel series called “Life?” It is one of my favorite shows. The photography is brilliant and with Oprah as the narrator, what’s not to love! You HAVE to watch the episode on plants. It has forever changed the way I look at plant life. Plants are so much more like animals than I ever thought! Check out the Life website and set your DVR to record!!!
This is just funny. The space is available for rent, however the placement of the sign might lead you to think otherwise. Available? Or Unavailable? (The former tenant was called “United Martial Arts.”)
I long for spring. At this point, I can only imagine what it will feel like to lose the layers, put on a t-shirt, take a walk and breathe in the scent of spring. I imagine that I will go for a walk around Lake Calhoun, I’ll take a break half way around the lake and plop down in the grass. Surrounded by grass that’s been warmed by the sun, gravity will pull me down to it and I will lie on my back with a panoramic view of the sky. It’s a perfect, red-filter day—the cumulus clouds are set against a cool shade of blue. When shooting with black and white film, a red filter darkens the blue and lightens the red, so the white puffy clouds will really pop on photographs. Only this day I will not be armed with my camera—only my eyes—and my imagination will begin to drift as I see the clouds forming animals, people and objects.
Okay, I realize it is going to be months before I can let my imagination drift while lying on the bare ground, gazing at white puffy clouds. But that doesn’t stop my imagination from being full steam ahead in the winter. I just channel it in a different way—orange peels.
Citrus are in season. The sweet, juicy flesh of an orange is just what my spirit needs on a blustery, snowy day. I challenge myself with every piece of fruit that I’ll peel it on one piece. The peels make unusual and interesting shapes, which I interpret—just like the clouds—as animals, people or objects. See what I mean in the photos below. The rules of this game are to peel a piece of citrus in one piece, then lay the peel flat on the table, rotate and evaluate.
#1. It looks like a fish. A deep sea fish. Likely a new discovery deep int he depths of the ocean.
#2. Buttefly.
#3. From the torso up, it is a bowler, extending his arm back in perfect form. He got a strike. His face even features an eye, nose and mouth.
#4. Swiming toward the left, this is one angry shark. Watch out surfers!
#5. This small animal like organism has a cute head shape, with pig like snout and mohawk.
#6. This one is my favorite, it's a vulture perched on a tree branch about to take flight.
#7. The head of a triceritops, the body of an insect.
What do you see when you look at these images? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
I love to shop Target. I shop there every week. Last week while shopping, I saw these iTunes gift cards for sale. As advertised, the $25 iTunes gift card costs you $25. Regular price $25. Funny? Yes. Usually when you advertise a product, you give an offer or discount along with the message. I guess Target just really wanted their customers to know they carry the gift cards. Here’s a tip for those of you who want to buy discounted iTunes cards: buy them at Costco.
When I was a Resident Assistant at Winona State University, I put on an award winning program at a regional conference called “Art Therapy.” The premise was that college students could relax and let loose through the process of creation with tactile materials like clay and finger paint. During the program, I played classical music in the background. For one of the sessions, I played slow, soothing music and the entire room was quiet, with each person fully immersed in their own project. I switched it up on the second session—I played classical music with a faster, upbeat tempo resulting in a more social, loud and collaborative group. The music made a huge difference.
At times, I listen to music while I work. Sometimes I need to drown out background noise. Sometimes I use music to try and focus. Most times I pick the wrong type of music for the work I’m doing. In my job as an designer, there are times when I need to focus all my energy on creative and innovative ideas. These are the times when music with lyrics is a no-no, because I’ll sing along to the words—not aloud, but in my mind—which is totally counter productive to coming up with ideas.
Here’s where you come in. Take the poll below. I want to know how many of us listen to music while we work (the poll is anonymous).
Also, I’m enlisting your help to formulate three playlists to use while working. Leave a comment with suggestions on artists or songs that will encourage creativity for the following three playlists:
Calming music—without lyrics
Energizing music—without lyrics
Crazy, fun music—for when you need to let loose and shake-out the stress—with or without lyrics
Next week I will publish complete playlists using your suggestions. Don’t be shy! Leave a comment!
Did today’s weather in Minnesota surprise anyone else? I can’t believe I woke up to a snow-blanketed yard this morning!
Snow in my yard.
Dragonfly on my sidewalk. I think the cold weather pushed him into hibernation unexpectedly. I know he's not dead because he was wiggling his legs very slowly. Hopefully when the weather warms tomorrow, he will awaken and find a better spot to hibernate!
This photograph was taken last Thursday. I was walking into the Minnesota History Center for a lecture, turned around, and saw this. Amazing. I love rainbows!
