Thursday, March 24, 2011

Any which way





I haven't been able to get myself to work on any of my drawing projects but I since I was on my own creative time and wanted to use it wisely, I figured out a way to have some kind of outlet today... after cleaning up some paper piles, gathering up recycling and a few things to give to Housing Works. (http://www.housingworks.org/donate/) BTW, they are opening up an outpost in my area soon and they are asking for gently used items to be dropped off this Saturday.

Anyway, what I came up with for myself today is a series of "window collages." I had a large pack of paper scraps from Kate's Paperie (http://www.katespaperie.com/) that I was sorting through and I noticed some of the see-through and transparent scraps, held them up to the light and decided it would be fun to tape some up in the window to make a collage. I'm so glad it was a partly-sunny day! Above are a few examples. You can see more at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26119264@N00/sets/72157626341720236/

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

For me, the freelance-office-gig to working-creatively-at-home transition is always a little tough. I certainly look forward to my less structured days but laundry, gym time, and internal battery-recharging is always in the mix. I'm blogging today as a way to bridge the gap this time.

I am looking forward to my trip to Europe which is coming up in April. It has been quite some time since I've been out of the country now and it would be putting it lightly to say that I am looking forward to it! I'll be visiting friends in Barcelona and then meeting up with a gang of single ladies for sight-seeing and celebration in Paris. As luck would have it, my parents will also be in Paris one of the days that I'm there, so I'll get to see them, too.

With this trip, I am finding that more than any other I have been on, the anticipation and planning are almost as good as actually being on the trip! This is mainly because of the large number of blogs and apps that have come into existence since the last time I traveled. I have downloaded tourist guide apps from TimeOut for both Barcelona and Paris, so I can browse activities and facts on my phone wherever I happen to be.

I have also been browsing through blogs and travel websites for each city... here are a few of my favorites:

Paris:
http://dailyphotoparis.blogspot.com/ (Each day, a beautiful shot of the City of Light)
http://badaude.typepad.com/my_weblog/ (A U.K. ex-pat illustrator's take on Paris life and art)
http://bbonthebrink.blogspot.com/ (More excellent photography)
http://parisbymouth.com (Daily restaurant and food-related blog)
http://www.girlsguidetoparis.com/ (A great all-around travel blog)

Barcelona:
http://www.barcelonaphotoblog.com/ (Daily photos from around the city)
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/travel/26hour.html (36-Hours in Barcelona)

Yes, the list for Paris is longer, but keep in mind, there are 5 other women involved in that trip and we've been sending one another Paris web links for the past few weeks. I also did a search on Google Earth for the address of our hotel in Montmatre... really fun!

So I hope this trip brings plenty of new energy and inspiration; traveling internationally always does the trick for me.

Au revior and hasta le vista!