found objects

fallen patterns, mixed media (watercolor, pencil, leaves, paper) 9x12, 2010.

my assignment this week in art therapy was to make a found object collage/painting.

a few weeks ago, while waiting outside the painting annex for class, i found this beautiful leaf that i've been keeping in my planner, a reminder that fall is right around the corner. today outside my house, i found another leaf about the same size (the yellow one) which i pasted into my sketchbook with part of a map of spain. the pattern and colors on the leaf are very similar to the mapping. i then sketched and painted with watercolor a pear that fell from our tree during last night's storm. i had forgotten how much i enjoyed painting with water color, and will probably be experimenting more with it soon. the negative space between the pear and the leaves and map is painted with very rushed strokes, which was cathartic for the stress i am dealing with right now. (three exams and a paper this week.)

but... here is to autumn, my favorite time of year.

scribble

scribble drawing, marker on paper, 18x24, 2010.

the scribble drawing, created (independently) by art therapists cane and winnecott, is a technique used to reduce inhibitions and liberate imagery from the unconscious. basically, you use a self made scribble as an visual beginning for an image.

in class, kharta and i made scribbles using blue and green markers. out of those chaotic, yet flowery lines, we found three very abstract figures. my favorite is the open mouthed figure on the right, mainly because the profile reminds me of picasso. the middle floating figure has its arms up in a apathetic gesture, and the bottom left seems to be throwing up. we couldn't resist coloring in a tongue. kharta and i were able to keep a similar rhythm flowing in our lines, working together to mirror the design and direction. i love this class.

learning to be still

i miss the simplicity of a life full of intricate plans, never time to think too hard, to read between lines that don't exist. i miss spain, all of its adventures, its corners, its people, its golden late night glows. even though my spirit was so wilted. i miss tallahassee. everyone there.

we're all in this dance.

i need my song to change.

i am not without hope, only throwing my mountains & giants into the sea. i know what comes out of times like these. these are my streams in the desert.

above the archway, it is painted:

be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise.

view

from

the

top

of

notre

dame.

i

screamed

when

it

glittered.

oscar wilde

and the

residue

of

adoration.

pare le chais

is one of

the most beautiful

(and one of

my favorite)

places in paris.

je me suis mise a écouter la musique et jai oublié mais un air de piano vaut tout...

paris is a delightfully lovely city when rid of a lazy lot.

which memories do i hold onto?

regardless, i will never stop loving her monuments.

andalucia

andalucia. a name as pretty as the stripes and arches of ancient stones born from al-andalus, when the moors reigned this region. in the south of this iberian peninsula that i absolutely adore.

cordoba was first, the mezquita and its stripes of red and white, too many for eyes to focus amongst such ornate design. so interesting, to see a cathedral sitting squat inside a mosque that way. but so beautiful.

sevilla, my favorite, open and wide. Plaza de Espana, where parts of Planet Nabu (star wars!) was filmed. world fair pavillions and gardens so green, but the children would only stare at the ducks swimming in the fountain water, when the photos i took were tinted so blue.

the cathedral was beautiful, the bell tower views spread so nice, but really, columbus' skeleton? i "saw" them in la republica dominicana too. a shame his brittle little discoverin' bones have been jumbled about across oceans so much.

my two favorite photos

granada, the alhambra. like walking on holy ground. generalife. hen-air-alh-lee-fay. swishing of red and the claps of fierce looking women and fabio men, spanish guitar to make us melt. the flamenco show was most enjoyable. i smoked sheesha for the first time, light and dizzy and apple flavored sweetness. pakistani tea with milk&honey, leaves slippin in my sips like the smoke was slipping into the silk. those cushions weren't as comfortable as they looked. the nightlife was best; too many tasty tapas and taps at the tables and we were all too cozy and drunk to find home again.

it was a lovely few days, however rushed we were.

toledo

these views were worth the weekend.

wrapped.

hehe

not the largest, not the oldest; but the most important cathedral in spain.

toledo: forty minute train ride from madrid.

we almost missed the train, we even had to run: too obsessed with the fresh zumo de naranja, siempre sin azucar: no lo necesita. i loved the cypress trees, the agave plants (that weren't quite as rare as we thought) the sandy clustered rooftops, this gym of a city on a hill we climbed and clawed and clustered our way through. el greco and his ghostly faces, our sideways lunch; i can get the check right quick? gotta stop for souvs!

love is not a victory march

my first weekend trip was to madrid, in january.

mainly madrid was full of my melting memories and magnificent museums, nicecream, the best sangria i've still yet to taste, and for the first time knowing why anyone (l) loves cold, grey weather, and seeing that beauty in the swirling lyrics in my head. we made the most of those shin splints.

windmills from windows, beirut in my ears.

it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.

optical illusions

exhausted conclusions.

i cannot count our endless cafes con leches.

we loved el azul.

museo nacional del prado, la reina sofia, y museo thyssen-bornemisza were breathtaking and overwhelming in the best way possible. even better than anything paris has to offer.