hello autumn.

Yesterday a couple of girlfriends and I went for a field trip to the Norton Simon. I had especially wanted to go see the Hiroshige exhibit. His work is amazing! I love Japanese woodblock prints, and highly recommend you go see the show if you can, it was so lovely. I also loved strolling through the gardens there, and we may have done a bit of shopping afterwards. It was a splendid Saturday afternoon.

Today I'm taking it kind of easy. The plan was to try to work on some new things for holiday, but I am feeling particularly uninspired, so instead I am making things in the kitchen. Roasted procrastination peppers, anyone?

beach days

Last weekend I spent sometime relaxing on a lovely beach and realized that I need to do more of this before summer's end! The weather here today seems a bit overcast for that, but I wish you all a lovely summer weekend just the same!

coffee break

I splurged on a 75-cent piece of fleur-de-sel caramel yesterday and it went perfectly with my afternoon espresso. It was delicious! Somehow yesterday's hours filled up with various outings with friends, so today I am determined to get some real work done. Hope you're enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon--it is gorgeous weather out in this end of the world!

Oh and don't forget, Mother's Day is just a couple weeks away! I'm sometimes guilty of waiting until the last minute to figure something out for such holidays. Make sure to get mamma something special, or if possible spend some quality time together!

fresh air helps.

This past week or two, I seem to have lost much of my card-making momentum.
Sometimes, it is so easy to just allow life to take over and suck me dry of any motivation to create. Sometimes, it takes an art-filled afternoon field trip and the company of a great friend to turn things around. The gorgeous, slightly breezy weather also helped!


This also means that I did absolutely nothing on the card-making front yesterday- and on a prime Saturday, just weeks away from Renegade Austin! I'm glad I went, though--the Brewery art walk did wonders for my eyes and spirit. I always find it very inspiring to see artists' work in the context of their live/work spaces and make the connection between their art and a slice of their personal world. There is such a variety of art and people here, it must be amazing to live in the complex.

I'd been to the Brewery once before, but it was a few years ago and I think it was a much shorter visit. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized how large the place is. Huge! Our feet were tired before we could get through all of it, but we both felt like we saw a good amount(read: lots and lots).

As interesting as some of these studios were to walk through, I generally refrained from photographing the interiors, other than a few shots of a performance and some signage. I suppose that in a way I feel like it'd be invading. Even if they are made open to the public a couple weekends a year, many of these are private spaces. I wouldn't really want random strangers photographing my space, you know?

I leave you with this image from one of the studio entrances (Ahem--mother, if you are reading this, please do not scroll down!). Today will surely be filled with drawing and ink and watercolors. I must put some ideas down on paper before they fade away! There is no more time for screwing around.