Monday, July 11, 2011

Mermaids & mermaids

Lately I've been dabbling with making watercolor mermaids, for some reason. They always end up with long torsos because why not! Mermaids! I'm kind of on the fence about whether they wear clothes or not (Do they? Why would they? Should they? Who knows? Questions!), and while I'm inclined to say they don't, one of them just wanted a traditional pink pearly top.







Trying to work on improving my inking has been a challenge, since I find it really easy to make mistakes that are difficult to fix. It was also a tough journey trying to find materials that gave me the result I wanted -- even finding something that would stand up to watercolor without changing or smearing took a long time. Not to mention that the scans always come out looking sort of lifeless in comparison to the original. But overall, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and am looking forward to making heaps of non-mermaid things and silly fan art in the future :)

Friday, May 13, 2011

Hopefully someday this blog will be updated more than four times annually. The last entry was from the beginning of the semester -- a semester that left me pretty worn out. Every semester begins with a promise to myself that I won't stress over things too much, that lasts about three weeks and it's back to full on get-things-done stress mode. I only had three classes, but the preservation, conservation, and archives class really threw me for a loop; writing papers about chemical processes is really tough without a chemistry background, it turns out. Even my classes on reference sources and services were interesting... it turns out there's plenty to know about both!

Recently I started in a new position at a new library, this time up front working in circulation and helping with basic reference stuff. So it turns out that those classes are somewhat useful, too (although they don't help much when trying to teach basic computer skills to patrons on the other side of the digital divide). It's definitely been an interesting experience, and maybe someday I'll become one of those bitchy librarian bloggers who hate you the internet seems to have exploded with.

Probably not though.

Anyway, now that I have some free time again, here's a drawing of what I wore today!



Mostly everything is from Target. After a big allergy attack this morning (sad to say that breathing is, in fact, important to me), comfort was a necessity! Currently reading Joan Aiken's The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories, which is delightful so far.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

What We Wore Today

The new semester starts next week, so it's been a whirl of tracking down the remaining (or surprisingly added at the last minute) necessary textbooks and reading through the first week's assignments. One I'm excited to read is Thomas Mann's Oxford Guide to Library Research -- very entertaining so far and really energizing me for my new classes!

Since my winter wardrobe has grown a bit lately thanks in part to some terrifically lucky vintage finds, I've been trying to get back on my What I Wore Today drawings kick. It's always fun to spend a few minutes browsing through the new additions to Gemma Correll's flickr community pool devoted to this kind of daily self-celebration, if you haven't taken a look I recommend you follow the link. So many artists with such diverse styles contribute their own "looks," it's very inspiring -- especially for fashion-loving yet photo-shy types like me!



This is the second dress I've purchased from Modcloth.com, the "Too Cozy to Be True" dress. Although I do love this darling seasonal number, it's actually a little less cozy than advertised and constructed from fairly thin material. Definitely worth it's not terribly pricey price, though, on cuteness alone (and I bought it when it went on sale!).



This dress was a vintage find, and a good excuse to relearn how to make patterns in Photoshop! The boots and snarky look can both be attributed to the (at the time) impending snow storm, which hit last night and ended up not having much of an impact on anything. Bring it on next time, snow!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011


Happy New Year, all! It's been a long time since my last entry here, but the new year seems like the best time to pick up neglected projects, spruce them up, and see where they can go.

The biggest accomplishment of the year, for me, was starting graduate school and beginning to work toward my MLIS. After much self-doubt about whether or not it was worth pursuing, it felt good to make a decision and start down a path, regardless of the (un)certainty of being able to find a better position after finishing.

In 2011, I hope to make more watercolors, continue needle felting, and as usual read read read! A better goal might be to write, write, write, record, record, record, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Let's hope that the new year holds happiness, creativity, and wonder for everyone!