On Painting

I'm currently taking a painting class at college and it's been really satisfying. Art classes are just pure fun for me. I'm on my 6th painting for the semester (I'm not sure if that's fast or slow). My friend in that class is a much faster painter than me and she's always asking our professor for new assignments. She's done like double the paintings as me. I'm okay with being slow when it comes to painting. It's not something that needs to be rushed. There are no deadlines in this class. There are new assignments and critiques, but I could technically continue to work on one painting for the whole semester. I don't. I'm very much a "check that off the list" type of person, and so I need to say that something is done, even if it's art. 

I know that art is a hard career to be in. For people to say they want to be a painter is a bold and ambitious statement. It takes skill. We all know that. I don't personally know any professional painters. Do you? Come to think of it, professional painters do exist -- and not just in Paris or New York. In Minneapolis, we have lots of art fairs during the summer. At those fairs I've seen artists' booths full of beautiful paintings and they're sold for lots of money. Whether these artists make a living solely off their paintings, I don't know.  Today I discovered a blogger who's a full time painter. Painting is her thing and that's how she makes a living. I think her work is beautiful. It's the kind of work that sells, and that's how she can be an employed artist. Here's her site emilyjeffords.com, if you're interested. Here's a glimpse of her painting:

Simple, beautiful strokes. This is what I think of when I think of painting. This is something I would want. It's inspiring seeing people who love doing something and then go turn that passion into a career. I guess that's my main message with this post. I love hearing (in this case, seeing) stories of people who love what they do and do it exceptionally well. 

Shops I Like: Photojojo

Have you heard of Photojojo? It's a quirky photography shop for the everyday photographer (like me, and probably you!) I think they are pretty rad. I love browsing through their site and reading all their product descriptions-- it's all so witty. I wanted to showcase some of my favorite items from their shop! I'll let the pictures do the talking. I'm going to hopefully try out a product or two this summer!

Color Flash Filters  $15 - For some fun colors

                                                             Macro lens band $15 - For stellar details

iPhone Bolt Charger  $60 - For on the go

Instax Printer $220 - For fun prints!

iPhone Super Suit $79 - Everyone needs a super suit

Phoneography Starter Kit $30 - For the Basics

Oh, they have so much! And if I had an extra $9639.84 to kill I would buy one of everything they sell! 

On a related note, I'm doing a moments in June photography challenge on Instagram. Today I posted a picture of a trash can for day 8, so that's pretty exciting. yeah. 

All images belong to Photojojo

Despite the Madness

This has been one of those weeks where there has been a million thoughts in my head, but nothing is organized, and I just don't have the desire to sit and try to write something out. There was a building explosion in my neighborhood, and the teacher I work with has been absent all week because of the stomach flu. Lots of chaos. I started reading this Journal prompt, and my apathy towards writing for the day changed.

I guess I'll call this...Thursday Thoughts? Maybe just a Thursday dump? The question she asked was, "If you had unlimited resources, what political or social issue, or area of scientific or medical exploration would you fund? Do you have a cause that is near and dear to your heart that you'd put your time, energy, and money into if you had the means? Tell us about it, along with a bit of background explaining where you're coming from."

Can you take a guess at what cause I'm going to talk about? I live it all the time... yeah, education. If I'm not thinking about the education of 25 other 12 year-olds, I'm thinking about my education, or my siblings' education, or my friends' education; education is on my mind a lot. There's no doubt there's a problem with the education system in the South Bronx...in New York City...in America, and so many people are trying to solve it. When I started my year of service, I had a lot more optimism about closing the achievement gap and helping students get an education than I do now, but there's still things that can be done even though it's such a challenge. I haven't lost all hope! One area of school service that has always been relatively successfully (and a highlight of my day) has been the art club I run with another co-worker and approximately 10 students at the middle school. 

Doing art with the students has been relaxed, but disciplined at the same time. The kids act like civil and creative human beings when they engage in an art project. I've loved seeing creativity come out in the students, and I love the conversations that come up during the time. Students do not have any art classes during the school day, so I'm glad we can offer it to them in the after school space.  

A midst all the test-prep, math, and ELA students have to do, having the chance to be creative and inventive is very important for their education and well-being. I would love to further art education in schools. Art education can certainly go beyond things like painting and sculpture-making. Art education can be poetry, theatre, music, and I would even add subjects like computer science, robotics, and other technical subjects to the list. If a kid can be creative, then it's art in my books. Yes, art-education is more expensive and harder to manage, but those are the classes that students can flourish in and grow. These are the classes where they can be proud of their work they made and have something to show off for years. 

Art was always a safe and exciting place for me as a student, and I want more students to feel that way about it too. Art allows students to break out of the mold and be different from their peers. I know that art alone is NOT the answer to the education crisis, but from my experience, giving students the opportunities to be creative produces great things. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that education policy is an issue I would love to support and fund during my lifetime. I already moved thousands of miles away from home to work in the poorest congressional district in the country to serve in a failing middle school. That's one step in the right direction. I know I'm not an expert, but I'm passionate about it, and passion takes people places. 

What are your passions? Even if you share a word or two, I want to know what causes are on your mind.

**Random note** I wanted you to be aware of the definition of mad according to Urban Dictionary. I hear this word from the mouths of my students all the time. They say it, so I incorporated it into my title. "Mad: Most predominantly used in the greater New York area, "mad" translates into 'a lot' or 'extremely.' For the most part, it means angry. It's mad hot today. She has mad problems."

Photography love.

Olivia Bee. 

She's too cool for school. literally.

Bee is a 19 year old, Brooklyn-based photographer who creates the dreamiest images I've ever seen. I'm crushing over all of them.  I discovered her in Emerging Photographer magazine and absolutely loved what I saw. She started photography at age 11 and gained attention by posting pictures onto her flickr page. Now,  she's already done work for Adias, New York Times, and Converse. Photography has become her full-time gig, and she easily puts in 80 hour work weeks. She says, "I forget about showing the product because I want to shoot a beautiful photo." 

I'm certain Bee will continue to make stellar images, and I look forward to seeing her go far in her career. 

Check out her site for more. 

Her instagram is also worth checking out. 

Do you have a favorite photographer? Let me know! I want to see her/his work. 

*All photos in this post belong to Olivia Bee, and are not my own*

*Facts are from Emerging Magazine, Spring 2014*

Anything Goes Art {CC 3/23}

At first I didn't think I would be able to do this post because I had City Year all day. I didn't get home 'til 9:15 pm! This week New York public schools have off, but we still have to put in hours with City year.  Instead of the usual service, we are doing mid-year summit which consists of professional development, workshops and sessions to better our service in the classroom. Today, one of our sessions was focused on self-care. Our service is stressful and sometimes we just need to do something for us. In other words, we had the opportunity to relax. Some of the options were meditation, yoga, "chat and chew," painting, basketball, and other random ones. 

I joined the water-painting crew and enjoyed an hour of just playing with watercolor and paper. I wouldn't consider what I made art, but it definitely gave me the chance to let out a little creativity in a stress-free and relaxing environment. 

What self-care looked like for me:

Find out more about my City Year Experience:
A Day in the Life
What Fires You Up?

How do you self-care? Do you enjoy water color?

What's in the name?

Naming a blog is tough. Naming a child is tough. Good thing I don't have to think about that. :)

This blog is in an interesting stage because I am transitioning it over from a public journal for friends and family to a lifestyle blog that I want to consistently post on for anyone to read. I'm trying to beef up the quality and quantity of my posts and maintain aesthetics when it comes to posting and my blog's overall feel. I started taking blogging seriously two months ago, but I named (and started') this blog 1.5 years ago. 

During the blog name-thought-process I knew I didn't want my name to be in the title (I.e. Musings of Abby). I didn't want the name to be something too narrow like Minneapolis Girl, because then I would feel this invisible pressure to only blog about Minneapolis. The same would be true if I had fashion, sports, or art in the title. I just didn't want my blog to be limited. 

I wanted something simple and a bit abstract.  I didn't want it to be cliche or boring (Don't we all?). I wanted it to be a platform where I can share what's going on in my life. 

The name BECOMING seemed to fit the bill. 

I still like the name, but I wish it was a little bit more light-hearted and maybe more content specific. But for now, I'm content with this blog and its name. 

Do you blog? How do you feel about your blog's name? 

Socrates Sculpture Park

I think I discovered something pretty sweet today. Socrates Sculpture park is practically an outside museum in Long Island City, Queens. The work featured at this park is great for playing on and admiring. Sculptures are made from recycled/re-purposed materials. There's so much variety, you're sure to find a piece you love! If you're in New York, I encourage you to visit! It's FREE. We were the only ones there at the time, which was actually really fun. It must be a secret to most people....

  

And please, we must respect the fact there is sun and nooo snow on the ground and it's the middle of January! New York, you are wonderful. 

Check out their page: Socrates Sculpture Park

My Happy Place

I love the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I was so happy to go back there today and visit with my old boss. This is the place I had my first job and I learned to APPRECIATE art. I started working there because I really wanted to work with kids, but I experienced much more. The MIA is in a season of change right now which is exciting. They are slowly becoming more than just a traditional museum. They are bringing in new restaurants, they revamped the museum shop, they started a teen night, and they are changing the way they inform people about the artwork in the museum. Check it out!

There are some pretty sweet museums in New York, but the MIA will always be my favorite. It's a welcoming and colorful place to be. It feels like home. 

Check out the MIA site for more information!

Taking stock

Making : time to blog
Cooking : sweet potato french fries
Drinking : grape fruit juice
Reading: Tuck Everlasting
Wanting: a massage
Looking: through glasses.
Laughing: because a teacher I work with bought me a lottery ticket today.
Wasting: lettuce.
Wishing: all my family and friends lived close by.
Enjoying: sweater weather!
Waiting: for December 21st
Helping: students work with their new laptops.
Wondering: when the hot water will be on. 
Listening: the Civil Wars. Not sure why it took me so long....
Hoping: that it stays warm this winter
Needing: to sleep
Smelling: Anthro Avocado + mint candle
Wearing: White tee. Black pants.
Noticing: that I'm a little warm and my elbow itches. 
Thinking: about having 3 roommates instead of 2.
Feeling: fine
Liking: the picture below:

Image from: http://www.brachelboulevard.com/

A Chelsea Art Gallery

Yesterday I found out about the David Zwirner Gallery and I was super intrigued. The exhibit I saw closes next weekend so I decided to go today even though the snow was piling down. Once I arrived at the gallery the exhibit I really wanted to see had a 5 hour wait, so opted for the other line and waited a half an hour to see "I who have arrived in Heaven." We were allowed in the gallery for 1 minute and then we had to leave. I spent the whole time taking pictures. The objects are balloon-like statues that change color. The walls are made of mirrors. The lady with the red hair is Yayoi Kusama, the artist.

This is the Infinity Room (the other exhibit). I was hoping to see it, but I knew that I would freeze and starve if I had to wait in line for 5 hours. 

Oh, but it looks amazing. I can only imagine.

Imagery courtesy David Zwirner Gallery, Steven Meidenbauer, and Rebecca Dale Photography. (via designboom)

This is Dedicated to Benji

When my family helped me move to New York back in August my brother only wanted to do one thing and that was,

"Yo, can we go to southside Queens to see graffiti?"

Ben isn't a man of many words, but he was persistent with this request and unfortunately we never went together.  I brushed the idea aside because I wasn't a fan of Queens and I didn't realize that the graffiti was legit. This area is located off Court street, and it covers an abandoned building called 5 Pointz. I wish I was able to see the graffiti with Ben, but I enjoyed visiting it with my City Year team.
In honor of him I took pictures. 

Godzilla

This is for my Dad. 

I love my team. Unity!

no caption.