Italian Film
It only took me three months to get my pictures developed from my trip to Italy. I’ve been known to take years. That’s the beauty of film, it’s like a little surprise every time you pick up the prints. We decided to go all out with the Italian Riveria theme and take posed shots around the neighborhood.
No big deal, just picking olives in the front yard. TAKE ME BACK.
Cute. Part Deux.
Remember my friend Shayla and her adorable kiddos? We decided that it was time for a reunion and another round of Dress-up mural photo shoot. We spent an hour planning out outfits and a location and got everything prepared except we forgot one thing: the weather. When you’re either in air conditioning or inside a pool, you forget how unforgivable the heat can be. So our shoot ended up turning into 15 mins of full concentration, then the sun fried our brains apathetic and we left for air-conditioned smoothies.
European Cities Postcards
I’ve gotten a little bit obsessed with matching beautiful typography with the aesthetic of different European cities. My postcard designs just keep growing so I thought I’d make the entire collection available at my shop. Check out all my European postcards here.
Went on a Date
with Amsterdam. I figure we should have one last moment together before we are torn apart tomorrow! I’ll stop being dramatic but seriously, this city has graced me with great weather this week which makes it all the more difficult to leave such a beauty.
This man looks like he’s floating!
Bahh cute little tiny bicycles. Will miss this.
So Much Beauty in Dirt
Oh I’m just procrastinating from packing up my house and having photoshoots with beautiful dying flowers. And I like this song.
Farewell Amsterdam
It makes my heart ache just writing this but it’s official: I’m moving out of the most adorable city in the world. I’ve had a great three-year run and my time here has shaped and changed me in ways that’s still difficult to comprehend. I’m pretty sad to go but I’m also really excited for what is in store for me. My future is still yet to be determined and it’s always exciting to dive into the unknown. All I know for now is that I’m getting on an airplane back to the motherland and regrouping in hot hot Texas for a bit. Then, who knows? Only time will tell.
The first weeks of being in Amsterdam.
Beautiful houseboats, beautiful canals.
I will miss you dappermarkt!
Queens Day, aka the best party in the world
Summer in Oosterpark
Crashing gallery openings
There’s more than prostitution in Amsterdam windows.
So many parties in this house.
I will miss the bicycle more than anything.
Winter, houseboat, boyfriend!
They love dem flowers here.
A short film I made when I first moved to Amsterdam.
Creativity and the Brain
I started this site about six months ago to more or less catalog my interests and personal work. But when I look back and study all the posts I’ve published so far, I’m starting to see that my blog is just a big love letter to creativity. I’m obsessed with the creative mind. I love anything imaginative and thought provoking. Whether it manifests itself in a film, a painting, a delicious meal, or an idea, as long as it has a spark, I’m interested. I’m not fussed by the medium.
So now that I’ve defined what my blog is about, I want to share this podcast from the Guardian Science Weekly about creativity and the brain. Neuroscientist John Lehrer and author of Imagine -How Creativity Works sheds light on some of the scientific mysteries behind the creative mind. Most people define a creative discovery coming to the person as an “ah ha” moment, like an epiphany that just appeared to them. Bob Dylan describes the song “Like a rolling stone” as a pure moment of insight, a flooding in of lyrics and music. Because the very idea of creativity is so ethereal, science has had a difficult time measuring and studying how these moments appear into the mind. But many of the observations they have made are pretty telling.
They found that students who are too drunk to drive are 30% better at solving creative problems. Obviously rock stars and many writers are already aware of the creative benefits of drugs and alcohol, they realize your ah ha moments usually does not come from sitting in front of a computer. But while inspiration is a key to creativity, the other main ingredient needed is persistance. Success comes from perspiration and going through revisions and edits.
So how do you maximize your creativity? Work really really hard. What separates Picasso, Einstien, Dylan from others? Single mindedness and persistence.
Posters Galore
I got a little carried away and printed more plotter prints for my etsy shop. The image above is what is currently above my bed. I love these vintage styled ladies looking perfectly elegant in horrible snowy weather. I’ve yet to figure how to be this classify in the winter.
A Painting Experiment
I usually paint by looking at an object or a picture but lately I’ve been bored with the results. So I thought I’d try out painting from my brain. Here are the results. Also it’s my first time trying out gouache paint. I think I want dive deeper into this more abstract style and see what else my subconscious is thinking about.
Links
