Saturday, June 30, 2012

"what is art?"... Quality vs. Quantity

First and foremost these are just my thoughts some may not agree and thats ok but here is what I think about the question... What is art? 

Over the last few months I have faced the age old question time and time again..."what is art?" and I now have my answer.

"art is any form of self expression of high qualityconsistency, and portrays a clear message (even if that message is to remain unclear) "
qual·i·ty
noun
Character with respect to fineness, or grade of excellence: food of poor quality; silks of fine quality. High grade; superiority; excellence: wood grain of quality.


con·sist·en·cy

noun  
Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. There is consistency in his pattern of behavior. Agreement, harmony, or compatibility, especially correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complexthing: consistency of colors throughout the house.


To me art is any form of self expression... it is not mass produced (even though I thoroughly believe Mr. Warhol's work is art) to gain a profit ie. Chihuly and Kinkade, but rather an outlet for people to express themselves and be understood.


Quality plays a huge role in whether or not something can be called art. To me quality in the everyday sense means it is well built, well designed, and overall well executed. To me the only way to gain good quality in a piece of artwork is TIME and more time. This is how good artwork is weeded out of the crowd. It is plain as day the painting, sculpture, or whatever it may be that has time involved and even an attachment to the artist. Obviously a piece you have worked on for a day versus ten years will look completely different and this fortunately is very clear to any viewer.

I would like to take a moment to recognize art work that I feel deserves the title as such click on the artist name to view more of their information... there is:


Artist Billy Pappas  
Artist Tip Toland
Artist Julia Aristides

Well there you have it just my opinion...

What do you think the definition of art is... post your thoughts...

Sunday, June 17, 2012

1 year since "I Do" ... and being married to my best friend

When I was engaged everyone kept telling me their horror stories of marriage, and warning me that it was difficult, telling me to make sure I was ready....

I guess this must not be something one experiences during the first year of marriage because I feel so incredibly blessed and overwhelmingly happy to be married to Paul Eric Miller.

Our first year of marriage has been a whirlwind of incredible changes and although every morning I leave Paul's side and head out into a world of chaos I am filled with an overwhelming sense of love, home, and compassion. I know that there is absolutely nothing that can bring me down because at the end of the day I will always get to return home to Paul. 

Paul and I have actually been together for 4 years and well, I'm assuming if your still reading your going to be interested in our past, so to share a little piece of my happiness with you here it is.

Paul and I went to high school together but we weren't high school sweethearts, in reality we were two band nerds who never spoke to each other until a homecoming game one year after I graduated and the year Paul graduated... yes, I married a younger man.

Our First Date
 Paul and I talked and he mentioned we should hang out eventually he "My Spaced Messaged" me asking if I would like to go to the Seattle Art Museums Roman Art Exhibit of course I said yes! so on March 21st 2008 we headed to Seattle. We had lunch at Lowells in Pikes Place Market, walked through the Olympic Sculpture Park, and checked out the Seattle Library for it's architecture of course. On the way home we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma and I remember thinking what a great time I had and how sweet Paul was. We literally could talk for hours and it felt like only minutes had passed.


The Years in Between 
The first summer I spent with Paul was a blast we had fun doing absolutely nothing! Driving nowhere listening to the Ting Tings, talking for hours and hours on end, using every last drop of every second we could possibly spend together. Then winter came and what should have been the most exciting trip of my life... spending a month in Paris turned into a looming black cloud on the horizon. I didn't want to leave Paul and I know, I know it was just one month, but really he is just such a source of pure happiness in my life that the thought of leaving was just to sad. I got to France and could not for the life of me figure out how to use my phone card... this had me distraught I literally thought I would not be able to talk to Paul for a month. Then one morning the phone in my little hostel room rang and it was Paul! He figured it out for himself and called me every morning. One day he even sent me a song him and his friend had written whose girlfriend was also out of the country... This was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.

When I returned home from France my world was right again as soon as I saw Paul's big smile... 

When it comes to our relationship there is literally nothing I would ever keep from Paul in fact when ever anything bad happens in my life the first thing I do to possibly amend it is to go and tell Paul, and just like that everything is perfect again as if by him knowing and supporting me all my troubles are over.


I know I'm going on and on, but if you love someone then you know exactly my feeling and my amazement that there can be so much love and happiness found in one individual it just has to be shared...


I was talking to Paul the other night about college days and how I miss them and he reminded me of all the time he spent in the Ingram (The Art Building at PLU) He reminded me that I used him as a "dummy" for my human cast in sculpture class... he literally laid there on the sculpture table letting me mummify him in wet cast strips. Poor guy I've put him through a lot. 


ok, ok enough about the past...


I just have to say Paul is the one for me and until we have a family of our own he will continue to fill the pages of this blog as he is source of almost all the happiness in my life plus or minus a couple family members...





Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Dance me to the end of... May:

It's June and almost officially summertime, with that being said here are some of my favorite things from May... Wicked Wahine it's sold at the ABC store in Hawaii so it's not very expensive which is a plus. It smells like plumeria and the beach. love love love it.



This has saved my life! I love my keurig coffee machine but not the expensive k-cups. This way you do not use so much plastic, or waste your favorite ground coffee. 


If you don't know me, then you don't know my absolute hate for TV... it's so distracting and well every time I start watching the next thing I know I've lost an hour of my life.... that being said Paul and I have been watching Top Gear and I'm now addicted. They do the craziest things plus I love their british accents, but we won't tell Paul that.

Shellac nails are heaven... where I work I am not aloud to paint my nails but I got a little braver lately and these are my favorite colors so far... 



Oh and then discovering and loving Madeleine Peyroux I love her clear sultry voice, she will be coming to Seattle on August 29th to the Woodland Park Zoo of all places... and I think I shall be there. 






That sums up Mays favorites...