Back to business

I know I haven't posted since March. Let me explain my absence: The college semester was wrapping up from April to May. I was deep into HTML, CSS, and web graphics. My finals went well, and I now know more about web standards, best practices, and browser compatibility.

Also in May my boyfriend and I attended the wedding of one of my close college friends. The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun. It was well worth the 14 hour flight from Sydney to Los Angeles to be there, and we even got a shout out during the ceremony for our feat.

Shortly after my boyfriend became my fiance. Very exciting! A little overwhelming! Completely awesome!

A few days after getting engaged, my fiance and I left California for the East Coast. We bounced around visiting some of my family and friends, and seeing a lot of sights. I started a travel diary blog of our trip. (I realize I should have posted about this sooner, but it slipped my mind. Call it engagement brain.)

After six weeks of travel, we returned to Sydney. Since returning I've been busy filing visa paperwork, mentally planning the wedding, trying out Instaprints, and looking for a job.

So yeah... very busy summer, and it's not even over.

See America First

The spring semester is wrapping up.  Here's what I've been working on for the past week or so:

 Yosemite

 Yellowstone

The assignment was to create a single poster, but I conceived my project as a series.  Each poster focuses on a specific National Park within the system, but advertises all parks through the slogan "See America First."  Yosemite is what I've turned in, and Yellowstone is just for fun.

Unfortunately I had to use images found online, due to a lack of personal source material.  However, my boyfriend and I are planning a cross-country road trip next summer, and I hope to visit a few parks on the way.  Once I have my own images to work with, I plan to create a couple more posters as portfolio pieces.

I'm also finishing up a small Flash portfolio for my ActionScript class.  I plan on posting that as well, provided I can get all the coding to work correctly!

It's a small world after all

 

Hyde Park.  Sydney, Australia.

Tilt-Shift "miniature" created in Photoshop.

Happy Independence Day!

George Washington Monument from the Potomac River

Wish you were here

I found these old postcards today in my scrapbooking boxes:

A few I'd like to keep, but others would make lovely greeting card artwork.  Looks like I have some brainstorming to do in the next couple weeks.

SYD Lomography

SYD

Back to reality

I've been home for two days, and I already miss Australia. I had a great time, despite the rain that poured during most of my visit (which I was repeatedly told never happens). Photos of my trip will be posted soon, including some fun Lomography shots I'm getting developed.

In the mean time, I'd like to share my favorite souvenir, frankie magazine!


This Aussie publication covers a variety of topics: arts & crafts, photography, cooking, fashion, entertainment, politics, travel. I absolutely love everything about frankie, right down to it's matte pages. Unfortunately, an international subscription is quite pricey. While, I don't think I'll be subscribing as a birthday gift to myself, I might be able to afford it by Christmas.

The next issue hits newsstands June 23, so maybe I'll sweet talk my boyfriend into bringing me a copy when he visits in August.

Endless... Winter?

(Photo from redbubble.com)

In less than a week I'll be on an airplane headed Down Under! This is my first trip to Australia, and I look forward to experiencing Sydney and seeing my boyfriend again. One small problem: it's early winter there. Yep, just as the SoCal weather starts to warm up I'll be headed into the frigid Aussie winter. OK, it doesn't get that cold, but I am giving up two and a half weeks of prime San Diego beach weather.

It's actually kind of fitting that I'll be visiting in winter: I visited Tokyo a few years ago during the winter (my only other international trip outside of North America). While it was quite cold and windy, I still had a great time. Plane tickets were relatively cheap because of the time of year, and it was easies to get time off work after the holiday rush. Japan's culture is very work-oriented, so on weekdays major tourist attractions were virtually empty. (Seriously, if you ever go to Tokyo Disney, go on a Wednesday. You won't wait more than 10 minutes for a ride.) All things considered, visiting Tokyo in winter was a wise decision.

Here's hoping Sydney in May will be even better!

One Awesome Road Trip

I've been neglected the blog lately due to my holiday retail job. The money and discount are great, but my art time has taken a bit of a hit. Still, it's nice having some extra moola lining my wallet this time of year.

One of the (many) things I'm saving up for is travel. While I'm primarily saving for some international travel, I love exploring places in the US as well. I've always wanted to visit more of America's National Parks, and photographer Ian Shive's work is definitely inspiring:




I hope to post again tomorrow with a whole mess of updates: sold items, Social Vibe stats, and maybe even a counter update.

Fun distractions...

Meeting Gene Wilder at a book signing. March 13th





The Getty Villa. January

Procrastination and Japan....

Long time, no post. Between the holidays and a short trip to Japan, I haven't posted in awhile. Bad, I know.
Yes, during January I spent an all too short trip to Tokyo, Japan with my boyfriend. We visited a friend of his who is spending a year in Tokyo teaching English to elementary school kids. We did a little sight seeing, and had a lot of fun!
Now that school has started up again, I'll be posting more frequently (I promise).

Tokyo Dome City


Me and Andrew in Shibuya


Tokyo Tower


The Imperial Palace