A New Creation

I'm starting a new oil painting for my mom. It's a garden scene. She's going to put it over her bed.

This is my sketching out where everything will basically go...

...and this is what it looks like after the first coat of paint!

(Stay tuned for when I start putting more layers on it!)

Long time, no SEE!

Some things I've worked on over the summer!!
I experimented with Rorschach ink blot tests... what do you see and how does it make you feel?

#1

#2

#3

#4

Some faces...

I actually did several studies of blossom branches. This one was one of my last in that series.

Doodling with sharpies.

Painting Party!

Today was my first official day off from school work!! So, my roommates had a little painting party! The following is our work...

"Leaves" by: Kezia
"Chinese Cherry Blossoms" by: Kezia
"Abstract" by: Jaimee (my roommate)
"Forged Leaves" by: Kezia
"Red Leaf on Stone" by: Heidi (my other roommate)

My Earthship Model

So, for my Housing class, we all did 15 hr projects that we worked on throughout the semester. My project was studying Earthships and learning what it would take to build one in Kansas.... I had LOTS of fun! One of the professors helped me by letting me borrow some Earthship books.... she's an Earthship nerd like me!! I made a model of a basic one to scale. Here it is!

Here's the inside, looking at the planter in front of the window.

Here's the front. Complete with a wind generator and solar panel to provide electricity!

Here's where you enter! The front door!

This Semester So Far

I Seriously want an Earthship!

I'm doing a research project on the architect, Michael Reynolds. He created a completely self sustaining home that not only houses people, but feeds them, too! Using solar and/or wind energy for electricity and each house has it's own water storage system! The water is collected from melted snow and rain.

The walls are made from old car tires, stuffed with earth, and non-load bearing walls are made of glass or aluminum cans bound with a cement mixture. From the angle the big windows are placed the sun comes in the house, heats it up and makes the plants grow. You can grow almost anything from banana trees to herbs to your own fish pond!
Books for my research... I haven't started yet...

My studio project, a Visitor's Center. I'm doing a South East Alaska Native Center in Skagway, Alaska

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As the saying goes... 'New year, new you!' Well, I learned about eating raw food over Christmas break and I was very eager to try it! So, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a raw food cookbook... there wasn't much to choose from, so I chose the one with the prettiest looking cover, the best pictures and simplest recipes. Turns out it was the BEST book EVER!!!! The author is Ani Phyo (said, 'Pee-o').

I'm not completely 100% eating raw, but I'm close enough for now. Enough to feel a difference in my body and my digestive system. It's like my body's saying, "THANK YOU!!"

So, Here's some of the creations I made yesterday...

This isn't a creation, it's just me and my sister on New Year's Eve, having fun taking pictures in the car.

No kelp noodles at the health food store, so I just got regular Pad Thai noodles.
Sprinkled cabbage and basil on top.
Then made this AMAZING sauce!! It tastes just like normal Pad Thai, only not hot and with no meat. The big flavors came from raw almond butter, coconut oil, and ground coriander.
Me, eating it!!! SOOOO GOOD!!
Then I made a personal size flourless cake for dessert! Using walnuts and pecans as a base, and binding it together with dates and agave nector.... REALLY good as well!!
The white 'frosting' was just pecans, coconut oil and vanilla.
And then today I made a salad with the Pad Thai stuff I had left over! Just added some spinach and made a Rawmesan cheez out of pecans, garlic and salt! SOOOO GOOD!

I don't know if I'll ever want to go back to eating like the way I did!!

My Jane Austen Bonnet!!

My supplies and color pallet

I just cut a cheap straw hat in half (but I ended up using the bigger half, instead

of the smaller half)

Half way done, I sewed the edges of the fabric by hand, and glued

everything on with a hot glue gun.

The finished inside!! I bought some really pretty lace! and added ribbon

to tie it around my chin.

A closer view of the lace and faux pearls on the inside brim.

The outside... I may add more embellishments later, but this is basically it.

Me in my fun bonnet!!

Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson is a British author on creativity in the public education system. He was a professor for awhile. He is really interesting and entertaining to listen to! His talks are about the public education system or I guess just the way society educates in general today and how we as humans are not reaching our potential, but instead stuck on the idea of this 19th century idea of mass production; or in this case, mass education!!

He came to K-State and spoke last week. Tickets were free to students, but I didn't know who he was last week! Now I DO! I'm so mad at myself that I didn't go to listen to him!!

Each video is about 20 minutes long, but TOTALLY worth it!

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Part 2: http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

Rendering

Right now in my Interior Design studio we are doing what's called "rendering." To me, I think rendering sounds like it means mowing the lawn or something.... But it's basically just putting color in our drawings. We're working with either marker, colored pencil, or pastel. I prefer marker (although it's a little difficult at times, but I like a challenge!), but colored pencil is the easiest to work with, in my opinion.

These are the copies of drawings that I made and practiced coloring on.
More practicing getting specific shades and tints...
These are some of the raw drawings I had drafted (these are the copies of the origonal, though)

My Summer....

I enjoyed my last year in Skagway!! I learned how to make coffee (which was fun), made some friends, had some awkward moments, saw beautiful landscapes and even the Northern Lights!!! Seeing the Northern Lights made me cry... they were so surreal! Here is a summery of what else I did this summer....

I became obsessed with the Twilight series!

(Started out reading Twilight and I just couldn't

stop!( I read books 1,2 and 4. Book 3 was checked out, but I did get to see the movie. Now that I'm home I will be reading the 3rd book.) By the end of the summer I

had read 10 books!! That's a record for me!)

Took a tour on the Island Princess cruise ship with

the Captian (we had connections...) and ate dinner.

Ended up taking the ferry from Belingham, WA to

Skagway.

Ate WONDERFUL meals with Deborah (and my roommate, Alli)

And on the way home, slept on a king size bed, all by myself!

This is a video of the bears we saw in the Yukon... So cute!

Talent Show

the video is a bit dark but you can hear us.

This is me and Charles singing a song by Sally Deford at our Branch Talent Show.
Emma played the piano.

Mother's Day!

This is my Mom...this is me making my Mom a Red Velvet cake w/ home made butter cream icing....yummy!
this is the finished project right before we all devoured it!
this is us spending time on Mother's Day with Dad....so that he too can feel appreciated as a mother.