Europe '08

So finally here it is ... a blog post about our trip to Europe this last May. I think the pictures speak for themselves... so I'm not going to go into huge detail about everything we did. However, all I can say is that it was amazing ... it was beautiful, fun, and exciting. Definitely an experience I will always remember. It was so great to have my boyfriend Tommy and our mutual best friend Jeff with me.

We started off in Stuttgart, Germany. [that's where I'm originally from] We stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, where we had a great room to stay in and Ute (my aunt) made us breakfast and dinner everyday. They were so generous. So I showed Tommy and Jeff where I grew up and what means so much to me. We visited some castles, historic sites, different towns, and went out at night. We also visited my friends Sara and Lessa, who I hadn't seen in such a long time. I love those girls and it was so exciting to see them again.

From Germany, we took the night train to Amsterdam. (I don't think we slept very much due to the symphony of snores that surrounded us) We ended up staying at a Holiday Inn in Schiphol (right outside of Amsterdam) ... Tommy works for the Holiday Inn and was able to get the employee discount of 31 Euros a night! What a steal for a room that normally would have cost over 200 a night! It was so awesome exploring Amsterdam ... none of us had ever been there before so the whole time was an adventure. We rented some Dutch bikes and rode around as the city passed us by. Let me tell you ... that's the ONLY way to get around in Amsterdam. We walked the first 2 days and were so tired and achy, so the bikes were our only option and ended up being one of our most memorable events.
Among other things, we got some neat little trinkets at a street market, admired the little houses on the canals, spent some time in the coffeeshops and really let the culture soak in. We visited the Van Gogh museum, which I was so excited about ... Vincent is one of my favorite artists and to see his work in person was really incredible.

After 3 days in Amsterdam we took the morning train to Paris. I have been to Paris before and it was nice the first time, but the second time wasn't so impressive. It was so hot, crowded, tourist-trappy and dirty. But I'm glad we went ... mainly because it's just one of those cities everyone should go see... so much history, culture and social refereces are derived from Paris.
I did realize though, that I much rather enjoy going to cities and towns that are not so popular and over-commercialized. I really like visiting a place and seeing how the people there really live and how they are, not just the certain attractions you visit just because they are popular and everyone goes to see it, half the people not even knowing WHY it's popular in the first place. Don't get me wrong, it's great to see these places but overall we really enjoyed the smaller, not commercialized places.

After Paris, we took the night train (in our own private couchette) back home to Germany to stay another 5 days.
All three of us unanimously like Germany the most - it really is a wonderful country with so much to see and the most delicious food to eat. I miss my home in Germany, and am often torn about whether or not to go back to live for a while and try something new. It inspired me to do it ... we'll see what happens.

Europe was amazing. I'm so excited because I'm already planning our trip for next spring.
Tentative plans: Germany, Sweden, & a Mediterranean cruise of southern Spain, France, Italy and possibly the Greek islands. I also really want to visit Lisbon, Portugal. Ahhhh, I can't wait :)

More Flipside

So, since I have started posting the covers for Flipside on my blog, I guess I can't just stop, right? Ok, well whether or not you want to see them, here they are. These are the most recent covers. [issue dates 7.17.08 - 7.31.08]

New Inspiration

So I am pretty much obsessed with art, design ... and not only seeing it, or getting better at it, but finding new artists and resources to inspire me. I've already purchased a large number of books that are just amazing eye candy to me. I also subscribe to art/design magazines and read blogs and internet articles, blah blah blah. All these things are such an inspiration and anytime I am stuck on what to do, I can flip open a page in one of these books or magazines and something I see will spark a new idea in my head.

So, to get to the point of this blog, I recently found an artist, Linda Zacks, that just struck me as absolutely amazing. Talk about an inspiration overload! So I decided to write a little blog about her because she's that good.

I am in love her work and style. She's an illustrator and graphic designer and mixes the two in the most rad way. Every one of her pieces have so much expression, power and voice - exactly what art is intended to do.

I wanted to upload some samples of her art, so enjoy what's below ... because I know it excites me.
All images copyrighted by Linda Zacks

Also, check out her website at:
http://extra-oomph.com/newoomph/

Arts Festival '08

The Utah Arts Festival was about two weeks ago and the main reason I went was to see Alison Armstrong's booth. I have known Alison for about 8 years, she used to be my neighbor.I used to spend a lot of time in her photo studios and in her train car at The Heber Valley Railroad, where customers would dress up in old time clothes and have old fashioned photos taken. Even then I loved her ideas and creativity. I modeled for her several times, and I think somewhere along the way I was inspired to do what she does.
Since Alison moved away, I haven't seen her in about 3 years. So when I found out that her art would be displayed at the Arts Festival, I was there.
I really love her art ... a huge inspiration to me. I hope to have a job like hers one day.

Her art is so unique and it was amazing to see in real life.
She says,
"I begin by scanning old family images and other photographs, paintings, old paper, letters, and objects on a flatbed scanner; I then combine and manipulate the images with computer software. The final image is printed with archival pigment inks onto watercolor paper."


Some of her art is made with a technique called silver transfer printing and she describes it as,
"After photographing or scanning elements and collaging the images in a computer, I prepare a sheet metal tile by distressing the metal and carefully applying silver leaf. Then I coat a carrier sheet with several layers of a special transparent liquid substrate, on which the image is printed. The resulting printed image is then transferred to the metal and surrounding frame using a unique multi-step process."

Alot of the art I saw displayed at the Arts Festival, she made with encaustic paints and mixed media collages - truly amazing.

Check out Alison's website at:
www.alisonarmstrongart.com

Also, check out the gallery where Alison's art is for sale/on display:
www.twosistersfineartgallery.com









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So another really cool part about the Arts Festival was the music. When we first got there, we listened to this band called The Mollies. We instantly fell in love with their music. The sound was so beautiful. The band has two extremely talented female vocalists that play acoustic guitar,mandolin, and cello. They harmonized in a way that just makes your ears tingle. The two males in the band played acoustic bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and the saw - yes the saw - it makes extremely eerie, crazy noises when played with a violin bow. Their style was mellow, very folkie, indie-pop-ish. We ended up buying their demo CD. I highly recommend a listen. Do so at:
www.myspace.com/themolliesmusic

And you know, it really inspired me to want to play guitar and sing. Every time I pick up the guitar I become frustrated, mainly because my boyfriend and all of our friends are such good musicians that I feel that I will never catch up. But I realized that is a horrible attitude and I'm going to learn it and stick with it. I already sing, and it would be wonderful to have my own accompaniment. I really am going to do this.

So my long term goal: to learn the guitar, so I can sing and play and enjoy the happiness that comes from making music. I can't wait.

An update

Wow, I haven't blogged since .... March I believe. And it is now July 10th. Today is a slower day at work (for the first time in a LONG time) and so I thought I should write an "update" blog.

So, Tommy, Jeff and I had an amazing time in Europe. We left April 30 and came back May 14. I will upload some pictures really soon. It was wonderful to go back home...it always is. I will write a separate blog entry telling all about our trip.

Other than that, I have been so busy at work, laying out the paper, making ads and designing Flipside on top of that. I just had my "one year anniversary" here and for the most part I really enjoy my job. It has its crappy, monotonous "i wanna quit this job" days, but when I step back and look at what I have created, I'm thankful and happy to have the opportunity to do this. I get to do what I like to do and get paid for it! It's certainly not the best paying job, but really, right now all I want is a foot in the door, some credible experience, and a sweet resume with lots of portfolio pieces. I'm learning new things everyday ... I think I can troubleshoot just about any file issue now, and I can work Photoshop in my sleep. Haha. And I just love art and design ... it's definitely what I want to do for the rest of my life. Nonetheless, I'm glad I'm making a little step towards having my dream job and I am having fun.

I decided to post the past few months' Flipside covers, since the last one I posted is from March!