Who's Affected Me In Life...?

I've been asked to share something or someone who has heavily influenced me in my life.  This is a rather sensitive topic to me that I don't typically like to share with a lot of people, but I have no shame in it.  I guess my feelings for this person are just so strong that I can't help but become overwhelmed whenever I try to express how much they mean to me.

The person in question is my grandfather.  He's made such a huge imprint on my life, even though he was only by my side for thirteen and a half years.  I seriously cannot even begin to describe how much he means to me or how much he's done for me.

That man^ That man right there. He's helped make me who I am today.

He taught me about the importance of being honest and kind to people who you don't even know, and to the people who treat you like dirt.  I admit, I slip up every once in a while, as do most people.  But I try my hardest to never deliberately degrade or insult someone.  He had a rough life growing up, one that he wouldn't often talk too much about, but the stories he did tell me have made me so thankful for everything I have today.  He's made me thankful for the amazing, loving family I have.  He's made me thankful for my good health.  He's made me thankful for all of friends and everyone around me.

But he also made me realize that nothing lasts forever.  Not in this life, at least.

I miss him.  I miss him a lot.  I miss him more than I could ever begin to explain.  But I know he's still with me, he's still watching over me, and most importantly, he still loves me.

Charles Krafft

Charles Wing Krafft is a contemporary artist that specializes in what he calls "disasterware".  He grew up in an old fishing village in the state of Washington, where he got his start in ceramics by painting on plates.

Krafft's work may be found as offensive or distasteful by some, which is why I love it.  He takes the classic technique of Delft glazing to portray disastorous historic events on plates.  He is also known to make teapots in the shape of infamous celebrities' heads.

He also creates ceramic weapons that could be displayed in your grandma's living room. If your grandma was a bruiser and ate nails for breakfast, that is. (These are my favorite pieces of his work!)

Charles Krafft is easily one of my favorite contemporary artists.

Painting With Light

The following pictures were taken in October 2011 and have not been editted in any way.

In October, I was introduced to painting with light.  To be honest, it's a really fun art form, and it's kind of like a special little surprise with every picture you take.  For this picture, I had my camera set on a long exposure, and I turned my flashlight(which has different colors of light!! So neat!) on and off as I moved my head.  This is the result.  I think it's pretty neat.

Another shot with long exposure, this time using a constant red light instead of switching blue on and off. :) Can't go wrong with a little love~

I actually took this picture on my way home from dinner with my family.  The colors are kind of trippy; again, this is long exposure.

I encourage anyone and everyone to bust out a camera and a flashlight, turn off the lights, and start taking some fun pictures. :)

Jewelry I've Made

I made this steampunk-inspired pendant in June last year.  I had taken a beginner's jewelry and metal-working class.  I learned a lot and got to make some pretty cool stuff. :)  This pendant is made out of a soldered copper base(the weird triangle-y part) with various watch parts attached to it.  It looks like it would be fragile but it's really tough!

This is another piece I made during that jewelry class back in June 2011.  At the time, my ears were not pierced, so I made an ear cuff. It is made out of silver wire soldered to two square copper bases with various watch parts attached.

I believe that this is actually one of the first things I made during that class; it's a matching pendant and earring set.  It is made out of aluminum that was beat senseless with a hammer for texture and then had some X's and O'x stamped into it. For... you know. Aesthetics or something.

Hawaii

Back in the summer of 2010(I think, it might have been 2009. I don't know), my family and I took a trip to Hawaii.  The scenery was amazing; it's hard to believe what this earth is capable of creating by itself, with no interference from man.
These are my three favorite photographs from my trip.  I feel like they each capture just a fraction of the beauty of Hawaii, and I thought it'd be nice to share them. :)

Some of my Favorite Songs

A lot of things inspire me.  My main influence is my emotions; a close second is music.  Here are some of my favorite songs.

I love both of those songs for the same reason:  I feel like I'm living in the wrong era.  I think the years from 1920-1950 were amazing.  Yes, they were hard, but... everything from those years just seems so right to me.  I especially love the music and the fashions.

I just like to sing along with this song.

The man behind Martyr Kanin is a friend of my dad's; he gave me his CD, and I just fell in love with it.  All of it is just so well composed, and the emotion is really strong.  If it hasn't come across yet, I'm really big with emotions.

Ludo is my favorite band; I could list a lot more song haha.  All of their songs are so different, but they're all amazing.  I listen to them and my mind just wanders to different places, and I percieve imagery that I wouldn't normally be able to come up with.  They're just amazing. All of the band members are fantastic too. :) I highly suggest checking them out.

Last one, I promise! I love Kerli. Her music is unique, but she's very inspiring.  Her lyrics almost always have a positive message to be derived from them.

In my art class, we were required to make a white board animation.  Me being the weird little stubborn hunk 'a junk I am, I decided to make a stop-animation progress painting instead. :) I hope you like it!

Materials used: water color & acrylic paints.