new

A new start to a very familiar routine

I’m moving. I’m moving back to Chapel Hill today. I’m moving back to the place I actively chose to dislike all last year, the place I loved to hate.

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then. ” – Lewis Carroll

This time around, although it seems all too familiar, I’m going back to a new home, a new outlook and a new drive and ambition. Although it seems a bit dramatic to say I’ve changed some over the course of a summer, I think it is in part true. I do feel different. In a way, I feel a bit older, a bit more invested. Chapel HIll last year was rough to say the least. I didn’t feel like myself for far too long.

So, here I am. I’m going back and I’m going to try. . .

Here’s to new starts and the challenges ahead.

[Photos: Cars around Chapel Hill, April 2012 //Grace Farson]

painted and signed

i finally had the chance to finish some of my old paintings over break.

i can honestly say i have never felt like i have ever really finished a picture. i am never 100% satisfied or content, but i know if i keep working i will most likely ruin it. . .

it is often said that the hardest part of the whole process is knowing when you’re done.

+ + +

“if you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”

– vincent van gogh

+ + +

+ originally inspired by sargent, but then i went and did my own thing . . .

+ the third of my seasonal tree collection {it looks like a crazy lady in the 70s painted this one . . . i painted over this one maybe five times}

+  small painting inspired by one of the photos i took in this set.

+ an experiment with color

+ inspired by miro, but i went crazy with it . . .

+ study of automat, but changed to make it work better for me . . . i was about to give up on this one, but i set my mind to finish it over break and this is what happened. . .

+ + +

there is still so much i want to learn and experiment with with paints. i’ve missed it more than i can say and i cannot wait for the day when i get to paint uninterrupted all day long.

also, special thanks abby for reading this to me while i worked. nothing is better than having someone you love read to you while you make things.

the start of a new week

it is going to be a great week, i can feel it. i am so ready for a break, for thanksgiving, and most of all for time with the ones i love most.

here’s to a good week. mine has started off well already. . .

starting with today – ecstatic dance at the flowjo with etta today in carborro, weaver street salad for lunch, and of course some open eye and journal writing time.

then tomorrow – dana comes to nc!!! i couldn’t be more excited. she’s such a happy part of my life!

– – –

“the complexity of our present trouble suggests as never before that we need to change our present concept of education. education is not properly an industry, and its proper use is not to serve industries, either by job-training or by industry-subsidized research. it’s proper use is to enable citizens to live lives that are economically, politically, socially, and culturally responsible. this cannot be done by gathering or “accessing” what we now call “information” – which is to say facts without context and therefore without priority. a proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first.”

– wendell berry

– – –

happy sunday!

here’s a song for this brand new week.

{photo from the top of some mountain in beautiful queenstown, nz}

 

my favorite things – antique shops

“you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

– c.s. lewis

. . .

i have a great weekness in life for old things.

my happiest places are old bookstores and shops filled with things that have lived. while in mumbai, i was wondering around colaba when i stumbled into this this place that sold hundreds of beautiful, old, and well-loved things. it was a dream come true. i spent a good portion of my day making friends with the two owners, playing with film cameras from the early 20th century, and sorting through boxes filled with black and white photographs.

a dream job of mine has long been the dream of being the person who finds all those gems thrift stores and antique shops sell.

. . .

here’s to:

* a brand new week

* learning new things

* setting new goals and being reminded of old ones

* the start of fall

. . .

{all images from that magical place in mumbai}