smitten with:

1. this mentality.

2. optimism.

3. these colors together.

4. this tattoo.

5. 90's alternative, but ESPECIALLY third eye blind.

anything in particular you're smitten with lately?

xo M

flint, mich.

photo diary from my recent trip home, 3/23—3/30.

a few questions from Rachel at Smile and Wave...


1. When do you feel happiest?
when i'm being productive, petting a dog, bouncing ideas off of others/having a really good conversation, when i'm with my mom, or out walking around taking pictures by myself, when i'm reading a really good book, and when i hear a really good song.

2. How do you take care of yourself?
a big thing i do to keep my sanity is keep a written journal.  other than that, i try to be conscious of what i eat.  i like riding my bike—otherwise i don't really enjoy exercise.  i always give myself goals to work towards, and am constantly making to-do lists to keep up with everything going on in my life.  it's good to treat yourself every once in a while, too, just with something simple.

3. Are you internally (by yourself) or externally (by others) motivated?
knowing where i want to go in life, having goals to work towards, that's what motivates me.  the constant pursuit of what i want my life to be—of who i want to be—keeps me going.


4. What do you do for fun?
go to coffee shops/craft fairs/bookstores, go thrifting, make things, laugh with friends.

5. What intimidates you?
competition, loneliness, and anything that i've yet to learn how to do.

6. What is something you're proud of?
living in chicago like i've planned since i was 14.  the christmas gifts that i made this year.  my collection of books.

7. Finish this sentence. I never _____________.
want to stop growing.

8. Favorite vacation spot.
higgins lake and traverse city are both classics in my family, and i enjoy both, but i'd rather travel EVERYWHERE than confine myself to just one spot at this point.

9. Today is a (rate from 1 - 10).
6 so far.  i have a horticulture quiz later to stress over, and a lot to do for my drawing class in the morning.  i'm feeling very anxious.

10. Finish this sentence. If you knew me really well you'd know _____________.
i'm sazzy as hell, but inside i'm so sincere.

it sure has been a while, little blog.  and i have no excuse!  but if i did, it would sound something along the lines of "my-life-is-turned-on-its-head-and-i'm-under-more-stress-than-i-think-i've-ever-been!"...or something.  the truth is, i'm newly single for the first time in two and a half years and (as always) completely swamped with school work.  i'm doing my best to handle it all, but in the process i lose the motivation to do anything that isn't completely necessary (like writing this blog.)

that said, i've found the best remedy to all of this stress and hurt is productivity.  accomplishing even the smallest task that i've set out to do, using my time to its fullest potential—these are the things that take my mind off of everything and make me feel okay again.  so here i am, back to blogging regularly (i hope!).

if i had to describe my school experience this semester, i'd say it's been challenging but  really rewarding.  i'm learning A LOT of new things, exploring the freedom a lot of my classes offer to truly pursue what interested me in that subject to begin with (an example being that i got to write a research paper/critical biography of Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill for my Women in Art, Literature, and Music class.  there are some really great Riot Grrrl resources out there, email me if you're interested!).  my teachers have been supportive but still critical, which is exactly what i need—don't break me down too much but don't blow bubbles up my butt, either, you know?  anyways, as a result, i'm pushing myself to produce work that i'm really proud of, i'm exploring new ideas and mediums and enjoying the process along the way.  sometimes i wonder how i'll ever be really happy if i'm not being pushed to learn, which goes to say i'm really grateful to be in school (dorky, i know).

today, i just wanted to share what i've accomplished so far in my Printmaking class.  everything is new to me, and i understand my pieces to be rudimentary, but i'm still proud to be making progress.  that said, i'm really nervous putting my work out there.  constructive criticism is completely welcome, but if anything mean-for-mean's sake is said, it will be deleted.

this was my first print ever!  it's a linoleum block print, meaning that the image was carved out of a block of something similar to eraser, then coated with ink and run through a press.  the assignment was "text art", which i interpreted quite literally into a prompt.  setting goals and having an idea of what i'm doing with my life are two very important things to me, and i was hoping to invite others into my way of thought.  feel free to leave a response in the comments, i'd love to know some of your dreams!

for this assignment, we were presented with the idea that "how you draw is what you draw."  i took that notion and created a modern frame in an antique context: knitting is something that is still stereotyped as being for grannies (hellllooo, yrgranny!).  i tried to subvert this idea with a sassy phrase borrowed from Stitch 'N Bitch.  the image was etched into a copper plate, then run through a printing press.

this was my third and final print produced for my midterm.  the assignment was "pattern," which i applied pretty loosely to my concept of keys to hearts.  i wanted to create something that looked like a catalogue or a collection of keys from any time period next to the signature of the person to whose heart it belongs. as for the medium, this was done with pronto plate lithography, a process in which the image is printed onto a polyester plate that uses the separation of oil and water to determine which parts of the plate accept ink.  again, these prints were inked (very laboriously, i might add!) and run through a press.

each of the above prints were produced in editions of ten (meaning that there are ten copies of each print).  anyone interested in having a copy of whichever print for yourself, let me know!  it'd be really cool to trade, my work for yours...:)

i suppose that's all for now.  i'm creepily typing my entire life into a blog post in the school's computer lab, i should probably log off before anyone takes notice.

xoxo Melisa