Arbor Creek Stop Motion Animation

I finally finished it!!  Arbor Creek Elementary had me come in and teach the fourth graders about stop motion animation, then work with them for a little while on making one for anti-bullying.  The music teacher's son had made a song for the school last year, which he tweaked a little to use for this.  All in all, I think it worked out pret-ty well...

Our Very Own Garden!

I've spent a lot of time during previous springs and summers watching and helping my mom grow her garden, and it's something I've always enjoyed being a part of.  One of my biggest dreams is to have people pay me for growing their food (and god willing, someday I will!).  Just underneath that dream, I often fantasize about having my very own garden, since you have to learn to crawl before you can walk.  And this year, on a whim at the farmer's market, I decided to buy a couple of tomato plants and a basil plant.  

Brian and I took a good part of Saturday figuring out how to go about raising our garden in our apartment, and we settled on planting the two tomato plants into 5-gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom for proper drainage.  We keep them in our studio at night, and lug them out to our back fire escape (which gets a lot more sun than our balcony) during the day.  I'm a little nervous about somebody stealing our babies, but I guess there are more valuable ideas on a thief's mind in 2012. 

We've had a lot of fun tending to our Very First Garden, and spend a lot of time just looking at the plants.  I, of course, can't help but look at them through my camera lens.

Spring is definitely, finally here, and it feels so good!  We got a full week's worth of rain last week, which made for some beautiful post-rain moments, and was also a great gateway to a greener world.  I hope you're all taking the time to enjoy this season, because soon it will be too hot to handle!!

Trucking Along

I've been having a much easier time picking up my camera lately, which is very relieving.  It's quite possible that I'm working my way out of a creative slump, and I think I have the springtime to thank for that!  Although I'm not yet operating at 150% (which is what I would prefer), I am slowly but surely working my way back up to speed.  


Besides doing school photography and documenting some paintings for my neighbor, I have been drawn back into food.  I can't help it!  The following are photos of beer, apples, and bread in the toaster.

And, thanks to the longer days and more light in the sky when I get home from work, I am finding great inspiration in light and shadow in the little moments.

I'm excited to be spending more time with my camera in my hand and processing photos on my computer rather than surfing the web.  I just have to remember to take it one day at a time...

To Be An Ant

Someone just told me the other day about two different artists.  One of them was in a never-ending cycle of having these great moments of artistic clarity and creativity, directly followed by long, low periods of depression and heavy drinking.  The other artist, a writer, looked up to this woman and saw her as a butterfly, always blooming and spreading her beautiful wings for everyone to admire, but having very short lifespans.  But instead of being more like a butterfly, the writer had her own way of working - two hours a day in front of the computer, every day, whether she felt like writing or not.  She referred to herself as an ant, consistently building on what she had, and never stopping.  It may not seem as glamorous, but she was still a very successful writer, and was able to avoid several bouts of depression.


I'm trying to work like an ant, which is not as easy as it sounds.  Whether I like it or not, I am a very emotional person, and high emotions are hard to suppress when I'm taking pictures I don't like so much.  But, it is what it is, and I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other until I find a good connection with something.


Here are a few pictures I took the other night in Kansas City, which has been swarming with crows.  There will be just thousands of crows roosting in the trees and on the buildings of a block, which is a pretty amazing sight to see.  I wish my photos could have done the experience more justice, but maybe I'll have better luck another night.

I've also been continuing to photograph trees - I'm still very caught up on the one behind my apartment. 

I've been spending a good amount of time just trying to pull my camera out and mess around, too.  Here are a couple experimental shots with the zoom, a photo from a day at the zoo, and another with Brian on a lazy Saturday...

And last but not least, a photo of Penny to bring in the new season!

These may not be the most glamorous or exciting shots, but to be an ant is not always an exciting thing.  Maybe, in a few days or weeks, my consistent work will pay off into an amazing feat.  Maybe.

Kansas, My Love

Kansas Day was a couple days ago, which is a very important day to me.  It is a day when I can remember how much growing up in Kansas has given to me.  I learned how to find beauty in things that many people see past, and it gave me the patience of being mindful on a quiet day.  I wasn't able to spend Kansas' birthday in Lincoln, but I was able to go back home a week before for my art opening at the Lincoln Art Center.  I was really happy to be able to go out into the pasture with my mom, who wanted me to take pictures of a couple old house foundations.  


The houses had been built in a valley,  which must have caused a lot of grief for the dwellers, since wet Kansas springs cause a lot of water to rush down into the valleys and saturate the ground to the point of flooding.  It was very humbling to go out and see the remains of the houses surrounded by nothing but the vast Kansas prairie under an enormous teacup sky.  I decided to try out a couple different panoramic shots, and here are a couple photos I was able to put together...

And, like all trips back home, I inevitably have to leave.  I feel pretty bad for Brian when he comes to Lincoln with me, because the four-hour drive back mostly consists of me crying.  But we returned to a beautiful Kansas City evening - very springlike, with daunting clouds and a moist breeze.  I decided it was the perfect time to take pictures of a tree outside of our apartment, which has grown right into my heart.

Going back home always refreshes and revitalizes me.  I am lucky to have come from such a beautiful place, and I am ready to hit up Kansas City through a fresh lens.

Scrambled Eggs

I've been meaning to work on more recipe cards since my Greek Yogurt photo, and I've finally gotten around to creating another one - the best scrambled eggs you'll ever have in your life...

Baby Photos

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, finishing up Santa photos at other Barkery locations and getting ready for the holidays, but I am finally getting on top of all my stuff.  I took these photos about a month ago and finished editing them this past weekend.  It was really fun to do - she was a one-month old baby with so much personality!