About a week ago the lunar eclipse happened, which was a big deal. I had no idea it was happening until my mom called and said, "Go look outside, there's a lunar eclipse!!" And then it was all over the news. And people were freaking out about it. Apparently there were a lot of people that went down to the observatory in Pomona (at Cal Tech or somewhere...?). In any case, I thought it would be great to take pictures. I really wish I had a tripod to take the pictures with, it certainly would have been more clear. Oh well.



Recently I've been doing a lot of sketching and thinking of things I want to work on. Which is really nice since I've been somewhat neglecting that since I've been away from MICA. Its definitely something you have to force yourself to do at first and then it becomes natural, like writing, running or... math.

The other day I sketched out my next tattoo. Its about 8x bigger than the one I have now *yipes!* and when I showed my mom my drawing she said, "Does it have to be so big?" And does it? Well, maybe not but I want it to run the length of my inner forearm. I've also considered putting it on the right side of my torso. But I have a feeling I'm not going to get it there. Why not? Well, just cause I think I'd rather look at it, haha. And that way people will look at me and think, "Oh man, she's such a bad ass!" Or... not. :0) Here are the sketches and approximately how big it would be:




I've also been designing costumes for a modern dance performance. Random? Perhaps, but its fun to keep doing things like I was still in art school, ha ha. Here are some of the sketches and rough, very rough, models of the designs.







Eventually they will be made with fabric of some sort, I don't know what kind yet. But for the one that looks like a shall I definitely think I'm going to go with something transparent, or at the very least, semi transparent. As for the wings I'm going to go with something that flows nicely. I'm thinking something that looks a little like origami, or something like it. But a lot of Japanese influence, whatever the case.

Brand New Animal!

I finished animal number two! Its a dove, or something like it (but not a pigeon!). I started it yesterday and did most of it while watching an installment of Pride and Prejudice on PBS. It was fun, I got to watch it with my parents and they liked it too. Though my dad did say after we watched the movie that he thought it was a girly storyline, even if it is enjoyable. I've never seen the BBC version before and it really is as good as people say.

But neither here nor there, I had fun finishing my bird and didn't do a whole lot today. It was kind of a normal day besides it being a day off from school. I was planning on riding my bike (I did yesterday and had fun) but I didn't just cause I was so completely uninspired. I hope I do get myself out there tomorrow. I saw a very hairy goat yesterday with big horns that I want to take a picture of.

So here's my bird. I'm going to sell it on Etsy when I have enough other animals to put up there too. Do you guys have any ideas about what I should name it? I fixed my blog so now it allows for anyone to comment on here, so by all means, feel free!

Fabric, Animals and a Brother

Yesterday my mom and I went "down below" (thats what we call LA in the Antelope Valley, like, "Go to hell! Or... you know, LA") we were going to go to Michael Levine's which is a HUGE fabric store in the garment district of LA. These are the fabrics I got:














Then after that we went dow to Orange County (NO ONE calls it the OC, so don't you!) to visit Isaac at Chapman. It was nice, we went out to lunch, the three of us, at the Fillin' Station. I have an Asian Chicken salad -- without chicken, Isaac had a hamburger and my mom had a caesar salad. It was essentially "California cuisine." We got to sit out on the patio and it was really nice, the sun was out but it wasn't too hot.



Then we went to Isaac's dorm and helped him move his bed since his roommate moved out.


I'm going to make stuffed animals with all the fabric I got. I made Joel a whale for Valentine's day and now I want to make millions of stuffed animals!



And this is Joel with the whale after he opened his box. It sure made me happy to see him enjoying it so much!

Bare Feet

Recently I've taken to taking off my shoes no matter where I am -- school, church, home, car, etc. And I don't wear any socks anymore either so sometimes this has been an issue, or perhaps not an "issue" as that tends to have negative connotations but a conversational topic. At school my teachers comment on how, "That seems like its really nice. In fact, I'd like to do that too...but its unprofessional." And I'm wondering, "What's stopping you? The professional professor police? I think not!" And while at church, my mom keeps saying to me, "Hannah, put your shoes on." And, I'm ornery, "Why?" But whatever, I intend to keep doing life barefoot as much as possible. Granted that means if I ever work in food again I'm going to have to wear shoes for that. And to be honest, no I'm going to be a barefootie all the time. But it sure is nice.

I don't have a whole lot this week. I will, however, be starting another blog on desert clean-up and conservation. Inspired by my last post and required by my Environmental Biology class. Essentially the requirements are to keep a journal on efforts to make our environment better. For some people that means starting a compost pile (check) or recycling (check). So I decided after my last post that I was going to focus on bettering the desert. Not original, I know, but its what I want to focus on. I don't know if I'm going to turn the collected objects into a sculpture project or just put it in the trash, a better place, but not the best. I just wish we didn't create things that aren't biodegradable/recyclable, not to mention waste. So this is what I'm going to do... take care of this mess:






Lately, my potato plant has been growing like crazy, the roots are multiplying by the hour it seems and everything else seems to be going at the same rate. Here are some photos of the recent sproutings:

Life Under the Joshua Tree

So, since few of you know what the Mojave Desert looks like I had the brilliant idea of taking a walk in the area by my house and take some pictures of the desert, the animals, cool things I enjoy (owl pellets, finding smashed bongs, and old dilapidated Bibles and phone books). I also figured most of you don't know what a Joshua Tree is or have never seen one or haven't seen one except on the U2 album by the same name... So in any case, we'll start off with the basics and work our way down:







And now for the animals of the desert, most of these are either birds or owl pellets -- in fact, I don't think I have anything besides that. So, here are some of the birds, both native and invasive species:







Then I was fortunate enough to see (or rather "hear") a little hummingbird, I now know what they sound like, I'd never known before. So here is my little friend:




Here are some more birds. What I should also add about the owl pellets is that the owls sit in the Joshua Trees, eat the mice and other little creatures, and when finished digesting them they, essentially, throw up the pellets that are filled with things they can't digest (fur, feathers, bones):







And now, for the less attractive side of the desert: human impact. People often times use the undeveloped land as a dump. Its also the playground to teens that ride their moto-x bikes and throw their bottles and apparently bongs too:









And the ultimate destruction as we know it is the building of these disgusting McMansions:



So, I hope you al enjoyed my little photo-essay of the Mojave Desert that I call home (kind of).