wandering the Getty Villa.

Missed a blog post last week because I had round 2 of the flu. It really put a dent in my productivity. Thankfully I seem to be better (finally- it's been 2 weeks of being sick). Yesterday I got to explore the Getty Villa in Malibu for the first time. I've been wanting to go for years, and I'm so glad I finally did! It's so ridiculously beautiful and the weather was sunny but slightly chilly. Perfect. I've been in love with Greek and Roman art and history since I was 11 years old and I've studied it so much since, so it was so cool to see a local place with such a huge collection, in addition to the architecture and the gardens. I was totally in my element.

Here are some of my favorite photos from yesterday:

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xo, Michelle

summer time endings.

While the weather is still fluctuating in extremes and most days I change from pants to shorts and back to pants several times, I'm surrounded by the feeling of the end of summer, a summer that passed so quickly I hardly remember it. It didn't feel the way summer usually feels this year, for some reason. That makes me feel some sadness and regret and nostalgia. I think I was just extremely focused on the business side that I'm having to learn to keep my art shop selling. But I'll try to focus on the things that were summer-y.....

I took a really beautiful and fun roadtrip up the CA coast with my younger sister. We'd never traveled just the two of us, and it was right before her first full time job began. It was one of those rite of passage trips I'll never forget. And the scenery was like a dream.

Big Sur area.

Big Sur

Big Sur

Carmel

The 4th of July was actually fun this year, and we did some small home fireworks & sparklers for the first time!

infinite.

dueling like Harry Potter & Voldemort.

sparkler happy.

We had a Tea Party to celebrate the Royal birth haha. I ate all gluten-free versions of things, but so yummy. I absolutely love having High Tea.

Spirited Anglophiles.

So much delicious sugar.

As a group of girls, we went to Lake Arrowhead for a weekend. I love being in the mountains, even though it wasn't quite June Lake.

Gluten free smores & hot chocolate! (and vegan marshmallows)

re-enacting Dirty Dancing on this log haha.

5/7 of the group.

Summer is the season for concerts! Went to about one each weekend in August. So many musicians that I love!

Backstreet Boys!

Adorable Hunter Hayes

Yeah, we went to the Jonas Brothers and it was awesome.

Taylor Swift (my all-time favorite) and Ed Sheeran.

Sara Bareilles!

OneRepublic

The OC Fair is crazy crowded, but it always feels like summer.

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My older sister & I started this labor day weekend pool party every year that we call Poolfest. This year we had a ton of people there and we played with a waterproof camera!

Poolfest oh-13!

Some other highlights:

summertime flowers

late-summer sunsets

babysitting these sweet sweet boys once a week.

the twins, aka "the nuggests"

Hope you all had a nice summer :) I'm so excited for sweater weather; I crave it year-round!

xo, Michelle

My first art show: recap!

I had my first official art show on Saturday! It went so so well. I’m amazed by it. To be honest, I’m still exhausted! IMG_4199*

The Santa Ana Art Walk is an event that takes place the first Saturday of every month in Downtown Santa Ana, and all kinds of artists come to show their work. Orange County Creatives owns two galleries and they fill them with about 25 artists from 6-10 pm. It’s great exposure for your work.

I spent about 3 weeks doing nothing but preparing my inventory and display for my table at the Santa Ana Art Walk. I ran around searching for and buying props for my table that would be cohesive with my aesthetic and vibe that I put into my art. I wanted my display to be a reflection of my shop. (This was incredibly fun. I never realized just how much I love to decorate and put together themes. I knew I liked it, but this was a whole new level of falling in love)! I spent so many late nights trimming prints, stamping and labeling them, matting them, packaging them, painting canvases, preparing a hard copy of my portfolio, and figuring out all the finance and logistics behind how it would all work.

Here’s what my table looked like (ignore the fan, it was like 90 degrees):

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But it all paid off! So many of my friends and family friends showed up to support me; I was overwhelmed by the kindness of them all! Most of them bought some of my prints, and they were all so excited for this creative pursuit! It felt amazing to be able to show, in person, everything that I’ve been creating and building for the past 1.5 years. It felt like all of my imagining had manifested in front of my eyes. It was pretty surreal. I felt totally in my element though. I kind of wasn’t even nervous because it felt so natural to me.

I still have a long way to go with the growth of my business, but this first art show was a huge step forward. It renewed a lot of my confidence that I can do this. I doubt myself a lot because I’m so new to this, and this was really reassuring because I pulled it all together, by myself. I created all this. I still can’t believe that. I’m just so happy with all of it. Now I’m off to dream up my next steps and new art pieces. I feel like the possibilities are endless.

A huge thank you to Maggie of Orange County Creatives for finding me on Etsy and inviting me to participate in the Santa Ana Art Walk in the first place. Thank you to my family for helping me set up and carry all my stuff to & from the show and inviting literally everyone they knew to come support me. Thank you to all the people who came: Chris, Liz & Alex, Hayley & her parents, Nicole & Tyler, Jared, Alexis & Victor, Lara & Zack & Lara’s parents, Victoria & Brian, Jim & his wife, Deb & her brother, LaVie, Runora, Susan & Lucy, and Sally/Brent/Andrew & Lauren.

Here are some photos from the night:

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Thanks for a great night :)

xo, Michelle

a soundtrack for creating.

I thought it'd be fun to share what I listen to when I'm creating! Sometimes I prefer to work in silence, but often I like to enhance my imagination by listening to soothing but fun music. In college I got in the habit of listening to Jack Johnson when I was doing my art assignments, and I've stuck with him over the years. I tend to listen to mellow, whimsical music to get me in a good, creative mindset. My favorite artists to listen to their entire albums during creative-time are Jack Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, and Coldplay, so you'll notice that they appear frequently in my playlist!

Here's my current playlist (and I just put it on repeat), some of them have been on it for years now:

Lego House- Ed Sheeran Kiss Me- Ed Sheeran Atlas Hands- Benjamin Francis Leftwich Arms- Christina Perri Miles- Christina Perri Mary's Song- Taylor Swift Treacherous- Taylor Swift Begin Again- Taylor Swift Silver Lining- Kacey Musgraves Dandelion- Kacey Musgraves I Miss You- Kacey Musgraves Back On The Map- Kacey Musgraves Somebody's Heartbreak- Hunter Hayes Barely Love You Too- Frank + Derol Do You Think About Me- Carrie Underwood Us Against The World- Coldplay Amen- Love and Theft Never Had- Oscar Isaac (from the 10 Years soundtrack) Wagon Wheel- Darius Rucker Don't Rush- Kelly Clarkson Little Bit of Everything- Keith Urban Sitting on the dock of the Bay- Otis Redding Swallowed in the Sea- Coldplay God Only Knows- The Beach Boys You Really Got A Hold on Me- She & Him Windows are Rolled Down- Amos Lee If This Was A Movie- Taylor Swift If You're Gone- Matchbox 20 Back To You- John Mayer Ships in the Night- Mat Kearney Come Back... Be Here- Taylor Swift For Emma- Bon Iver Something Beautiful- Needtobreathe Stolen- Dashboard Confessional The One That Got Away- Katy Perry Paradise- Coldplay Get To Me- Train Your Song- Elton John The Night Before (Life Goes On)- Carrie Underwood Warning Sign- Coldplay In My Place- Coldplay The Hardest Part- Coldplay Comfortable- John Mayer Faithfully- Journey Jack and Diane- John Mellencamp Free- Zac Brown Band You and Your Heart- Jack Johnson Better Together- Jack Johnson Never Know- Jack Johnson Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson Good People- Jack Johnson Sitting, Waiting, Wishing- Jack Johnson Times Like These- Jack Johnson Taylor- Jack Johnson Upside Down- Jack Johnson Broken- Jack Johnson If I Had Eyes- Jack Johnson [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyue2N1XZ0M&w=560&h=315]

albums

I listen to all this when I'm not creating as well. Love singer-songwriters. Any suggestions for me to add to my music collection? :)

xo, Michelle