the upside of being an introvert.

source: nathan williams

if you're an introvert like me then there's good news. according to an article by time magazine there are lots of benefits to being introverted. not only do i fit their description of a typical "introvert" but i am also shy, albeit not quiet. {which is why i am not all that fond of the college student lifestyle- too much stimuli and too many shallow relationships}. the article adresses benefits to work productivity, relationships, and making decisions. i am the prime example right now. my parents are in washington d.c. for the weekend and i love the alone time. {although, i have been using it to watch romance films and bawl my eyes out, instead of reading like i planned}. 

and to end, a quote by the ever wonderful and wise audrey hepburn:

“I'm an introvert...I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.” 

ps- isn't that photograph beautiful? it's in oregon. my dream state and the location of our family reunion this summer. the beach is great and all but i have been wanting to wander about in the woods. 

if only i lived a little farther north...

key west.

this weekend we headed down to my mom's hometown for mother's day weekend. she's a born and raised conch, so we thought she'd enjoy it...no personal interest in the matter whatsoever of course...

the keys were HOT and humid, as usual, but also lovely. we did everything my mom wanted to do, ate lots of cuban food, snorkeled, and of course did a ton of bike-riding. there is something about the tropics at night, riding a bike in the warm breeze that is just so right. while snorkeling we saw the biggest blowfish i have ever seen, lotsa colorful fish, two stingrays {told ya!}, a huge hermit crab, and a five foot barracuda {according to my dad, but we all know men exaggerate the size of fish}. i really need to get that underwater iphone case...oh and highlight of the trip for me: a rooster jumping out from under the car squawking as i opened the door. talk about a surprise. i think i laughed for about five minutes {although the rooster was not quite so amused}.

here is the trip via my instagram {@andreabelle}:

 tacky and famous lobster landmark of course.

the truman annex is my favorite place to bike ride hands down.

hemingway's house and six-toed cats. 

key west: where the roosters, chickens, and cats roam free. 

 the key west cat man. as crazy as ever.

snorkel site.

 key lime pie dipped in dark chocolate? i'm always on board. 

 best cuban food you'll ever eat in america. if you are ever down this way, seriously eat at El Siboney. it's a thompson family must.

 on momma's day.

broken-down old bahia honda bridge.

 old & new seven-mile bridge. 

and guess what? next month i am going back to the keys to help out with girls' camp as one of the leaders on high adventure! they are doing a three-day snorkeling trip to key largo! it'll be hot and fun. and i'm in the process of convincing my parents to take us back to key west again in july...after all, when will i be back this way again?! and then maybe i'll actually use the film cameras i brought with me instead of keeping them in my bag...until then,

happy mother's day!

little victories.

i have a fear of touching sea creatures. {except dolphins and sea turtles}, and it is low tide right now. i was walking down the beach after sunset tonight and i saw live conchs washed up, scattered along the shore. i stopped at the first one i saw and decided to do something i have never done before- i picked it up. before i could freak out i threw the little creature into the ocean. i continued to pick up four more, carefully, making sure i did not come anywhere near to the inside walls of the shell, tossing them into the ocean as i went. stressed though it made me, i felt good about this. i was making a difference in each one of their little lives, postponing death a little bit longer. then i came to the sixth one. it was already moving before i could pick it up, trying to dig itself back into the sand, away from the open air. pinched between  my thumb and forefinger, i tenderly picked it up. exposed to the air, the little muscle inside the conch started to come out, writhing and struggling. surprised and afraid i dropped it, stepped back, took a breath and tried again. second time, the same thing happened, but this time when it dropped the shell it landed upside down and i watched as it flipped itself back over. 

 this was too much for me. the thought of the little animal touching me made my stomach do backflips. i did try...i decided to keep walking, abandoning it to the fate of the world. after all, i was doing pretty well, even throwing back a handful of them was an accomplishment for me. baby steps, you know. but after a few paces i started to feel guilty- that conch was trying harder than all the others, and it most of all deserved to make it back into the sea. so i stood from afar, debating the dilemma i found myself in, staring at it. then, another woman walked up and threw it quickly and simply into the water. no thought. no fear. and she continued to walk down the beach doing it over and over again. and i noticed a couple of more people doing the same exact thing. even if i couldn't accomplish the small task of saving that particular conch's life, there was another person who would fill in and do it for me. today, my faith in humanity is a little bit restored. 

do something that requires courage. be brave. it's scary, but you will feel good afterwards. 

and maybe one day i will be able to touch a stingray, they are somehow always cropping up, presenting themselves for me to pet and feed. i am going to key west this weekend, and i won't be surprised if i come into contact with one there too. but i'm not ready for that kind of commitment. not yet anyway. 

sculpture & 3d design.

sculpture: 

bronze casting: Imaginary (Un)it

bronze, liver of sulfur patina.

stone carving: [dis]Appear

alabaster. 

steel fabrication: The Roots of the Mountain (Reflection)

steel, white rustoleum spray paint. 

3d design:

formalism: Wanderlust

steel, black rustoleum spray paint. 

environmental space: Imagined Landscape

google sketch-up. 

{the "box" would be filled with chalk allowing the audience to participate and draw/describe their own imagined landscape on the black pyramids which would be covered in chalkboard paint}

ephemera: Gather

objects collected from utah lake.

there is a lot i could say about each of these, but i will spare you from going into too much detail. just know that these classes were a pain for me. especially that large steel piece (Wanderlust). that one took me so much time i don't even want to think about it. but i never have to weld again. thank goodness. {there is also another wood piece that i forgot to take a picture of before i left utah. whoops}.

ps-

{i slept in until 2:30pm one day this week. see if you can top that! doubt it}.

enjoy your summer! i know i am. 

come, thou fount of every blessing by mumford & sons

well this is interesting:

gather: a stop-motion video & how-to

A short stop-motion video about ephemeral art. I went to Utah Lake, walked around the shore for 45 minutes listening to an Iron and Wine playlist. Every time the word "the" was sung I would pick something up. This composition documents what I gathered during the process of performance that day.
[Song: Generator (Second Floor) by Freelance Whales].

and now for the how-to, if you ever want to make a stop-motion video yourself:

{for mac users only}

1. decide upon a simple idea first

2. take stills of an object that you slowly move/add unto/take away from. {best if the camera is in the same position, so use a tripod!} take a picture for each frame, start to finish. for example, if you wanted to capture a toy moving from one place to another, take a picture of it, move it a small amount, take another picture, move it, take a picture, and so on until you are done.

3. upload photos to iphoto {edit accordingly}.

4. quit iphoto and open imovie. create a new project. 

5. on the right hand side of the timeline there will be an icon of a camera, click on it. select the pictures you want to use, they should already be in the order you uploaded them in. drag and drop them into the box of your new project. {on my screen it is the upper half section of imovie, above the timeline}. 

6. now that all your stills are there you can adjust the speed you want the photos to appear. hover your mouse over the first still and you will be able to change the settings of the clip. change the number of seconds. you also have the option to apply that time frame to all slides. 

7. to add music, select the music icon on the right side of the timeline and you can pick a song from your itunes. drag and drop that into the space as well. 

and voilá! if you want to edit it more complexly just look up tutorials online, there are lots of them! 

if you have any questions, you can ask me but i won't guarantee i know the answer. 

enjoy! 

DIY: homemade scented paper

homemade paper is easy to make, beautiful, and you can customize any color or scent you want! once you have made the paper they make great cards, announcements, or you can even use them to make crafts or collages. i made lavender, cinnamon, and grass paper. here are the instructions so you can do it yourself too:

supplies you'll need: 

a blender or food processor

window screening

a frame

white felt

a sponge

scrap paper or newspaper

lavender, cinnamon, grass, etc. (optional)

starch (optional)

dye or water-soluble paint (optional)

step 1:

tear up the paper to be recycled into small pieces. i used cardstock, construction paper, and newspaper.

step 2:

fill up the blender about halfway with the desired paper. 

step 3:

fill up the blender with warm water, also adding lavender/cinnamon/grass if so desired. 

step 4:

blend the mixture. slowly at first, and then speeding it up until the pulp is smooth. 

{if you want to use the paper to write on add 2 teaspoons of liquid starch to the pulp to prevent the ink from soaking into the fibers. if you also want a certain color added you can mix in water-soluble paint or dye}.

step 5:

prepare the screen and frame mold. before you pour in the pulp mixture place your screen over the sink {i got mine at lowes for a few dollars, but an old window or door screen would work- if it is too big just wrap it around a frame that is the right size and staple or tack it}. get an old frame {i bought mine from a local thrift store for a dollar} that is the size you want the paper to be. it works best if the frame can lay flat so that the mixture can be spread all the way to the corners. {optional: have something to spread the mixture handy if it doesn't cover the entire surface. i used i sponge roller. the spatula can work, but i found that the pulp stuck to it too much}. 

when you are ready, pour the pulp mixture into the mold, making sure that you evenly pour the pulp across the screen so that it also reaches the sides and corners of the frame. {after this smoothing it down is optional, but it does help get rid of extra water. just be careful not to disturb the pulp surface too much. if you do mess up the surface just place the pulp back where it goes and push it in}.

step 6:

after the pulp mixture is flat and in position, take the frame away and place the felt on top. once you have done this, you need to squeeze out the excess water, or soak it up. i used the roller sponge first to go over the felt to push out excess water and flatten it, but a regular sponge or even your hands will work just as well. once most of the water has been squeezed out, use a regular sponge and dab over the felt to soak up the water still in the pulp, wringing out the sponge when needed. keep doing this, you will notice that the felt becomes a lighter color from being drier. if you have done this right the felt will be able to peel from the paper cleanly. if it does not, keep dabbing it with a sponge until it is dry enough for them to pull away from each other. {be careful when helping it to come off, because it is easily tearable at this point}. 

step 7:

i placed the felt back over paper, carefully flipped it over, and took it off the screen. {if it is having trouble coming off, lightly tap it}. if you are not planning on making more paper you can always just let the paper dry directly onto the screen {this method is probably faster}. next i placed the paper & felt onto newspaper to dry. now just let it sit! if you want to speed up the drying process you might be able to blow-dry them or something similar, but i have not tried this so i don't know how well it works.

enjoy your scented, homemade paper!