Beautiful Objects.

This is the source of my blog title. From a beautiful film by Michel Gondry (director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as well).

scene from "The Science of Sleep"

The Czech Republic and Printmaking

I started Winter Quarter this week and I'm taking a Mono-Printing class. Our first assignment is to just gather inspiration from our incredible Art Library we have right in the Art building at UW, and do some drawings to start forming ideas. I'm also taking a class called "Anthropology of the Post-Soviet States." I guess the combination of the two classes has spurred on the idea of doing a series of prints illustrating The Czech Republic today and the still visible scars of Soviet Control on the country. When I went to Europe last spring I spent 3 days in Prague and trained all the way across the country. I've been haunted by the quiet, still, broken down beauty and antiquity of the Czech Republic over the past week.

I'm quite excited to get to work. So many patterns and a focused colored palette naturally there! And the quiet dreariness of the countryside that I want to try to capture. It should be quite hard though. We'll see if my enthusiasm stays :)

New-ness

This picture is pretty and unrelated to anything. Just something to look at. It is Austria, looking down from a mountain with the largest system of ice caves in the world.

It is 2011. I cooked all day today. Yesterday. Whatever.

I cooked a 7 course fancy fancy meal. Plated every dish on my family heirloom 12-setting Noritake china. 

We had:

vegetable puree soup with creme fraiche and basil,

beet salad with pistachios, basil and a balsamic reduction,

roasted fennel bulb with romesco sauce,

Spanish-style prawns in the shell a tomato-white wine-parsely sauce,

salmon with leeks and red bell peppers wrapped in phyllo dough,

roasted duck with an orange-honey sauce and sauteed swiss chard,

and

mini chocolate bundt cakes with a vanilla cream sauce

So ridiculous and really fun and joyous. We ate for 2 1/2 hours. I am very thankful that God has blessed me with an abundance of gifts that are incredibly tangible and that he chose me to use them to bless my brothers and sisters through these gifts.

Also, would really like to get my works in progress/future plans of making in order and make an etsy page to sell things on soon. For a page name I was thinking "dwell richly" so I looked up "dwell" in my concordance. This passage is stunningly beautiful.

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,

for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

my flesh also will dwell in hope.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,

or let your Holy One see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Acts 2:22-28

Here's another pretty picture (Schladming, Austria):

(I can't believe I got to live here!)

In this new year may you grow in trust of the Lord and live out of the grace that has been poured onto us.