Life Lately

Hi! I know I've been kind of AWOL and there's really only a handful of people who even read this, but I wanted to share what I've been up to lately.

In late August I started taking my first class since I graduated from college.  Since I work at an academic institution (UC) I can take classes for free.  And since photography is a key part of my job description, I can take a photography class on work time.  Super awesome, right!?  For someone who loves taking photos and even does it as part of their job, it's kind of crazy that I've never taken a photography class, not even a film photography class.  Somehow it's just something I skipped in all the high school and college art classes I took.  But since I want to start taking conservation photography documentation classes soon, I figured I should probably get a basic photography class under my belt first.  While parts of the class have come naturally, I am surprised how challenging it has been so far.  In particular, being restricted by our subject matter and assignment.  We all know that nature, and flowers in particular, are my favorite thing to shoot.  Well, the subject matter for our first class project was "Abstract".  That meant NO nature whatsoever.  No trees, no plants, no people, no animals.  No naturally made things whatsoever!  It was a definite challenge for me, but it really made me look at things differently and I think I really learned a lot and grew as a photographer during this project.  And that was only our first project!  I wanted to share some of my best shots with you all...

In early September I made probably my prettiest and craziest cake so far for a dear coworker's birthday, and I just have to share it...

It was an orange poppyseed cake with orange buttercream.

 Also, for the last couple months I've been making handmade books and watercolor cards and prints.  I'm finally getting ready to sell them this weekend!  This will be my first time ever going out into public and selling stuff I've made to people.  In person.  In real life.  I'm a little nervous!

I've got 49 books/journals ready to sell, as well as galaxy cards and prints.  Here's hoping it goes well!

For any Cincinnati folks who might be reading, I'll be selling at the Pleasant Ridge POP! Market from noon to 5pm this Saturday (24th).  The market is located in the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church parking lot (5950 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45213).  

That's all for now.  I won't promise that I'll be back to blogging on a somewhat regular basis, because that just doesn't seem realistic.  I've got a lot of fun stuff on the horizon and being present in my life just seems infinitely better than blogging at the moment.  But I'll try not to be a complete stranger.  Happy Thursday everyone!