Summertime Is Here!

by Amy

Trader Joe's has peonies in stock...finally! 

Summertime as a child was always fun and enjoyable. Going to the pool and eating more popsicles than I should have had was the best ever! As I entered my twenties, however, things changed. Due to living in an areas where humidity reigned supreme summers meant feeling like I was walking through a nasty fog of grossness. I didn't mind sweating - if I was working out or going for a hike! Walking halfway to work in sweaty work clothes, however, was just plain miserable. It still is!

I know all my friends here in the District are giving me one big "Amen!" Any other friends from places like Tulsa, OK or Houston, TX can definitely understand as well. 

So, needless to say, my love for the summer over the last decade has quickly wained. Why, then, am I anxious to get the summer going? What has made me so excited to get rid of the cold and enter into degrees reaching 80 and 90? 

The proverbial "they" say that time flies as you get older. This is definitely true. I can remember a time when Christmas seemed to be so far away and the end of school would never arrive. Time was never fast enough. Now, I can't seem to figure out how to get all my to-do items completed in a day. Raise your hand if you have ever asked why there aren't enough hours in the day! Don't you wish you could stop time whenever you want? Maybe if we could just be allotted one time a day to hit the pause button for a couple of hours, right? Alas, we cannot. 

While this is the season where children are out of school and parents and professionals are steadily working their jobs I am determined that this will be my best summer yet. This can and will be season of new ideas and refreshing my spirit. Instead of dreading the weather (and the fact that I have someone in my life who is going to kick my butt in getting outside for workouts) I am going to make the summer of 2017 a great one.

I mean, seriously, who doesn't love drinking tea on the porch on summer evening while listening to Rascal Flatts? Just in the greater DMV there is so much to look forward to (links are included):

• Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts - One of my ultimate favorites! There is no bad seat at this venue. Just take a look at who they have coming this season.
• Smithsonian's National Zoo - It's free, it's fun, and it's educational. They also have events throughout the year so check out what they have this summer!
• Jazz in the Park (National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden) - These are some amazing evenings filled with music and food. Who doesn't love a good picnic after work on a Friday?!
• DC Outdoor Films - You can't go wrong with a movie on the National Mall or in places like Rosslyn or Adams Morgan! Held on various nights during the summer you are sure to catch a good flick!
• Mosaic District - I love this up and coming area of Fairfax, VA. Between the Cartoons + Coffee and Farmer's Market (plus a Target where all your shopping dreams come true) there is plenty to do here.
• Moments of leisure and friends - Cups of coffee/tea, conversations and laughing with friends, reading that book I've had on the shelf for "a while," binge watching all those seasons of The Wonder Years because your dad said to, working on the half dozen projects I've told myself I will get to one day, and traveling (it can even be an hour away - just get in the car and drive!). 

These are just a few things I am looking forward to. Leave a comment below if there is something I forgot to mention or something you are looking forward to enjoying this summer! Let's make it one never to forget!

Testing the Waters

A Purpose in Art

By Amy

Painting in Progress - I call it The Great Attempt (insert silly face here)

Two weeks ago I enrolled in another art class at Georgetown University. Taking advantage of benefits never hurts anyone, right?! I have been stretched, creatively speaking, with all the various mediums or art lately. Throughout it all, I find that I am loving every minute of it. From new attempts at drawing and sketching to trying new skills like paper cutting to diving deeper into familiar territory like acrylics - every medium has something unique to offer. 

Admittedly, I have not branched out into watercolor like I have wanted to in the past. That is I have not immersed myself into it, until now. The past couple of weeks have been what seems like a test of endurance and patience rather than enjoying the discovery of a new found passion in watercolors. As my professor has stated, in order to truly work with watercolor one must first work on the basics of drawing. So the first few classes were not spent dipping the brush into a glass of water and then multiple colors. No, we spent the first few classes doing nothing but drawing. Everything. 

To be honest, I lost count of how many pieces of fruit, cups, and other random objects I drew - too many to count, that is for sure. Every class I would walk in and cross my fingers that I would not have to pick up a lemon or apple and decide if it is a sphere, cone, cylinder, or cube. My professor has quoted Paul Cezanne so much that every single student can repeat it verbatim. To be exact, the quote is as follows:

"May I repeat what I told you here: treat nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything brought into proper perspective so that each side of an object or a plane is directed towards a central point. Lines parallel to the horizon give breadth... lines perpendicular to this horizon give depth. But nature for us men is more depth than surface, whence the need to introduce into our light vibrations, represented by the reds and yellows, a sufficient amount of blueness to give the feel of air." - Paul Cezanne (Letter written in April 1904)

With this constantly in mind, we spent days working on the movement of our hands and working with the pressure of light and dark pencil strokes. Sound weird? It was. 

Finally, we started bringing paint into the picture. But hold tight, color was not introduced until much later. We had to then understand light and dark shadows as well as learning to draw what you are first confronted with - moving forward from there. 

When we did get into colors it was like someone opened the doors and said, "Now fly little birdie! Fly and find your freedom!" Sighs of relief came to everyone when the green light was given to test the waters of blue, green, red, yellow, and brown. From those simple colors came a plethora of bright hope. Watercolor was now fun. 

Two days ago we branched out even more and went on site to see what nature had to offer. Nature did not disappoint. We sat near a known bridge here in the District called Key Bridge. We sat. We painted. We conquered. Well, okay, we tried.

The best part was seeing how each of us interpreted our surroundings. Some went crazy with colors while others barely brought in one or two contrasting tones. Some were heavier with the brush while others' strokes were light and breezy. Personally, I feel somewhere between halfway and light. The professor warned us not to attempt perfection. Does he know who he is talking to? 

Still, even though my patience was definitely tested, the getting off work and walking into my colorful world of creativity is exhilarating and peaceful. I've been painting for years. I've sold paintings. I've been commissioned. But until this year I never considered myself to be much of anything except someone who enjoyed painting. Georgetown has now become more than a place of work. It has become a safe haven of hope for my future. I like being an artist. 

There. I finally said it. 

I am an artist. Welcome to my world.