I am an artist.

This summer, for whatever reason, I settled on this sentence: "I am an artist". In my life, I have always valued creativity, and thought of myself as being creative. I did artistic things, but was never comfortable saying "I am an artist". Perhaps I needed to feel a bit more self-actualized in my professional/career life, or perhaps I've been wrestling with that potential moniker long enough (or both), but I woke up one day and was at peace with the thought. I realized that being artistic is not just something I schedule into my life as something to practice; it has become part of what I do/the way I interact with my world whether scheduled or not. If I see something beautiful, I pick it up to integrate into a collage later on. If I see a picture of a Mona Lisa that reminds me of a cat, I add the cat features to finish the look. I just do these things without calculating or planning anymore. I am an artist. Happy.

My cat for the summer.

Grinding pendant glass outside in the backyard.

I bought these homemade glitter buttons and replaced the boring ones on this jacket.

I added the double sleeve buttons for more appeal and glitz.

Me, surrounded by creative collaged mosaic/shell balls.

Pre-'creativized' phone picture formats are fun,

but it can be difficult to really express yourself in spite of the hipstery-vintage formulations.

I try, though!

This is supposed to be lightning bugs outside my apartment.

I loved the lightning bugs, crickets, and cicadas this summer.

Mmmm.

This is my bedside table. The underwater scene came with the apartment, and I thought it was appropriate given my summer of working on aquaculture. The sash on top came from a jacket I bought in Lexington at an antique store--I tore the collar off (the sash), and plan to create a dance costume with it. Below is my mini travel 'altar'.

My mini travel 'altar' includes: Goofy's foot button (from childhood, represents silliness), jade fish (used to by my grandparents'--represents my dedication to marine conservation), pewter miniature castle (from my childhood, represents imagination), wax seal (the image is of a peace dove=peace. duh), 4 leaf clover bit (given to me in Lexington by Howie, my former boss. Good luck!), sparkly button (represents...sparkles?!!!), ceramic rabbit (my 'power animal' representing patience among other things). The doily was made by hand by a Japanese woman who was super thankful to me for offering uberfresh eggs to her daughter (whom I work with at Seafood Watch) last semester.

Eggs filling our fridge.