The Pedigree of Honey

Poem for the Day

The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.

~Emily Dickinson

Poetry Afternoon

At first I was reading poetry, looking for inspiration for the title of a book that my class is collaborating on. Then I was just mesmerized by the pages of beautiful ideas and I lay back and read. Here is one poem I want to share that is especially beautiful.

I started again; where everything starts:
at the body. Classes in life-drawing,
training my hand to see.

In Paris alone,
my family waiting for me to give up
so I could go back to being "happy."

Every day, failure boiled up into my throat
and stayed there.

.

Obsession is the sacrifice of light
to the richness of submergence.
But love is separation,
the membrane of the orange dividing itself,
the surface of silver
that turns glass into a mirror.

There's failure in every choice.

Art emerged from silence;
silence, from one's place in the world.

~Anne Michaels from "Modersohn - Becker"

Sailing

It's a beautiful thing.

Beautiful

I want my life to be a reflection of Christ, just like the murky water holds the beauty of the tree branches above.

Seize the Day - Remember the Dead

Fall is here

Fall is here! I went to a pumpkin patch today and enjoyed taking pictures. They are all locally grown. I opted out of getting one because they were a little more than I wanted to pay but it was so much fun.

Recent photographs

So, for class we have to take a photo a day and post it to an online photo album but since many of you probably aren't on that system, I decided to re-post some of them here. They aren't super amazing, just some stuff we have to do daily to "keep our hand in" as it were. Let me know what you think.

Tea Party

I am planning a tea party and so I got a few of my new tea cups out this morning and executed a photo shoot in my backyard. I plan on using some of these images in the invite in some way or another.

Tween Brochure

So, this summer I interned at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art. My main graphic design project there was to create a guide book for some of the permanent collection galleries targeted to tweens. This demographic has been largely ignored at this kind of institution and my boss went to a conference that explained what tweens today liked (aesthetically and otherwise) and what attracted them. So with that research as a background and after many studious hours of devouring tween magazines such as pop star and tigerbeat, me and a fellow intern produced this delicious brochure. It was a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, research, frustration, laughs and even some stalking. But it was totally worth it.
Pop Star.

Tiger Beat.

Asia Pulse.

Whistler's Paintings

Here are three renditions of James Whistler's early etchings of the night landscape. They are on display in the Freer Gallery of Art where I worked this summer. The Freer and Sackler Galleries are mostly asian art, so its lovely to see some western pieces mixed in among the rest. I love pen and ink and these pieces are so beautiful to me. I really love how the simplicity is so calming and yet so beautiful. They really are masterpieces (I tried to copy a few of his pieces earlier- trust me they looked nothing like his). Something about this medium and especially the approach he takes with his art moves me. Its like beautiful music- that indefinable element that moves the spirit causes the heart to soar. Art appreciates the simple landscape and makes it beautiful.

Artomatic

This is some stuff I've done lately. Went to Artomatic in DC. It houses all this local art work of all different mediums. Everything from Peeps to tinfoil to the more traditional paint or photography. It was truly inspiring.

Angry Night

Here is a glimpse of what I have been up to recently. It is part of my summer project in photography.

Chairs

A house that does not have one comfy chair in it is soulless.
~May Sarton

A Psalm of Life

I read this poem today by Longfellow and it was very beautiful, so I decided to share.

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

{Purpose}

I want to more clearly define my purpose for this blog and even what the name means.
Farrago means a hotchpotch or mixture, esp. a ridiculous or unbelievable one: eg. a farrago of patriotic nonsense. Or a motley assortment of things.

I feel like this not only perfectly describes my background, personality and personal preferences (music, dress, reading etc.) but also my artistic interests and endeavors. I have many interests and passions and instead of trying to whittle away at them and until I come up with one central core, I desire to accept my multi-faceted ways and enjoy whatever comes along.

Natural Beauty

Saw the Grand Canyon for the first time this weekend.

It was Truly Beautiful.

Baltimore

I was recently in Baltimore and enjoyed capturing
some of the beauty in that city.