Painting Progress Part Harom

So I broke down and did the face today. It was scary but actually went pretty quickly.

Here she is:

I based her on a picture of Jessica Stam, the model. So there you have it.

Painting Progress Part Ketto

I have been working on my painting a lot in the past few days. I am about done with the body and the fabric parts, even adding cracks and chips as per the original sculpture. I have fallen in love with her. So here are the pictures:

The fabric part of the sculpture. You can see cracks in the leg and a few other places.

The body portion. I still haven't done the face yet, since that is the scariest part.

So what do you think? Good, yes? This is going to be critiqued in front of 200 people. That's pretty intimidating but I think my piece can stand for itself. I still have a lot to do but I am pleased with the progress I have made so far!

Venus de Milo Painting Progress.

For my Art History class, we have an option instead of doing a 10 page research paper to do an art project (if you are a studio major) and a 2 page paper. I am obviously doing this option and I am using the "Venus de Milo" as my inspiration. The point is to create a piece being informed by a piece that we've talked about in class. So here it is: My modern interpretation of the Venus de Milo (of course it is a painting, not a statue)

The picture is a little poor in quality since it is from my cell phone, but you get the point. I only started working on it yesterday so I am pretty happy with how much of the first layer I completed. More to come!

Sweet Dreams of Budapest

Last night (or this morning actually) I was dreaming about being in Budapest. It was so amazing, though different than it is in real life of course. There was a giant building shaped like a box of Crayola crayons. We ate amazing food, and I went swimming in the Danube. Only 7 more weeks until we are done with college.

You'd Think I Woulda Done This Sooner...

So, in preparation for becoming a little Hungarian housewife (not until August but I don't think I can start too early) I have been trying to home cook more meals. Not just assembling but actually cooking. I want to be able to provide for our little ex-pat family, and I want to actually eat real grown up food. Which, in college, we have definitely not been doing.
I was taking a nap today (still trying to fight this flu) and I starting having the worst craving for Tuna Helper. Yeah, I'm not sure what that's about either. We haven't had tuna helper in this house for years, so I thought hey! I'm going to look up a recipe for "homemade" tuna helper.
I rifled through the pantries and found an expired box of Kraft Mac n Cheese so I just threw away the "cheese" packet and kept the noodles. Here's my much modified recipe for "made from scratch TunaHelper":

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna, drained
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup milk (at least)
1 Bay leaf
Salt, Pepper, and Poultry Seasoning to taste
Noodles (8 oz or so)

Boil water and cook the noodles until just done. Remove from heat, drain, put aside. In a skillet, saute the onions with the butter until soft. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to coat. Start adding the milk slowly, until you have the desired thickness. I lost count of how much milk I used, I just eyeballed it. Add lots of pepper and salt and throw in a bay leaf for good measure. Add in the poultry seasoning until it tastes delicious and keep stirring to cook the flavors together. Add more milk if it gets too thick. Remove the bay leaf and add the can of tuna, stirring well. Finally, add the drained noodles and stir until completely mixed into the sauce. Enjoy!

This was so so good. Much better than regular Tuna Helper and probably (maybe?) healthier too. I am definitely adding this dish to my repertoire. When far from home, being able to cook up a delicious hot meal for yourself and your other half is invaluable. Try it!

Sick, and Right in Time for Fall Break.

Well, the entire household is sick, including John and I. Fevers, Chills, Headaches, Body Aches, Uncontrollable Coughing, I have it all. Taking my H1N1y-ness to school for midterms was no small feat, and now all I can do is lay in bed. These 4 days off are needed, but in a different way than I had first expected.

Halfway There.

I cannot believe that this semester is basically halfway over. It has gone by quickly, yet I count every day. The household has all fallen ill however, right when I have 3 midterms this week. Arg. Well, I will get through it as I always do. I have had to start thinking about invitations, graduation parties, etc etc. I even made an invite list! I truly cannot believe that I've done it.

Dreams of Sinking Parisian Balloonscapes

Last night I had a strange dream. I was in Paris, and I had met a Finnish girl there in a haunted house. I remember telling her that I was learning Hungarian, and we talked about how Hungarian and Finnish are somewhat close (at least in the same language family). I asked her how long she had been in Paris. We got to talking about how we had both entered and had been chosen for this raffle, for a chance to ride on this multi-level floating underwater building thing. It was a scientific breakthrough, it was as big as a skyscraper. It was held together with old cars, and the whole thing was made out of inflatable rubber/plastic. I took pictures of it before we went on the first "test dive". This was supposed to make it possible for people to live underwater in the future. So we went underwater, and were theoretically supposed to be avoiding some evil squid monsters. An announcer said that it was going well, and welcome to this exclusive view into new technology. We were lucky to have been chosen in this raffle. The announcer said that this plan was fool-proof, except when someone jumped up and down. It created a shock-wave that flipped me onto my head, like a waterbed. We went through several underwater stations with workers in headsets. The plastic floor was leaking slightly.
Finally, it was time for us to "live" on this unbelievably huge, underwater balloonscape, held together by old cars, all the while trying to avoid the evil squids which would surely pop our underwater inflatable city. Much happened while we were underwater, my Finnish friend became ill and so I bought her black and red eyeliner in the giftshop. Eventually and inevitably, the squids came to pop our city. Water was leaking in, and we were all struggling to evacuate. We were somehow in this giant pool now. I was trying to gather up all of my belongings, and there was an auction going on for all of the items that had been "orphaned" because of the popping city. I was concerned I wouldn't get out, but still couldn't decide on all of the items from my room that I would take. My dolls? My art? My skull collection? How could I leave any of it behind after I had worked so hard to collect it? Finally my Finnish friend told me I could take two trash bags full of items. I grabbed some of my sister's old stuffed animals. I cried and lamented over the furniture and various marionettes that I couldn't fit into my bag.
The inflatable balloonscape finally flipped, and my friend and I, being on the first floor, were now at the bottom of the pool. I swam to the top and remember seeing floating, sleeping people and all of their belongings floating around them.
I awoke with a vague feeling of sorrow, of all of the items that I love but will not be able to take with me to Hungary. I feel guilty, and regretful that some of my collections must stay behind.