Let There Be Art!

Finally settled into my new place and have had some time to make some drawings. Mostly digital, some on my chalkboard wall, a few in my sketchbook...it's all practice either way. :) Here are some little snapshots of the things I'm working on:

Yes, I know...too many animals, not enough people. There's a little boy in the bottom left corner of that last picture if you look really closely!!...okay, it probably doesn't count. But hey, I'll get there, don't worry!

As for a mini life update, I've officially changed my address, registered to vote, successfully met most of my neighbors, and explored a lot of Golden at this point. Still haven't made it up the third mountain, but I plan to tackle it either tomorrow or Saturday. Expect more pictures of nature soon! The only other big things left on my to do list are to register my car here and get a Colorado driver's license...I expect that to be about as much fun as it was when I was 16. :/

Hope you all are having a great September!

Getting Settled

So, it's been one week, give or take a Labor Day trip to Kansas, since I moved to Colorado. Since I got back on Monday I have accomplished the following:

-installed lots of shelving

-unpacked and organized everything

-built a computer

-hiked two nearby plateaus

-met lots of neighbors

-got a library card

-covered a wall with chalkboard paint

...notice something missing from this list? 

No? The answer is art. Art is missing. 

Drawing time has been sort of squished in between all of these other things all week. I suppose that's to be expected when you first move someplace, but it is making me feel somewhat unproductive. Part of the problem is that I don't have Photoshop on my new computer yet despite having spent hours trying to get my files transferred over and programs installed across a very shaky internet connection. What little I've done can hardly be called drawings, more like sketchbook scribbles really. 

I suppose I could have drawn instead of hiking yesterday and today but...I really needed to get out of the apartment! I had been bottled up inside for days trying to sort things out/do various projects and was succumbing to a bit of cabin fever. Plus, both hikes left me feeling super refreshed and inspired. To able to walk less than a mile from my apartment and see things like this is just awesome:

However! I have now gotten most of the apartment set-up things off of my to-do list and the new computer is up and running fantastically, so it's time to knuckle down and get some work done. You should start seeing more art posts here very soon. :)

Also, for those of you interested in more pictures/doodles, check out my Instagram. It's a lot easier for me to post images quickly from my phone there.

Ready, Set, Clean!...then unpack, shop, and maybe some art stuff if I have time.

And so it starts!

Mom and I set out at the crack of dawn on the 3rd armed with a U-Haul, two vehicles full of boxes, and some travel CDs I burned the night before. Yes, I know, no one burns CDs anymore. Remember, you're also talking to the girl who didn't own a phone that could connect to the internet until November of last year. Anyway.

After 13 hours of straight driving we arrived to find that the apartment was...mostly ready for me to move into. They had just replaced the carpet in the living room but some repairs and cleaning still needed doing. I'll take mostly ready over "you're going to need to find a motel for the night" though! We rolled out the sleeping pads and crashed.

After admiring the scenery (all of my windows offer sunrise and sunset mountain views, woo!) we got to work helping the cleaning lady finish sprucing up the place. Mostly the kitchen and shampooing the carpet in the bedroom.

Bet you thought my first adventure in Colorado would be hiking! Hah! Shows what we know. Also, it would appear my apartment still has some of its original fixtures from the 60's. I think it's kind of neat:

Throughout the day we started trickling in with boxes, squeezing what we could into a shopping cart that we rode up and down the elevator with. I will spare you boring details, just know that it took all day despite most of what I have being collapsible and lightweight. A big thanks to my friends John and Alayna for coming over from Denver to help me out with the larger, awkward stuff. And for the awesome house warming plant! I'm going to name it Billy. At least until I can think of a better name.

I must say though, this sweet art desk is my favorite piece of brand new furniture:

Why yes, those are milk crates and a giant plank of wood. I know, I know, it's genius. Don't be jealous.

Finally, last night I had a chance to show Mom around Golden a bit. We didn't make it up the mountain this time, but we did enjoy the lovely riverwalk, the geology museum, and the downtown shopping strip. It really is a cool little town.

Mom left this morning and I hope she doesn't fall asleep driving; we stayed up kind of late putting things away and getting rid of boxes. As you can see from the above picture, I've still got a bit of that to do today before I leave for Kansas tomorrow morning, So I'll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. If you haven't read this book yet, you really need to. It reads as both an adventure story and wisdom from your grandfather at the same time. I find this particular snippet resounds with me right now. :)

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream." 

Til next time!
~K