cleaner slate.

alright. so, where i left off last is completely unimportant. since i turned twenty, a lot of things have happened to me, so rather than bore anyone with the details that are less than captivating, i'll give you one of my - what seems to be becoming quite frequent (i should work on posting more regularly) - summaries of the past almostmonth.

lately, i've been trying my hand at using black & white
film more often, instead of just resorting to disposables.

the last two photos are from shannon's last days in vermont.

she left a week before my birthday and i'm so glad i got to 

spend at least near the entirety of her last week her with her.

the great escape.

for those of you who are familiar with the great escape theme park in new york, just past the glenns falls outlets.. this post has nothing to do with that. lately i've made so many changes and as far as i can tell they are all positive ones. i've made the move into my new apartment with my two good friends, ariana and garrett. garrett has yet to move in and our living room has yet to be settled but we've already had one (at least mostly successfully) party and i have a sweet porch off of my bedroom. i just got a call from urban outfitters mere days ago and found out i have orientation on sunday for a new job there! (hopefully all goes well- crossing my fingers that i do as well as i'm hoping i can.) i couldn't be happier.

i've also made some important decisions for myself based on reevaluating my own self-worth and figuring out who matters and who should or should not be in my life depending upon whether or not their presence is healthy and beneficial. i've been running a lot more often and swimming as much as i can. i've been eating better and reconnecting with more old friends and making new ones. just when i thought the summer had ended, it turned around and showed me that it was only just beginning.

here are some things to help sum up the past couple weeks of my life.

who cares.

a compilation.

it's been nearly a month and a half since i've last written, but in all honesty i've had nothing of importance to say. i feel that the summer is a compilation of days and adventures that can't be explained individually. the summer is a time to pick your favourite memories and figure out an overall feeling that comes along with them and the summer as a whole. this summer has been less than a wild ride but more than a blip on my radar. i've got pictures and memories and songs to trigger feelings and scents that won't ever leave my mind. i've created new friendships and reconnected with old ones. i've had nights i'll never be able to remember because of alcohol but stories to be heard for the rest of my life. but, if i had to choose one sense to explain my summer it would be touch.

i know that scent is the strongest sense tied to memory but personally touch reverberates much deeper within my core. thinking of the feeling of touching another human being or feeling the water rush all over my body after jumping off of a cliff and into a river or lake triggers so many more emotions for me than scents or sounds. i don't know where i'm going with this. here are some pictures and other things that can explain my summer better than i would be able to with words. xoxo. maggie.

watercolours.

so i figured out what to do for my verb project.
if you watch it, let me know what you think. xoxo. maggie.

watercolours. from maggie gray on Vimeo.

verbs. art?

so, my first of two summer classes that i'm taking is a three dimensional studies studio art class. now, three dimensional studies isn't really my thing, but i want to be able to take other classes throughout my time at uvm that require this class as a prerequisite so i'm suffering through it for now.

my first project, a model art gallery made out of butterboard did not come out the way i would have hoped. my fingers, being less than nimble, were not capable of creating the sound structure i was hoping to achieve. the end result was a sagging, miserable looking excuse for a solid building/anything interesting enough to qualify as a satisfactory place to display works of art.

my second project, a model of a rhinoceros beetle made solely of barbecue skewers and hot glue, came out much better and i was really able to get into it and achieve a final product i can be proud of.

currently, i'm in bailey howe library- having been surfing the web on the computer for the past hour- trying to find some inspiration for my "verb" project. i have this and one last welding project to finish by the end of the week and, assuming that i'm correct in assuming that the welding will be the quickest project to complete, i decided i might as well put some extra time into this one and get it done by tuesday night.. hopefully. this "verb" project is inspired by richard serra's list of verbs that he created as a foundation of actions you can perform upon some single kind of material or convey through the molding and malleability of whichever material you were to work with. (i hope that was the correct use of malleability.)

my first thoughts were to use the verb "of refraction" because i love the use of light within prisms and the way they function has always intrigued me. looking further into the project, i began to realize that creating a prism was really not feasible and just hanging a bunch of prisms in a tree to watch the light refract was too much of a cop-out and i would feel completely lazy and unoriginal if i presented that to my class. after my first presentation of my butterboard project i can't bear to present another project i'm dissatisfied with. i'm contemplating using "to impress" and do some type of embossment project but i want to do something on a larger scale. for now, i need to get off this blogbreak and get back to work though because i should have been in class long ago and the blogging isn't really helping me get any further with my searches. hhhhhh. xoxo. maggie.

listen, watch.

a day of rain.

today was a dreary and rainy sunday. the past three weeks of what i can solidly call my start to the summer (massachusetts journey, the move into my new home, first of the summer parties, night-time swimming adventures, finally training to serve at applebee's, jumping in lake champlain, biking all across creation, etc.) were sunny and amazing and filled with fun. today was an extreme foil to act as a definitive ender of the weekend and hopefully help put me into work mode for at least the next four days.

my first art critique in my summer three dimensional studies class did not go as well as i'd hope so i'm going to try my best to get as into the rest of my projects as i possibly can. luckily, with a fuller schedule (class monday through thursday from 9am until 12:30pm and work monday through wednesday from five on) i'll be able to set more firm exercise plans incorporating running outside, biking, swimming, and finally being able to make use of the uvm gym now that i'm an official student!

since my last post more disposable photos have been taken, using up my first set of three cameras, now i have two more to get through before fresh prints. take a gander at a brief summ(er)ary of the start to one of my favourite seasons to enjoy in burlington. more photos after the jump.