In other news….. I’m all graduated!

Hire me, please. :)

I am engaged!

The plan was for all friends to to head out to a restaurant after the reception to celebrate, so after we got the food cleaned up people started drifting away with the intention to meet us there. I said good-byes to my immediate family, who weren’t going out with us.  My boyfriend of over 5.5 years, Nik, and I were the last to leave. Once I had retrieved my coat, he told me he had a surprise for me. My thoughts? He must have bought me a present for finishing my exhibit, how sweet! Instead, he blind-folded me and spun me around multiple times, then lead me down the hall. I was asked to plug my ears, which I did so suspiciously. Because I like the full effect of surprises, I plugged them tight so I couldn’t see or hear anything.  I could tell when we went outside, though, because it was significantly colder and I could suddenly feel snowflakes. I could also smell something warm and good, like woodsmoke. By this time I am extremely suspicious and think I may have an idea about what’s going to happen.

Even my assumptions didn’t prepare me. When I removed the blind-fold, I was greeted by a half-circle of my closest friends and family, all holding sparklers as these huge fluffy snowflakes of the first real snowfall drifted down. Nik got down on one knee, proposed, and put a gorgeous ring on my finger (I said yes, of course!). And then the bells started ringing from the campus clocktower. No kidding.

It was absolutely perfect! He planned it so well to have everyone there, even out-of-town friends, and I had absolutely no idea because they were already there for the art exhibit! I am still in awe and shock, and I am so utterly happy.

December 3, 2009

My friends! Unfortunately my family and few others present aren't in this photo, though.

Right outside of the Univeristy Art Center where I've spent most of the past 4.5 years.

LOST or FOUND – B.F.A. Exhibit

Featuring the work of Illustrators:

BreeAnn Veenstra
Caleb Hazen
Corey Miller
Jamie McElroy

Grand Valley State University
Stuart B. and Barbara H. Padnos Student Art Gallery
Open to the public

Monday, November 30, 2009 – Thursday, December 3, 2009

Reception Thursday, December 3, 5:00-7:00

There are many aspects of a journey: a difficult decision, the shadowed face of a stranger, the harrowing recesses of human nature, the smile of a friend. Whether experienced with the imagination or the memory, all paths lead to an enlightened ending. We seek to be your guides on this journey of the things yet to be discovered.

Here’s the front and back of our postcard:

Here’s the first double-page spread of the story, which will measure 21″ x 32″ including borders.

work in progress of the last page

linework for a full-page spread

I still need to find a good Plexiglas supplier and test out paper types to print on. I’d really like to have a nice paper with a bit of texture so I can deckle/tear the edges, but another classmate of mine wasn’t having any such luck with both hotpress and coldpress watercolor papers. He ended up using the print shop’s enhanced matte paper, which is a terrific paper, but it doesn’t have that “traditional” feel to it. We’ll see if I can find some sort of bright white paper that absorbs the ink perfectly.

I’ve also been working on re-designing my website…. again. I just have so much fun with HTML and web design! The new design will allow me to periodically change the design imagery without much problem, too.

And in other unrelated news, Happy Birthday to my boyfriend, Nik! <3 <3 <3

That is all for now.

In other news, here’s another editorial illustration piece titled “Wired to Write”. This one is for an article about therapists who started a writing group where they use their experiences and their client’s lives as inspiration for novels and short-stories. And for those who are concerned about the privacy of the clients, the article specifically said all persons gave explicit permission to use their likeness in any written works.

I’ve actually skipped two of the pages for the time being, so although this piece follows the sugar glider piece and is second-to-last, it’s not my second-to-last to complete.

Again, not quite finished yet.

Usually if you have trouble on one piece, one of the next ones will go exceedingly smooth and fast. Right? Too bad I threw away that month-old fortune cookie. It could have given me the answer.

In the meantime, here’s the linework to the page that I just can’t seem to color right.

How cool would it be to have a pet sugar glider? But alas, I love sleep too much and wouldn’t be able to give them the cheery all-night, every night conversation they so deserve. Still. It’d be pretty cool.

Detail shot of the nearly finished first page for senior show:

Work-in-progress of the next page, where our little plushie friend has a splashin’ good time with the river otters. I have to work on the rocks a bit more, and finish the otters.

Also, I finished the “Stockholm Syndrome” piece. Tigers are delicious.