Moroccan Inspiration.

I haven't posted anything about my trip to Morocco yet. But since the other day I posted some of my design work, I thought this would be all too appropriate.

This picture was snapped toward the end of my trip, we had just finished up a long trip to Erfoud, which is a several hour drive. I snapped hundreds of pictures but I kept being taken back by the creativity and art that was in the form of murals on school walls along the way.

When I saw the murals on this particular school, I made my boyfriend pull over so I could take a picture. I stealthily snapped some pictures and started walking back to the car when a small man walked over and started speaking Arabic to me, when it was clear I was not an Arabic speaker, he tried some French. But being the paranoid person I am, I tried to just hurry back to the car and ignored the man. I was in a hurry after all.

When I got back to the car he knocked on the car window and started speaking Moroccan Arabic to my boyfriend. I soon learned that he was the artist of the murals! All he wanted to do was sell me a drawing. Silly girl.

10 Dirhams (1 dollar) bought me this beautiful drawing. He said it was of a "shy woman" and an "emancipated woman" sharing peace together. I was so inspired by his persistence and the beauty of his work that I promised myself I was going to carry his message over to the states.

So when Islam Day came around at the University and I found out the panel was about women in Islam I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to reinterpret his message in the United States. The word in arabic there is "salam" which means peace.

It isn't hard to figure out why so many European artists spent years in Morocco to find inspiration. I wasn't even looking for it and it persistently managed to find me.

-Angela

Goodbye Oklahoma Summer...

I know summer has officially been gone for a few weeks now.

But I think today it finally really hit me.

When I woke this morning for work,

the sunlight that normally wakes me was just a little dimmer.

The sky is now overcast, and as I type I am glancing out my window to water droplets falling from gray clouds.

Looks like Ill be running in the gym today and not outside...

These photos are a couple weeks old, from the last actual weekend of summer. I was thinking I might go the whole summer without going to the lake, but at the last minute was invited to Lake Eufaula for a lovely weekend. We spent the whole day Saturday on the lake laughing and soaking up as many rays as we could, but were reminded of reality when Sunday morning we were greeted with jacket weather. We truly had enjoyed the last day of summer in the best way possible.

Well, I've never been good with goodbyes

so I just needed to say it one more time.

-Angela

Desktop Cleanup - Marrakech Inspiration

Lately I have been searching for images to see what I can expect photography wise in Morocco. These were a few of my favorites. Let's hope I can capture a few images a fraction as beautiful as these.

Expect more desktop cleanups in the future. :)

-Angela

What I found in my mailbox.

(Morocco is next.)

-Angela

Debbie Millman.

Had the pleasure of meeting the design hero of many last night, Debbie Millman. She spoke at the Montgomery for the Oklahoma City chapter of AIGA about the science of the human brain, why we have the need to "brand" things, how humanoids are reconnecting and rehumanizing technology with social networking, and about augmented reality and where she thinks technology is going with it. REALLY enlightening talk. 

Above are a few pics of her, her book, a few brands in Sterling's portfolio, and us last night. 

If you don't already know about Debbie Millman, here are a few facts: 

Debbie Millman is President of the Design division at Sterling Brands, New York, host of the radio show "Design Matters" on DesignObserver.com, the Chair of the new Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts, a contributing Editor at Print Magazine, a design blogger for Fast Company and an author on the design blog Brand New. She is the President of AIGA and the author of three books: How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer (Allworth Press, 2007),Essential Principles of Graphic Design  and Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design. (HOW Books, 2009). How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer is currently in its fourth printing and has been translated in four languages. A sequel, How To Think Like A Great Brand Designer, will be published by Allworth Press in 2010.

Do you guys have any creative heros?

-Angela

Snow Day.

Pics from yesterday. ;) The boredom in my house was too much and we decided to get out and take some pictures. Didn't take long before we were right back in the house and making another pot of coffee, though.

But man, snow produces some pretty flattering lighting. Gonna have to take advantage of this a little more.

Happy snow day!

-Angela

Snowed In.

When I saw snow outside this morning, I decided to make something for breakfast to warm me up.

...and of course I had to capture a slice of beauty while the eggs were cooking.

Work was cancelled after all and I had all the time in the world.

Because there is nothing else to do but stay inside, edit photos, and have coffee with a fellow snowed in friend.

Just another extreme ice/snowstorm in Oklahoma. The weather here is always changing. Wednesday was in the mid 60s and beautiful.

I always have to have a little reminder of brighter times in my house though.

Call it anti-depressive living.

What do you do when snowed in? I think me and my friend are about to go romping outside in the snow finally. Maybe I'll get a few pictures of that too.

-Angela

New Year - Part 2 - Dark Side of the Moon

Part 2 of the show. After Midnight. They played Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety. It was fantastic. There are so many more pictures on my flickr if you want to check them out. Just click on any of the photos to be redirected. 

Some of my resolutions:

Invest in more camera equipment.

Journal everyday.

Blog more often. ;)

Take pictures everyday. 

Get faster at editing photos. 

Don't settle for less than I deserve. In all matters of life. 

Explore doing freelance photography and design work more often. 

Travel somewhere entirely new. 

I don't normally believe in resolutions. Because I've always felt they were meant to be broken. But this year I thought I would give it a go. So I am starting out with just a few simple, realistic ones. 

Happy late New Year. 

-Angela

The New Year. - Part 1

  

  

  

Just wanted to share some photos from my New Years experience. 

For 2010, me and my bestie, Chenoa, decided to go to the show The Flaming Lips put on every year here in OKC for New Years. But this year was a very special year... a new decade! 

So they decided that, after midnight, they would play The Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety. It was sooooo awesome and I took a TON of pics. So many that it took forever to go through them all. But here are a few favorites from the first half. Click to go to my flickr and see more. 

Happy (late) New Year! Hope you guys are having a good one so far. I can't believe we are almost done with the first month!

-Angela