We Could Steal Time

So much is happening right now! I can’t believe that we’re playing at the BAFBC dnow in a week! It seems like it was two months away only yesterday!

Starbucks is going great. I still love it. Free coffee. Free food. Amazing people. Actually having a job. It’s the bomb.

Taylor visited last weekend and a great time was had by all! Saturday was seriously one of the best days of my life. Taylor, Nathan, Riley, Bethany (a friend from Ai here) and I all drove downtown and painted a piano together on a hill overlooking Austin’s beautiful skyline as the sun was setting (there are pictures on FB!) It was just SUCH an amazing, beautiful, joyous time. It was like breathing deeply after weeks of short, shallow breaths.

A week of two before that I went to see Jenny & Tyler again in Waco with Allison and Maritz Bitz, which was a blast. After the concert, we visited this amazing coffee shop called Common Grounds (I think) and it was beautiful and the coffee was great.

Between those two events, I was in Houston for almost a week to stay with my brothers (mostly Nick) while my parents spent their 25th anniversary in northern California. I’m pretty jealous that they got to go, but it was great seeing everybody back in Htown, AND getting to play Sunday morning with Kevo, Katie, Andrew, and Mr. Bill was a blast. PLUS, Mel, Liz and I went of a photo excursion to do a double-exposure experiment with color film that turned out pretty cool.

Anyway, Gungor concert on Sunday and I’m PUMPED.

Also, dnow in a week! And I’m SUPER PUMPED.

I’m pretty much pumped to be alive right now.

Also, did I mention one of my design professors this quarter is Marc English? He’s fo real. Google him.

.Zach

Life Lately.

Does anyone still read this? haha.

Lately:

I’ve been pouring myself into laying out this book of poetry for my publication design class. We have full-sized galley’s due Monday, along with four ideas for the cover. Here is some of the art that’s going into the book:

The first is for a poem by Ryan, the second is for one by Trey. Third: Eric, I think. Fourth: Trey and Eric. Fifth: Katie.

Lately:

I have been enjoying my new, non iPhone, cell phone! It’s an android, and I am enjoying it immensely. And, interestingly enough, it fits my personality: It’s called the Inspire.

The weather has been fantastic.

I’ve been working on a website for my art, design, and information about myself. I’m kind of excited because I’m coding it myself (with the help of my Web Layout II Prof.) It’s going to go live this weekend, and it’s REALLY cool. Though, it’s not even worth looking at if you’re not running Chrome of Safari. Just saying. So prepare yourself. (Can we say CSS3?) Spoiler: Each page has a title with scrolling images behind it.

I took Riley’s pictures and AJ’s senior pictures, both of which I need to get a move on editing.

I got a legit old film camera with two lenses from a family friend in San Antonio. It’s a Nikon FG from the early 80′s. It’s all manual from what I can tell. I’m excited to try it out.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. It’s Nick’s birthday today, too! He’s 11! Also, I’ll be in Htown this weekend.

Tentative Spring Quarter Schedule

So, I signed up for next quarter’s classes this week, and here’s what they are:

Public Speaking | This is a Monday morning class. Blerg.
Corporate Identity | I suppose this class is about working with a company to create corporate identity, but idk. Sounds easy…haha.
Graphic Design Portfolio I | I’m pretty sure we work with a real client in this class…should be interesting.
Typography – Expressive | I’m pretty sure we spend the majority of this class making a zine-type book of handmade type. Which I lurve.
Media Business Law | This class is probably going to be a snore fest. Or maybe really interesting. Let’s hope it’s the latter.

Brand New Melodies, Songs So Sweet

So, it’s been a while since I posted on here and I’m getting tired of seeing that picture of a journal on the last post. If you’re just DYING to hear from me, I have been posting much more frequently over at merereflections.org with Trey and Eric. Let’s see, what have I been up to?

Well,

I’ve been slaving over a project for my Publication Design class, and it’s been oh so delightful! Seriously. I’m getting Trey, Eric, Katie, Ryan, and Erin to write poetry for me and it’s going really well. Every time I get a poem in my inbox from one of them and read it I’m pleasantly surprised at how good it is, seriously, guys, they’re all amazing.

Nathan has settled in here in Austin, and it’s going well. Green Bay Packers and Godzilla paraphernalia have begun to pop up in our apartment, and it’s kind of funny. Austin is becoming home, which is wonderful, because it’s beautiful here. I feel more like myself, if that makes sense. Like, I don’t have to try as hard to be someone, I can just be. And it’s fine.

That said, I’ve also begun this fantastic book called Common Prayer which was compiled and written-ish by The Simple Way, of which Shane Claiborne is a part. The book is basically liturgical prayers and Bible passaged and bits of Christian history laid out so that there is some to read every day, and I must say that reading it has been really enriching. That combined with The Valley of Vision, which I just got this week, and that my missional community is reading Ephesians and you’ve got yourself a very content Zach. SRSLY, if you don’t have Valley of Vision: GET IT. Also, I’ve been keeping a rather intense prayer journal (the book regimen is def helping) and it’s making me happy. I’m FINALLY actually keeping up with a journal of some sort! It’s quite exciting.

In other news, I’m currently in the process of trying to get a job at Starbucks, which is reallllyyyy exciting. I’ve been interviewed twice, which is the normal amount of times, and am waiting to hear back about whether or not I have a job. It’s weird though, because it’s almost like God is preparing me to not get the job, because I’ve gotten two really out-of-the-blue design jobs this week. One from an admissions girl from the Ai in Houston for a graphic for her wedding, and one from a guy who was recommended to me from Michelle Sanders (bless her!) for what could possible end up being 20+ iPhone app designs and a steady stream of money over the next few months, which is AWESOME. All I can say is, God provides.

And, Hallelujah!

Now, enjoy one of my favorite photographs:

Robert Doisneau’s The Kiss

To Go Further Up, and Further In

You should probably go buy the song: With Everything (Hillsong United)
Number of paintings I am currently working on: 4
Number of paintings I am working on that have birds in them: 3
Days until I come back to Houston for Christmas break: 5
Amount of excitement I have for seeing family/friends: ∞
Finals until I’m done with this quarter: 5

Okay, so, God is so good. Have I mentioned that lately? I’ve been learning to trust that he is perfect even when I don’t understand everything about him. (Which I’m learning is all the time, but it’s okay!)

Also, I’ve started watching Miyazaki movies. They are all amazing. You should probably watch Spirited Away, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and Porco Rosso, and Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro. And the rest of them, too.

There Must Be More to This Provincial Life

Everything is converging! This is going to mostly be a post about continuing and unfinished art projects.

Here I am, two weeks left of this quarter. I’ve been in Austin for 3 months, I’ve gotten a job but it hasn’t started yet (gahh!), and it’s finally cold outside. I’ve got lots of projects in the pipeline, but no money (ehh) and Saturday is cookie day! (yess!)

I’m currently working on a painting for Katie, and one for Marissa. Katie’s is going to be a fantasy-themed painting, and I’m really excited about how it’s going. Marissa’s is going to be something fancy saying “Am I lost, or just less found?” I also bought a giant canvas (2′ x 4′) to paint with something. I had an idea, but I’m not sure about it now. I wanted to paint a scene with really tall birch trees with fall leaves on a hilly landscape. And of course, in the tradition of landscapes by me, there would be mountains in the background. But what else is new. And I considered putting a lion in it, but again; what else is new?

Other than those, I just finished an assemblage thing with leaves and sticks and an old textbook I got from Goodwill called “Morphology of Plants,” that I’m going to sell at a show (hopefully) at school. I want to do two more similarly with two other textbooks I got called “Advanced Mathematic Engineering” which I would make look kind of steampunk-y and “The Science of Gemstones.” I also started a painting of one of the photos from the glow face paint shoot Eric and I did a few months ago. I’m not sure if I like it though. It’s on loose canvas and it’s started buckling.

I need to make cookie dough for Saturday! My mom asked me to make all the dough that needs to be chilled the night before so that it will be ready on Saturday. Good gravy do I love Cookie Day.

Maybe a Job and A Downtown Adventure

This week has gone by really fast. It actually started in Houston, but I drove back up Monday morning.

Monday I had Editorial Design, where we presented redos of magazine covers we though were laid out or designed poorly. For some reason, last weekend I spent a LOT of time fixing my two Macworld covers, and it really paid off. My professor liked them I think. Then, after presentations, she felt the need to tell me that she hadn’t picked anyone for a job that she had told us about a week of two ago. I think that is a good sign, because I still haven’t found a job. And, she had said that originally the job would not be design-related, but that it definitely had the potential to lead into a design job. So that’s reallllyy exciting.

Tuesday was my long boring day.

Wednesday was crazy. And cold, rainy, and windy. Which was a nice change from the usual heat. Plus, I got to wear a scarf. I usually drive up to the Ai for my Art History II class on Wednesdays at 1 pm, but this week we were going to have a non-mandatory field trip to the Blanton Art Museum on MLK on the UT campus to see the exhibit called “Turner to Monet,” which I was excited about. Oh yeah, and Wednesday was also the day my mom woke me up by calling me at 9:30 and was like TYLER FROM JENNY AND TYLER COMMENTED ON YOUR PICTURE ASKING TO BUY IT FROM YOUUUGYUBFD!!! Which has to be one of the best things ever to wake up to in the morning, haha. Anyway, we were supposed to meet at the museum at 2, but I was running late and got there at like 2:20. When I was walking up to the museum, I walked past my professor going the other direction and was like, wait, are we touring the museum today? And she said that she waited and I was the only one to show up and she had other things to do so she would give me extra credit. And I was like, okay! Then I called Riley, JM, Megan, and Lindsay, and they were all busy. So I went to the museum by myself. The exhibit was a bit confusing, because even though it was called “Turner to Monet,” I can’t remember actually seeing any Turner or Monet paintings… Then I went and walked through the Roman art section, and the Renaissance art section, and the Modern art section, and the random line art section that was cool. All the exhibits were pretty good. They didn’t have very many impressionist paintings though, which are my favorite. After that, I picket up Megan Hanlon and we had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, which had great pizza. Then we walked all over the UT campus, saw Sid, found out that every tree on UT’s grounds has a small metal circle nailed into it with a number on it, and climbed #2148 I think it was. Then we walked to a starbucks.

At this point it was like 6:30, and Megan went back to her apartment and I went and had dinner with JM in Jester (his and Riley’s dorm). Then I went and hung out with him and RIley until like 10:30. It was good. I haven’t talked to them really since the weekend Trey was visiting. So yeah, then I drove back home and painted a shirt for my Thursday class. Then Thursday morning I finished my piano sculpture thing. Or, at least, made is presentable enough to turn in. I think I’ll probably change it up when I get it back.

Oh, also, I found the perfect tree in the greenbelt behind my apartment complex. Score.

Anyway, that was my week, and I still have this weekend! How was your week?

Relocation

Hello, four people who ever read my blog!

A lot has happened since my last post, friends. For one, I’m now living in what has proven to be one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. Austin, Texas has been my home now for almost three weeks and I’m definitely enjoying it. So far, I’ve just been settling in and looking for a job (I’ve applied to a bunch of Starbucks, haha), getting my apartment all set up, finishing up my online Art History class, and hanging out with some of my friends who live here also. The fall quarter for the Art Institute of Austin begins on Monday (the 4th), and I’m really excited for it!

Let’s see, I’ve also very much enjoyed The Austin Stone Community Church. And I’ve pretty much decided to make it my official church, I just need to get involved in their small groups now.

In other news, I’m going to turn 20 on Friday! No more teens! I must say, I don’t think I’ll miss being a teenager. Also, I’ll be in Houston this weekend to celebrate my birthday and my mom’s too with my family (because hers is the 7th).

Anyway, I miss you all!

Fall Quarter Classes!

So, after much fanfare and nonsense, I have finally signed up for classes in the fall quarter at the Art Institute of Austin! Finally! They got my credits transferred over and not everything is good, so here’s what my weeks will look like:

Monday – Editorial Design, 6p – 10p
Tuesday – Web Design for Designers, 8a – 12p
Layout II, 1p – 5p
Wednesday – Art History II, 1p – 5p
Thursday – Conceptual Imagery, 1p – 5p

I’m very excited, to say the least. less than 48 hours until I move!

Currently hearing: Don’t Say That by The Autumn Film
Currently Seeing: A bunch of silver, white and black apple products that make up my computer setup and the dining room table that will soon by mine in the apartment I’m moving into. Also, a view of my kitchen and living room that I won’t be seeing half as often come Saturday.
Book Update: Since I last posted info about books I’m reading, I have finished Watchmen which was quite a good read, though mostly very depressing, but in a reflective way. Also, I finished rereading Out of the Silent Planet and have started rereading Perelandra, which is probably my favorite book.

Here at the End of All Things

Okay, well, The End of All Things is a tad dramatic, but that’s kind of how I’m feeling.

I have one week left of classes at the Art Institute.
I’m moving to Austin at the beginning of Fall.
I have started researching churches in Austin.
So much is changing at HNW!
I’ll have to find a new job.
All my just-graduated senior friends will not necessarily be here when I come back to visit.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to go through this all again, I just did this last summer! dag nabbit. I guess I’ll just have to keep reminding myself everything ended up being fine this year, so why wouldn’t it happen again?

Good things:
Austin is amazing for Artists/Musicians. (and anyone remotely extroverted.)
I have/will have friends in Austin already!
While I’m not happy about leaving this college ministry in Houston, (I’m enjoying it immensely!) the prospect of finding a new church is kind of exciting.
The Art Institute of Austin is further along than the one here, soo…that should be a good thing. (Plus, they have the culinary program = free food! )

As is life, I suppose: Always changing.
In the immortal words of AJ, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave.”