Tag: photography

December 30, 2016

2016 In Review

My most liked Instagram photos from 2016. I started using Instagram slightly more this past year. I post images of things that inspire me as an artist, as well as work in progress photos. Feel free to follow me: @carolynapappas.

While 2016 may have been negative in terms of events in the news and celebrity deaths, it was an amazing and eventful year for me personally. Here is a recap of some of the things that I have accomplished:

Art Achievements

My most productive art making months were July and August. During these months, my schedule was the lightest and I felt an urgency to make as much art as I could before school started.
My biggest creative inspiration in 2016 was Tower Hill Botanic Garden. I am still overflowing with ideas and you will definitely see more of Tower Hill in my art in 2017.
I published 35 blog posts over the course of the year, which doesn’t meet my goal of one post a week. I am okay with that though, because I made a lot of artwork that I didn’t post (stay tuned in 2017).
I published 52 posts to Instagram over the course of 2016.
For six weeks in the beginning of the year, I participated in the online Sketchbook Skool course, Expressing. You can read my review of the kourse here.
I participated in the Twitter Art Exhibit, held in NYC in March.
I decorated and mailed a blank postcard to Greenfield Community College for a show of Mail Art.
I completed a commissioned watercolor landscape painting for the album cover of Robert Louis’ debut Christmas album.
I completed my red moleskine sketchbook and started a new moleskine, which is in progress.
I experimented with Photoshop and learned how to make animated GIFs to feature my artwork.
Crafty pursuits included making two hand-sewn mermaid dolls and an advent calendar for my daughter.

Personal Achievements

I finished the prerequisites for the nursing program I am attending, started nursing school in September, and completed the first semester.

Thank you to all who visited me online during this past year, left comments, or sent encouraging emails. I am so grateful for the support of kindred spirits!

I will be back on Sunday with my goals for 2017.

June 16, 2016

Sketching at Magic Wings

Last weekend I visited Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. I had last been there two years ago, so I was due for another visit. This time though, the timing was not ideal. It was a rainy Saturday and the place was crowded with lots of other people who had the same idea. That, combined with all of the substandard photos that I took and a shortage of blue morpho butterflies, led to a rather disappointing visit. I did get to make a sketch though, which was the highlight of the trip.

February 7, 2016

Snow!

It felt nice to finally have a snowy day. In a way I am relieved because I think I was uneasy about the abnormally warm weather. It is not that I don’t like the warmth, I just enjoy all the seasons in their own way and I didn’t like feeling like we skipped over one of them. Looking over my sketch afterwards, I realized that I should have drawn it in black ink on pure white paper because it would have captured the light and contrast in the atmosphere.

April 29, 2015

Boston!

My dad and I went to Boston for the day yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful and sunny day. Unfortunately, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is closed on Tuesdays, but we are planning a return trip. We visited MCPHS University, and then stayed around the Prudential Center and also went to see the Mapparium, which I had never seen or heard of before.

I also bought a new computer, the Asus Zenbook, and I am in the process of setting it up. I’m not loving Windows 8 so far and I am happy that my purchase came with a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out.

August 10, 2014

Filling my Reservoir

I took a bus trip to Newport, RI yesterday with my sisters. I am close enough to Newport that I could go whenever I want, but I don’t go as often as I would like and it was nice to go via bus because I didn’t have to worry about driving or parking. I didn’t take very many photos but I felt like I soaked up a lot of inspiration like I always do whenever I visit. I really like the seaside/nautical atmosphere and water in general.

Right now we are in a drought and the water level in the lake is very low. My energy/creativity levels have been somewhat on that same level lately but I feel that this outing yesterday refueled me creatively. The prospect of fall coming is really starting to excite me. The most exciting prospect of this upcoming fall and winter is that my space is now fully insulated and heated and I will have a comfortable place to work.

May 16, 2014

May Flowers

I’m really enjoying the change in the weather and the color. I have a vase of flowers on my kitchen table right now and I sketched them in watercolor last night. I enlarged the image and I really like the look of all the paint blooms and white spaces. I am planning on attending a watercolor open studio group later this month and I was warming up a bit as it has been awhile since I have touched a brush.