deviantART: by:jumpingbean http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:jumpingbean&section=today deviantART RSS for by:jumpingbean en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:30:54 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png Enjoying the Art again http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/28487837/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/28487837/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:20:17 PST
Since we're living in tight quarters now until our new house gets built, my jewelry-making supplies are all in storage. So I won't be posting anything for a while. I certainly miss making jewelry. There's something very soothing about creating something with your hands and challenging yourself to do something you've never done before.

Anyway, I miss my friends here and I miss looking at all the wonderful art on dA. I am making a conscious effort to not work so much. Since I'm able to work remotely, it's easy to keep working whenever the computer is on.

Let me know how you're all doing. I miss you all! :love:

]]> =jumpingbean Help A Friend In Need http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/25651673/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/25651673/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:55:03 PDT Katerina423 and I have been working together to help someone very special to us. We are trying to gather enough funds so that =kahl (Carissa) will have an emergency fund allowing her access to her medication if she needs it and the money to move to an area that has work and a new life waiting for her. If you'd like to know more about =kahl and how you can help, please check out `Katerina423's journal post here for more details.

Thank you for everyone's support. :heart:

Much :love: to Carissa and Elliot.

.
]]> =jumpingbean Hanging around - sort of http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/25080297/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/25080297/ Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:10:29 PDT

I'll try to check in to dA more often when I can.

Hope my few friends here are doing well. ;)

]]> =jumpingbean An Art Trade and Birthday Thanks http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/23354467/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/23354467/ Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:36:27 PST
It all started when :iconkaterina423: picked me up for lunch at the end of last month and totally surprised me with a birthday gift! To torture myself, I decided to open it later at the restaurant. After we arrived, we chatted a bit, and then I finally gave her the group birthday gift from her deviantART friends. I had tried to give it to her on her birthday, but her schedule was packed that week, so she got it the week after. You can read about her fantastic reaction to it here: [link] .

After making her emotional with her birthday gift, I gave her my part of the art trade and I managed to render her speechless, which she says almost never happens! :evillaugh: I totally geeked out and went into extensive detail about making the set. :lmao: I am such a nerd. I think Katie thought I was a little nuts. :giggle: Anyway, here are some pictures of the set and some cute pics of her reaction and of her wearing it. :D





^Katerina423 says she’ll take some nice pictures of her wearing the set later when she has some time, so I’m pretty excited about that.

So then I moved on to opening my presents from her and $arachnid15 and found a tiny pot of strawberry seeds and a really nice journal and pen (to encourage me to write more :)). She hadn’t known this before, but I love eating ripe strawberries and cherries and strawberry and cherry ice cream, and I had considered purchasing a similar journal. It was like she read my mind or something! It was so awesome that she knew me that well. :heart:

The goodies don’t stop there though. About a week later, ^Katerina423 and I met again for lunch at the beginning of February and she gave me her part of the art trade. I got a set of 5 signed metallic prints!! They are such beautiful images of her looking glamorous and sexy and the colors just pop. :love: I need to get frames for them. I just love them!! I can’t wait until she posts the images so everyone can see them. The metallic prints are amazing and almost look 3D.

Then about a week after that, I get a surprise birthday gift from :iconkahl:! She sent me two signed prints of images that I love:

http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/21055018/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:24:53 PDT EDIT: Read all about ~kahl's adventures: The Honeymooners: Part One and HoneyMoon Adventures: Part Two.



:iconkahl: and her husband, :iconaxlerod:, ended their honeymoon in the Bay Area in California so they could hang out with :iconkaterina423:, :iconarachnid15:, me and my husband. I was so excited and nervous! I kept leaving awkward voicemails for ^Katerina423 as we played phone tag so we could plan for ~kahl and ~axlerod’s visit. I finally met the three of them for the first time ever on Wednesday, 10/15/08, when we got together for dinner at Pedro’s. It turns out that my husband and I only work 2 miles away from ^Katerina423! And ~kahl was staying in a hotel just a few minutes walk from ^Katerina423’s work, so it was really easy for us all to get together. ^arachnid15 was not feeling well, so he wasn’t able to make it to the dinner. :( We had a blast and hung out at the restaurant until 11:30 p.m. Here’s a group shot of us:



I had bought ~kahl’s awesome book, Chrysalis, and brought it to the dinner so she could sign it. I was like a total fangirl having her autograph it. Here’s a picture of her first book signing:



~kahl and I had done an art trade and we got to give each other our gifts in person. I made a jewelry set for her and she wrote me a book, The Roofwalker, with illustrations, which completely blew me away and far exceeded my greatest expectations. I had only expected a short story with a single digital illustration. Instead, she rocked out with a full novella and lots of digital illustrations based on photos from ^Katerina423 and ^arachnid15 and other stock photos, and had her best friend, *Melara, help review it. The story is incredible and the ending gave me chills. I love it and whenever she has it available for the public to order, I’m going to pimp it. ~kahl should think about being a novelist. She is THAT good. For me, The Roofwalker is luscious, like eating a yummy dessert and savoring every bite. It made me feel so good after reading it, which is how my favorite books always make me feel. I’m hoping she writes a sequel. I cannot say enough nice things about it.

She didn’t have the hardback book available yet, so she gave both me and ^Katerina423 a pdf instead as a placeholder until she could send us the hardback. It was so fun seeing how excited ^Katerina423 got at this wonderful surprise. Once I get my signed copy, I’m going to get ^Katerina423 and ^arachnid15 to sign the book the next time I see them.

So, here is a picture of what I made for ~kahl and a picture of her wearing it. :)



Oh, and I spent Thursday night hanging out with the three of them and my husband until 1:00 a.m. in the morning. It was so worth it even though we didn’t get home until about 1:45 a.m. and had to make it int... ]]> =jumpingbean Dear Sereda: http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/20801770/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/20801770/ Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:07:41 PDT
Warm regards,
JB



Tagged by :iconporkshanks:

RULES:
Do the "Letter MEME". Tag no less than 5 other people, and leave them a comment, informing them that they have been tagged. Then copy the "How-to" Letter Meme, and finish your Journal entry.

I tag ¬

:iconsereda:

:iconkahl:

:iconigi-unleashed:

:iconinspiredimperfection:

:iconjzcj5:



Dear (the last person who left a comment on your journal):

I don't really know how to tell you this, but ___1___. I think I realized it ___2___ ___3___ and I saw you ___4___ ___5___. I'm sure you're ___6___ enough to understand ___7___. I'm returning ___8___ to you, but I'll keep ___9___ as a memory. You should also know that I ___10___ ___11___ .

___12___,
-Your name-

1. What's the color of your shirt?
Blue - Our romance is over
Red - Our affair is over
White - I'll join the monastery
Black - I dislike you
Green - Our horoscope doesn't match
Grey - You're a pervert
Yellow - I'm selling myself
Pink - Your nostrils are insulting
Brown - The mafia wants you
No shirt - You're a loser
Other - I'm in love with your sister


2. Which is your birth month?
January - That night
February - Last year
March - When your dwarf bit me
April - When I tripped on sesame seeds
May - First of May
June - When you put cuffs on me
July - When I threw up
August - When I saw the shrunken head
September - When we skinny dipped
October - When I quoted Santa
November - When your dog ran amok
December - When I changed tennis shoes


3. Which food do you prefer?
Tacos - In your apartment
Pizza - In your camping car
Pasta - Outside of Chicago
Hamburgers - Under the bus
Salad - As you ate enchilada
Chicken - In your closet
Kabob - With Paris Hilton
Fish - In women's clothing
Sandwiches - At the Hare Krishna graduation
Lasagna - At the mental hospital
Hot dog - Under a state of trance
None of the above - With George Bush and his wife


4. What's the color of your socks?
Yellow - Hit on
Red - Insult
Black - Ignore
Blue - Knock out
Purple - Pour syrup on
White - Carve your initials into
Grey - Pull the clothes off
Brown - Put leeches on
Orange - Castrate
Pink - Pull the toupee off
Barefoot - Sit on
Other - Drive out


5. What's the color of your underwear?
Black - My best friend
White - My father
Grey - Bill Clinton
Brown - My fart balloon
Purple - My mustard soufflé
Red - Donald Duck
Blue - My avocado plant
Yellow - My penpal in Ghana
Orange - My Kid Rock-collection
Pink - Manchester United's goalkeeper
None - My John F. Kennedy-statue
Other - The crazy monk


6. What do you prefer to watch on TV?
Scrubs - Man
O.C. - Emotional
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes - Frostbitten
Lost - High
House - Scarred
Simpsons - Cowardly
The news - Mongolic
Idol - Masochistic
Family Guy - Senile
Top Model - Middle-class
None of the above - Ashamed


7. Your mood right now?
Happy - How awful I've felt
Sad - How boring you are
Bored - That Santa doesn't exist
Angry - That your pimples a... ]]> =jumpingbean Old Stuff http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/19243386/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/19243386/ Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:19:05 PDT
Just started making jewelry again after more than 2 1/2 years. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. It feels good to be making things again. :)

]]> =jumpingbean The Joy of Commenting http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/17599090/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/17599090/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:26:23 PDT
Now, you may be wondering, why would I want to talk about that? I wanted to talk about it because I haven’t read a single article, post, or comment on this topic. I love to comment just for the joy of it and I’d love to know if anyone else feels the same way.

I don’t care if I’m giving constructive criticism or just making up a story about it. I want to show my appreciation for the art that I’m admiring so I refuse to just say that something is great or awesome and not elaborate on it.

But why do I love to comment? Because writing a thoughtful comment allows me to savor the artwork and to notice the details that would’ve been missed had I not spent the time examining and contemplating it. Sometimes I take the title and description (if it’s available) into consideration, and sometimes I don’t. Part of my enjoyment comes from my love of manipulating words and being precise about using them, and part of it comes from my love of solving puzzles or finding hidden surprises. I like trying to find just the right words to express my feelings and opinions about the piece I’m writing about. And then when I find a twist or a contradiction or some hidden little gem in the details, it’s like eating a really great dessert…my mind just gets flooded with endorphins. I get really excited because I’ve discovered that the piece is more complex and has more depth than I originally thought. So I love to comment on art that make me think or have details that surprise me.

Read on for a few examples of art that inspire me and why they inspire me.

by *kahl
I love pieces like this where the writing is wonderfully rich and vivid. If I read it out loud, the rhythm of the poem makes the words just roll in my mouth, like eating a chewy chocolate brownie. The words have texture and the rhythm of them allows me to savor the rich sweetness of a well-written poem. It feels like such a decadent pleasure.

by =jzcj5
This is a wonderful example of a piece that inspires me to create little stories. But what’s so special about a single tiny patch of grass growing in the barren ground? Of course, you could have the standard meanings for a picture like this, such as the struggle to survive in a seemingly lifeless environment. But I didn’t really see that. My first thought was much more whimsical, that the patch of grass seemed to be a living creature. And then my perspective shifted and the blades of grass became two fairy creatures spending time together as old friends. I saw that wasteland as a magical place to be – a private place for two friends to enjoy each other’s company undisturbed.

I find these types of images particularly enjoyable because I had difficulty writing stories for most of my life. My stories always seemed so lame, but being here on dA changed all that and I often feel inspired now. Although my current stories are very short, they’re also very satisfying and fulfilling for me.

by ^Katerina423
Here is a perfect example of an image that required some contemplation to fully appreciate it, where the initial detail that catches my interest leads to the discovery of more intriguing details. At first glance, it seems like a fairly straightforward flower picture, just a nice arrangement of purple and cream flowers. But the background catches my eye. I find it unusual because most plain backgrounds for flower pictures tend to be fairly uniform in color, and I just happen to like the color combination. I’m puzzling over it because the shadow is blue and I can’t figure out how that could happen if the wall was cream or vice versa. So I ask the photographer about it because now I’m dying to know.

Because I’m focused on the color transition of the background, I notice that the colors and color transition of the stalk of flowers matches the background as well. As my eye follows the color transition down the stalk of flowers, I notice the large cluster of purple daisies at the bottom right corner that seems to match the darkening of the backg... ]]> =jumpingbean Protecting Your Work http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/16366239/ http://jumpingbean.deviantart.com/journal/16366239/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:40:21 PST
$realitysquared has just posted two very informative articles on protecting your work:

Protecting your work online

Protecting your work; Registering Copyright


]]> =jumpingbean