Tutorial Tuesday: Vote!

Good evening everyone and happy Election Day!

I had a tutorial planned for today but my computer is under the weather and is not working :( that with my busy schedule today means there's not art tutorial for today, and I apologize.

So now that you guys understand why there is not true Tutorial Tuesday on Be Lured today, I shall do a tutorial of another nature. This tutorial is to honor Election Day. It's simple, and this is what you have to do: vote. I hope that you all exercised your right to vote today if you are eligible, as I have. Those who haven't voted, and are eligible to vote, there is very little room for them to be upset if the results did not turn out the way they wanted. 

The image on the left is from Khmerican, an "online platform that encourages public engagement, discussion and connection of Khmer communities across the US and abroad" (Khmerican.com, 2012). We were encouraged to show our patriotism for Khmer-America in voting by sharing this image. I am so happy to see such engagement from our Khmer community and so I am displaying this logo on my site proudly.

Check out all these Khmericans who are proudly saying "I'm Khmer-American and I voted!" by clicking here http://vote2012.khmer-i-can.com.

So about my computer (not to change the topic abruptly or anything) I think I have a virus or something. I keep getting a booting errors, as in my computer cannot start, every other time I try to start my computer. And when I do manage to start, I am not able to run any programs, nor can I view documents. I can, fortunately, copy and paste files! So I have been backing up my documents, images and videos all day. I actually had to go purchase a new external hard drive because I didn't have sufficient storage space. Ooops! So hopefully I finish backing everything up tonight so that tomorrow I can try to figure out what's wrong and fix it without chances of destroying my files, mainly my images! I take so many photographs to document our lives, and a couple photo shoots for other people, so losing that would be quite devastating, since that has happened before to both my and my husband. But as of now, things are on track.

Take care everyone!

<3 Kara

DIY Lace Trimmed Shorts

Good evening y'all!

While visiting Seattle last month, my best friend Elyse and I worked on a sewing project and I wanted to show you what we did!

Many people were pinning and re-pinning these cute lace trimmed shorts and I wanted one so bad! The only problem: I didn't have a sewing machine. But I knew that there was one at Elyse's house, and she was more than happy to help me with this project. We had a blast hanging out, talking and doing crafty things. She helped me with the shorts and also she crocheted these super cute headbands that I will blog about it another post! She is so talented, she could probably make good money selling her stuff. Furthermore, she is so generous for letting me use some of her lace from her stash, the sewing machine and also helping me sew it. I was quite incompetent at the sewing machine (something I plan on fixing) so she had to step in :)

So we started by going to Goodwill to find a pair of jeans to cut up. That day I left Goodwill with an awesome pair of boot cut Banana Republic jeans that fit me perfectly all around. They were even hemmed up to the perfect length for me. After going through Elyse's lace collection together, and choosing potential lace pieces, we agreed to meet another day to sew.

The next meeting, I really didn't have the heart to cut up such a perfect pair of denim. The funny thing was that Elyse mentioned on the first trip to Goodwill, "What if you liked these so much you didn't want to cut them up?" So we made a second trip to Goodwill and felt pretty hopeless when I saw a pair of destroyed Hollister jeans hanging on the discard rack. Those also fit me perfectly and I didn't hesitate cutting off the legs because the knees were too destroyed to my liking.What a lucky day!

Step 1: The lace I decided to use is pictured in the top right. Notice the cute piggies embroidered on it? I was so excited when I noticed it way late. Think about it: who puts piggies on lace trim? So cute! Anyway, the bottom right image shows the Hollister denim that I decided to use. We started by marking the line where we wanted to cut on the leg. I chose it to be just above mid-thigh because I am not a big fan of short-shorts.

Step 2: We turned the shorts inside out and sewed up the hem about half an inch. Elyse started the hem and I tried to finish. The key word here is "try" because I failed miserably. I couldn't keep the hemline straight, so Elyse took over. Isn't she so kind? She actually ended up sewing the rest of it. She doubled sewed the hem to ensure that it was sturdy since this is denim.

Step 3: The finishing step was to sew on the lace along the inside of the denim. We made sure the lace would overlap on the inner thigh so that the lace would be uninterrupted around the rest of the leg.

The finishing of finishing step is to try on the shorts and see how it looks.  And I think it looks pretty cute, don't you? They are so cute I  wore these shorts the rest of that day :)

We went to her backyard to take some pictures for this blog. She also let me use her Buddy scooter for the pictures and they turned out great! Thanks Elyse for helping every step of the way. I had such an amazing time with you ^_^

I hope you enjoyed this post about the process of making these shorts. If you have questions about this process or would like to make a pair for yourself, please let me know! I I would love to see what you came up with. Until next time!

<3 Kara

Self Portrait on a Lily Pad, 2007

Good day Lured Ones!

Today I want to give some insight into a portrait I did for my high school IB art class in 2007. I showed an image in a previous post about my visit to my old high school, but I did not explain. So here goes!

Around this time I was learning the process of canvas making, and decided to make my own canvas for the self portrait. The dimension requirement was pretty large, so I decided to make it about life-sized. As you can see the small top left image, Ms. Drum was helping me make the canvas, and bottom left you can see how big the canvas is relative to me (I am 5 foot, 1 inch tall). 

 

On the right is my finished painting done in acrylics. The whole concept was that I am sleeping, dreaming on a lily pad on the water. Initially I intended for the water on the lower part of the canvas to have unclear dark images that suggested a nightmare. I had trouble sleeping and often had scary dreams that bore no clear meaning. The fog is suppose to be dense to give a hazy and dream-like mood. 

After I finished, I spent some time observing the painting and I decided that I could have done better around the stomach area. The fabric of the shirt on the stomach is too straight and unreal. Also on the hand, the ring finger is longer than the middle finger, which is highly inaccurate >_< I've always had trouble with hands. Also, it was pretty unfortunate that someone took a pen on my painting on the face area. I had stored it in the supply room, so there was no way to figure out who. That's not too important because if I wanted to spend some time fixing it up, I could cover it.

If I were to fix up this painting, what do you think I should change or do differently? Ideas are very much welcome and appreciated :)

Until next time, I hope your weekend is going fantabulously!

<3

Visiting my old high school's IB Art class

Good afternoon everyone!

September was a busy month and I wasn't able to post as often as I'd like. However, I was doing things that I could blog about all the while - just didn't have time to sit down and gather photos and edit video clips for uploading. Now that I am back and have some time to myself, I can slowly but surely update you on what I've been up to.

Two weeks ago, I visited my high school teacher and she invited me to return the following day during her IB art class and meet the new kids and see what they were working on. This was such a trip down memory lane because they were working on their self portraits and I was at this point in the class years ago. I was able to speak to some students and learn about some ideas and messages behind their pieces. It was very insightful and I felt so honored that one student shared a particularly personal story behind her piece.

The students were great and so was their work. Here are some works done by students in Ms. Drum's IB art class. I will also share the self portrait I painted at the end. So make sure to scroll all the way down, and enjoy!

 

Now here's what I did 5 years ago when I was at this point in the class:

I intended for this post to be about my visit to the class, so I shall give further insight to to this painting in my next post :)

Until next time!

<3 Kara

Linoleum Block Printing!

Good afternoon everyone!

It's been a busy and physically demanding day for me as I have been moving furniture around.... by myself ^__________^

After I married and moved out, my sister now has my room and has been in it for the past year-ish. Although it is her room now, all my stuff is there. SO! I figured since I have time, and back in town, I ought to clear out my stuff and make space for my sister. I'm suppose to wait for my husband to help me move the heavy stuff, but I got too excited and decided to start alone. I know, bad idea. I will most likely be sore tomorrow. I moved everything, except the bed, which is super duper heavy! That's a 2+ person job and I shall not break my back trying to move it.

On another note, I went to my first football game on Sunday and it was AMAZING! It was definitely a good game to attend, since the Seahawks beat the Cowboys :) We spent the morning coloring our hair and painting our faces. When we were looking for parking, we drove through the area where people have been tailgating all day and got high-fives and handshakes all around because we were decked out in Seahawks gear and super colorful. What a great time! Although, we were surrounded by Cowboys fans and they were good sports-- except for the lady right next to me; she was screaming bloody murder even when it wasn't the right time, and other Cowboys fans even turned around wondering what was going on. Crazy! When the Seahawks scored the 2nd touchdown, I was scared that she would punch me in the face @_@ I am happy she didn't.

So, on with the star of today's post! I wanted to share with you all some block prints I did a while back. All of these prints are linoleum block printing, with the exception of "Tennis" (left). When I made "Tennis" there were no more linoleum left in the class, so what I did was I took two pieces of mat board paper, glued them together and then carved on that. I think I cut myself doing that because it was really hard since I was carving on cardboard paper. After I finished carving, I covered it all in this layer of something that I can't remember the name of (this was 2006 so it's been a while). It was to make it water proof for when I washed the plate. This was my first print, and it was of my favorite sport, so I was pretty excited. I think I included 12 or 13 in this series.

The following summer (it should be summer of 2006) I made another print called "Ballerina" (above left image, top left). It was for one of my best friend's birthday (I think it was her 17th or 18th birthday). This time I used actual linoleum block. I think I included 6 in the series.

The year after (2007), for IB art year 2, I made another print using linoleum. This one was called "Let's Dance" (Above center is the plate and above right is image of a print). The cool thing about this was that I printed on wood paper. I experimented with other surfaces but my favorite was this light wood paper. I remember that it had a specific name, but once again, I've forgotten it.

I hope you enjoyed learning about my experiments with linoleum block printing! Until next time,

<3 Kara

Dragon Boat Painting

Here's my caption for the piece:

"As an immigrant in the fast paced America, it’s becoming harder and harder to stay connected to the Khmer culture. That’s why it’s so important for Khmers to come together and help each other keep the connection strong. Similar to the dragon boat needing all of it’s paddlers to move together to race for the goal, our culture needs every Khmer to stay dedicated to preserving our culture."

During the 2009 Khmer New Year celebration, I heard an announcement looking for artists to paint something about our Khmer culture because the municipality is having an APA Heritage Month Exhibit from late April to late May, and there was a segment about Khmer and Cambodia. SO! I jumped right to it. Although I got really short notice, I finished it in 3 days, which shows through because there are many things that I could improve on. In any case, I was able to get it in on time, and it was up in the 3rd floor lobby of the Seattle Municipal Tower for about 2 or 3 weeks. I was HAPPY!!!  This is the first time my art has gone up any where outside of school!! I submitted a short bio of myself and the piece and everything! Sadly, I was unable to attend the reception because of class, but my piece on a public exhibit is pretty darn cool! Also, I submitted this piece for a publication in my university called the Matrix. The issue's theme was "Identity & Culture" so I thought this was perfect!

I need to take a moment to say a special thank you to my high school art teacher, Ms. D! She's so amazing! She hasn't been my art teacher since high school (which at the time of this painting was 2 years past), but she was still very willing to help me with my art when I needed it!! Also, thanks to my friends for all the support and encouragement in those 3 stressful days! They had to deal a lot with my crankiness and frustrations.

All in all, this was an exciting piece for me. I was very passionate about dragon boat racing, so the subject matter was very personal. In addition, this was the first time my piece was shown outside of a school environment. However, I do wish I had more time with it to work on hand studies, body proportions, siting poses, etc. Plus, it would be nice if the people on the boat had life jackets! >_<

I hope you enjoyed reading about this painting. Until next time!!

<3 Kara

What a hectic week!

Good evening Lured Ones!

If you are following and wonder what happened to Kara, I must tell you that I was abducted by a white rabbit and he took me to a tea party where I partied with the Queen of Hearts...

Just kidding ;)

To be honest, I have been extremely busy with some personal things. As you know, I am in Seattle to take care of my sister for the month while my parents are out of town. So the situation, along with some other factors have kept be really busy! Plus! I've been trying to see some family and close friends, so my time has been stretched pretty thin. However, I do make my sister a priority because that's what I came here for :)

If you are asking, "Well, Kara! What about your art? How will you continue to paint and give us updates?" my response is that I have brought my tiny sketch book and some nice colored pencils. Hopefully I will be able to do something. But knowing how busy I am and will continue to be, I have a back up plan. I have been compiling a folder with some of my older works and plan on blogging about those in the meanwhile. It should give you a sense of my theme and visions (or lack thereof) in the past and see a bit of my development. Hopefully that's enough to keep you interested!

On another note, my sister is a big fan of drawing and painting, so I would like to do a sister art activity where we make something together. It may have some craft element, but who knows. We will decide together and I'll keep you posted about it!

Until next time,

<3 Kara