Art Ma-Hop!

Kalamazoo is awesome.

 

One of the reasons is because on the first Friday of every month, Kalamazoo hosts an Art Hop. In the winter months, local businesses host local artists inside and the community walks throughout shops, eating and drinking, while admiring artwork. In the summer months, the artists move to the outdoors under tents or outside of shops along the Kalamazoo Mall strip. They also take over Bronson Park and local shops are open too.

I haven't been able to go to Art Hop since December, with the exception of the Art Hop that I hosted in March. Needless to say, I was the MOST excited to attend the June Art Hop. On Friday, I biked to Jesse's (a 15 mile route) and did it in a little over 1/2 hour, so I was super pumped about that. I also had chugged a few cups of coffee before I took off, so that might have given me a boost ;) I wanted to time myself out of curiosity, but I started my stopwatch before I left and proceeded to knock things over in the garage while attempting to retrieve my bike...so I had to pick that stuff up and close the garage before I left and that was part of my time. I also made a couple of stops along the way to take some pictures and to adjust my seat. What I am trying to say is that the time on my stopwatch wasn't fully accurate so I estimated the 1/2 hour. And I digress...


Anyway...I biked over to Jesse's. Ta-Da!

I arrived to him putting some flowers in an Oberon bottle for me (he improvises on vases often) and we sat in the grass for a minute before I went to change my clothes.

 We grabbed some pizza slices from Martini's and after eating, we went to Dairy Queen for some soft serve twist cones...MMMmmm. Then, with full bellies, it was off to Art Hop!

We met up with friends and ran into many others along the way. I was blown away with all of the artists that were out on Friday. There were so many people and so many cool things to look at. At first we thought that we wouldn't be able to get Tanja mugs because his studio was closed, but we found him later on the strip! We were all very excited that we didn't miss him. Check out the cool mug that I got this time!

We found this fantastic illustrator, Katie Eberts, and I just had to purchase an owl card and some Michigan postcards to send to my friends. She is on Facebook and she is really awesome. Check it out!








We also saw an African drumming group. We participated by saying things like "Wash on" and "Soley" (I don't really know how to spell the words that we were saying, but that is what it sounded like!) We were the few and/or only ones participating, but it was so much fun! They were really great. I am such a sucker for drums...







After our art hop extravaganza, it was back to Jesse's house and it turned into game night. We made YOLO popcorn (the new "punk rock pancakes" for those of you that remember those days) and played SEQUENCE for a few hours with his roommates. If you haven't played SEQUENCE, you should. If you haven't tried popcorn and marshmallows dipped in peanut butter and whipped cream, you should do that too.

I must say that Art Ma-Hop was a pure success and I can't wait for July! Do you have anything like this in your community or are there any local events coming up that you would like to share? Let me know!

Thinking on Thursday

The things that are making me, Ashlee Marie, smile today.

 

Today's Top 5

 

1. Reward Programs
I am going to be real with you and let you in on a little secret. It's this...I am such a sucker for points. I love earning points and I love meeting goals. Speedy Rewards...I'm all over that. I load up my gift card and I am the MOST loyal customer. I use the Speedy Mall too for when I shop online and then every so often I redeem my points for a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card. At Biggby's...I get every 13th drink free! (You should all know how much I love my coffee by now...) At Walgreens, I earn my points and redeem them for money off items in the store. I just joined the Walk with Walgreens program so that I can log my walks and bike rides to earn more points. Silly little things like that make me smile.

2. A Clean House
I have been cleaning my parent's house like mad the past few days. It was well overdue for a good spring cleaning and I must say that I am absolutely loving it. The house is looking beautiful and I love listening to music while getting these things taken care of. It is a great sense of accomplishment and there is so much open space now. I even had my sister excited to help clean yesterday! She loved it. So basically, I think I have found my new calling...stay-at-home housewife, anyone?

3. Arrested Development
For the past week, I have been re-watching Arrested Development. After my long day of cleaning and/or working at the WAG, I have been unwinding by watching a few episodes and I couldn't tell you a better way to relax. That show is SO hilarious and each episode is filled with so many jokes that you could re-watch it a dozen times and still find something new to laugh about. I watched the newest season in a matter of days and I still wanted more, so naturally I had to start from the beginning. The chicken is still a classic and so is Tobias' "I just blue myself" line. I think Netflix did a great job with the new season (I just love their original series and think they are doing some innovative things in general...but that is a whole separate nerdy conversation) and I can't wait to watch season 4 again!

4. My Charlie
My little sister is the best. She is adorable, funny, and so smart. Sometimes it is hard to remember that she is not an adult, although I do feel like I am talking to one most of the time. There are times when she acts like a kid though and I think it is so adorable. While cleaning the house I found an old picture and I just wanted to share it. She was just a little thing back then! I love her to death and everything I do is for this little one, my mini me =)

5. Art Hop 
I haven't been able to go to Art Hop for several months now and I am so excited to be able to go tomorrow! Art Hop is the first Friday of every month and local artists are on display throughout Kalamazoo. There are snacks and beverages and everyone walks around to view various forms of art. I'm very excited for tomorrow too because I will get to see Mister Duke (I haven't seen him all week!) Our first stop will be to visit Tanja Studios to get a handmade cup filled to the brim with a beverage of our choice for $5. I cannot wait to get a new cup!

Thursday Thoughts

5 things that I am thankful for today

1. Bicycles
I love riding my bike...so much. Aside from it being a form of exercise and transportation, it is a great way to spend time outdoors and see the world in a way that you wouldn't otherwise. I notice all sorts of details on my bike rides that I would have otherwise missed. Yesterday, I noticed this beautiful Victorian house that sets back from the road on my way to work (there's an open house on Sunday!) and I can't help but admire it every time I ride past now that I know it's there. I keep thinking how crazy it is that such a gorgeous home sits on that piece of land and somehow I have never noticed it. After work today, I rode around for awhile and said hello to other bicyclists as I passed them. One lady had such a vibrant outfit on, with bright yellows and oranges, that I just couldn't help but smile at her. I ended up in a park that I pass on the regular basis and have never gone to (it is just down the block from Jesse's house). This park has inspired me to start a new photography collection of playground equipment and metal toys. I'm the MOST excited =)

2. Camping, Family, and S'mores
Over Memorial Day weekend, I went camping with my family and boyfriend and it was fantastic. It is great to have an excuse to do nothing but play games, have plenty of campfires (Jesse's favorite!), and be outside. We played frisbee and ladder ball, made arts and crafts (including a bow and arrow which my sister was completely stoked about due to her infatuation with Brave), and played board games such as Yahtzee, Uno, Life, and Hedbanz. Having campfires is always a blast in my book, especially when you get to throw in twigs and paper (I'm the master at that). Our neighbors even told us how to make the perfect s'more. It is the best, hands down. Once you have it, you can never go back. The trick is....peanut butter! I LOVE peanut butter. How I have never thought of this before is beyond my comprehension. All you do is lather the insides of your graham crackers before adding chocolate and your toasted marshmallows. I promise you that it is THE best. Go ahead, try it now.

3. 4 hours at lunch with a dear friend
My friend Megan (not the same one from my last post) came home for the holiday weekend and I was able to have lunch with her on Tuesday. It was an amazing time filled with great conversation that eventually led us to the bookstore. Boy, I could just spend hours in bookstores looking at everything. It's a dream of mine to have my own library room one day. I LOVE books. I stumbled upon this book about how to make guerilla art, which gives many different ideas on how to start. Between the amazing conversation, the joy that my dear friend radiated, and flipping through this idea book, well... I just felt completely inspired! Initially I wasn't going to buy anything, but I just had to splurge on that book. I wish I would've had more time with Megan and that we could've made crafts together afterward, something we've been known to do in the past. I guess I will just have to fly out to Colorado to visit her soon! We didn't take any pictures together that day, so here is a picture of the book that inspired me and signifies our lunch date.

4. KIA (Kalamazoo Institute of Arts)
About a month ago, Jesse asked how it felt to be graduating and to be done with classes. I had laughed and confided in him that I was thinking about that the night before and told him about how I went online to look at what classes were offered at the KIA this summer. He then laughed as well and jokingly said, "We're going to have to ween you off of classes! You just can't go cold turkey!" I did end up registering for that class and, starting next week, I will be learning the art of printmaking. I am soooo excited! This weekend I need to gather my drawings and ideas so that I am prepared to get to work! Here I come, Printmaking Studio!

5. Work (mainly my friends that have become family)
What I love about my job is the co-workers that have become friends and even family. I love the people that I consider my work family. They have supported me so much throughout the years and have made work fun when everything seems to be at its worst. I'm grateful to have work friends that I can hang out with outside of work. Some of them have become my best friends. I am excited to work with some of my friends from my old store next week, but I'm even more excited to have breakfast with them too! I'm [currently] excited to be working more shifts in order to buy some things that I need (like a car), start paying the school loans that will soon be in my mailbox, and purchase a few photography books that I have my eyes set on. Plus, I need to print off some copies of zines that I'm making and develop some AMP postcards for my Etsy website. Really, I just want to show off (and talk about) my latest flair...my 5 year pin. I love pins and I'm pretty excited to finally have my bling. Apparently I also get to pick a gift out for my "achievement", so that is pretty nifty.

(As a #5 1/2, I have to give a shout-out to Jesse for making a delicious burger for dinner and for pizza in the park earlier ;)

“I don't trust words. I trust pictures.”
―Gilles Peress

Thankful Thursday

5 Things: Thankful Thursday

I have a beautiful friend and her name is Megan. Since she has been married, I call her Meg Craig, but sometimes I go back to our Middle School days and call her Meggerz. Anyway, she has a blog for her business, New Eve Jewelry, and sometimes she posts lists on Thursdays called "5 Things Thursday". I love the idea and I know I love reading her posts, so I want to do the same thing for AMP. Here are five things I am thankful for.

1. The opportunity to collaborate with Jesse. I have many projects on my to-do list this summer and one of them was to collaborate with Jesse. I still want to create a mini zine together, but I am so thankful that Asylum Lake gave us that push and opportunity to start collaborating now. We have been working like crazy in the past five days and we are almost finished. We definitely work well together and I'm excited to eventually show everyone what we've been creating. It also helps that Jesse loved my design layout =) The last step is to write our personal bio...I think that will be fun but Jesse disagrees because he's a crotchety old man! (His words, not mine)

2. Shoes. Now this sounds stupid after I just had such a sweet #1, but one of my best friends, Niki, gave me a pair of black boots last Halloween. At first, it was because I had rain boots on that did NOT go with my costume and she politely looked at my shoes and then immediately went to her closet. She grabbed a pair and said, "Here, try these on." I completely feel in love with them and she told me to just keep them because she never wears them anymore. Yesterday I was looking for something to match my outfit and the weather, rediscovering these beauties (see picture below). They are everything I love: black, boots, zippers, buckles, and strings. Plus, it's from a great friend and makes for a good story =)

3. Coffee and a barista for a boyfriend. Let's be real. I am ALWAYS thankful for coffee. I think I was born with coffee in my blood. Let me just rant about how much I love coffee for a minute... I love the taste and the smell. I love how it warms my hands and it makes me sooo happy. A bonus for me is that Jesse always makes me coffee. I love sitting at Starbucks while he works, drinking coffee and working on my projects. He usually smells like coffee too! Mmmm. (Okay, I recognize that I have a problem, an addiction. But on this rainy Thursday, I am definitely thankful for the warm cup of coffee that Jesse brought me.)

4.  Ambition, inspiration, and time. Since I have come home from my graduation vacation (Disney World!), I made to-do lists and developed project ideas to satisfy the artsy part of me. These are things that I haven't been able to do while in school because there was just never extra time. I am grateful to be surrounded by creative friends and an artsy community that have inspired me to do the things I love. I am submitting photographs to local publications, drawing cartoons and cards, and working on zine ideas. I have about a million of those! There is so much more on that list but in the past few weeks, I have already accomplished so much. I'm so thankful to be ambitious, inspired, and have free time to satisfy my artsy soul.

5. Education and computers. After working on this collaboration for Asylum Lake, I must say I am so thankful that I learned how to use design programs. Having this knowledge has helped me with my creative projects as well as creating my own business cards. I am also grateful that my computer died when it did. It lasted through my entire college career (...7 years...) and I was forced to buy a new computer that has more space and better capabilities for what I need it for. I wouldn't have created the things that I have in the past month without my education or computers.

“There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”
―Ansel Adams

Summer Submissions

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”

 ― Marc Riboud

I'm doing it! I'm diving in.

For the past few days, Jesse and I have been collaborating together. We are trying to submit a 6 page layout for the summer edition of Asylum Lake. In this issue of Asylum Lake, the artists have 100% of the control. We are pairing up Jesse's wonderful words with my photographs and I am trying to create some layouts for our multimedia project. Jesse is even writing a brand new poem, inspired from my photograph! I don't want to spoil anything, and since we are still working on everything, I will just leave it at that =)

Today, I also submitted a couple of photographs to a local literary magazine in Kalamazoo, entitled Hear Here. The curators describe it as "a print forum for community discussion based on a theme." I have wanted to submit to them before, but I was just a little busy completing my final year as an undergrad. I have read two of their previous issues, Serve and Play, and both were wonderful collections.

I am excited to see what happens with both of these submissions! Keep checking back for further updates!

5...or 6...Inspirational Photographers

I thought it would be interesting to share some photographers that have inspired me in photography, so you could see some of my influences, as well as check out some amazing photography if you haven't already.

1. W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith, a photojournalist who was uncompromising in his work, had amazing collections and many notable photographs. If you have time to check out the various phases of his work, you should. He inspired me to pursue photojournalism for awhile. He is known for his brutal photographs of WWII. There are too many favorites from him, but the one I will share is "The Walk to Paradise Garden".

 2. Ruth Bernhard

Ruth Bernhard ended up coming to New York from Germany and worked for a magazine, doing commercial and catalog photography. (For awhile, I thought I would like to pursue studio lighting or commercial photography. Beginning to see a pattern?). She didn't like it, though, and so spent time manipulating light and shadows in her apartment instead. Her story is very interesting as well, so read about her too! If you can get your hands on it, The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes, is a great book.

3. Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is a portrait photographer, whose portfolio contains many celebrities. I like her style and unique eye. She is definitely not a typical portrait photographer and I love her quirkiness. She shoots for Rolling Stone and was also the photographer that shot John Lennon's last portrait with Yoko Ono, five hours before he was killed. Check out her portraits. She also shoots for Vogue and Vanity Fair, and I'm sure you would recognize a lot of her work. The one I chose to share is of Keith Haring.

4. Irving Penn

Irving Penn is another portrait photographer, as well as fashion photographer, but from a slightly older period. His work also includes still life photography. The book I have of Irving Penn's work, Irving Penn Portraits, is a great introduction to his photography, but there is so much more. He photographed Truman Capote two different times and both portraits I have tried to mimic in my own projects. I'm sharing the earlier of the two... I just love the tone in his work. 

5. Andrew Moore

I blindly love Detroit and Urban Decay, so its no wonder I love Andrew Moore's book, Detroit Disassembled. Check it out if you love either of those things too!

Okay, so I thought of another while I was writing this post, plus I feel like I cheated you with my short blurb on #5, so here is a bonus!

6. Spencer Tunick

Spencer Tunick does human installations and is widely known for his organizations of large-scale nude photo shoots. I highly recommend watching Naked States, as well as the sequel, Naked World. You have to watch these documentaries. You just have to. In the very least, you will feel completely comfortable with the human body by the movie's end.

Contact Info and More!

Check out AMP in other ways!

Like AMP's Facebook page to keep up to date on new postings, partake in conversation, and for special deals!

Visit AMP's Etsy page to see what's for sale and to "AMP up" your home!

Check out AMP's Pinterest to follow the Photography board and see my interests!

And finally, you can also email me at

ashlee.m.photography@gmail.com

Take a look!

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” ― Marc Riboud