The Graduate

Disclaimer. 

 I don't normally have powerfully negative feelings.  

Unless I read/watch/see something as hopelessly, desperately, pointlessly death-drive, postmodern and morally ambiguous as this. 

Synopsis: 

The Graduate is about a guy who has recently completed his first four years and returns home with feelings of listlessness, hopelessness, lack of direction, etc.  Wife of his father's business partner, Mrs. Robinson, offers herself to him in a disgustingly casual manner and he agrees.  They have a horribly callous affair filled with no conversation or love. They just copulate to fill this void inside of them which is like stuffing yourself with more emptiness.  

Then he takes her daugheter on a date (to a strip club so she would feel completely mortified, used and unloved) and then promptly falls in love with her after she bursts into tears.  She love him back, and then Mrs. Robinson does everything to ruin his life and separate them.  He treats everyone horribly in turn, stalks the girl and then they run away together. 

The End.

After watching The Graduate (against my mother's good advice) I got on the phone and ranted to Cam.  He listened patiently and then laughed his head off after I said I felt just as empty as when I read The Invisible Man (another story I CAN'T stand.  Please don't make horrible life choices that you had complete control over, act helpless, ride backseat in your own life and then WHINE about it for the length of a novel!) 

He said "I love how much you hate that book.  

I didn't like it either, but I just think it's hilarious how much you hate it."  

He suggested I should have watched Shaft or Pulp Fiction instead.  

Ha. Ha.  Another two I despise.  

I just feel so wretched after reading/watching things like that.  

Cam asked me "Do you know why you hate them so much?"

"Why?" I sighed.  

"Because you care so much."

That made me glow.

Peach

Hammock Love

We pulled out our summer hammock a little late this year, and as I was glancing out the window at the pink-tinged sky, I thought I'd have a lie.  As I was quietly reveling in how content I was, I noticed the beautiful texture of the rope and the repetitive pattern of the "spaces in between."

I'm not ashamed that after I finished snapping shots of the hammock I took several of myself, trying to capture my "content" expression.   

For someone as happiness-spilleth-over-my-features as I am, 

I wanted to really catch that part of me that feels steadiest and truest.

Acrobatics

I didn't take the above shot, I can't remember where I found it.  

But it looks like my soul.  

I looked at this summer with a plan of attack: to combat my innate noodly-doodly unorganized-distracted-ness, I always formulate a regimented list of THINGS TO DO.  

As usual, God told me to slow down.  

Don’t create because you have too.

Stop and smell the roses.

Which I am only too keen to do.

So with His guidance I have been gently rambling, following a path he has laid before me that reveals lives to affect and new friends to make, epiphanies to have and things to create.  

I have heard so many inspiring stories.  

Reasons to remember that He is Love and to show it.  

Convictions and truths that sprouted and are now growing, climbing toward maturity (give it a lifetime).  Things wrapped in more than paper.  

Dunked in joy, sprinkled with understanding.  

I am an incredibly decisive person...no agonizing, I think and then I act.  

God has shown me the strength he has granted me in this, when for a long time I thought it was a weakness.  

To be decisive in the decisions He wants me to make...and to wait on Him when the waters are not warm enough to dive in. 

It’s like a tremendous trapeze, or acrobatic act.  

I’m flung at great speeds, required to wait, wait, wait and then 

NO TIME FOR PAUSE, RELEASE!  

And I’m flying through a thrilling emptiness and then caught once more.  

There was never any question. 

Only Him.  

Donald Completed

I just now got around to snapping a shot of Dad's finished Donald.  He loves him and has him perched behind our coffee grinder on the countertop.  Although my mom has always been the more chatty and bubbly of the two (wonder who I got it from), Dad is the one who doles out those rare and infinitely special compliments.  He's told me on three separate occasions, out of the blue, that I'm very talented and that he loves his Donald.  He is especially glad that I painted a cheery Donald, as he thinks the angry duck is a little over-exposed.  

I love you, Dad.  

Dirty Water

I didn't know.  

mint

7 Year Pen

I took a mental health break before heading to Brenau for Peer Assistant Training:
One blissful hour spent in Booksamillion turning through the pages of The Art of Up.  
I'm going to have to go back and read all of the text I had to skip. 
 Before heading out I bought a Seven Year Pen.

It’s supposedly able to write two meters a day for seven years.  I'm a big doodler, though, so we'll see if it will last long.  I thought it was a really great sustainability idea, I'll be sure not to lose it.  Complete with bowler hat and mustache, how could I?

Question Mark?

My youngest brother, Grant and my dad returned from scout camp telling tales of a monstrous caterpillar that shredded up their hands.  I admired their scabs as they described the prickly beast.  A week later, my mom called me out to the driveway because she'd found another.  Men of the Siegfried family hung in the background, warning us not to let it touch us and to just leave it alone.  But I ran upstairs for my cameras and snagged a few shots before we dumped him in the bushes. 

I'm proud to say that I identified my first bug since my 7th grade arthropod project.  This caterpillar will become the Question Mark Butterfly, or Polygonia interrogationis.  It's spiky and ferocious now, but turns a lovely burnt orange once it gets its wings.

Amy Birthday Surprise!

Amy is always opening her home to us, planning birthdays and generally being the best hostess ever.  So when she got back from Paris, we wanted to surprise her for her birthday.

We blind folded her, put her in the decorated Birthdaymobile and drove to Atlanta for a late picnic and Piedmont Park's Screen on the Green, showing 16 Candles.  Amy was celebrating 19, but it still went with the birthday theme.  

I painted Amy a "Rachel Siegfried Original" of a pig juggling cooking supplies, as Amy is our chef.  I also gave her one of my pie bookmarks I made with ribbon that fit her personality.  All themed gifts for our foodie.

Father's Day Donald

My whole family is filled with Disney freaks, but our ring leader is surely my dad.  And of all the Disney characters, Donald is his very favorite.  So I decided to utilize some new techniques I read about in How to Paint Colour & Light in Watercolor by Jean Haines, and paint my dad's most beloved duck.

I decided to do this post while waiting for layers to dry, he still needs several more passes and potentially some ink before I'll be satisfied.

Concept Art

Concept art for movies has always been dear to me.  When I was little, my first "when I grow up I want to be" was an animator, or "cartoonist" as it was written on my preschool diploma.  I have not lost my love for pictorial story telling.  As I have grown, my parents have learned to purchase our dvds with the extra "Making Of" and "Bonus Features" discs, and my friends know to sit patiently through the illustrated end credits of movies, just so I can see all those different door illustrations in Monsters, Inc. or the different methods of painting Wall-e and the new earth.  If you want to get me a spectacular gift, pick up any of the "The Art of" books released by Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, etc.  

Here is a little buffet of concept art for you. 

Sketch for Tangled by Claire Keane

These two are both art from Coraline by Chris Appelhans.

I couldn't find an artist for this image, it is included in The Art of Up.

Russian Winnie-the-Pooh

So strange to see that other countries have made their own versions of Pooh!

Stitches

This is a great book that, if you happen to have an afternoon to kill, you can read right in the bookstore.  A graphic novel written and illustrated by David Small, Stitches is written from the perspective of a boy growing up without the love of his parents--and due to a surgery to his throat--without a voice.  Seeking refuge in his art, the young protagonist eventually runs away at sixteen and is able to find happiness.  Very simply constructed, Stitches offers a window into a boy's small, sad world and captures frame by frame his liberation from it.  

On that subject...

Words of Wisdom+My Favorite Comic Strip

Just trust Him.

Watercolor Monsters

I don't remember where I found these silly little guys, but couldn't resist posting them.  

They are too perfect for me: combining watercolor, simplicity and that dark whimsy I adore.

Jazzberry Jam

Wait on the Lord

I just listened to the latest teaching at Grace Midtown:
Wait on the Lord preached by Chris Moerman.
Grace Midtown truly feels like my home church, even though it is in Atlanta, an hour away from me and I'm only able to attend on the scattered weekends that I visit Cam.
But God has done bigger things and spoken to people in stranger ways.

This sermon about waiting on the Lord never being time wasted was a message that I needed to hear.  My blog has been going well, I have real live readers now, it's summer time and I just want to get MOVING with my business.
 I want to be out of the house, out of college, finally get married to Cam and make my living making things for people!   

But when I look back on the times that I have had to wait, when not moving, not knowing was excruciating...those were the times that he truly shaped me.
When I let go and said,
"Your will, not mine. "  

Waiting brought me to Cam.
Waiting brought me to Brenau.
Waiting brought me to incredible friendships.
Waiting brought me to new knowledge.
Waiting brought me to renewed faith and closer to Him.  

So I will wait, because His plans and His timing are always better than my own.  

Check out the sermon at Grace Midtown Online.  

The Power of Words

My favorite kind: quiet, sincere and beautiful.

I found this video on the blog D Sharp.  Be sure to check out this artist, she works with paper and color in ways that I truly admire.  

What Do You See?

I have a very clear vision and list of words in my head that I think describe my tastes, branding and personal aesthetic.  

What I want to know is:

Do you see what I see?

What words come to mind when you think of
Rachel
or
The Pea and Me?

Some of you know me quite well.

Some of you only know my blog.

Some of you have seen a lot of my work.

Some of you have seen very little.

What are your impressions?

You can easily just list a few words, your heartfelt opinions or how you feel after reading or seeing my content.

Please give me a little comment love, this will be very helpful in identifying whether or not I'm effectively portraying what it is that I want everyone to see and know about me and my business.  

If you don't have a blogger account, I've adjusted my settings so that you can leave an "anonymous" comment.  Please still leave your name!

Hot Air Balloon Race & Festival

We're all busy with jobs, summer classes, camps and trips, and yet the Ace Gang still finds ways to get together.  We have "red dot days" which are days we penned into our calendars at the beginning of the summer holidays on which we are all in town.  Those dots are few and far between.  So to make up for it, those of us who are in town try to plan small treats when we can.  

Thus we discovered the Helen Hot Air Balloon Race and Festival.

Not only were a few Ace Gang Members in town, but Cam and his friend Cameron (go figure) were up for the weekend from Georgia Tech.

Meredith happend to be perusing the newspaper and stumbled across this incredible event.  I highly reccommend stopping by to see the balloons launch in Helen.  They hold a race to the Atlantic from Helen annually and there is no cost for you to camp out, snack and take photos.

We were able to get right up beneath the balloons.  The gas was VERY hot, so I tried to snap shots in between bursts.  We weren't there for the race (they launched Friday morning, I believe) but came Saturday evening around seven when all the pleasure ballooners were taking off.  Stunning.  We sweat like pigs but it was worth it.  Next year we plan on coming in the morning for the start of the race, then go tubing!  Perfect combo.  

The balloons were all stored in long vans, which would pull forward and slowly puddle out the length of the material.  

Then they would take a large fan to fill up the majority of the balloon, and hook it up to the basket.  

Finally they would turn on the flame to fill the remainder.

Then they would climb in the basket and slowly lift off.

In no time they would float away.