duckfat!

it has been a busy few weeks! thankfully, April vacation is just around the corner, which means summer will be here before we know it.... and I will be panicking as I am the Summer Program Director for the first ever summer camp at my school. :)

as of Friday, I have officially applied to grad school. now I just need to make sure I can afford it and get in!

the last couple of weekends have been pretty exciting too. two Saturdays ago, a bunch of friends who normally wouldn't be able to stay up late enough to see my boyfriend's band, got to catch an evening performance at the local record store.

I really enjoy going to see them play at the venues in town, but this was a nice change of pace and great to see new people get to see them for the first time.

This past weekend, we piled into the car with an other couple and road tripped it up to Portland, Maine for the day. We started with a snack at a restaurant called Duckfat. Everything made there uses duck fat and we had heard, via the Food Network, that the fries were very good. So, we ventured!

we ordered a large fry with a garlic mayo kind of dipping sauce (I don't know how to spell the fancy name) and truffle oil ketchup. we also had the above order of poutine that came covered in cheese curd and duck fat gravy! although I know some were hesitant, it was seriously good! I can't even describe how great the gravy was.
from Duckfat we went to SPACE.
the SPACE Gallery that is. I participated, for the first time, in Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project. you can find more information here. Essentially, I filled a sketchbook with my images/ thoughts on the theme, "... you'd be home by now," and returned it. About 9,999 other artists did the same, with varying themes, and now the sketchbooks are  on tour! I am super excited about it because my friend in Atlanta can go check my book out next weekend, and during the summer, my mom who lives in Florida, can do the same!

its great that I was able to do some artwork for myself. so often I am experimenting with the materials I have at school, to make sure that the kids will be able to use them to complete their activity, that I don't practice making my own work. however, one of the coolest parts of the sketchbook project is being able to see other artist's works. (on the down side, there were so many books that mine has only been checked out by people I know) I was able to checkout a former classmate's, from high school, sketchbook. her theme was "its raining cats and dogs."

I was also able to track down Phyl from There's a Dragon in my Art Room! As a fellow blogging art teacher, I found this super cool. My friends and I agreed that this was our favorite book of the over two dozen we must have checked out.

you can tell Phyl had a ton of fun with her theme, "science experiment gone wrong." if I participate again, I think I want to pick a theme that is not so near and dear, and I can loosen up a bit!

after a few hours at the gallery, and hit or miss with the sketchbooks, we opted to wander the streets of portland. really, we just went to record stores, but cool nonetheless. knowing how much I love living near our city, I'm not sure I would have lasted had I gone to Maine College of Art, but it was a fun city to visit. I enjoyed the old architecture and the down town arts center. it somewhat reminded me of Brattleboro, VT.

hopefully the weather will be warm by April vacation, and we can take the bikes out of the basement. for now, there are a few concerts on the horizon, and my own school's early June art show to plan. I look forward to my friend's and family's reaction to the Sketchbook Project experience!