I started my day off in a hurry. A hurry to go run a race. You see, I have been sick all week and not sure if this race was actually going to happen for me. My alarm went off at 7:30, the race was at 8. I might have been caught in a dream when I decided, “screw it… let’s run!”

So I got everything together and took off for the starting line. I got there just in time. Then I realized I had left my race tag at home. Okay so far I’m committing every race faux pas. Here’s the list in case you lost track:
1) I’m sick
2) Slept in too late to make time for a warm up
3) Left my race tag at home
4) Didn’t train much over the week… see # 1

So this could be worse… I mean I have two legs still… I’m not dieing… and I’m here ready to go. I want to run… let’s do this! So I ran… I ran about as fast as an ant stuck in jello. I ran 7.6 miles in the time I usually run over 9 (at jogging pace). Now a normal person might feel bad about this. Well, not me… I’m so far from normal I can only see it when I put my glasses on. I feel great. I’m pretty sure any part of me that was sick… was left up in the foothills. I consider this a success.

Now let’s move on to the next part of the day. This is the part where I attend the Boise Mural Project celebration. If you don’t know what the Boise Mural Project is, take a look at my last post. Here are some photos from the making of my mural:

It all began in my garage. I got some really large paper, taped it to the wall and started drawing. My medium: chalk pastels. My subject: giant brain reading a book.

Once it was finished, I cut it off the wall and rolled it up. I managed to fit it in my car by folding the backseat down. This baby was huge, took the entire span of my car from the windshield through the back trunk.

Once I arrived at the parking garage, I unrolled my art and started pasting. I used a mixture of wheat paste and acrylic matte medium. I realized pretty quickly that if you want to do this on your own, the smaller your panels... the better! So I cut my drawing up into about 4 panels.

The blank canvas. Hey! That's my name!

Whew! Got it all pasted up. I forgot to mention earlier that before I left my house I sprayed my art with about 3 cans of spray fix. I still can't feel my index finger.

First layer of paint on! Now let's let this baby dry.

Let the celebration begin!

Awe yes, my classic awkward art pose. Great way to start!

Okay enough of me – let’s see some more art already…

And the winning mural is……

Jennie Jorgensen’s tribute to bicycles. Great work Jennie!

Something amazing went down this week in downtown Boise.

More than 40 local artists (including myself) repainted the inside of an old parking garage. We officially started work on Tuesday and are finishing tonight. I just put the finishing touches on my mural and I’m very excited to have everyone come out and see in person. Here is a picture I took with my phone, it’s not the best quality so I will add some more tomorrow.

The theme for the murals was “Tribute”. I choose to make my mural a tribute to reading (yes I am a huge nerd). Reading carries you away to another world, and in a way that nothing else can. Movies are great, but the books are always better. So here you have a giant brain reading a book. If you can get close enough to the mural and see past that giant pipe that blocks the top, you will see that the brain actually turns into mountains. The reader’s thoughts are melting away into another world that he might not be able to experience.

That’s enough about what I think, please come down and take a look for yourself. The opening celebration is tomorrow, Aug 7th 2010, from 10am-4pm. The parking garage is on Bannock, near 8th street. It is below the Falcon and next to Superb sushi. Here’s a map:

View Larger Map

There will be live music by Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats & Voice of Reason. I also heard something about a wine tasting at Superb Sushi in the basement. There will also be judging, and you my friends will be the judges! So come on down and vote for your favorite mural, have some vino and maybe shake your booty to some fun tunes.

Here are some great articles from the Boise Weekly & Statesman

Yes, that’s right! Girls night out was in order. What better way to celebrate yet another great art show! As you know (I haven’t stopped talking about it!) my art is currently hanging at Thomas Hammer on 8th & Bannock. A good friend of mine was kind enough to get some fun photos of me with some of the art. Check it out:

I'm getting better at the serious face

Continue reading Girls night out

My show at Thomas Hammer will be up all month. Come check it out – all the pieces are available for sale. If you are interested, email me. Here is a sneak peak!

I can still see you

Hiding From the Universe

Holding on

It's Late

Pink Earrings

Thanks to everyone who showed up last Thursday for my very first art opening. It was a fantastic night full of sushi, art & martinis. If you didn’t make it… shame on you… but have no fear. I have photos to share! Oh, and my art is hanging all month so visit Happy Fish and let me know what you think.

Yep, that's me... avoiding the camera

As many of you know, I recently decided to start teaching. I’ve never been big on talking in front of groups—it scared me. Earlier this year, I decided to just do everything that scares me (within reason). So I signed myself up to teach as a volunteer instructor through Boise Schools Community Education Program.

I flipped through their offerings and decided that a Flash class would be a great addition to what they currently offer. So I wrote up a proposal and sent it in. Next thing I knew, I was teaching! I just finished my last session of “Intro to Flash Animation”. This was such a great experience and my students were amazing. I’m sure they will all be the next stars in flash development. Even though it was unbelievable how much I was able to teach in three 2 hour sessions, the real surprise was how much I learned about myself by attempting to teach. It’s one thing to really understand how something works… a whole new world to be able to show someone else. I’m hoping to teach more classes in the future. Stay tuned for updates!

goodnight,
-nicolet

Today was a big day, I finished framing all my work for my first art show @ Happy Fish. I rewarded myself with a new mat cutter – I’ve upgraded to the Logan Model 450 Intermediate Mat Cutter. I’m so excited to have this. Now I can mat my pictures in half the time! It reminds me of my days working at Aaron Brothers, but now I’m only framing my own work plus I went ahead and hung the entire show in my house. So I have a little preview to all my lucky house guests.