All the beautiful things

Being an artist and an art student is an interesting experience. You go to classes where they teach you about how ideas about what art Should be have changed over the centuries and how it will continue to change. They teach you about how the only way to ever be noticed or admired or known is to push the boundaries and be different and that if you go back to the old ways or the classical style, you'll never be considered a true artist because a true artist has the original idea and without that, you'll just be a copier. You go to classes where they teach you specific ways to paint and specific ways to draw. You go to classes where they say that (unless you are so intent and so committed to being an artist) you should just stop right there and find something else to do with your life. You go to lectures of visiting artists who have traveled the world and think they know everything there is to know about being an artist and listen to them tell you that it's too hard and too disappointing to be an artist unless you are as committed and intent as we've been taught to be. You walk the halls and see the displayed art of other students with other professors and art of other students with the same professors and wonder why they chose to paint what they did and wonder why they decided to draw what they did. You go back to your art history class and watch a movie made in the 50's about Jackson Pollock and wonder what they were thinking in choosing the music they did to go with the film. You stand in your painting class trying so hard to depict the thing sitting in front of you by forgetting that it's an object and think of it instead as just shapes even though it looks worse when you do. You go home every night in clay covered jeans and paint in your hair and and wonder why people at the store on the way home look at you funny. You go to work looking the same way because you have to go straight there after class because you don't have time to go home and change and you wonder why the kids you work with even listen to you when you have the green stripe in your hair and blue paint in your cuticles. You smile when you realize you come home just as dirty as your mechanic husband. You stand in line at the post office and ask for the Botticelli stamps while the guy behind you laughs for who knows what reason and just think you like Botticelli and his dang Annunciation paintings. Then realize when you get home that your husband probably won't appreciate the stamps he'll have to put on his mail. But brush it off because he knew he was marrying an artist when he sat through three movies in a row while you were engaged just so you could finish a painting for class the next day. Then you wonder after that last thought if you really are an artist. You wonder if you are as committed as they say you have to be. You try and remind yourself of all the reasons you're doing it in the first place and sassily mutter under your breath that anyone who disagrees can go sit on .... your cardboard and wood glue throne. 

Shout Out to the Hubby

After finding out about the Switzerland Trip I was wondering what Bryce would think about it and if he would want me to go. I thought he'd for sure say no or at least be kinda mmmeeer about about it. Heck, I WOULD BE! (If he were wanting to ditch me for a month!) I even told Yana that I didn't think he'd be cool with it. But then he got home and I made him sit down and I grabbed the computer and sat right in front of him to read it to him and asked that he not say anything til I had read the whole thing. 

I was literally starting the second sentence of the e-mail when he stopped me (boy was he gonna get it! ) but instead he said, "Go.... You have to go Cherise. Opportunities don't come up like that everyday. Go."      What the....!? 

As i said the other day, I'm still getting to know my husband of 5 Months.... :)

I'm tellin ya, you can date for as long as you want but you will never know them completely until you get married and have been married for....I'm not sure yet. :)

Anyway, so I just wanted to tell everyone how amazing he is because he deserves so so much. I love him like crazy... 

(This was from two or three months ago. I just found the pic last night and was showing Bryce how cute he looks in it....)

Umm....yeah. SPa-EECH-eLESSSS.

8th  ANNUAL USU SUMMER ART + DESIGN PROGRAM IN SWITZERLAND

MAKE YOUR LIFE EXTRAORDINARY. Add depth and breadth to your education. Hone
your design and drawing skills in the most beautiful country in the world.
Earn 12 hours of upper-division art credit. Attend street art festivals in
medieval villages; visit romantic ancient castles and world-class museums.
Hike in the Alps and stroll the Swiss Riviera. Get up close and personal
with Rodin, Picasso, Hodler, Giacometti, Klee, Corbusier, Erni, Tinguely andGiger.  Attend a private organ concert in a medieval basilica. Climb Roman
ruins, eat the best chocolate in the world, BBQ in the Alps and make your
own paper in an 800-year-old water-driven mill. These are just a few of the
opportunities that await you as a participant in the 8th Annual USU Summer
Art and Design Program in Switzerland.

This is a sampling of the the events planned for this year¹s internationally
acclaimed USU Art Department sponsored Switzerland study abroad program that
will be held during the month of June, 2009. This 8th annual program will
rock your world.

MARK THE DATES
Thursday, November 20thth  Information Meeting, room FAV150, 6:00 p.m.
Application forms distributed.
December 4, 8 a.m.  First deposits due with completed application forms to
reserve your spot ($175 - Last year the program filled in 20 minutes.) Plan
now to reserve your place.

? Basic Information ?
Program Dates: June 1 30*

CREDIT
Because of the unique on-site experiential research format of these courses,
all prerequisites are waived. Graduate credit available for recently
graduated undergraduates. Independent research projects credit available for
second year participants.

This year¹s special project: TBA at the information meeting.

COURSES
Students will earn 12 upper-division credit hours. Courses available in
drawing, European Visual Culture, upper-division art history and TBA Special
topics course (attend the information meeting to find out).

All credit participants must be willing to attend intensive preparatory
seminars held evenings, May 4-9, 2009. Classroom instruction WILL NOT be
held on-site in Switzerland. Time in Switzerland will be spent traveling and
participating in experiential learning.

OPTIONAL POST-PROGRAM TOURING
10 days of optional European touring is available after class tours are
completed. If you¹re not interested in European touring, you¹ll still have a
home and meals in our little mountain inn and you can spend your days
exploring the culture and natural wonders of Switzerland.

LOCATION
This program is based in the quaint Alpine resort village of Leysin,
Switzerland. Participants will be lodged in the Bel Air Hotel
(www.aubelair.ch), centrally located in the village a ten-minute walk from
the upper train station. Leysin is reached by exiting the main European
east/west rail line in Aigle, Switzerland and taking a 20 minute scenic ride
on a cog-wheel mountain train that meanders up 1350m through the vineyards,
forests and pastures until it arrives in the village.

ACCOMODATIONS
Participants will be housed in quaint, clean, non-smoking hotel rooms with
incredible views of the Alps. Most students will be accommodated in
quadruple or quintuple occupancy rooms with single beds. All rooms have
their own bath, shower, and a breath-taking view of the Alps. Breakfasts and
dinners are provided daily seven days a week.

STUDENT TRAVEL IN SWITZERLAND
Participants will be given 30-day Swiss Rail Passes that will enable them to
ride any form of public transportation including the entire Swiss government
rail system, all public buses and postal buses, many funiculars and most
lake steamships. Using public transportation, participants may easily take
day trips to most locations in Switzerland.

SWISS MUSEUM PASS
All students will receive a Swiss Museum pass that allows free entry into
500+ museums!

FINANCIAL AID AVAILABLE
If you qualify for financial aid (grants, loans, scholarships) on campus, it
also applies in Switzerland. We¹ve just moved the USU campus to a European
location.

All USU students welcome but USU Art Students are given first priority.

With permission, spouses may be accommodated.

VALUE
Program Cost: $4595-$4,695*
Includes:
? tuition up to 12 credit hours
? round-trip airfare (SLC/Geneva or Zurich)
? Swiss airport to Leysin ground transportation (RT)
? 30-day Swiss Rail Pass (unlimited Swiss travel)
? Swiss Museum Pass (500+ museums)
? accommodations w/private baths for 30 days
? buffet breakfast & three-course dinner daily (seven days a week)
? travelers insurance
? laundry facilities
? daily housekeeping
? internet access (wi-fi)
? travel Guidebook

Fee Schedule
$175, December 4 (1st deposit)
$200, January 15 (2nd deposit)
$balance, April 23 (final balance)

Deposits due with completed application forms in the Art Office. Make
deposit checks payable to Utah State University.

Information: Prof. Robert Winward, 435.797.1394, bob.winward@usu.edu


* Cost variable depending upon airfare at time of booking, U.S.dollar/Swiss
Franc exchange rate and number of participants. Dates may vary slightly
depending upon airline booking.

IMPORTANT
Deposits & application forms will be accepted beginning December 4, 8 a.m.,
in the Art Office. Only 40 participant slots are available. This program
sells out every year, so turn in your deposit as soon as possible onDecember 4th.

Congratulations on the decision to make your lives extraordinary!

IT KILLES me just to think about actually going....like....holy....crap. You have no idea...how bad...I. WANT. TO. GO.

F I V E .....what!?

Yesterday was our 5 Month anniversary.

Talk about time going by fast! That means next month we will have been married for a 1/2 year! What the....!? :) Craziness! 

It's been a great five months...really hard but really good too. We're SO STILL getting to know each other and finding new things every day that we disagree on. haha! :) But it's great! 

We're now all moved into the new house (no its not OUR house technically. we're renting.) And we LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I tell bryce probably five times a day how much i love it here and how HOMEY it feels. We love that part. 

So I have to leave for work (wow i need to write about that too...) but i just wanted to say I love Bryce so so much and I'm so grateful for everything he is and everything he does. He's .... amazing. :)

I VOTED... 

(no, I'm not pointing to my boob)

MARY KAY SALE

HELLO to all you beautiful women! 

As many of you know, I sell Mary Kay. Well, I don't "actively" anymore because I wanted to focus on my art ...yadda yadda yadda.

But this has left me with a HUGE amount of product lying around my house taunting me, Reminding me of how much money I spent to buy all of it. (lovely huh?)

So I would LOVE to get rid of as much as I can as SOON as I can. Many of you might be saying, "mmm...mary kay is too expensive girl. Not much I can do." BUT!!! I'm selling it from now on for 40% off (plus shipping) And seriously, once that product has that much of a sale price, it is SO WORTH IT!!! and definately NOT expensive!!! 

PLUS with CHRISTMAS coming up soon, I figured that MK product would be great CHRISTMAS GIFTS!! :) (no no no, its not just skin care---I have make up (lots of the NEW mineral product), lotions, perfumes, colognes, mini satin hands sets etc!!!) 

If you have questions or want to know how much something would cost, go ahead and ask:

Call: (435) 754-6026

e-mail: chabeast@yahoo.com, chabeast@gmail.com, artlarue@gmail.com.......

Comment: heck, that works too...

This would be a HUGE favor to me and I will be so appreciative of anyone who could help me out. :) .... no pressure though. lol

Love you all! :)

PINK KISSES (as my director would say)