Getting the Creative Juices Flowing

Hello everyone and happy hump day!  For those of you on spring break, hope you're enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation!  I have been home in New Hampshire since Friday.  While I love being home (both because I like hanging out with my family and because it gives me a chance to take a step back and remember what I love about Saint Mike's), I'm excited to go back this weekend.

While my roommates have all been pretty busy lately (Lauren has her documentary that she's working on with our friend Sheila due April 1, Alex just finished her business plan, and Cait just had to give a presentation on her thesis), last weekend and this past week we found some time to relax in a way that was new for all of us: by painting.

On Saturday (during the weekend before break), Cait, Lauren, and I went out to A.C. Moore and picked out some canvases and paint supplies.  That night, we had a few of our friends come over and paint with us.  I ended up with some abstract art because I'm not the best with actual pictures:

 I've never really thought of myself as an artist (and I still don't really), but painting was surprisingly fun and relaxing.  We all commented on how quiet we were because we were so focused on each of our projects!  Even still, it was great to try something new and have my friends there to enjoy it with me.  Here's Lauren's fantastic elephant:

The day before break started (last Thursday) was Cait's thesis presentation.  Once we were both out of class, we decided we wanted to paint again, so we hopped in the car and picked up some more canvases.  Cait painted the whale tails for her uncle, which are on  the side on the highway (and always a signal for me that I'm close to home!):

I forgot to take a picture of my second project, but I painted this quote I recently found: "Take pride in what you have accomplished and faith in how far you can go." (There seems to be some speculation on who originally said it.)  Regardless, I thought it was quite fitting as I enter the final stretch of my senior year at Saint Mike's (yikes!).

Since we still have a lot of paint left, I definitely see myself picking up some more canvas before the semester is over.  I'm so happy that my roommates encouraged me to do this because it probably wouldn't have crossed my mind otherwise!

Time for me to get back to some homework!  To all the recently accepted students, congratulations!  Looking forward to seeing many of you next weekend at the Open House!

Thanks for reading!
~Merrill

PS I've been listening to a lot of random music lately, but a lot of my listening time has been devoted to the audio version of the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I really like it so far!