Our little apartment

So I have been blogging for many months now, and I figure that we might as well invite you into our home. We are living in north Chicago, about a mile-and-a-half northwest from Wrigley Field (congrats go out to the Cubs for yesterdays victory!). We live in an urban residential area, close to a handful of parks, the river, and a regional library. We rent the top floor of a house (technically, the attic portion). Laundry is in the basement and we have off-street parking out in the alley in the back.

So here is a tour of our place...

So the first thing that you will see in our entryway is a display of our portraits. This exhibit is called "organized chaos".

This exhibit originates from the fact that Livia works as a custom framer. With our house full of dozens of nice frames, Livia no longer has a need for all these cheap frames. But instead of throwing them out, I decided to employ them creatively. Our entryway is ghetto anyway, so now it's a beautiful wall of tackiness. It's great.


And the disco ball...


Notice on the fridge Livia's bumper sticker, which reads "Jesus loves you but I'm his favorite"


Our uninteresting and crowded kitchen. See if you can find a little guy hanging from a noose. His name is Fred and he's a voodoo toothpick holder. He doesn't have any toothpicks in this picture, because at the moment we have no vendettas. We're looking for some though, so stay tuned.


These are our kitchen helpers


And a conglomeration of our trip to Joao Pessoa last year. This is the only cheap frame that escaped the grasp of organized chaos.


Enter the Living room.


Livia actually made the futon pillows. They are reversible (different patterns on each side of the pillows), and they have hidden zippers. That makes it possible for us to remove the covers and wash them periodically. I mention it because I guess hidden zippers are very hard and frustrating to deal with, so props to Livia.


We picked up those two tables and an enormous dresser and mirror over at a salvation army. We stole them all for a mere $85.


Artistic close-up #1


Artistic close-up #2


We don't actually have that lamp plugged in. It's more of an aesthetic contribution to the room.


To the left: That's the Warhol I created from the same picture that Livia is holding.
To the right (background): Livia created the curtains to the living room. There is no door to the room, so when visitors stay with us it's nice for them to have privacy. The curtains are patterned after typical Moroccan ornamentation.


Livia's gabbing with her sister; also showcasing a purse that she made.


A final shot of Livia's popart.


So maybe I will call this the primary tour of our apartment. At the moment the other rooms are a bit cluttered, so I won't venture to post our mess online. The bathroom is getting regrouted, so there is plastic everywhere. Livia's sewing room needs a facelift, and our bedroom has seen more pleasant days.

Anyway, thanks for coming. Come again.

LiviaPods

Have any of you guys seen the new ipods? They're loaded with Livia features, such as movies, songs, and pictures of and about Livia. They're even encoded with the latest in rlt - rich livia text.

To see the full line of available JinhaPods, click here

For for information on how to get one of them, including pricing and availability, models numbers, or accessories, click here

TSC Photo Contest

Most people, it seems, are unaware that March is Women's History Month. Each year, International Women's Day takes place on March 8. This is a day in which we celebrate women and recognize muliebral contributions throughout the world in terms contributions made politically, economically, socially, etc.

As part of this celebration, my school is currently hosting an art gallery which showcases the work of Phil Borges, who has traveled globally in an attempt to document the accomplishments of innovative women--especially those who make an impression in spite of fierce oppression.

He has quite a collection of inspiring art on his website:
www.philborges.com


So as we celebrate women during this month, my school is also hosting a photography contest. Students who wish to participate are asked to submit up to 3 photos, with a brief description of each photo. I'm posting some of my stuff that has made the short list. I didn't have much time to get too creative. but here is some of what I came up with (in no particular order).




This was taken a few months ago at my parents' house in Cedar City, UT. Livia isn't exactly the epitome of the underdog beating all odds and making a lasting contribution to society that will never be lost or adulterated... But she has had her battles, especially in her decisions to be baptized, go on a mission, and get married in the temple. I think the mark that Livia has made is captured in this picture, namely an infectious smile and the ability to charm anyone in the world. She's like a variegated sunbeam amid a studio full of Ansel Adams. (That said, I should mention that I removed most of the saturation from this picture, and hence the absence of vivid color...)



This is Livia's cousin, Gisele. I'm not going to include the full write up that I gave this picture, but she gave up her opportunities for formal education when her family lost their small business. In order to help make ends meet, she began working full time, and eventually moved to Japan and took a position in a factory. She regularly works 16 hours a day alongside her husband in Japan in order to help support not only her own immediate family, but also her aging parents in Brazil. The above photo was taken moments after giving birth to her second child.





Read the caption for the first picture, and replace Livia's name with "Leticia". Leticia is just like her sister in all the best ways. Leticia makes everyone that surrounds her a little bit happier. Scratch that--she makes everyone exponentially happier.

This is the picture of Livia that I actually submitted for the photography contest. Artistically, I tried to use the expressive changes in contrast to add drama and tension to the moment. My goal was to catch an individual in turmoil. That person is alone in a cold world of partiality and injustice. There is no photographer in the room with her; the only company she has is the reluctant beating of her own heart.

blah blah.. in reality I had my camera when I noticed that the sun was coming through the curtains rather dramatically. I told Livia "why don't you grab that blanket and look out the window because the sun is coming through the curtains rather dramatically and I will then take a picture of you as you stare out the window. Try to look sad."

Thanks to all my lovely models for making the photo shoots so easy!

Cherry

We recently had a photo session with our in-house model, Cherry. We came to know Cherry through a friend of Livia's, Elaine Miyazaki.

Elaine introduced Livia to Cherry several years ago, and though we've entertained the thought of a collaborative effort, such notions have only just recently been brought to full fruition.

Once we got all the bugs and kinks worked out, I think the whole proceeding went surprisingly without much complication, and with copious results.




Entering:

The Gallery of Ancient Contemporary
Geisha Artistic Endeavors

Cherry
$630



Cherry-contemplating?
$600



Far Away...
$585



The Beast Within
$622



Humble art...her...
$590



The Details of Life
$600



Memoirs of a Cherry Geisha
$700



penny < Cherry
$705



For more good stuff where this came from, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/Sean.Nufer/PhotographicArtistry



photographer: Sean Nufer
model: Cherry
Special thanks:
Sean Nufer
Livia Nufer
Cherry
Sean's camera
Elaine Miyazaki

Livia Warhol

A few months ago I was experimenting with photoshop, and began creating a popart piece using a picture of Livia that I took a few years ago after our steel band practice. I'm not the biggest fan of Andy Warhol, but I can appreciate the contribution that the popart genre has provided to contemporary art. Here's a copy of the piece that I made.


I also made a picture of my late great-grandmother. Here is a picture that is floating around the family:

...and the transformation...

I used two different techniques on these pieces, and I think the differences are noticeable. The Grandma May piece is more true to the original Warhol techniques. Photos these days are manipulated digitally instead of with the traditional paints and sponges, etc. I happen to like the technique used for Livia's piece better

A couple of other pieces I made include some work I did as Christmas presents for my siblings Amanda and Andy.

Andy Nufer



BYU logo

Livia and I have been saving our money to be able to print and frame her popart. By saving money, I mean whenever we noticed that we happened to have some money to spare to print it out, we did. That happened a couple of days ago.

So this was actually framed by Livia. The print is actually just a cheap kinkos job, so one day we'll take this apart and get a nice quality print in that frame. For now it will do.

Since Livia works at a custom framing department, she was able to get a frame for a very cheap price. The customer didn't like the frame, or something, so instead of throwing away the frame (valued at several hundred dollars), the framing department sold it to Livia for $5. So last night was our big debut.

It really doesn't fit in our living room, which is furnished in mostly bucolic reds, browns, and green--with a Japanesque flare. But we'll be moving sometime soon, and we'll find a wall to hang this at our next place and build around it.



Livia has also been flexing her creating muscle. The purse that she is sporting as she poses by the picture up there (she was chatting with her sister and didn't want to put the phone down for the photo) was conceptualized, designed, and construct by none other.

She has turned the house into a sewer's paradise. She's currently working on about a dozen quilts, making dance costumes, sewing purses, creating pillows and pillowcases, and teaching regular sewing and craft classes. I'm not even going into the scrapbook endeavors... I think she plans to post some of her work here, so stay tuned.