Progress...

So, the new piece I have been working on is a slow and tedious process. However, with that said, I'm enjoying making it immensely. It's a collage on a 2' x 3' canvas. Once the collage is complete, I plan on applying paint to the surface, perhaps Rauschenberg-style. I will keep you posted on its completion. For now, here are photos of its progress:

It's a Conspiracy!

What a glorious day, albeit a chilly one, creating an art piece for Art Conspiracy! I had been collecting bits and pieces of paper and old magazines for a future piece that I had never gotten around to producing. I brought all those pieces and some glue to the warehouse today to cover the space of an 18 x 18 inch piece of plywood. It has been awhile since I've completed an art piece. Lately, it has felt like I have all the words I need, but I don't know how to put them into a sentence or a paragraph. Today was a culmination of my own artistic intentions and musings. I was finally able to express exactly what I wanted to express. It took nearly 6 hours of cutting and pasting and varnishing in a warehouse, but the finished product was well worth it. The camaraderie of working next to my fellow artists elevated the experience immensely.

Paper, as of late, has become an important art material to me. It gives me an opportunity to be a bit of a magpie and collect bits that interest me, the chance to save things for a rainy day. Recycling wrappers and packaging, each with their own artistic sensibilities, is pleasant to me conceptually. The idea of turning trash to treasure has always been intriguing, especially when I can use the bits artistically.

I decided to create a mandala using kirigami (where paper is cut into) as my focal point and build magazine cutouts around it. The mandala was intended as a spiritual object to signify not only my own attitudes towards creating it, but also to coincide with the non-profit organization Resolana. Resolana is a Dallas-based organization that provides rehabilitative programs for incarcerated women. My hope is that the mandala will both symbolize and inspire rehabilitation.

http://www.artconspiracy.org
http://www.resolana.info

As a note, I was filmed and photographed during this process. If some of it surfaces, I apologize in advance, I'm a bit camera-shy.

Ok, enough explanation, on to the next paper project!

Boston & Miscellany

So, a certain person who shall remain nameless, mentioned to me the other day that I do not keep up with my blog. Alas, in faux-exasperation, I will be more diligent about writing the random things that just pop into my head and the general stuff going on.

For starters, I came back from Boston a couple of weeks ago. It was definitely good for me to be alone and moving through a city I've never experienced before. The school I visited presented about everything I expected and wanted in a library science program. So before you can snicker, yes, I will eventually be holding a giant sign saying: "I want to be a librarian!" This sign can be with bright colors, glitter, and glow-in-the-dark paint if you insist, because you can take a girl out of art school, but you can't take art school out of a girl.




I'm a point where I'm ready for a profession. But I cannot separate myself from the art world, nor would I want to be removed from it. Somehow I feel more free artistically, knowing that I can have a life separate from my profession. Therefore, art will remain an intrinsic part of my bodily and spiritual self.

This year thus far has been a drill sergeant to me. The whistle keeps blowing and I have no choice to keep moving forward. Both emotionally and physically. My health is still in flux, but not impossible to control, for which I'm utterly grateful.

I've completed all the necessary preparations for getting into grad school, except taking the GRE, which I will take sometime in the new year. I'm applying to 4 schools: 1 here, 3 out of state, including the one I visited in Boston. The reality of leaving my friends and family behind scares me, but I know that sometimes risks just have to be taken, regardless of possible outcomes. Let's just say, I'll be smart about it. I'm not going to run off to another state for the hell of it. It will be legitimized, but scary none-the-less.

And now for some titillation (pun intended)...

I plan to put my senior metals studio work (aka Project X) for sale on Etsy: raised copper "breasts" with enamel. I hope to do this sometime in December or January...



Heck yes.

Upcoming Projects

Autumn is in full swing and with it, the perils of retail work during the holidays, but also (and this where it's a much more interesting blog), some upcoming projects.

One: going to Boston to look at a grad school.

Two: begin at The Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth as an intern for the Teen-Artist Project (TAP) starting in November and going until May. www.themodern.org

Three: Art Conspiracy December 12th, save the date. www.artconspiracy.org

More details later and maybe, just maybe, I will post some new art.

Prints

Some work I completed during my printmaking class this summer. A lithograph from a pronto plate and two proofs of etched copper plates.

Hiatus Come Undone

Obviously it's been a long time since I've written a blog. For those who love cryptic verbage: new stuff is on the way. What has gone on in the last 4+ months?

Job-wise: more or less I'm doing the same thing. I've taken over the gift department lead position at the bookstore and I'm doing sales tracking, loss prevention, and merchandising.

The post-college art burnout is officially over: I took a printmaking class at Brookhaven College this summer and enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm hoping to take the second level this fall. I might also take some digital art classes as well, since I feel like I'm behind on the times. Pics of proofs and work will appear soon.

I'm teaching myself to make handmade books and by September I plan to get my etsy up and running with them and some new jewelry pieces.

Come April, I'm taking a week-long class in Penland, NC to learn book restoration and repair. I'm super-excited to learn this skill and hopefully develop a portfolio of repair and take on some commissions.

Next up? I'm going to California for 4 days to see my grandmother and take a breather from work.

More news coming soon...

Spring...

...pics of the peach tree in my parent's backyard. I figured I better take photos of the blossoms before the storms hit and make them disappear.

I will have to write a children's story...

...about my cat Noki. So comical.

So, here's a funny story (or a new set of trials)...

It has been one week since I have gotten my blood results back. One week of an utterly reduced diet. One week when my sense of humor has sky-rocketed because I have no choice.

Perhaps, I should explain: I found out that I have food allergies. This all stemmed from a violent reaction to wheat beer a couple of weekends ago, which in turn caused me to do some research. Research that led me to information on wheat allergies and celiac disease.

I had been at this same spot before last spring, when I was trying to figure out the source of my continuing fatigue. I had everything checked: thyroid, diabetes, hypo and hyperglycemia, infections, etc. All I found out then was that I had a B-vitamin deficiency. I upped my b-vitamin intake and didn't notice any changes.

I had another set of blood work done over a week ago and in the basic allergen profile found out that I had abnormal reactions to the following: wheat, corn, peanuts, soybean, and chocolate. I still have to seek an allergist to find out if I have more allergies or if I'm a celiac (can't digest gluten).

So, this past week has been an eye-opening experience, to say least, in researching what I CAN eat. Overall, I'm trying to stay positive on the whole ordeal and as I've cut out the suspecting foods, I've been feeling less lethargic and just plain better and happier.

I have found the following: I can have bubble tea still (!), pho (thank god), I found rice flour tortillas (actually quite yummy), and a large selection of gluten-free and allergen-sensitive products in most grocery stores.

In the end, I will have to become a more creative cook and basically cut out all the processed stuff. For example, I can't have regular sodas because most have corn syrup in them. Most products use soy fillers, so I have to avoid those. As for chocolate, I might have to sneak a piece now and then (you know, to make sure if it's ok).

I think the most shocking thing of all is that this entire time I've had these aversions to the foods above and never knew or at least never connected how I felt to what I ate. Not once did a doctor ever think to check food allergies. Granted, my abnormal reactions aren't as severe as some people, since I have eaten these foods for awhile now. Despite this, my doctor recommended cutting out as much as possible.

Come my birthday I just might be presenting some very interesting cupcakes :)

Oh a New Year...

At my work, we have a table that goes up at the beginning of every year titled: "New Year, New You". Typically, there are self-help books and fitness titles on it. I have always deemed this a bit too simplistic, since you can't be an entirely new person. Plus, it seems like so much force put in New Year's Resolutions (which I stopped making years ago) and change. However, in the past couple of weeks, a lot of new things have occurred.

I have a new car and new cellphone (named Ivy I and Ivy II since they are green).

I cut off all my hair and have a chin skimming hairdo.

I have enrolled in an alternative certification program to become an art teacher. I do the state art test at the end of January and complete training in February and March. I hope to be in a classroom by autumn of this year.

In retrospect, 2008 seemed a bit stagnant, as it was the year of post-graduation. It feels good to finally move forward a bit in 2009. As far 2009 goals go, I hope to stay connected to friends and keep working with art.