Studio Saturday on a Monday: Photography Final and First Week of Drawing

I have no idea where my weekend went. I had plans to do many things and didn't get to most of them. That includes this post (which was going to be split, but now is all in one). This post is going to be photo heavy so I will try not to ramble on as well.

First up is my final project for photography. We were to create five pieces using the techniques learned during the semester. They were to show who we are right now and did not have to be related. I decided I'm only going to share two of them here because I really don't like the other three.

This one is about my renewed love of where I live. I finally realized why I always hated living here and since those circumstances have changed, I do like this area. Not to say that I want to live in town for much longer as there are too many people and not enough space for me. Here's my piece dedicated to my love for the Red River Valley.

There was a lot that went into making this. I started by painting the canvas yellow and adding blue along the edges to make a green. Then I transferred maps of Minnesota and North Dakota to the canvas. I whitewashed those to fade them a little and then added the gel lift of the satelitte view. (If you look really closely, you can see my house! Ha!)

I painted the stereotypical heart before tranferring an image of an anatomical heart. Then I embroidered the river, connecting it to the heart. Finally, I added the texture around the edges and painted the sides black. Oh, and I stamped around the piece to add more texture.

The second piece I am showing you is my pocket full of dreams. My inspiration for this piece came from the book Personal Geographies by Jill K Berry. In the book, she made this to show items on a bucket list. Mine is more lifestyle based.

I gathered images that I have taken over my lifetime. Most are more recent (the past couple years), but there are two that I took as a child while visiting the Badlands in North and South Dakota (a must see if you ever get the chance). To pull them together visually, I exposed them as cyanotypes. I forgot how much fun I had with that in the beginning of the semester and am glad I picked that route here.

That wraps up the semester finally!

Now onto my first week of drawing class. I'm in level two, so I got to submit a proposal of what I want to work on during this four week class. I had already decided that this summer was going to be about play, so this is carrying over into class. I proposed to work with mixed media, as well as my sewing machine, and to explore how the mediums interact with each other. My inspiration is going to come from my day-to-day life and environment.

To start off, we had to create out best drawing. This instructor always does this and it is nice to have a benchmark to work from. It's been awhile since I have drawn anything other than sketches. I warmed up and did a few drawings before deciding on the one I was going to show in class. I just sat out on the deck and started drawing.

Here's part of one. I tried drawing Jameson and Angus, but they just wouldn't sit still.

Then I honed in on the danelions that are taking over our yard (and everyone else's). The one I brought to class is on the left. After our informal critique, he wanted us to draw the same thing again, taking into account the comments from critique.

I spent the rest of the first day playing around with a few things. First was this ink drawing, which I didn't finish before class ended. I also did another piece, but realize right now that I forgot to take a photo of it. If I remember on Saturday I will.

Our first project for the week was to draw the same object three times: one photo realistic, one abstract, and one non-objective. I played around with more of my materials working with my object: this beautiful, old dress form. You may remember that I painted one in painting class as well.

I worked with layering and textures here.

Then decided that I needed to get my go-to drawing style out of the way before digging into this further.

The next day, we spent working on these and also starting another project. This new one is to use the computer and projector to create a series of drawings. I had to wait on this one until the weekend when I could get transparencies made up.

So instead, I worked on my abstract and non-objective pieces. The non-objective is pretty straight forward. I picked out the basic shapes of the dress form and used a variety of materials to create this.

For my abstract piece, I started out by collaging a background of various cardstock and tissue paper. I covered this with a layer of vellum to dull down the colors of the papers. Then I painted the vellum a golden yellow, using a translucent paint. I put some pastel on the surface in the same color of the dress form and then added the charcoal outline. The final addition was the string. After seeing this photographed, I may go in and add more of the pastel.

Both of these projects are due for critique tomorrow. I did finish the projects today in class, but may make some tweeks before I go to class.

For the rest of this week, we have a few drawings to do as well as play around with making a kite. The kite will be a challenge and is basically a pass (it flies) or fail (it doesn't fly) project.

That's enough for today. I hope your weekend was a good one!

Studio Saturday

I don't have images of my final photography pieces yet. I procrastinated a bit on them and so I was working on them up until I had to leave for class for critique. (Oops.) So, I didn't have time to take photos of them before and they are still at school. Hopefully they weren't thrown away and I can pick them up next week. There are two of them that I would be really upset to lose.

Instead, I remembered that I never shared the final product of our mold project in sculpture. I made these in March, but they weren't fired until the last week of classes. My mold was of a lemon and we were to make three separate pieces using the mold. The twist was they all had to alter the cast object.

First I made a bunch of lemons and put them into a stack. I should have stacked them in a more natural way, but at the time this made sense to me.

Then I sliced a solid lemon and carved details.

Finally, my play on lemonade. (Get it, lemon-aid... first aid... No?)

One idea I was given in critique was to have made the lemon into a car to play on that concept too. I never did make that and even though I still have my mold, I'm pretty sure I won't use it again. I will hang on to it until next summer and decide if I want to get rid of it then.

The one thing that I don't like about these pieces is the milky glaze on top. We were told it was a clear glaze but it isn't clear like I wanted it to be.

If I manage to pick up my photography pieces, I will share them during the week. I do start my summer drawing class on Tuesday, so studio updates will continue until June. I have the same instructor that I had for painting, and he was so fascinated by the sewing work I did for my final project in painting, that he mentioned I could do that for drawing. (Since I am in an upper level class, we propose all of our projects for the class duration.) I do love to draw with ink and charcoal too, so I'm not sure what I want to do. We do only have four weeks, so it's not like I can explore everything for class. I'll talk more about it next Saturday.

I hope your weekend is finding you well! I am taking a little break and doing whatever feels right, but not pressuring myself to get anything big done.

Studio Sunday: Painting Final

Today I'm going to show you my final project for my painting class. I do want to warn you in advance that if you are easily offended by foul language or sensitive to certain subjects, that one of my pieces is dealing with my past. It is going to be the last project I share in this post, so feel free to look at only the first project if this is the case.

We had to come up with two projects for our final critique. The first was our choice. Everyone had to submit a proposal, which was given feedback and only one person had to completely change their proposed project. My project was to hand paint fabrics and turn those in to at least five items. I did only get five done in time but would have done more if I could have fit them in.

I didn't think to take photos of the fabrics prior to cutting and sewing them. I also used different techniques to apply paint, which made for different results. The fabric bases were different as well. I pretty much wanted a variety of things to play around with.

I first painted yardage of a white cotton. I bought a quilting weight, though not Kona as it wasn't on sale, so there is a difference in the feel of it. I watered down the paint and applied it broadly, hoping for more color mixing than I got. I wanted a fabric that had reds, blues, and purples, but the red and blue weren't going purple easily. So instead, I went with the patriotic theme and added random stars and stripes.

Out of this fabric, I decided I could make two things. First I made a gathered clutch, which was adapted from Noodlehead's tutorial. Her tutorial makes a smaller clutch than what I wanted to make, so I basically just used her idea of gathering the front piece and placing a strip of fabric over it. I didn't follow her directions for assembly (or really even read them) since I just made it the same as any other zippered pouch I've made.

The inside is lined with the same fabric. I thought about using something else, but in the spirit of making everything out of fabrics I have painted, I didn't.

The second item I made was the Pocket Clutch from Keyka Lou (though now I see she has changed her business name to Michelle Patterns). I did follow the instructions she gives, though I changed the interfacing and batting to just fusible fleece. Oh, and I also put the snap in prior to when her instructions suggest. There are some other construction steps I would change when I make another one of these. Again, the inside is the same fabric.

The second fabric I painted was a linen blend apparel weight fabric. I decided I wanted to have more control over what the final project looked like, so I first cut out the pieces and then painted them. I wanted more of a washed look so I wet down the linen before I started. I used another Noodlehead pattern for this one, this time the 241 Tote.

My inspiration for this one came from a photo I took while walking. I saw these bright tulips against some concrete and tried to portray them. Chad told me it looks like I dropped the purse in dirt and that's all I see now too. I do like the style of this bag and will make more in the future.
I then painted some yardage of white knit. I wanted to make a tank top using the pattern from Wiksten. The pattern seems to be written with wovens in mind, so I pretty much only used the pattern pieces and then assembled it as I saw fit. I did make a muslin first, using a cheap knit from Walmart. (I actually love the muslin so I will be finishing it to wear. I will share that once I do.) I'm glad I did because I did have to lengthen it and also cut the neckline a little higher.

I honestly don't care much for it right now. I have some ideas of how to tweak it to make it better for me. I think part of the reason I'm iffy is that I don't normally wear shirts that are so loose. I think this makes my upper body look incredibly large, and is only worse if I don't have a cardigan over it. The neckline with this knit is also pretty baggy.

I did wear it to critique though and the rest of the day. So, I could say this meets the "I Will Wear It in Public" challenge, but I know I can do better for that. Let's just call this one a trial.

The final piece I did for this project was an art quilt. I took a piece of canvas and started applying color to it. I went with the colors that I am loving right now: a deep red, mustard yellow, and gray. After the paint dried, I took it to my sewing machine to add some stitching. I used threads that matched each painted area and sewed a bit of each in the colors. To finish I then layered it with another piece of canvas and then zigzagged the edges together.

I love the look of it and am thinking of other directions I can take this.

Now for my second project. This one was a collaborative project with an assigned artist. Unlike a true collaboration, we did not meet with the other artist, but instead were to take something from their work and combine it with what we already do. This could have been materials used, a style, or philosophy. He didn't want us to outright copy the work of the artist (which some of my classmates did).

My artist was Sue Williams. Most of her art stems from the abuse that she suffered over her life. The worst of which was a boyfriend that shot her and left her for dead. My instructor had no idea that I grew up in an abusive household and also dated abusive men, until I decided it all had to change. I knew what I had to paint for this project, even though I don't like putting all of this out there for the world to see. This semester has been a reflection of sorts on my past, which has been helpful but also uncomfortable. I think I do still need to explore these issues but keep the outcome to myself in the future.

I had this vision come to mind of getting out the things that have been said to me that have stuck. These are not made up (which someone in class thought) and were said by my parents, step-mother, sister, some other family, former friends, and ex-boyfriends. I don't remember if I have shared that my mother is bipolar, which amplified what she would say to me at times. It's not an excuse in my opinion, just fact.


It felt really good to get all of this down and out of my head. I was really nervous about critique though because it's a sensitive subject and I am putting it in the viewer's face. This painting is about 6' high to give you an idea of size. Any smaller and it wouldn't have had the pow that I knew it deserved. To prepare myself for class, I just kept telling myself that there isn't anything a relative stranger could tell me that is any worse than any of the things on my painting.

Before I started the painting, I thought I might burn it to release the words but now I'm not so sure. I think instead I will burn the notes I made prior to starting it. That also holds these words, and more as I couldn't fit everything here.

That wraps up my painting class. Next Saturday I will share my projects for photography. Our critique isn't until Wednesday and I am still finishing up my pieces. We have to make five different pieces dealing with how we are now.

I hope your Sunday is a good one. We are off to rural North Dakota for a confirmation and then back to our normal Sunday routine.

Studio Saturday: Sculpture Final

Today I'm going to share with you my final project for my sculpture class. Tomorrow will be my projects for painting and next Saturday will be my photography projects.

Our project theme was "dwelling". We were to use wood and one other material to build a dwelling that we could fit in to. Obvious solutions, like a house, were not going to be acceptable for this. My classmates came up with a variety of things, including a coffin, a nest, an outhouse, a tree (not the most original in my opinion), a circus tent, a beach hut/play fort, a bench, and a chair.

For me, in thinking about a dwelling, I thought of it as a place that housed life. I don't talk about it often here, but I am rather obsessed with shapes, lines, and textures. Last fall, I picked up a milkweed pod and brought it home to be a part of my growing collection of nature. I love the shape and textures of it and wanted to keep it around to inspire me. Same with the other items I've been collecting.

And lo and behold, my milkweed pod became my dwelling. It houses life in the form of seeds, which are released in late summer/fall, in order to continue the plant's existance.

My challenge in building this was that I had never worked with wood before or power tools. My experience with wood and tools stopped at a handsaw used to cut branches and an axe to chop wood for a fire.

I made it through, with a little help, and am pretty happy with it. These photos are the only proof it existed, however, as I did dismantle it. I had thought about bringing it home to use as an outdoor chair, but Chad wouldn't have been keen on that idea, and really, it would probably have ended up covered in dog pee.

My other materials here are canvas to cover the outside and a chunky yarn to bring the interior of the pod to life. The yarn was a last minute addition - one that I thought of just days before critique - and I'm glad it came to mind. It really brought my project to life. To give you an idea of size, this stands at about 8 1/2' to 9' tall.

The only thing I kept here was the yarn, which I will be making into something for next winter. Probably another cowl.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend! See you tomorrow for more.

Studio Saturday

I don't have much to update this week. I worked long hours both Thursday and Friday nights, so that ate up my free time on Friday and for today. All I managed really was to run errands and visit one of the art museums so I can write a couple papers for next week.

I did start one of my two projects for painting. It is going to be a large (about 5' x 4') painting. I only got the gesso on the paper as I forgot the actual paint at home, but I think that's a good thing. I popped in to the studio today to check on it and the paper has not flattened out. For my second project, I still need to prewash my fabrics before I start painting. I also want to pick up a plastic tablecloth to work on, so I'm hoping to get on that tomorrow.

No updates on sculpture. Unfortunately.

And in photography, I'm still deciding what I'm going to do with the images I've printed.

I have these three on muslin. I was going to use all three in one piece but stitching them down to a large piece of canvas, but my instructor wasn't fond of that direction. She told me I could still do it, but she didn't think all three were needed to "tell the story". I have an idea, which I really need to get to soon in case it doesn't turn out the way I see it in my head.

And this one on a plastic sheet. I was thinking about adhering this to a saw blade, but looking at this, I really like the wood coming through. I may have to pay a visit to the secondhand building materials/salvage place...

I really need to get busy on these projects. Final critiques for painting and sculpture are in a little over a week, with photography coming the following week. For now, though, it is time to get to bed to try to reset my sleep schedule.

Studio Saturday and a Tour of My Sewing Space

I don't have many photos to share about my studio projects this week, so I thought I would show you around my sewing room as well. I still don't have everything up on the walls that I want to hang because I am undecided on what will go where. Also, this is how it looks every day once I have tidied up from each sewing session. I didn't make it spick and span because that wouldn't be real. So yes, there are piles of things lying around and stuff crammed in places. Basically, if you were to pop over unannounced to my home, this is how you would find the room.

My sewing room is just off of our living room. Our house is small; just a bedroom, kitchen, living room, my sewing room and a half bath upstairs. Our full bath is in our basement, which is not finished aside from the bathroom. And actually, Chad said when he bought the house (which a family of three lived in!), my sewing room was a second bedroom. He blocked off the closet in it in order to expand the closet space in our bedroom.

It is very bright in these photos because the sun was out in full force (thus changing my plans for the day again) and I have the advantage of two windows.

This is the doorway into my space. We have horseshoes over most of our doorways. And (real) wood paneling, which I know most people hate, but I love. The +B you see here burned into the wall is the brand that Chad now owns and was his family's brand when he was growing up.

And the entire room from the doorway. As you can see, the space itself is pretty tiny, but I love that I have my own room to work in. There isn't a door either, so I don't feel like the walls are closing in on me. The ceiling is pretty low. I'm 5'10" and the ceiling barely clears my head. Perils of living in an old house, I guess.

My stash, aside from the the apparel yardage that is waiting to be washed. I also have my fabrics that I will be dyeing over the summer in the basement so I don't mix them up with everything else. Scraps are downstairs too, in a dresser that used to house most of these fabrics. Until I put everything on the shelves, I thought I didn't have much fabric. Now I think I don't need to buy any for a long time. On the floor in the basket next to my ironing board are all of my apparel patterns. There are not organized at all and I probably should destash some of them.

This is my sewing table, which Chad built for me. It's taller than a table you would find in a store so that my long legs can fit comfortably under it. I covered it in vinyl to give it a nicer surface. And under the table is the basket of future projects. Most of them I haven't blogged about and are sorted into plastic bags by project. So yes, more fabric is shoved in there, but I believe once the projects are completed, I won't have much scrap from there.

I need to organize the shelves in this corner again, but that isn't a priority.

And finally, my fabulous sewing machine. She isn't a stunner in terms of features, but I love her and could not ask for a better machine for me. I bought her used from a sew and vac store and didn't want all the computerized features that are on newer machines.

So that's my sewing space. Of course I would love to have more room to work in, but this is great considering our living space. In our next house, we have already discussed how we both need more room to work. Chad is outgrowing the garage and really could use a seperate shop. We want to move to the country so we will have to wait until then to have the space we want.

Now onto my school update. In all three of my studios, we are working on final projects, which are pretty involved.

In sculpture, we are building a dwelling from wood and another material. I need to make a small model of it still, but my inspiration is coming from this seed pod.

I wanted to think of dwelling beyond a house and instead as a place that houses life. What better than a seed pod that houses so much life. Plus, I love the space of this one so much. Can I pull it off? That is yet to be determined. My other material will be fabric.

In photography we are to make five pieces that speak about who we are right now in our lives. I am still not sure what I'm going to do, though I did sketch out some good and bad ideas. I need to revisit those tomorrow and flesh them out.

In painting, we have two final projects. The first is one that we are to come up with ourselves. We all had to submit a proposal, which he gave feedback on. My project is going to be at least five pieces. I'm going to paint various fabrics and then turn them into various items. I have it in mind to make a top, a couple purses, and an art quilt. I have to go pick up fabrics and textile paint before I can start this.

The second project is a collaboration with the ideas/styles of an assigned artist. My artist is Sue Williams, who is a painter that made it big in the early 1980's with her in-your-face style of art. She was physically and sexually abused throughout her life, even being shot by a boyfriend, before she sought therapy to change these patterns. I am not a fan of most of her work as it's very graphic. I would share an example, but it isn't appropriate for all eyes. If you are curious, here is a link to one of the galleries that represents her work.

My painting for this project will be dealing with the abuse that I have endured over my life. This is starting to be a theme for this semester, mostly unintentionally. I'm a little nervous about critique for this one, as what I have planned is pretty bold for me.

I have a lot of work to do and only a few weeks to get it done. But at least I'm sneaking in some sewing to these projects, so that will make up for not being able to work on other projects as much.

That's all for this week. I finished a little something earlier today, and depending on the weather tomorrow, I will show you what it is. We are due to get some of the rain that has been sweeping the middle of the country.

Hope your weekend is going well!

Studio Saturday

This past week was hard on me as there were either projects due or to be worked on in each of my studio classes. Long work hours didn't help either, but now I have the weekend to relax a little.

In my painting class, we have been working on a large painting (at least 30"x40") that deals with a current issue. This issue can be something personal or global. Mine is the recent lottery craze in the United States. I don't have any images of it right now and won't be working on it until tomorrow so it can dry a little bit.

In photography, our portraits were due. I did a self portrait that included each of my dogs.

The images were taken with my inexpensive point and shoot digital, then changed to sepia and resized before being printed on cotton fabric. The fabric is a cream tone-on-tone from Joann's. I fused the images to duck cloth and then stitched around the edges to clean them up and prevent fraying. Eyelets were added to link the two together and the wood hanger was created with help by Chad. Chain is shown in the photograph, but I did switch it to a waxed thread that is brown in color. This piece is in the hands of my instructor, so I didn't get to take a photo of the finished piece. It did go over well in critique which made me happy. There are little things I would change but overall, it shows my relationship with my dogs very well.

Our final (!) assignment is to create five different pieces that show where we are in life and who we are right now. She is giving us over the weekend to set up a timeline for working on them and also to come up with ideas for them. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at this time.

I finally have something to show you from my sculpture class. I went back and forth on this piece and put it together only a few days before critique. Our sculpture had to do with sculpting the nothing. This was left up to our interpretation, though we were also given an except from a philosopher to read on the idea of nothing. This is where my spark came from for my approach, but I did struggle with how to visually show my ideas.

The nothing in this case is us as humans after giving our lives over to technology. Inceasingly in our world, computers are becoming everything. I am not against computers (obviously, or I would not be writing this), but feel they need to be used as a tool and not everything. I find it odd when someone does not know an obvious bit of information and instead has to look it up online. Or someone cannot do math... or spell a word without the internet... or find their way around a city without GPS, especially in my area where most streets are numbered and very few have names. Without my knowledge my brain becomes nothing, thus my life becomes nothing.

I initially was going to make a sculpture of a person literally hooked up to a computer through a USB port. The literal is where I was going wrong though. I was only ok with it and not in love with this visual. Finally, it came to mind to create a human figure and hang them from an electrical cord. I am sparing this final piece with you though and am only showing you the doll I created.

Here she is before painting and assembly. Sorry for the horrible photograph. She is made with a paper mache base and then covered in paper clay, which air dries.

And here she is painted. I am not totally in love with how she came out, but surprisingly, I liked scuplting her. I have been thinking of trying my hand at doll making but was a little apprehensive about it because I have never done it before. This project pushed me to do it though and I am glad for it.

It's her legs that I do not care for. I was working with a limited amount of the paper clay, so they just turned out a little odd to me. I was also trying to paint her so she appeared dead, or at least near dead, so her face isn't how I would make another doll.

Our last project for this class is based on the idea of a dwelling. We are to use wood (the first cuts with the bark-I don't remember what they are called right now) and another material. I have a couple ideas right now, but want to put them down on paper before I think further about them.

That's all for now for school. We have about a month left of this semester, which seems like a lot of time and no time all at once. I will be taking a drawing class this summer, so this series will run until June before I decide if I will continue it through the summer. My fall semester does not include any art classes, just a sewing class and some lectures that relate to my minor in textiles. After that, next spring is my last semester and I will be working on my baccalaureate show that is required before I graduate. I already know it will involve art quilting, so this studio series may be used to document my progress over this upcoming summer (I want to be prepared before proposing my work for the exhibit). Well, I'm just thinking out loud now.

Be back later today with my Finish-a-Long plans for quarter 2!

Studio Saturday

As I briefly mentioned in my FAL post earlier, I'm feeling a little down. I don't want to go into details because it's mostly work related, but it affecting my mood and motivation. That includes the projects I have to do this weekend for school, so I will be working on them all day Sunday.

First up is my photography project. Portraits is the theme and she wanted us to print them onto a material other than paper/photo paper. I chose to do self portraits that included Jameson and Angus, and then printed them onto fabric.

This is what they look like now. I have some finishing to do with them, obviously. I will be sewing them to a duck cloth backing and then edging them with eyelet trim that I tea dyed today. I also need to go pick up some grommets so that I can link them together.

The photos aren't as exact in lining up as I would have liked, but it still works. Someone in my class thought I took one photograph and then just split it in two on the computer. It is actually two seperate images though.

In sculpture, we are still working on sculpting the nothing. I honestly haven't even started creating my sculpture, though I do know what I am going to do finally. I was having a hard time taking my idea from something literal to beyond that. Nothing to show here though, so look for it next week. This is due on Wednesday so I will be starting it asap.

In painting, we painted a self-portrait and then worked on painting the figure. I don't like the paintings I did at all, and most are still at school, so I'm not going to show those. We are supposed to paint another portrait painting, using the painting studio at school. I prefer to work at home though, so I have been putting this off. Tomorrow I need to go there to recover a large frame for our next painting, so I will be taking my camera with so I can shoot photographs of myself in the room and then use those to paint from. I'm toying with taking painting away from actual paint and instead, thread painting with my sewing machine.

The large canvas is going to be used to create a painting about a current issue. We had to go around the group naming current issues as ideas, but I was a little stumped and didn't even know what most people were talking about. Due to my schedule, I don't pay attention to the news at all and if I know what is going on, it's because I hear something on the radio or at work, or Chad tells me about it.

The issue I named in class was with the oil boom going on in North Dakota. Thinking about it though, I'm not sure how to paint that, so luckily the lottery was a topic that has been brought up a lot lately by people around me. Mostly in the sense of, "This is going to be the last time you talk to me because I have the winning ticket". I just laughed because everyone at work was saying the same thing. I told one person that we (ie Chad) buy lottery tickets, but that's our Plan B. They responded, dumbfounded, wondering what our Plan A was. Of course, for us, Plan A is to work, earn money to pay our bills and move towards our dream, living below our means. Plan B would get us there faster, but Plan A will do the same eventually. That person laughed at me and said the lottery was their Plan A. Thus sprung up imagery for me to use. I was a little worried I would show up to class on Tuesday without an idea, and then spend the entire class time overthinking or forcing something that wasn't there for me.

So, that's all I have to sum up this week. I'm going to get to work on this list, and then spend some down time catching up with my blog reading and email. Hope your weekend is treating you well!

Studio Saturday

I'm going to start off with my master painting that was due on Tuesday. The artist I chose was Rene Magritte and before spring break I wasn't sure which painting I was going to copy. I finally went with The Lost Jockey and am glad I did. I do love the giraffe one too and may use it as inspiration to create something with a giraffe.

I can't say that I got this one dead on. To get the layout right, I gridded both a print out and the paper I painted on. I found numerous colorings online so I went to our library and found this painting in a book. The book image had a mauve sky so that is what I used for colors. Books are more accurate than the computer. We were to paint it the same size and use the same materials as well. This piece is gauche on paper. I have never painted with gauche before and really should have done a few practice paintings first to get a feel for how it goes on paper. I really liked painting with it and will probably invest in more colors.

Chad loves my version of this painting and wants to frame it. I'm pretty proud of it too and am loving the way that Magritte created his trees. I may take that into future work as well.

The project I have to blame for me not getting much time to work on anything else was for my painting class. On Tuesday, we were assigned to paint ten paintings of a single object. Oh, and this was due on Thursday. Between my other classes and my late nights at work, I had only an afternoon to work on them. But I finished and am happy with most of them.

My object is an adorable kitchen timer that was given to me by a friend. To create the ten different paintings, I used a variety of materials and techniques. I also took it as an opportunity to try out some new-to-me materials and see how they reacted. This assignment was graded, so I wasn't just going to turn in crap, but he wanted some creativity.

I had this same instructor for a drawing class and he assigned a similar assignment for that (except it was 25 drawings to be done in two days). I had fun doing it then and took it as time to play and stretch myself. I can't say that I went quite as far with this one, although if we had to do 25, I would have got there eventually. One of the pieces I did for drawing was a collage made of dog food and treats (my object for that was a dog mannequin).

On a side note about painting, I'm finding that I love water-based media more than oil. In high school, I loved to paint with oils. I even bought paints with the money I was making working after school and painted so many things. I did eventually get rid of most of these because they were horrible paintings. Time and other distractions got me away from painting altogether until recent years when I took up watercolors. I'm kind of amused at this change and am going to try to sell my remaining oil paints from this class as I won't be using them again. If that changes again, I can just buy new ones.

I haven't progressed beyond my test shots for my photography project. It's been so humid lately and my hair goes pretty crazy. Even though this is for a class project, I still want it to look good. I have trouble taming it too (and it's made more difficult because I am trying to wean myself off of using a hair dryer). Also, she has been surprising us with showing our projects, or in the case of the last one, wanting us to make postcards and sell them. Another reason I have vanity issues here.

I'm hoping for an overcast day over the weekend so the lighting is right for photographs. I will be shooting them with film and want to get into the darkroom to process them. If they don't turn out, I will just use my digital camera as my plan B.

I do have samples of printing on different things, but they really aren't that exciting. We were to use non-digital papers (honestly, I had never heard of digital paper before a couple weeks ago), fabrics, and non-porous surfaces. I printed on handmade paper, canvas paper, osnaburg, some Kona cotton, plastic, and pleather. The pleather didn't work too well though. I still haven't decided what material I'm going to print on for the final projects. She gave me some ideas, but I'm not really into them. I do want this to be visually pleasing to me.

Finally, my sculpture project is stalled. My instructor likes my concept but thinks my visual representation is too literal. I think most ideas start out this way and the artist works with them enough to arrive at something that isn't. I left class early on Wednesday after having a slight breakdown that involved tears (thank you, stress and not sleeping) and came home to take a nap. While in the near-sleep stage, I did come up with a couple other ways to show my idea.

Yes, I'm being a little vague. I kind of think this project will need its own post. Let's just say, that my feelings on technology are going to be addressed here as well and the project is dealing with the concept of nothing. Since I have nothing to show you, I don't think explaining it will make any sense.

That about sums up this week for school. Due next week is a self portrait for painting and then just working on the projects in my other classes. They are not due this upcoming week so expect some more on them next Saturday.

I'm going to do my painting and write a paper, but also work in some time to sew, cook meals for the week ahead, and some cleaning. How about you?