Sunday in the City | 1

If you haven't been following me on Facebook, you will be surprised to find out that I packed up my little art room in little Tallahassee and moved myself up to the big city - NYC!  Yes, of course I have only been here for five hours, but I'm already feeling renewed inspiration in my bones.

I used to blog about both my art and my personal growth as an artist, but that slowly faded in my later years of undergrad after being bogged down with extensive projects, and we all know the blocks that I've been having this past year making new and exciting pieces that mean something.  I think that this transition in my life needs to be documented (and my aunt has been pushing me to blog a bit more), so I'm going to try to sit down each Sunday and figure out everything that I've learned about myself, art and this great city that I'm now a part of.

So for today, it was a lot of traveling.  A long layover in Milwaukee reflecting alone at an airport Chili's to a lost bag that made the trip all the way to San Fransisco.  My uncle picked me up from LaGuardia and we did a quick tour (several detours actually, due to a malfunctioning Garmin) of Bushwick and had dinner at a lovely hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant (the first of many hole-in-the-walls to come, I'm sure).  A drive through Times Square led to one of my fave rappers getting out of the taxis in front of us (SAMMY ADAMS) and we landed in the Upper West Side at the apartment I'll be staying at until I find a permanent location later this summer.  It reminds me of the Princess House and is nice and cozy, filled with colorful art that reminds me of pieces the Jealous Curator would love, and two cute kitties that I will make love me. 

I can't wait to get up and explore tomorrow.  And that's something I haven't said in a really long time. 

"Hello, I live here."

Hibernation

I've been away from art all summer, which I must admit has been both a good and bad decision on my part.  I have been catching up on sleep, hanging out with friends before they move on from Tallahassee.  However, I've also been severely suffering from lack of inspiration.  Last semester just wore me out.  So, here is my first attempt at getting back into the art groove.  DRAWING LINES ON A PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT WITH A SHARPIE.  It's not much, but I guess it's something.

Damaged Goods

 

White earthenware (press molds and slip casting) and sand, 2012.

A progression through time, a lifelong struggle.

For Meme

A Christmas gift to my Meme... This was her favorite childhood home.  

Watercolor and pen, 8"x10".

Oma & Opa

Looking back on 2011, having a family so close to get each other through dark times is the biggest blessing I could ever ask for.

Cut paper, 11"x14".

Papa

It's true. Props to this site.

Papercut created from a photo of my father upon his arrival to St. Bonaventure for college, 8"x10".

For Mama and Papa

No matter what, I'll always come home.

Helios porcelain molars tied into soda-fired Helios nests with embroidery thread. Measuring from 1.5" to 2" each.

Pecans

Yesterday was a rainy, but warm (gross) day.  I had a quick day at work and upon arriving home I decided to pick some pecans for my grandmother's famous Mystery Torte!

Bedscapes

These are a couple of spreads that were included in my second project for John's class.  We were exploring the accordion book and had to create a 15-page book on a topic of our choice.  I chose to create "bedscapes".  I love laying in my bed all morning and seeing the daylight fill my room and seeing how the sheets become an indoor landscape of their own. 

The book is 8"x10", printed on Moab Entrada Natural Rag paper, and housed in a handmade cover.

The other photographs can be found on my Flickr!

Home Sweet Home

First official project of Chuck's class.  This was a continuation of the "sense of place" project we were doing a couple weeks ago.  He changed it into a self portrait assignment, so we were able to either start anew or continue this project.  

I liked this project because I was able to show the difference between the warm, cozy nostalgia of home and the not so cozy sense of my apartment (despite my best efforts!). I experimented with a lot of processes on this raw canvas such as painting (acrylic and watercolor), collage, and embroidery. My fingers were raw after this.  Hand-sewn pieces are not to be taken lightly!  The experience that I get when working with the fabric, making it softer and laying it over my legs as I work, is the best part I believe. 

Each panel is approximately 19.5"x32.5".

Planning on making some shadow boxes for these puppies over Spring Break!

Self-Exploration

 So the first third of the semester has just passed and I haven't really shown anything that I have done in a month! 

I am taking a class with one of my favorite teachers, Chuck, called Creative Inquiry.  I thought at first it was an illustration class based off of stories we were writing, but upon attending the class I find that I was a bit wrong in my prediction.  We are exploring "self", "the other", and "the we" (if that makes sense at all).  This is a class that we are allowed to experiment, and create things that can ultimately be shown in a gallery, or at least develop ideas.  Big dreams, big dreams.

Anyway, one of the first assignments was to create three different pieces: one about my past, one my present, and one my future.  We based the pieces off of short biographies that we wrote after the first class.

[Past]

[Present]

[Future]

I have been really obsessed with mapping lately.  With these, I really wanted to explore a combination of materials.  Here, I have incorporated watercolor, pen, collage, and colored pencil.  All three are 9"x12".

The first is about being born in Connecticut and my family moving away to Florida.  The third is about how I want to move to San Francisco to become a fashionable cat lady with Tara (kidding, but not really).  The piece about my present is a bit confusing because Chuck added a twist to the assignment.  In this piece I was focusing on artists that I loved (originally they were just Steadman's Lono's Marlin Mask with different coloring).  Chuck assigned us to push one of our pieces further with the use of various artist books, which was just splendid because this piece was the last I had worked on and this twist was just what I wanted to complete it.  Included are bits and pieces from:

• Ralph Steadman's Lono's Marlin Mask (2000)
• Laylah Ali's Untitled (2004)
• Tucker Schwarz's Nothing can save me now (2005)
• Amy Rathbone's Rainbags (2005)
• Wendy Wischer's Sunspot Diaries (2003)

I really love the end result of the middle piece, and I am glad that I was able to continue to push it. 

"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day."

-Robert Caspar Lintner

I have eaten so much food today, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing than sitting with my grandmother on the couch, watching football, beginning my long night of digestion.

Here are just some things that I find myself thanking God for everyday:

• my family
• Cabernet Savignon
• Goodwill
• my kitten and puppy
• Justin Bieber
• my best friends
• college football
• San Francisco, California
• artists great and small
• John Donne
• Sex and the City
• Longboat Key, Florida
• laughter
• deodorant
• thunderstorms

Tomorrow, the Christmas season officially begins.  Decorating all day with my Mama!  Only to be followed by a sleepover with my best friends.  This is just a glorious time of year.

“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home."

-Thornton Wilder

Here is my newest project from Terri's Experimental Drawing class.  
(please click to view larger!)

The assignment was to draw with unconventional materials, so I chose to work with thread and nails on canvas.  These are topographic maps of my home, Clearwater, Florida, and where I was born, Glastonbury, Connecticut (respectively).  I chose these materials not only for the juxtaposition of hard and soft, but because I feel that these are the basic tools to creating a home.  We use cloth and thread to create blankets and clothing, and we use nails to create a structure that we can form into our own, cozy space.

This cool weather has been making me feel very nostalgic.  I cannot wait to see my family this week for Thanksgiving.  I can't believe winter is just around the corner!

"I grew up in a pretty house where I had space to run and I had the best days with you."

Here is the final for my Comfort Reality project in Terri Lindbloom's Experimental Drawing class.

These are all things that remind me of home-- my family, Bella and Kitten, my comfy chair, my love of wine and photography, and the ever present scene of birds on power lines.

I used micron pen to create my subjects, which were then accented by orange, pink, and blue watercolor.  All are drawn onto old children's books that remind me of my past.  

So, I think this calls for a little song that reminds me of home:

"I have an excellent father

His strength is making me stronger

God smiles on my little [sister]

Inside and out

[She's] better than I am

I grew up in a pretty house

Where I had space to run

And I had the best days with you

There is a video

I found from back when I was three

You set up a paint set in the kitchen

And you're talking to me

It's the age of princesses and pirate ships

And the seven dwarfs

Daddy's smart

And you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world"

-The Best Day by Taylor Swift

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."

-Edith Sitwell

I just love that quote. It encompasses exactly how I feel about winter. Going home for the holidays is just my absolute favorite. Listening to my mama explain where all of the ornaments came from, burning cinnamon on the stove, NSYNC Christmas blasting throughout the house on repeat...

Family movies at night, lots and lots of soup (I don't know why we make so much soup during Winter Break), lighting candles in bags and lining them along the sidewalk, cuddling up with Kitten and Bella on the big leather couch...

Bonfires with my best friends, long talks on the driveway, bundling up and sitting in the back of my papa's truck, and ringing in the new year!

Anyway, what I am getting at is that Fall and Winter are the best time of the year for me. They recall so so many memories, and this is basically all I look forward to.

I want, no, need these socks. They are just sooooo adorable. I would live in these. White, heather grey, charcoal, and black PLEASE :)

The Emerald City

I went home this weekend to see Wicked with my family... unbelievably good. I didn't know the story line before so the humor and Wizard of Oz references were just spectacular. This show made me want to look into costume and set design. Maybe it was the three dancers that I could have sworn were Lady Gaga.