min(e)d

Worst Semester Ever

2011-01-10T11:12:00.001-08:00

There are about 4 final projects that I have no photos of because

1. my camera has been acting funny so all the recent pictures are on my iphone and therefore blurry and tilted

2. finals for me consisted of not sleeping for 3 day increments, sleeping for 4 hours, then not sleeping for 3 days, repeat.

I had a horrible semester with 6 classes and two group shows so hopefully next semester will be better and I'll be able to take good pictures of good work.

maybe.

Holy Crap: Kit$ch in the Name of Christ

2011-01-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

Qiana Ellis [ex jehova witness]
Me [religiously incompetent]
Crista Reid [ex catholic]
12 Beards of the Apostles [at the last supper]-Me: Knitted from a variety of yarns each pattern is slightly different ranging from a soul patch [fourth from right] to full beards. I didn't make one for jesus because then it wouldn't be about the apostles. so Crista scored barbed wire from a friend and we fashioned a crown of thorns. For the opening we placed the table of food in front of the beards so it was like a play on the Last Supper.
Self Titled Tshirts [out of context text]- Crista and I. The three of us spent some time trying to find really strange bible verses and came up with these. I drew out the the designs and helped Crista print them with pigment. The idea was that since the vernacular and usage of words have changed over time certain passages sound strange out of context of the bible and then on the flip side how anything place on a tshirt becomes mass produced and trite. I thought it would be fun to have a bible so people could look up some themselves and underline them within the bible. I didn't want to use my mothers [the one I was reading/looking through] but I wanted the same one so that people could see the exact wording we used for the shirts [it varies depending on the sect's bible] and at the very last minute I found a catholic one that wasn't $50 [two stores had them priced that way]
[this was everyone's favorite one]
this one too
this one wasn't funny but interesting
Bernini's Dove with Dollar Bill- Me: I had this really epic idea of making stain glass windows but it just didn't work out. This was my shitty attempt.
Banners- Crista[religious tokens, prayer cards, crosses, etc beaded together], Please Keep Our Restroom Clean [Johnny Rocket Rosary]-Me, Empty spot where Qiana had a gold leafed D cup bra called The Holy Grail.
The Johnny Rocket Rosary [I used the bathroom coin I stole from a Johnny Rockets as a 'prayer' its the circle behind the cross]
Our Lady of Perpetual Indulgence-Qiana [I think that's what she called it] and two more of Crista's Banners. She digitally printed out this picture of Kim Kardashian framed it then draped fabric round her shoulders. She also made little prayer medals of boobs, dicks, and dollar signs and placed them round the frame.

Normally you write up an artist statement of why you're doing this show but we came up with ten commandment questions of what bothers us about commercialized christianity/catholicism. I was adamant about not making fun of christianity and Crista wasn't entirely sure she how she really felt about the show in general and Qiana was all for being rude so we couldn't agree completely on a statement though I think it would have helped people understand a little better. I mean we were pretty much preaching to the choir at a california art school but some students are strong believers and were wondering why we chose christianity to poke fun of. It's one of the dominant religions in america and one that is constantly enforced in this country so it seemed appropriate. It's the most confusing to me anyway. There's too much to question for me to go into detail about it right now

Franken Fabrics Final

2011-01-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

This was my final for my fabric material class where we destroyed fabric to create new forms/fabrics. We had to create three fabrics that could be difficult enough for fashion designers. My favorite technique is using a heat gun to melt polyester fabric so that is what I based my "collection" around.

The first fabric was a really thin satiny polyester that I had found and when heat gunned at a high tempeture blistered creating this really gorgeously disgusting burnt skin texture. It also smelled really good while it was burning which was weird for polyester. I would prefer it to be lit somehow because it becomes much more beautiful with the light coming through the melted 'veins'. This one will be shown in our class' group show the first week of this semester in the new galleries.

first fabric draped on a dress form:

detail:
The second fabric [also going into the show] is the most complicated to describe as I found out during critique... I started doing this string paper idea in my bookmaking class sophomore year and I've carried it through to other projects [see Indi Posters and Assume Position book] basically I spool out thread on wax paper and mix in PVA glue swirl it together then pick it up and spread it out on another sheet of wax paper layering it and flattening it until I get a large sheet of crispy string paper. I then applied more PVA glue in small dots throughout the sheet and ironed gold leafing to it [you then rub off the leaving so it just leaves traces on the threads]. Next I took some cheap sheer polyester and created a swirl pattern with a heat gun [all polyester doesn't react the same to a heat gun and this one either ruched itself or completely disintegrated depending on the heat and movement of it] then cut it in half to sandwich the thread paper within it. I then used bonding powder to seal the sheets together. It isn't supposed to be shown with a dark fabric behind it but it helps for people to see the detailing in pictures, etc.

second fabric:
the third fabric didn't turn out like I had wanted it to. I was picturing it as a decal for like the back of a jack not necessarily a fabric for a dress so I don't think I succeeded in the actual project of three yardages of fabric. What I did was melt this incredibly hideous brown/gold fabric then cut out individual shapes around the holes the heat gun created and place them on the fabric in this swooping skeletal shape. I then used a wood burning tool to melt/glue the brown fabric to the green fabric. Could've been cool...

third fabric [such a horrible image]:

Riot Toile

2011-01-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

A toile I drew out in inked sections then pieced together on two screens to make sure I had no gaps. Not too happy with it but the idea is where I want to go. I made the images larger than I wanted to in order to save my time and sanity, then printed in...not dye...[I'm totally blanking on the real word for it, not paint...ink paste? ahaha whatever] on 3 1/2 yards of rayon which I want to work with for prints forever. Toilles are so easy and it makes you feel accomplished since you finish in one night. The plan is to clean this up and make the images smaller and make scarves...we will see.

Diamond and Ring Screen print

2011-01-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

final layer of grey [adds background and shading]:

third layer of yellow [makes it a total of six colors: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple]:

second layer of blue complete [and upside down]:
beginning of second layer of blue [you can see the size of my stencil 3 diamonds tall by 2 and 1/2 diamonds across]:
first layer/screen of red:
a 2 1/2 yard print on cotton. stencils created with rubylith and printed in procion dyes of varying percentages to create different colors when overlapped. This was my second ever screen print and first time using rubylith plus I'd never ever mixed colors before so the colors don't vary much from the actual dyes available [yellow, red, blue] but the grey was my accomplishment. My favorite layer is the first and second combined and I wish I hadn't done the last layer because it makes it all muddled. but that's why I have the stencils so I can do this again...on silk...and make jacket liners with it [!!!]

"Oh look I'm insane" Print

2010-11-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

Screenprinted tessellation of death in procion dye. I drew out an accidental 5/16th of an inch shift both ways for 2 and 1/2 yards cotton. I'm glad I didn't do the entire width of fabric and left it to undulate [it was accidental because the stencil wasn't fitting but shhh] I'd like to do white on an offwhite fabric, I think that would be pretty, then maybe try fiber etching this into silk/rayon fabric.

INDI Group Show

2010-10-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

This was the Individualized Group Show Mei-Ling and I put together with the chair of our department. I never know if I should put people's names/work up on the web since it's theirs...but I wanted to show what the whole set up looked like. I'll come back with a list of the participants and maybe some of my favorite pieces. The last picture...the angle that I'm standing at is in the corner window where Ashley set up a little quilting bee space. in the other window we set up a scrim for a rear projection of some of the student's stop motion/video work. The two pieces I put up were the gas mask [soft riot gasmask #1] and my rings [handscaping with postcard diorama rings]. the rings I ingeniously tension set inside a shadow box, I was pretty proud of myself though my next goal is to have them be able to slide around so that people can change the scenery themselves. one show down. one to go.

the "i'm so insane" fabric

2010-10-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to make a yard of fabric but because I'm stupid I didn't get to finish it. but atleast my teacher was impressed. This is done by taking a small woodburning stencil tool [the tip is like a felt pen] and melting the plastic fibers to make little tears in the fabric. It's pretty but it's not done...ever.

Burnout

2010-10-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

This is called burnout on silk/rayon. It's like magic. Like stupidly toxic magic. the goo stuff burns out the...uh the rayon leaving the silk threads behind. I put it on a darker background so you are able to see that it's pretty much see-through. The bottom picture is what happens when you leave all your hard work [top image example] out to dry and someone gets it wet after it's dried and therefore mushes all the burnout paste into a giant wet cloud shape. The plan was to make these sheets into a lantern until I found out that you can't iron it into a pretty pattern if someone's already fucked it up.

Rusting

2010-10-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

My materials class is just so...I don't know...but I just thought I'd share one of my favorite accidents. This is rust on cotton. I first wrapped the fabric into a tube and bound it in bailing wire then doused it in vinegar and water. Then I unwrapped it after a week and placed it on a giant flat sheet of rusted metal and doused it again. Then I came back and added some steel wool. Tahdah. It's about a yard long this is just my favorite part. The other fabrics I tried didn't turn out so liquidy but I got a lot of beautiful cross patterns

Scent Mapping with Tunnel Books

2010-10-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

This was a project where we had to walk down Mark St., SF and smell things, write them down, and then find a way to map at least 3 scent places. I'm only showing two because they were all really horrible to begin with but the 3rd one was just really ugly. Sorry the pictures are so yellow...and that I can't draw or paint...or make a tunnel book. Basically I chose 3 really difficult things to make a project. yay me! I think it's a good start for something better. These are just sketches in more ways than one. Especially because the way I wanted to print the text didn't work so I had to do it on the computer right before class and I had 4 layers but for each book the 3rd layer on all of them didn't really make any sense so you can still see my little "cut here" markings. I don't know...sketches...could've been cool.

Selling the Church

2010-10-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

When me and Crista were on our way through the shady streets of sf we saw a church with open doors and a for sale sign on the gates. It was completely epic. this creepy man had bought the church and the church had just left all of this waterdamaged stuff behind including birth, death, and marriage records. Almost everything this man found was on sale. And this is exactly what our show is about. So some of the pictures we took will hopefully go up in the show. I should have taken more of the sale prices on everything but...oh well. I WISH I HAD A CAR...AND A LOT OF MONEY. because our show would have been perfect with the altar and the pews and the everything. uuugh. but the guy was way creepy and kept trying to force us into buying things even tried to give us gravy boats...so I stole a bullet out of the makeshift collection plate instead. ha. what an asshole.

Individualized Show Posters

2010-10-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

I made some Makeshift Posters for the Individualized Show I'm organizing. We had a little poster party where some people came to help out and one of our guys Lael created the stamp to make it all look a little more cohesive...Though they all look like children made them so no worries about that. I don't have images of other people's but I'm sure someone else does...somewhere.

George Speake Gives You God

2010-10-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

A little sample for my Franken Fabrics class [we destroy fabric to make new fabric]. I burned the cloud things with a heat gun on polyester then heat transfered a xerox transparency onto the fabric then rusted some lines throughout the clouds and then embroidered the holes created by the heat gun with some gold thread. I think it'd make a great poster if I scanned it...The transfer didn't turn out too well because I get so bored with ironing. I can't take it. I was thinking it would be nice if I ended up embroidering the image of him in gray scale. It was also suggested that this become a sculptural piece instead of just a wall hanging which I like [light box maybe?]. It's hung up right now in the textiles department so maybe a better picture later.

George Speake was a "preacher-scientist" and proved the existence of god through science experiments. He would stand on top of a transformer coil with thimbles on his fingers and have the electricity run through his body. I love national geographic.

451° [Incongruous Perfume]

2010-10-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

“For all the men who have been singed and driven back by flame.”

It is a spectacle reserved for the night. The heat that bakes your face, pulsing and igniting a slow whiskey soaked grin that can barely swallow around the racing heart that’s beating in your throat, leaving your stomach clenched and empty. The air is thick with giddy fireflies that smolder into moths of feather ash. It burns as you inhale or are you exhaling? Fire-starter, fire-breather, you are the book burner.

At first application it has the notes of a hidden library: of the cool dark mustiness of mold and dust, flowing into a warm mixture of paper, leather and printers ink. It bursts into the heart notes of a bonfire with hints of vanilla and warm stones, glowing like an ember and tingling with whiskey and kerosene. It then fades into a cold smoke, ash falling on the rain-soaked tar of a tree lined road at 3 am, the in-between hour of a misty fall morning.

This project was for my What Smells class [about scent and perfumes, the industry and historical significance/loss of smell] we had to create an incongruous perfume [a perfume that doesn't fit...that shouldn't be a perfume] based on a brief created by a client of our choice. I chose the Firemen of Fahrenheit 451 as my clients. The first paragraph is the brief and the second are the notes of the imaginary perfume. We then had to design something like an ad campaign, a bottle, a radio ad, etc. I was the only one who made a bottle model. It's a super janky tape imitation of a zippo. I wish I could actually make it...all of it. Im super impressed by my photoshop skills though ahaha. I'd really like to continue making perfumes of/for/about characters in books. A whole series...It'd be fun...if I had time.

I'll come back and show the actual psd wrapper once I compress it or whatever.

Postcard Diorama Rings

2010-05-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

I'm actually really proud of these; though they aren't perfect [I can't do perfect. Obsessive, yes but perfect , never] This is the first time ever I have sketched an idea and it has come out exactly like I wanted it to. It was funny because I told my teacher he wasn't allowed to talk to me about my project [he really loves helping figure out problems and talk us through why we're doing what we're doing which is super exciting to have such a responsive and thoughtful teacher but at the same time it makes me almost always regret or rethink what I'm planning to almost disastrous ends] and he complied with my wishes though I could see it was a struggle for him not to discuss it with me. I also didn't tell anyone else what I was doing and it really helped not talking about it, just going ahead and doing it. If they asked I just screamed something like 'puppets' or something so then we nicknamed me the puppet master. And in the end that's how they turned out; toylike. I began with 100s of old postcards I found from this woman who traveled all over the place and wrote on these cards as if they were a diary or something. It was kind of sad because they were never sent to people. So I decided to bring the postcards together in a communicative way I guess...The people are from Israel and Italy, the hotels from Amsterdam, the long building from Sweden, the cars from Norway, and the mountains from Austria. I have many more cutouts from all the places she traveled and would like to continue making these interchangeable landscape rings. I think they're fun and it's a new way to do what used to do all the time, collage images, but in a wearable way. I'd like to work with silver or something though...nickel is such a bitch to work with: most jewelers despise and disown it because it's so brittle and hard and stupid and super poisonous. For some reason it's the only metal I work with. I guess I like killing myself faster than I thought.

Moonscope

2010-05-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

This was my 'final' for casting. I reused my basket from my textiles final from last semester and inverted a sand casted glass dome into it so that you could look through the bottom of the basket as if it was a telescope or a kaleidoscope. I then made another basket to accompany the telescope but instead had the dome protruding and inserted a light on the inside of the basket. The lit one was less successful than the telescope so I'm not going to show it. It was very satisfying to hold and look at different light sources. The texture of the sand casted glass created a sun or moon scape depending on the strength of the light source. I think people enjoyed it and they encouraged me to go bigger with different lenses and different materials. I'm really excited about continuing the idea and surprised myself by looking through a sketchbook from last year and finding a similar construction/idea that I had wanted to make. I'm glad my head tricks me into thinking something I think I haven't thought before.

The Purportedly Magic Jew

2010-04-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Holograms are officially the hardest things to take pictures of. ever. well...besides the back of your own neck...I had to bump up everything contrast, temp, tint, saturation, etc wise just so you could see some sort of image even though they're blurry because I was holding a lamp in my mouth, the camera tilted at an impossible angle in one hand and the hologram at any awkward angle I could get at with the other...now I have cuts all over my hands. anyway these are part of a series of jesus with kitchen supplies like strainers, drains, cupcake/cookie tins, etc as halos because jesus is magic and likes to hide everywhere...like toast...or stains. I have one more jesus and 2 others that have nothing to do with jesus that I could just not get good pictures of... the deformed glass jesus was dripped into an impression of the same toy mold I'm using in the holograms...happy easter from the "purportedly magic jew"!

In Memory Of

2010-04-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is the 'finished' piece of the wax paper lace in progress post. I'm not too happy with it. I think the idea is fantastic but just technical problem after technical problem made me kind of give up and I just wanted to be done. After about a month working on this I just wasn't interested anymore and then that last final rush to finish just didn't work out; the clasp. Again I like the idea of the clasp [the design of which I stole from an antique book cover which connects the piece to the library stamp used for the lace pattern...in my head] but it just didn't turn out like I had expected and what I was doing [grinding the metal down so I would be able to bend it in order to fold the halves to create a back and front] ended up snapping the metal so in the end I had to epoxy the magnets to 4 seperate nickel pendent pieces which looks horrendous. I was working to 'de-value' the aristocratic ruff collars of the Elizabethan era by using wax paper and nickel while at the same time attempt to 'up grade' the wax paper material by historical association. I named the piece 'In Memory Of' because of the library stamp of Werner Lewald [who ended up being a WWII hero and president of half the bay area transportation companies before he died, which then ruined my piece for me because I felt like I was 'using him'...which I was] I used to make the lace pattern. I think there's a total of 15-17 layers of wax paper...I don't know...like I said...my idea is good I just can't ever follow through.

[also I see an obsession of giant neck pieces developing...great]

Eskimo Knitting

2010-04-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

I found this really fantastic...jersey? tubing for sale at anthropologie for $9 a box [originally priced at $80 or something outrageous]. I think it had come with instructions from a crochet/craft/artist/company/I don't know but they were missing. I should have gotten the other box because it is the most peculiar fabric...ever. Anyway I got bored and started knitting this eskimo hood/cowl thing in stockinette stitch [check out those size 19 needles baby!] which I normally hate because it curls, but since it's so big and heavy and chunky I thought it might work.

Don't Drop the Soap [Prison Soap Knuckles]

2010-04-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

I'm making soap brass knuckles for my casting class. It's really weird because in all of my other work I usually use found objects and yet when I get the chance to cast those found objects in another material I instead fabricate my own objects...I'm so confusing. Anyway I have many more fully solid ones but I think this was the best picture of the bunch. I have 3 sizes but they seem to be only xsmall, medium, and xlarge mostly because I wasn't really basing the medium or xlarge sizes off of anything so they got bigger than I thought they would. I blame this on my inability to comprehend spatial and portion size and also that my hands never grew up and are still child sized. no one in my class could fit this size [the xsmall is pictured] past their knuckles [even the girls]. anyway the colors I'm using are all pastels for some reason but I think it adds more humor to the prison soap idea. I'd like to find more essential oils other than fruity ones but who would think finding such things would be so difficult in california?! So far I'm using glycerin and shea butter but the glycerin is starting to sweat which is disgusting so I might stick to shea even if it's not as sturdy... I'm also planning on packaging these things to make them seem 'legit.' but I'm going to need a really sexy ad campaign with a bunch guys in a shower. either that or use my nonexistant photoshop skills to superimpose my soap knuckles into the american history x shower scene...

in progress.

Faux

2010-04-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

I thought I had posted this but I guess I didn't. This was for my individualized class where we were supposed to recreate and/or improve a failed piece. The most horrible piece ever [first picture] was a piece I did for my sculpture class freshman year where we had to make an abstract human emotion or gesture appear to not be human, but still convey the emotion, and enlarge it to human size, out of wood. yeah. I was so confused...still am. so I made this horrible thing out of millions of wooden skewers that was at first supposed to represent an awkward hug from a taller person [installation not shown] but when we were required to move the pieces down to a show case, I placed it on a pedestal that when touched would rock back and forth which I liked better so then I renamed it 'beckoning'. The whole point of the piece for me was to make it seem as though it wasn't made out of wood. to make it appear either in motion or soft [which didn't work as planned]. that was my only goal.

so for the new piece I decided to follow that train of thought, but in reverse. I wanted to make something that looked like wood. so I decided to knit and embroider wood panels. of course this piece didn't work out as I had planned either [I was planning on making this crazy interactive game where you built something with the planks] but the wool I had chosen [for it's sheen that to me, resembled hardwood flooring] was too expensive for such a grand idea. so instead I made a tree trunk like collar/cowl/scarf thing which is so chubby and soft and warm. it was made out of 3 skeins of merino wool which created 14 different sized planks of 40, 60, 80, and 100 stitches that I then stitched together to create a double wall effect. I think I could have done better with the wood grain but you know how time doesn't exist and all so this idea is something I would like to continue. Both are failed projects to me so maybe the third time is the charm!

I'M READY

2010-02-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

cuz I'm air traffic control, bitch!...now go find me some lightsabers.

extreme isolation headphones are for studio recording [but really they're made for antisocial derranged headcases with the impeccable ability to pick up every unpleasant noise that makes them want/plan to simultaneously strangle everyone and smash people's skulls in while tearing out their own eardrums...]

Omg What Was I Thinking/Work in Progress

2010-02-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

um...making wax paper lace ruff collar thing with mr. Werner Lewald's personal library stamp...

Anger Management/Work in Progress

2010-02-12T15:13:00.000-08:00

I am seam ripping a white cotton tshirt to make into a necklace for a jewelry project but really I'm using the project as an excuse for picturing my neighbor's face as the tshirt I'm ripping to threads.

R.I.P.

2010-02-12T15:00:00.001-08:00

I weep for Adonais-he is dead!

O, weep for Adonais! though our tears

Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!

And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years

To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,

And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me

Died Adonais; till the Future dares

Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be

An echo and a light unto eternity!"

-Stanza I of Adonais by Percy Shelley

R.I.P. Alexander McQueen

Plastic Thread Boa

2010-01-23T23:01:00.000-08:00

Here is another piece from 'trash day'. The original material is the plastic yellow box binding wrapper strips...? You can see from the top picture that I started to strip the plastic to get a really weird fuzzy fiber. I then crocheted long lengths with an 11 hook and then doubled them up to make a choker. I also added some pieces of safety glass but not enough for them to be noticed [didn't have time]. I underestimated the time it would take me to crochet plastic thread. I would really like to make this HUGE and not so tight around the neck so the connections I made aren't permanent though I kind of like the clasp I threw together. I'm still not sure about the color; I was thinking of turning it black but everyone liked the yellow...then I was thinking maybe I could figure out a way to dye it and then I was thinking if I got the fiber small enough maybe I could spin it into new thread...but I don't know how to spin very well so...

Nuggets

2010-01-23T22:52:00.000-08:00

This was a small 'go pick up some trash and make something for next week' project. so I picked up a tic tac and some wrappers and went from there. The gel capsule has a tiny herkimer crystal that a girl in my class gave me. They're beautiful and I'd really like to work with precious stones in pills in the future projects...we'll see. Painted gold tic tac, bigger cold foiled tic tac, and the one that got a bit munched looking is coated in clippings from a marlboro wrapper. I wasn't sure what to do with them after I had made them so I just presented them in the little tube to let people tap them out...

Allison Smith's Fancy Work

2010-01-17T11:04:00.001-08:00

So this is the giant 25'x25' quilt I and a great group of people helped to make with Allison Smith and it's up in the SFMoMA, for this weekend only I believe, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the museum. I should have taken a picture of the entire room so you could understand the scale and the way everything is situated but...the lanterns on the floor are about to the top of my knees maybe higher and the candle was about my height or maybe 6 ft tall so that makes the mirror maybe the size of the quilt from the center out to the brownish purple pinkish area after the white...maybe? I don't know but everything has been enlarged from what they would normally be manufactured as, if that makes any sense. And the mirror is opposite the quilt so you can see it reflected all psychedelic like and the lanterns were scattered around. There were also a couple of tables and chairs/benches for the lectures and the musicians that would come around later in the evening which I didn't go to unfortunately. So that amazingly gross chartreuse green color? Yeah helped print that [among just one or two others but that one is my favorite] and I could tell you all the colors of diamonds I helped to cut but uh that would be boring. Anyway I had a really great time working with everyone and I am so amazed at the way it turned out [they finished the sewing while I was on winter break so I didn't really know just how big it would be...or how amazing]. Not a big fan of quilts but I'm a fan of history and collaboration so I say success!

Tumblr

2010-01-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

So I started a tumblr blog for obsession purposes. So if you are interested watchyoureyes

Oh

2010-01-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here was a linocut self portrait I did for senior year of highschool. I won the national scholastic silver award [I'm not sure if that's what it's called] for it.

Scholar's Spine

2010-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

I sewed and crocheted a paper necklace thing for my intro to textiles final freshman year. I was trying to see if I could create patterns with the text lines. Again I would like to redo this idea but...time...

Hall of Bacon

2010-01-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

A collaboration project that was really funny. From what we could understand about the project handed to us we had to copy a piece of art we saw of the artist that was given to us. We didn't really like the pieces available to us and just the artist in general [jannis kounellis] so we kind of made fun of it. We burned bacon with lighters in a small hallway letting the fat drip on the paper and then made people walk through it. The sound while we were burning the bacon in that small area was great we should have taped it. For the crit we only lit the one piece at the end because we thought it would be the safest so of course it decided to fall into a burning meteor of firey fat...anyway I actually really liked this project because it was just hilarious and my partner Boin was fun as well.

Tiny Fat Man

2010-01-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

This was a mold blown piece I made for glass. I think the project was supposed to represent a part of myself but I just thought it was funny to 'blow up a bomb' because I am lame. Anyway this is a tiny version of 'fat man' with glass from a shattered car window I found on the street.

Yardage

2010-01-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

A yard of fabric I printed with a 1 inch stamp in different shades of grey to black for intro to textiles. It's true. I am insane.

Quasimodo's

2010-01-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Line drawings are fun. The first Quasimodo is my favorite drawing I have ever done.

Neon Ladies

2010-01-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

I like neon chalk pastel yes I do. It's probably the only way I like to use color and it's really the only way to keep me focused on drawing a model for extended periods of time. Although when you are working in a dark room everything looks well blended but then when the lights come on...it's not...

More Radical Jewelry

2010-01-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Two more pieces for radical jewelry.

Bathroom Rosary

2010-01-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

This was another piece I made for the radical jewelry program thing. It is cursed. I wore it for a week and in the course of that week it sent me, my father, my mother, and my aunt to the hospital.

Refraction Caps

2010-01-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Ugh talk about a failed project. Huge ambitions can get you nowhere. This was for sculpture. But again I love the idea of the material. I interlocked the caps of cheap razor blades together to create this organic shape for people to look through. I had to chase this asshole down who worked for the city in front of my class because he stole it because I didn't have a permit. Anyway most likely the most expensive project and I didn't get anywhere near the size I wanted. [donate razor blade caps to me please]

Glass Foot Nail Bed

2010-01-06T12:29:00.001-08:00

I plaster casted then sand casted my feet and stuck them in a bed of nails I made by sticking nails through canvas. There are 2 more to this series in which I stuck one foot in shards of glass and two other inside nylon stockings but this one was my favorite and much more interesting/well done. I love pouring glass [it's less stressful for me] but the process of sifting sand and everything that goes along with sand casting takes so long.

Pane Bowl

2010-01-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

This was a bowl created from a bajillion triangles I cut from a sheet of glass for intro to glass. I liked the process of this in that it was OCD repetition. It originally started as a bracelet but in the last hours before it was due after agonizing and agonizing over if it was done I decided that I should finish it off with a bottom.

Micro/Macro Skin/Mold landscape

2010-01-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Study of micro/macro patterns for intro to textiles. I used plain weave to represent skin while I was looking into the colors of bruises and the texture of mold. It ended up becoming a desert landscape type thing. This was my first time weaving so it was basically a giant 7 foot long practice for techniques. I am going to say it again for everything I think but I like the ideas of what I was looking into: cloth like skin or skin like cloth...skin mold...I don't know but I hope I come back to it.

Useless Object

2010-01-06T12:05:00.001-08:00

Making a useless object for sculpture. So I made fire at your finger tips...literally. I made it an arduous effort to have to light a match; getting all the pieces out of the jewelry and snapping your fingers to get a light... The thimbles fit together on a ring that flips from wood block to diamond and the matches are in test tube earrings and the spent matches go into a necklace vial. I like the idea I just need to make it easier to use.

Failure Ball

2010-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Left over wire and jelly cord basket ball I made for intro to textiles. The materials were from failed projects from other classes hence the title. I like making wire baskets. I like wire...sometimes.

4 of 7

2010-01-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

This was second semester freshman year for sculpture where we had to make seven sculptures connected seven different ways. These were the only ones that I liked, though I did make nipple goggles to go with the feather necklace but I don't have a good picture so I bet the image in your head is better than what they were.

Pomegranate Line Neck Thing

2010-01-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

So here is the first part of the skin/skeleton project for freshman metals. For the skeletal and the skin portions I ended up making flower like pieces abstracting the seeds and the seed cells. The object itself is not so successful but the technique is still something I use constantly [it's like a backwards netting technique]

Pomegranate Skin Ring

2010-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

I think this project was a part two of another assignment...I have to find part one. Anyway it was a skeletal/skin study project abstracting a natural object. I chose a pomegranate... this was the skin part. I don't know why there aren't any good shots of this project I don't think I liked it, I still don't but still I mean I sliced open my finger for this one as you can see. No those are not stitches that was just the jagged edges of the nickel piece as it drilled into my finger.

Transparency Translucency Opacity

2010-01-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

netted wire
sewed tissue paper
carved soap

Non-objective 3d assignment from freshman year. There are 2 other pieces that I made for it but I like these. I was 'studying' shadow and light through different materials.

Radical Jewelry

2010-01-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

These are some pieces I made for the radical jewelry makeover thing that came to CCA fall of '08. I handed in the earrings, the bracelet, and the pendant. Their whole thing is the reuse of materials in jewelry. I had a lot of shit and I got really into it so in the end I think I made a total of 11 pieces. Guess who's taking a found materials jewelry class next semester?!

Extension of a Tongue

2010-01-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

hhhhhaaaaaaaaaa. yeah. I made a tongue and painted a plate with it. I think this was a 3d assignment from freshman year of college.

You're Bleeding

2010-01-01T22:36:00.003-08:00

I don't know why but I like this one. Just a monotype with paint sticks. 3 in square...

I am. I think. I will.

2010-01-01T22:31:00.001-08:00

This was part of a highschool printmaking assignment where were supposed to illustrate part of a book. I being the strange person I am chose Anthem by Ayn Rand, illustrating the end where he discovers the word 'I'. I may or may not have won a highschool award thingy for this one either that or it was the sepia inked edition of this.

Part of my AP Concentration

2010-01-01T22:23:00.001-08:00

The 'ad' for my AP art class' show.

'Divine Wind' one of the collage pieces from my concentration

From what I can remember I think my concentration had to do with people's beliefs. Strong beliefs usually resulting in death. I mostly focused on cults or religious groups...I don't think that it was very good but I decided not to draw any part of it until I was forced to...

There is a lot of Grey in Black and White

2010-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Here's some old stuff from highschool. This was a corner of an 18x24 collage I did. Why was 18x24 so important?

Permitted to Assume a Position: The Handbook

2010-01-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

This was my book midterm final that I never put up. I made the 'paper' out of thread with pva glue and the words and pictures are from a first aid handbook. There are 4 pages on each side and each one moves...really...the pages are stable...really. People were scared to look through it. The piece has issues; that there is no lightbulb for the dentist lightbox, people don't want to touch it, it's just a weird piece. But I like the idea of thread paper so I will need to figure out a different system for pages...

One of Many

2009-12-15T14:09:00.001-08:00

I love stamps. I have questions. Help.

Sewing Cards

2009-12-15T14:01:00.001-08:00

This was a total rush job trying to scan everything I could find for a review...but here are the rest of the cards I sewed for my bookmaking class. The spacing is huge for some reason. Anyway this just means that I need to learn how to make lights so I can backlight all my pieces properly...another project another project...

Lauren Kalman

2009-12-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

It's so disgusting but...lovelove. These are some pieces from Lauren Kalman's Hard Wear series. I normally don't like to read what artist's have to say about their work usually because it's some enlightened transcendentalist metaphysical content based thing that I can't connect back to the piece itself but I liked this part of what she had to say about these pieces:

"In contrast, I present gold jewelry as a vehicle to amplify taboo aspects of the body. I fabricate gold adornment to highlight where the interior body transgresses its boundaries making organs, imperfections and diseases visible. The form of the adornment often reflects malignant excrescences, such as rupturing membranes or cancerous growths. These gleaming outgrowths cause bodily residues to be shed as they spread orifices and tear skin. When the beauty of gold is alloyed with the seeping body the objects become both intriguing and repulsive."

jellOrifices

2009-12-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

I can make anything creepy. I win. Visceral jello anyone? [this is wrong...the colors I mean...it is a deep dark red in iPhoto but then a paleish fleshiness on the web...odd...it doesn't look as good]

Gross

2009-12-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Failure. I don't like the way this project turned out at all. But again I always like my ideas better than the outcome. For my math final we had to do an art project incorporating/studying math in some way [welcome to art school]. Totally uninspired, totally stressed, totally didn't care at all. But then I found little T4 Bacteriophage...they kill E.coli and I thought it was appropriate given that I am sick and I think it's because people do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom and then I get to touch the dirty door handle with my cleansed hands. WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE NOT WASH THEIR HANDS! Anyway these microscopic killers have icosohedral heads so that was my connection to math. Also do not ask me to explain the 4th dimension to you..it and the 11th dimension were invented by those gentlemen who had rulers in hand when absinthe was invented. Anyway knitted a scarf thing and stitched awkward misshapen T4 around it...dumb.

Do You Think I'm Tall Enough?

2009-12-09T22:29:00.000-08:00

Here is one of the ladders I mentioned earlier but you will read later. I had a dream about a room full of ladders that bent at the rungs and started to shake and rattle towards me. It was kind of intimidating...so I made a box of pretty ladders instead. Unfortunately photographs do not do them justice because direct sunlight is the only thing that makes them sparkle. The assignment was to make a dream into either a spinning wheel or a box in the time alloted. I only had a glue gun and wire so this is what happened. I was originally worried about the messiness of the glue but everyone really liked the shiny blobs so I made more and now want to make jewelry with hot glue baubles. [there are more ladders inside of a box but I don't have a good enough shot so make do with this lonely ladder]

Draw Your Sensitivity

2009-12-09T22:13:00.003-08:00

I wasn't incredibly happy with this project...but I think it's an interesting idea anyway. I have no feeling in the tip of my left pointer finger from an oh so tragic meeting with a drill and a jagged piece of nickel in the jewelry studio last year and I have realized that I am always rubbing it when I'm thinking about a project...why not let other people feel the same way? I miraculously found the exact tube tamponish bandaging they used for my finger at the hospital [after I had waited 6 hours to get a needle dug into the wound to make sure there was no metal in it besides the needle of course...and was in hysterics over the fact that the women next to me had called an ambulance from dennys to pick her up because she was having trouble breathing because she smoked pot...and her last name was butts...also first time hospital lessons: head wounds should be treated immediately or they tend to fall over with only me to notice them sprawled out in the corner...so rub their sternum with your knuckles to wake them up...blue painters tape holds your severed fingers on your hand...just say that you have trouble breathing and you will be seen to immediately...save your vicodin] ok giant sidenote aside I found a huge roll of the tube bandage [which apparently can fit a small childs head as well?] and made tiny finger puppets and put needles in the pads or overpadded them. The more needles the less it hurts but people were intimidated anyway...I later added a book of transfer paper for people to draw with the finger tubes. I also punched some things in braille in the acetate but I can't remember what they say anymore. The bandaid box was a perfect fit...but I still dont like it.

Rapunzel Rapunzel

2009-12-09T22:02:00.001-08:00

Hair pills? Yes, please. For my bookmaking final I decided to make it easier for people with trichophagia [mental illness where you pluck out your hair-which is called trichotillomania and eat it]. Rapunzel syndrome is when the hair collects in your stomach and felts together [because hair is too smooth to be digested]. I thought it was funny. I do need a drill though because hot glue just isn't cutting it anymore, though it worked for the ladder project [which inspired this structure]. I have been challenged by my classmates and Nance [I don't think I've mentioned her name yet for some reason...Nance O'banion...I want to make her my crazy fun wand waving great aunt who secretly hands me things like boxes and paper] to create either a diptych or triptych of boxes to reference each stage of the disease [with definitions please] because they didn't know of the disease in the first place and didn't get the reference. I just thought all weird strange illnesses were common knowledge...nope.

Teeth Tunnel

2009-12-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

We were working a lot with dreams for one class of bookmaking and the tunnel book was the structure we learned for the class and I.was.so.pissed. It was so difficult for me to figure out the flap structure and I felt really dumb so I came back and proved that I could do it. This was a dream that I had awhile ago that the roof of my mouth was all leprosied and a stringy spongy mass and my teeth were starting to drip out of my mouth and I couldn't keep them inside...so why not make a book out of it!? This was obviously nothing compared to everyone else's use of the tunnel book...they were amazing.

Lost and Found [Typographical Accordion]

2009-12-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

This was the first big project I did at the beginning of the semester for my bookmaking class. I cut a letterpress tray into thirds and hinged it so that it slides together like an accordion book. I would like to continue working on it and would also like to take better pictures of the cells now that I have set up my makeshift photo studio but I probably won't...you will never get to see the bee halves or the mold in the test tube or the word game or the pretty plastic horses and you will also never know exactly how long it took me to figure out how to spell accordion...

PIG 05049

2009-11-22T18:25:00.001-08:00

Christien Meindertsma did this amazing project that I believe took over three years to complete. She followed all the products made from one single pig [PIG 05049]. Every little piece of that little piggy was used for something, most things you would expect and a lot more that you wouldn't. For example: ammunition, brakes, gum, photo paper, porcelain, paint... The exhibit of PIG 05049 looked incredibly interesting. Meindertsma packaged each thing as you would see meat packaged in a grocery store and placed everything in the freezer set up. A wonderfully detailed beautiful looking book was created as a catalogue for each product from PIG 05049. [I found this project relevant because of using pig gut in textiles]

Re-Revised Artist Statement and Rational

2009-11-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

MAGIC.

Alchemy

2009-11-20T10:56:00.000-08:00

I make baskets. Big Baskets. This project ['the container and the contained'] was for my fiber sculpture class. I didn't have much of a concept or idea while I was working I was just in 'coilingcoilingcoilingcoiling' phase. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to though there was going to be a lot more elements involved on the outside but I think the simplicity/complicatedness of the piece is a lot better than what I had been planning. It is almost a foot tall and it should have been bigger but I fell asleep in an awkward wake-up-sprawled-on-the-floor-with-needles-in-your-shirt-and-yarn-in-your-mouth-wishing-that-you-had-a-rager-party-but-instead-had-just-spent-the-last-8-hours-coiling... kind of way. Jute rope coiled with white yarn and layers of netted brass wire nestled into the basket. It looks better when you stick your face in it and hold it up to the light although you look like a complete idiot... it's pretty.

For You and Yours

2009-11-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

This was for my fiber sculpture class for a project on memories. I decided to work with memories I never had; I never knew my mother's mother or my father's father. So I asked my parents to share some memories of their parents with me because I know nothing of my family's history. I chose my father's memory of his father reading hardbacked books from the library on the beach, smoking non filtered Camel cigarettes. And I also chose my mother's memory of her mother sewing and taking her out of school to go shopping for fabric. The needle is crocheted with 32 gauge silver plated copper wire and the cigarette is crocheted from thick white thread and dark brown hand dyed yarn. Both pieces are to scale of the objects they are imitating. I am hoping to finish a box I started on to keep these pieces together. It will be in the style of a match box but longer and made from layered sewing pattern paper. The top will be embroidered with a cellophane camel from the Camel brand label. I am happy with the way these turned out; both are a bit wonky but I am not that experienced with crochet and especially working with a size 11 hook [tiny!] it was difficult to try and make it exact. Soft sculpture isn't an exact art...it's always a bit lopsided.

Illuminated Encryptions

2009-11-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed the hours and hours of making this book [no sarcasm; art school has sucked it all out of me]. The words were made by single letter stamps and I filled about 100 pages full of nonsense automatic writing I did last year in my English class. I then Xerox transferred some creepy images of children throughout the coptic book. The paper is some kind of legal document paper and it is super thin and has a great crinkly sound while you flip through the book even though the pages are really soft. I have an obsession with all things shiny at the moment so textured gold paper? Yes, please.

WindBlown

2009-11-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

I make baskets. This was one that I started last year and just finished while spending 16 hours cooking kozo [a plant fiber for papermaking]. It is twined out of 26 gauge silver plated copper wire. I still haven't figured out how to finish it off especially now that Longs is not Longs and therefore does not carry 26 gauge silver plated copper wire.

I am an Asshole

2009-11-18T22:10:00.001-08:00

The first paragraph is my artist statement the second is my rational for wanting to become an Individualized Major. I win.

Artists have become advocates, pioneers, crusaders, defenders, and saviors. I am not an ‘artist’. Art has become everything. I do not make ‘art’. I am simply and selfishly my thoughts and my hands. I create for myself; to challenge my mind, my ability, my sanity, my body. I have no intention other than to make things for the sake of the instinctual process of combining. There is no reason or meaning, concepts are fleeting, and the end result just begins a new cycle of ‘what could have been’ or ‘what will be’. I read, I research, I observe, I discover, I experiment, I think, I play, I fuck up, I learn. I fashion allusions, wit, and intellect into conundrums. I recontextualize and juxtapose contradictions. I materialize irony and duality into ambiguous narratives. I create tension between the materials, the viewer and the piece, between connotations already associated with the objects used, and the precarious situations I place them in. I am an alchemist. But my reward is not the gold or immortality; it is the act of transforming.

I am here to learn and to challenge myself. I want to enjoy my work; to create for the sake of creating. I am here for me and these are my terms. I believe that to understand something, one has to go beyond the given and the norm. Therefore, to work within sculpture, I must transcend sculpture. I must branch out and learn all types of medium in order to become well rounded in the art of creating. There is one absolute truth that I know of my future: that I will not be satisfied with one set path of study. I want to study the art of combining mediums, methods, materials, thought processes, ideas. I want film, robotics, glass, plastic, metal, holography, chemistry, textiles, bookmaking, printmaking, photography, found objects, research, history, literature, nature, sound, smell, taste, touch, wisdom, sarcasm, intellect, humor, wit, duality, conundrums. I say ‘I want’ but it is a need; a need to create with my hands, a need to challenge my ability, a need to exercise my mind. My goal is ambitious: to create a major of an encyclopedic nature, but the standards I set for myself are high and I will not accept anything below the expectations I have for myself and my work. I have thrown down the gauntlet and I have accepted the challenge.

Illuminations

2009-11-09T14:04:00.001-08:00

I have been wandering around the CCA library just looking at all the titles. It is seriously a magical place with lots of hidden books on the bottom shelves. I found a whole section on illuminated manuscripts awhile ago...soooo pretty. I still don't understand how they made them but that's because I haven't researched them. Anyway so I was scanning them and for some reason they all came out with this yellowish glow from the light of the scanner? I liked it so I didn't mess around with it in Photoshop. I can't remember anymore but I think the collection is called Hours of Mary or something along those lines. It surprisingly has a lot more unicorns than can be expected in a religious manuscript.

Water Drawings

2009-11-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

seaweed and psychedelic drip

is it the ink or the squid? and microscopic

eggplant and honey

This was something I started over the summer...trying to fill a watercolor moleskine with horrible muddy watercolors and then picking out the individual colors with a sharpie. I have a lot more but these are the only ones I feel like scanning today.

I was THIS close to David Sedaris

2009-10-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

I got to go to a reading by David Sedaris last night...for free.

Enough. Said.

Actually not really I could say a lot more but my memory does not permit me to relay stories in a coherent way that would make sense to anyone else so you will just have to be jealous.

Ok, maybe I'll try.

He did a reading from a cd he has coming out very soon which I will most certainly buy and encourage everyone else to as well [just so you can hear him talk in nicaraguan french]. He also discussed his obsession with catching animals as a small child and keeping them until they either died or escaped which included sea turtles, luna moths, and a friend with a flying squirrel among many others. The readings from his diary were incredibly hilarious, especially his thoughts on the depictions of Jesus on the cross and how he would like to see him portrayed so ugly and so fat that they needed a second cross to support his gargantuan weight, with fat hairy man titties and back acne, and where men would reminisce of jesus' canker sores and how they would burst and drip into his beard, a combover jesus. These are the two I can remember clearly at the moment...but it really was an hour? of a mixture of cringing/laughing/crying hysterically.

Then he read from Our Dumb World, the almanac from The Onion, because he likes to recommend a book he's enjoyed when he is on tour. I think just watching him crack up over reading 'Ethiopia-the distended and swollen belly of Africa home to a total of 615 lbs of people' was one of the best things about the show. He also recommended Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Towers about modern day vikings not entirely enthused about raping and pillaging.

I was in line to get Naked signed but because I automatically assume that people need to keep a schedule I left the line hoping I could make it back to the shuttle in time before it left. But of course we had to wait for everyone in line to get their books signed before we could leave and thinking I had time to go back and get my book signed I tried to get back into the building where I was immediately yelled at and literally shoved out of the door by an angry old man. Needless to say I was incredibly fucking pissed and got to think about how upset I was for almost an hour while we waited for people to come back to the shuttle. I felt bad for the girl who was with me because she really wanted to talk with him. I'm still a little bitter.

I guess this is the part where I thank CCA for letting me go for free and thank the donors who probably didn't pay enough to cover even one person's semester tuition...but I think I'll just thank David Sedaris for being one of the funniest men with one of the best voices for story telling.

Threaded

2009-10-26T15:14:00.001-07:00

For my book making class we are required to hand in 5 'cards' per class. These 3 were basically what inspired my midterm project [which I will gladly post as soon as it is handed back for me to re-photograph]. The first two are samples of what keeps me busy during my critical studies lectures [which I should be studying for since my midterm is in oh...30 minutes]. I then began to play with sewing through paper; 'drawing' with the thread by sewing lines [yellow] and then by punching holes and creating a sort of constellation out of the randomness [black]. These then led me to infuse thread inside of handmade paper [which I will post as soon as I can find the stack] and eventually to making paper out of thread [midterm]. It's obsessive. I like it.

Something to Drool Over

2009-10-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

American Craft.
I can see your face. It's the same as mine. It's all scrunched up in an 'ew' sort of way. I only make crafts as 'art' and yet the word and all of its derogatory connotations still makes me cringe. I want to know why. Craft, in its definition, is described as a skilled activity and/or creating objects by hand. Its origin comes from kraft or 'strength'. As an art form it usually encompasses metals, glass, ceramics, textiles, and paper art.
So when did it get to be so ugly? For now, without going into detail, I'd like to blame it on the hippies, cat ladies, and your grandmother. And feminists because...well...they should be blamed for a lot of things.
But what I really want to talk about is the American Craft. It's a magazine. It's amazing. If you've never read it before or heard of it then from what was stated above you're still probably grossed out especially because the name of the magazine isn't really helping. But when you have a picture like this as your cover...

'craft' just kind of goes out the window.
I had never heard of it before but I kind of literally ran into the magazine rack at blick's and made a tiny noise that if it had been intelligible would have gone like 'OMGIWANTTHATCANIHAVEITCANIMAKEIT!DIDITHURTWHATELSEISTHEREISITSOLIDIWANTONE'. And the inside...I don't know basically it's my new favorite thing. What I was trying to articulate about craft at the beginning of this post is better stated in an article about the DIY movement [which from what I learned from a lecture last year should not be called a 'movement' any longer...phenomenon?] Anyway there are some amazing artists featured and blurbed about such as Hongtao Zhou, Lauren Kalman [featured on the cover], Dan Funderburgh, Diem Chau, Solos Glass, Toots Zynsky etc etc. along with a shitload of ads for other artists and galleries.
I will probably do a whole bunch of stuff just based out of this issue because I am now obsessed...
If you'd like to check this out further instead of waiting for me to gush about certain artists I'd recommend downloading the internet version of the magazine [though I prefer something tangible and that kills trees] at
www.americancraftmag.org

I've also decided that I craft in the deceitful sense of the word.

Unfold The Fire Diver

2009-10-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Here's an accordian... actually I think it is called something else but it's similar, just folded over itself again...sort of. Anyway my teacher brought in her whole stamp collection and let us go at it for a couple hours. It was so much fun. This book is actually a lot longer than these pictures and printed on both sides of the folds; these were just my favorite sections. But now I want to have my own stamp collection...

The Masked Raid at the Masquerade

2009-10-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

So I knitted a gas mask for my fiber sculpture project but it was something I had been wanting to do for awhile...not necessarily knitting, but refashioning gas masks so I'm glad this project came up [it was called 'caught or protected' and we had to figure out how to make something pertaining to those words/ideas]...though the crit for this specific one is over, I'm making different styles in different shades? hues? of white. For only learning to knit last spring and knitting only 4 'scarves' over the summer and never even knitting a pattern let alone designing one before...I have to say I did pretty damn well. I think I did over stuff it though because the eyeholes became a bit wonky as did the 'filter' because it was so bottom heavy. I also chose the garter stitch because it is more appealing and I needed the pieces not to curl. I had a lot of fun...now I'm hooked...or needled...ha.

More Bunnies

2009-10-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Found this half of a book at the Depot a while ago. I think the drawings/prints are beautifully intricate but incredibly creepy. I don't exactly remember the story of Peter Cottontail, I don't even remember reading it when I was little but I feel like I saw a cartoon of some sort illustrating the story...This bunny theme might bring me to read Watership Down again...maybe it wasn't as horrible as I thought it was when I was younger...

Prelinger

2009-10-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

So this is old news but I got to hear Rick and Megan of the Prelinger archives [http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger] speak on Oct. 22nd at CCA for the Individualized Majors. If you haven't used their site before, go now. They have a collection of the most amazing movies that you can download for free and use anyway you want, basically. I probably would have never looked beyond the collection of movies if they hadn't come to speak. The digital text library is amazing. From Project Gutenberg I found the, I guess, 'original' story of Alice and Wonderland with Lewis Caroll's original drawings. This is depicting the mock turtle and the gryphon doing the lobster dance...I have to reread this book. Also I found out that they have an actual library in San Francisco with books ordered according to similarity in subject or reference. I can't wait to go and get lost.

Artist Statement

2009-10-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

The best artist statement ever written courtesy of Lizz Hamilton 2009.

I Would Like to Be a Jellyfish

2009-09-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

If I could be anything I would like to be a jellyfish. No thoughts, just floating. That's really all I have to say. [I took this at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It's not the most focused picture but it's pretty]

Rice Paper

2009-09-16T22:11:00.001-07:00

So I have a rice cooker and I realized that it creates this crusty, scabby, skin film after it is done cooking. It initially creeped me out and I am still not sure if it is supposed to be doing that but I decided to make 'paper' out of it on my night of card making for my storytelling/bookmaking class, which just happens to be one of the best classes I have ever taken because we sit down for 6 hours and make things [we are required to make/draw/find 5 'cards' every week as a sort of homework]. I had known ahead of time that rice paper isn't called rice paper because it is made of rice but because of the specific ethnicity that produces it, so I thought it was funny to actually make paper out of actual rice. I couldn't decide which picture I liked better and since I'm learning photoshop I just stuck them together [one probably would have sufficed]. I love the more metallicness of the abstract of the first and how in the second you can see every detail and it feels warmer.

Slide Projector Slide Projector Mine Mine Mine

2009-09-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

I lied when I said I would wait a week to go to Urban Ore and almost peed myself over all the beautiful equipment they have in, including slide projectors! [They also had an enormous collection of beautiful enlargers and typewriters...Urban Ore makes me wish I had a car...and money...and floor space...] I was so excited I immediately had to get one. The problem was actually finding a functional one. I ended up finding one that had most of its parts in place, although I think it is missing a lens or something that helps to make the picture bigger. It only focuses at a certain point which is only a depressing 2 feet from the wall, but as of right now I am too excited about it. It is one that slides like a cartridge not a carousel which, unfortunately, means a lot less slots to fill. It has a remote which focuses the lens but does not retract the slides themselves, although it does reverse/forward the order though if pressed and slid out manually.

I would have liked to have gotten a carousel projector but the most functional looking one was a 3 prong setting and could not be tested. I might just have to go back. The thought of carrying 2 projectors back onto public transit [along with 2 giant glass bottles that used to hold hypoclear and fixer and a huge file index of the loneliest postcards ever written...soon to be posted] had been too daunting. I got it for $16, though I probably could have gotten it for less if I hadn't been so excited. I also acquired a small box of slides from someone's 1998 trip to the Alps.

So far my idea to double up on the slides to get a new image has been working...sort of...I end up shooting slides across the room or losing them inside the projector. I would also love to try and distort the actual projection more [wall surface wise] and maybe even set about to destroying the slides themselves. Everything is always a work in progress...

ps. I bought the slide projector Saturday and am only now posting this...

Bunny Fishing

2009-09-14T18:08:00.001-07:00

I found this in the Creative Reuse bin of photos...and I don't know. I can only assume that it is from a children's book [a small cardboard one]. I just think that its kind of a terrifying painting.

Street Shadows

2009-09-14T15:20:00.001-07:00

Found this picture in Creative Reuse as well. I think it's from the 80s/90s. I liked the industrial shadows with the muted colors and the oil/water puddles which almost look like a double exposure; sky on pavement.

4 Corners

2009-09-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

I went to the Depot for Creative Reuse [or the Depot] today because it's amazing and it's been awhile. If you live in the East Bay or SF and for some reason haven't heard of it definitely make the trip [also head over to Scrap in SF and Urban Ore in the Berkeley area]. Creative Reuse are more on the leftover bulk supply like paper, medical equipment, slides, beads, etc. Because slides are becoming useless they have drawers and drawers full. I'd love to do a project with them but I have no slide projector. Also the store Upper Playground has a stock of their artists' books there for some reason [publicity?]. But you should plan on getting what you see then and there because they like to change up their stock. I think there is also an antique sale going on Sept. 23rd and 24th. Anyway, these are two of a stack of photographs I bought [among other things]. I usually go to Urban Ore for photographs because it's a lot cheaper but I liked these. Urban Ore will be next weekend. I am guessing these are from a camera with 4 lens' but as to how old they are...no idea but they look like they're printed on pearl photo paper. [by the way I am completely technology challenged so sorry for the small pictures...I'm learning]

The Cuckoo Clock

2009-09-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

A children's book that I still have not read but bought because of the beautifully bordered pages and for the horrible name given to the main character; Griselda. Written by Mrs. Molesworth in 1877 and published in 1895, it's falling apart. Bought this at the F&M book fair as well [I bought more than a few books there].

Mythology for Young People

2009-09-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for myths...I used to read them when I was little, I don't remember why. I also love old books. Currently I am working on a project that combines books, fire, and mythology[mainly Prometheus]. It's an index of Ancient Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heros, Places, etc...and was published in 1925. I found this at the annual Franklin and Marshall College book fair in Lancaster, PA this summer.