fun fun fun

My feet hurt. I did so much walking in heels today. Ouch.

Slept in. Got up. Worked on art. A little bit. Not as much as I should have, but I'm not feeling the pressure. Tomorrow I will write my Narrative Image thing and start on the final. I got a little done, sure, but it needs more. I don't have much in the way of heavy finals due. Well I have two major ones but the rest. EHh. I thought this semester would be a lot more intense than it really was.

I can't focus hardly at all right now.

Cherish's birthday party was tonight. Dressed in a cute skirt and tights from Auntie Brynne, heels and shirt from Karen (the one with the belt), and jacket from Jeanette. Mostly black with white accents. Walked to Safeway and got a mini dinner I could eat on the way there. Sushi. The streetcar was five minutes away. Perfect. Ate my sushi.

At Bridgeport Brewery was a crowd of Cherish's old Art Institute friends. No one I knew from PNCA, but some almost familiar faces from her previous shindigs. Eventually Phil and Andy showed, but they sat at the second table (there were about 20 spots spread between two tables). Heather sat at my end, with Colin, Royal, and Rich. I had a great time. Blood orange margarita followed by lovejoy lemon drop followed by a wee glass of a pitcher of beer. I was fairly tipsy through the night. Well, drunk when it was time to walk to Cherish's. A fellow in the walking back party bought two six packs so I took part in having another beer. It was fun. It was a good sort of drinking night. It stayed jovial and no one got nasty. Just the right amount spaced through the night.

Four teams of two played Cranium. Cherish & I kicked butt until everyone elses mind wandered too far. Sat about. Drank. Chatted. No major shenanigans. Rich was the RA for the Art Institute students in Goose Hollow, so we walked back together. Pretty cool dude.

Time to sleep, as it is 3am. Go me having fun! Now to work hard and be stressed until I can get in that hot tub once again.

countdown: 14...13...

Katie gave me a ride to school! What a sweety.

Terry's thesis was set up in the new illustration room. A grand christening. He had half a wall full of his concept sketches and several competed character illustrations. He worked on designing an adaptation of The Tempest and his interpretation of the story. His defense was long and really showed how well thought out his work was. Most of the questions were about culture. It was quite good.

Madeline and I chilled in the library till Bryan's. I checked out these really cool books about mythical beasts and they were all illustrated and the like. Really neat.

Bryan's proposal was full of charisma and had almost no ums. He was really smooth. His final project is about illustrating his created robot mythology. Tis good and it ran long, but it didn't run into Katie's.

Adam came to the proposal. She got through her information pretty well. Some ums, but she managed to pronounce anthropomorphizing three times. It ran right up to lunch, grabbed some food and went to the mandatory holiday art sale meeting. The training session to learn how to sell people my work. Hope I earn some money!

After that, I sat with Adam and Katie and Robin for a bit. Then we went home, popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated Katie's well doing (well not Robin, she stayed at school and printed). Then it was nap time. Then it was second round of zitti time. Heated and wonderful food for us all. Afterward, Katie left for the studio. Adam and I sat around and talked and then we watched Community. Love that show. Karen called and we both talked to her. Miss my sassy lady!!

Then it was finally time to sleep and start finals. TWO WEEKS LEFT!

champagne: the choice of 310

Adam is in town for the night so he totally bought us Champagne and we had a great night so keep with me for a minute here, kay?

I took the shuttle to school this morning. Just didn't bother touching my bike at all. I'll deal with it later, not now. Deal with it when I have the time. The shuttle got to me to Jay's proposal in time. She is doing her thesis on the world of ASL. She is doing some larger illustrations and a book to accompany them. She got through her presentation okay, a small case of the uhs but in general it was good. I like seeing all the different ways Illustration majors illustrate their thesis presentation powerpoints. It is amazing to think how this blog will, hopefully, cover my whole four years at PNCA. Step by step, day by day. A whole college education in one blog (all though not quite because I don't go into the best of detail).

After Jay's, I went to the library.

Oh I think I forgot to mention yoga yesterday. I did yoga, yeah. It was just Bonnie the substitute who sounds line Winona Ryder and myself for the session. She left the window blinds up, so I just waved to the passers by I recognized. It was a good session as I got a lot of help from her.

So I found out that in the library I would have to review with Martin(during lunch) my stage one for the final project. The final project is a biography of someones life, so I am going to work on Stephen Fry because he is awesome. I was stuck so I admitted to him I was stuck and he helped. It was nice.

Oh, before that I saw Anthony Roberto's thesis proposal. I knew he was an amazing artist, but by god is he truly spectacular. An amazing etcher with just this depth to his work. Wow. I have one of his pieces on my wall, bought from the last Holiday Art Sale. I was so happy to find something of his for $15. He is doing something about the apocalypse. It is cool.

After lunch, I spent the rest of my hours in the print lab. I kept quiet and did my drawing fluid final layer and my emulsion and washed it out with a sponge. Other people used the power washers and that I found to be really disrespectful. Seriously? I behave and you guys use the noisy stuff while someone is doing their thesis? Or maybe it wasn't even in the room that was above the washout room. Anyway, yeah. Got my final layer printed and it looks GREAT. I am finished with my printmaking thesis. Go me. One down, threeish to go.

Waited with Junko for the shuttle but it never came so I took the streetcar home. Adam and Katie arrived right as I finished making myself dinner, which sucked because Adam then made dinner. Katie left to go to a friend's birthday, Adam and I watched the new episode of QI and then we walked to Safeway. At Safeway he bought Champagne and orange juice and we went back to my place. We drank flutes of delicious bubbly, watched Hulu, then Katie returned and we all stayed up and drank and chatted. She also gave us a run through of her thesis. Should be good.

I slept with my hair in braids and I used hairspray in the morning and it stayed big and poofy and wavy and all that goodness. I'm a big fan of big hair (on myself).

bike misery

My bike tire went flat at school again. So I borrowed the student services pump and filled it, but it was flat when I got done with Agnes' thesis. So I had to streetcar it home. Once home, I couldn't get a good enough seal on the nodule to fill my bike tire with air. I tried for an hour, but no matter what, it would either not inflate, or go flat again in a minute. I can't keep an inflation to tell where the leak is, and I can't inflate it because the bike pump I was given is totally crap. It cannot get a seal, no matter how much I am told it is a quality pump. It isn't. It's crap. The school one worked perfectly and told me the pressure and everything. I'm afraid the horrid pump mangled the little inflation node and that is where the leak is coming from. I do not want to buy my third tube this year, nor a new pump. Though I think I will have to do both. I did not need this right now. Some time this weekend, I'll wheel my bike to a shop and talk to them. See if something in the tire is damaging tubes or what. Gahhh.

I wore aunties shirt today. Got lots of compliments. First proposal was... uhh. Oh I got to school for lunch first. Enchilada day. Sat with Liz while some girl did some horrible thesis defense that was her public speaking awkwardly and introducing a band. I heard she failed last year's thesis as well.

Lacey's proposal was amazing. She is doing a small, wordless comic about dealing with depression, it is called Dealing With Dealing With. Her proposal was just, wow. No words on the slides and no cards in front of her. She didn't stutter or anything. Nailed it. We (Robyn, Rachel, and her friend Liz) waited with her while the panel deliberated and then talked to her. We were there when she was all happy after because hers got accepted. Whooo! Go Lacey. You may remember her as my partner in graphic novel crime last semester.

Loitered around school. Inflated my tire. Photocopies.

Agnes, formerly Amanda, had her defense. She was dressed quite nice. Her illustration thesis was five large oil painted pieces which depicted the childhood horror she saw in fairy tales. Her paintings were massive and quite well executed for only having had minimal practice with oil before. As usual, reading from the notes made her a little stiff but when she got into the discussion she was splendid.

As said before, returned to find my bike flat. I just shrugged my shoulders in defeat and headed to the print studio. Morgan was finishing up his print and Danielle was cutting paper. She was still cutting paper when I finished my third color. It looks okay, hard to tell without the final color. I went a little more red than I was planning.

Walked my bike to the streetcar and walked it home. Struggled with it. Took a break. Struggled some more.

Katie was working on an electrical piece and the apartment was full of current and I felt funky.

proposal x 2

Still ill, mostly just nauseous.

BT's B is for Beard was the first proposal of the day. 125 was stuffed with people. Not Jason Powell stuffed, but still really full. There may have just been more room. His thesis project is that he is making an alphabet book about facial hair. It was a great presentation with wonderful design. Half of the followup questions were about facial hair, and the other half were more productive.

This year I am participating in the Holiday Art Sale. For a weekend, the commons becomes a selling place for artwork. In exchange for three hours of minding the sale, you can put as much properly labeled and packaged art as you want. It needs to be put on cardboard boards with cellophane, which is time consuming. I put in about sixty things, but 25 were the comic which I did not board. It took a lot of time to wrap my prints. If it all sells, I will make over $300. I don't think it will, but I should sell something. I have a wide enough net and David Lynch is always a crowd pleaser (as is Luna). Took a break to eat, and apply emulsion to my screen. After that I resumed packaging.

At 2pm was Taylor's proposal. He is designing merchandise and a music video for local band: Wizard Rifle. He said "uhh" a lot, but in general he got his point across. It is amazing to me the difference in what different majors present. The concepts are different and what the artist wants to refer to changes.

Back to packaging. Finished at around 4pm, and tired and icky feeling I just went home.

Watched Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and her Lover. It was colorful but weird.

Now I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance. Colorful and delightful.

illin' again

Woke up with a tickle in my throat. Gargled some salt water.

This week is Focus Week, which is when all the thesis people either present or defend their senior project. First up was Ursula's Road Trip. She is doing ten large illustrations that represent her 6 month cross country journey through the lower 48. I arrived just at the start. It was a pretty good presentation. Good concise graphics, well put together.

Lunch was sandwiches. I had two halves, which make a whole. Sat with BT, Kim, Lacey, and a few others. BT was wearing tan pants that made him look pantsless out of the corner of my eye. I was still feeling sick, even though I ate a lot.

Drew in my print for the portfolio. Water resist yaay.

Still felt sick.

Went to Erin's proposal. Pretty nice slides for her proposal. Some of the questions she got were weird and off topic. Mostly weird suggestions and not questions at all.

Meghan's defense was good. Beautiful work, even though they drilled into our beautiful magnetic wall to put it up. I guess they didn't know it was magnetic. She did prints about the creation and destruction and reincarnation of life. Mumbled a little bit but overall it was good.

After that, Diana and I went to Yur's. I wasn't starving but I knew I needed a good meal if I wanted my health to hold. Fish & chips makes a good meal, right? Yeah, I'm sure it does. We sat and chatted. She had a shot of gin, like a classy lady.

I opted out of yoga because I felt so weak and terrible. You know it is bad when I don't do yoga. Think it is just a cold, I'm not too worried. I think if it was the swine flu, I would have gotten a lot worse by now. Fluids, sweaters, rest.

Sorted out things to put in the holiday art sale. Got a fair pile of things. My comic. My card. Old prints.

Started watching Better Off Ted episodes on Hulu. Mom, you should watch it. I bet you would like it. It is charming.

Bed time. Have to get up for BT's proposal (thankfully it is at 11, so that gives me a good time to rest and be healthy).

box

I set my alarm so that I would get up early and finish my box with dad. Unfortunately the time on the clock was twelve hours off. Still, I managed to get up to the garage by 10. We got the pieces sanded and planed the places where the hinges would go. When it was glued, we took a food break. Waffles! Dad made waffles.

Pa and Ma puttered around outside while I watched the second half of the Nazi Art Theft documentary. Soon it was time to finish the box. Sanded down the edges and sides, drilled holes and then nailed the side panels in. Did more sanding. The box for the portfolio looks great. It is a delightful mini briefcase. Now I want a larger one for some purpose. It’s very light and charming.

We three took a fifteen minute hot tub soak and then it was time to hop and scoot to Tacoma. Departed at 4:59 and arrived a little after 6. I don’t like cutting things short, but I got on the train safely. It is a booked one, but they often are. Pretty uneventful ride. Worked on editing my short story. The movie was Julie & Julia again.

The green max was about an 8 minute wait, so I just strolled to catch a red or blue one. If I am going to wait for a max, I'm going to wait for the one that takes me directly to my place, not the one that takes me to a transfer where I have to wait again.

There was some Ecoli found in the water on the west side of Portland, but apparently it has been taken care of. The first thesis proposal I go to isn't till noon tomorrow. Sleep in!!

art spy!

Got downstairs before noon today. Dad made me breakfast. Digested a little, and then it was off to the garage to work on my box for History of Print.

Dad had gotten a jump on it, but I helped measure and sand the pieces. He lost a piece to his table saw and had to use a magnet in the pile of sawdust to fish it out. He never recovered it, but found a nice drill bit. There was a replacement part, so all was well.

Our break turned into finishing for the day. Hot tub. Burger. Internet. Then Celia came over and we went in the hot tub again. Then she, mom, and I played Settlers of Catan: Seafarers. The expansion makes it really hard to get a few items needed for settlements. Mom won, with me second and Celia third.

After Auntie C left, mom and I watched two episodes of QI. The Families one and the Film & Fame episode. The latter is particularly funny. Then it was bed time. Have to get up early to finish the box. Not that I am going to bed at a totally decent hour either. Watched a neat documentary about Nazis looting art and Rose Valland, who kept a record of all the theft right under the nose of the Germans.

making memories

Had a good long sleep in. The bed back home is so very comfortable.

Rubie came over in the morning. We helped haul the couch into ma's mini barn to prepare a spot for a Christmas tree. Nathan took a hike to gather some moss.

When they departed, mom and I watched a few episodes of QI. Then we three went to Kunie's to get a Christmas tree! Like the grand old tradition. Mom stepped in dog poo. There were other people getting trees as well, but it wasn't quite picked over. There were so many nice trees. We didn't even have to search for that long before finding what we desired. No brown spots. Even all around. Plenty of body with still some space to let ornaments dangle. Just right! Ma payed while Dad stuck it in the Shakee-Tree to shake off the needles.

We had a wholesome good time putting on ornaments. Dad removed them from the plastic bags and I put them on. I made sure to space them all around, even if it isn't the side commonly viewed, you should still decorate it.

Tree looks nice. Can't wait to put presents under them.

Rolph and Alison came over again. We all sat and drank apple juice and chatted. I drank hot cocoa instead. Showed them a slideshow of our Amsterdam/Brussels trip. After they left, we tucked into bed. Well mostly dad, he conks out pretty quick these days. Stayed up watching television as usual. Have to try to get up before noon so I can work on my box.

family & food

Turkey day. Mmm.

Threw my clothes in the laundry and ate a piece of french toast and some bacon. We all got in the hot tub before leaving. Ma, Pa, Bro, and Sis. Every few minutes someone would say, "rotate!" and we would trade seats. Got some fresh clothes on and off we went. Nathan let me play Patapon on his PSP portable gaming system.

Our Thanksgiving was to be had at the house of Grandma and Grandpa Spencer. No Rubie. Straight in the door, they asked where she was. Heh. Grandpa made root beer. It was quite tasty and went well with some ice cream. Dinner had all the classics: gravy, cranberries, mashed potatoes, salad, and of course turkey. I had good portions of what I liked and was well fed. The taters came from our garden and were very good. Quite cozy family meal. Talked about old memories and all that.

We left early to visit Grandpa Pedersen and Celia. Grandma is now resigned to the bed, but she still has a sweet spirit. She responded and ate well from a plate of leftovers.

Nathan and I got in the hot tub when we got home. Mostly had a soak because I think the jets have been hurting my back. Played more Patapon while Ma, Nate, and I watched Night at the Museum on television.

Staying up catching up on So You Think You Can Dance and QI. Tomorrow I will make my box!

turkey train two

Thanksgiving break! Yay!

In History of Laughter we had a minor discussion about Charlie Chaplin, and then we watched City Lights. A delightful comedy that was enjoyed by all who bothered to attend. During break, Rachel and I looked at the horrid Design I projects. Just really bad design with horrible use of stock images and Photoshop. There were only two that we agreed were decent. I returned to class to find them watching the Kick Ass trailer. Zach and I talked a bit about Millar and making comics just to get them optioned. And then we finished the movie and got out early. I sought out Martin but learned he wouldn’t be around till noon. Talked to the library people and killed time.

History of Printmaking got into Hogarth. Lovely lovely Hogarth. And Harry Potter Puppet Pals (Morgan brought it up). We got booted from our room by a conflicting room assignment, so we returned to our cozy second floor space. More Hogarth. I tracked down Martin and gave him my piece. He said, and I quote, “this turned out really great”. Whee!!

Got another Chiptole burrito for lunch. Addictive buggers, but I wanted something to eat later on when I was on the train. It burst when they folded it up, so I got a second tortilla wrapping. I love the wrappers. Mmmm.

Morgan gave us a lesson in good story telling and advised Cameron and Carla on effective thesis presentations (it involves pointing with a stick). Then we returned to Hogarth and the Rake’s progress.

I left class to find my back tire flat! I wheeled my poor baby to the streetcar. Jim was there and we chatted all the way back. I inflated the tire and I hope when I return, I don’t find my bike resting on a flat tube. I lasted a year and a half on the original tubes, why are they suddenly failing?

Packed, said goodbye to Katie, and hauled butt down to 10th. I missed the streetcar I wanted to catch by a couple minutes, so I walked down to the Finnegan’s stop. A guy was solving a Rubik’s Cube and all I thought was, “I can do that a lot faster.”

Andrea boarded the streetcar and we had a three block chat. The train station was pretty stuffed but it had good order. Most of the crowd was for the 6:15 train. Got my ticket and aired out my sweat. After I picked up my seat assignment, I got some corn nuts and gummy bears for the train ride. First I finished my burrito.

Speaking of burritos, in History of Print our final potluck is going to be a burrito assemblage. Everyone will be responsible for bringing the ingredients, that way we will all be well fed and none of us will have to pay or make a full dish. I might get dibs on rice when the food assignments are handed out.

Fairly quiet train ride. Finished watching The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Napped. Nathan and Rubie were queued outside the train station and I was quick to toss my suitcase and backpack in. Some families really took their sweet time loading while at the same time holding up traffic.

It was a nice, familiar ride back into Kitsap. Chatted about class and vegans and all that usual stuff. I find it interesting that I can explain silkscreening to Nate and he gets understands in, but trying to explain it to some classmates is near impossible. Some minds just don’t work like that.

Mom and Pop were still up when we got home. No late night hot tubbing. Chatted, looked at holiday catalogues, and Nathan showed Dad how to Facebook.

printing queen

Got to school right on time. We looked through our prints and discussed why monotypes would be hard to critique, then we did a communal print as per usual. Then we had open work time till 1:30. In that time, I finished the final layer on my silk screen! Madeline texted me wondering where I was, so she came to the print lab and I gave her a print.

After lunch, we had a guest come in and show us his monotypes. He was a nice fellow. Tom and Chelsey left early to catch a train. I finished silk screening my other print, the one for Morgan. It is looking good. Two more layers to go!

I also did another monotype, just to do one for the day. Played with abstract but it wasn't much of anything.

At five I helped them clean up. By them I mean the four other students who hung around after Tom left.

Rainbow asked if I wanted to grab a bite to eat at Yur's, so I agreed. Yur's is the faux dive bar that all the PNCA students go to. It is only a couple blocks, so a really easy walk. Comfy seats and very clean while having standard bar decor. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a Mirror Pond Pale Ale. I showed Rainbow Grandpa John's silkscreen textbook. She loved it. Some other PNCA people joined us, namely Anthony, Tesar, Tesar's girl, and this other fella. We all sat and chatted about thesis and a good time was had, even though I didn't really know the other people. I left at 6:30.

Talked with Natalie about silkscreen and showed her my stencils. Tried to help her figure out how to use the systematic process of silkscreen to aid her own sense of image making. She left with a pleased look on her face, so I think I did manage to help.

Now just chilling out. Nothing left to do but the last few classes and packing. Whoo whoo!!

three down, one to go!!

Argh, was going to go to bed and then remembered I had to write an entry.

Back to the grind. The pre-lunch chunk of class was spent reading some of our better poems and looking at our pieces. From now on in class, it is just work on final project. Need to get my USB back from Katie so I won't be working off of emailed files.

I went straight to the print lab and got in some quality printing during lunch, when no one was around. Got all the green boots in. They dried only semi opaque, but I think when I finish, they will all tie nicely together. Then I went to Chiptole and ate a steak burrito during class. Talked to Sarah about how to expand my short story. Kind of sat around for class. Sketched a little, mostly chatted with Danny. Talked with Danielle about my final project. Scanned my reading response images and typed up my responses. Apparently there were only two turned in last class, and I was one of the ones who did.

After class, I printed the red umbrella. Cherish is really excited about her fancy dress birthday party, as am I. Finished that printing with time to spare, and I used that time to apply emulsion onto my print for the print exchange. Then yoga time!

Fawn is out of town, so her friend Bonnie took over teaching. She sounds so much like Winona Ryder. She was an intense teacher and most of the poses were way too hard for me to sustain. I've appeared to have gotten worse at Yoga, now that I have been doing it twice a week. Still I tried.

After yoga I exposed the emulsion on the screen and washed out the drawing fluid. It didn't wash out as well as I would have liked. Still, I will continue with it.

It was a painful ride home. Liz stopped over and hung out with Katie for a bit, who made us all delicious hot cocoa. I relaxed and watched House and Lie To Me. When I got up for a between show intermission, my back had a bad spasm. Eventually it sorted itself out. Yoga is supposed to make me stronger, not injure my body.

return to work

Had a good sleep after that late and most horrid return. Mom even made me breakfast! Poached egg, muffins, bacon, and orange juice. My ideal morning meal.

Uncle Rolfe and Aunt Alison stopped by in the afternoon for a catch up chat. Talked about drains and ditches and hot tubs. Basil melted for Alison’s pets. She wasn’t so pleased with me. Oh well.

Soon it was time to depart and pick up dad at the airporter drop off in Silverdale. He was there when we arrived. He had a spoon and fork salad set for mom and myself. I picked the cat one and mom received the giraffe set. There was also a decorated (hollowed out) ostrich egg to put with our collection of around the world goodies. The three of us went to Skipper’s. Hurray for fish & chips!

Once we got home, we all promptly hopped in the hot tub. Dad tested all the different seats. Mom floated over the main powerful jet. I just soaked and relaxed. It is such an excellent way to relax. I wish I had one in Portland. So easy to hop in for a few minutes and rest.

Then it was time to get dry and dressed and head to Tacoma again. Mom tucked a tired and weary dad into bed and then the two of us set into the descending night once again. It was dry and a delightful drive. Arrived with time to spare.

My seatmate was a young girl in a cookie monster hat. Worked on typing up the poetry that is due tomorrow. The train movie was Julie & Julia.

The 506 (or was it the 509?) arrived fifteen minutes early in Portland and I just managed to catch the Green line. The red took a while, so all in all it took me thirty minutes to get in my front door.

Katie said she missed me.

I got right to homework. Did two stencil images for my reading response to Dylan Dog (it was a free choice this week). I don’t like construction paper for stenciling. Newsprint cuts so easily. Then I did some character studies of people in out of my poems, including myself. Cut them out and put them on blue paper then cut that out and put some lettering to indicate which poem they are from. And I think that is it for things that are due tomorrow. Now all I have to work on is screenprinting.

dance / snow my god

Ma's mini barn was completed. She is going to put a framing workshop and sewing station in their.

Took a hot tub soak before getting dressed for the show. It was so very very cold. And wet.

Put on a skirt and tights and grabbed the big coat. Don't know why I didn't bring more layers. Oh well. It was fairly dry heading over, just cold. Picked up Rubie in Tacoma and then headed to Everett. Left at 3pm, arrived around 5:45. Long long drive. Ate a meal at McDonald's. Something easy, ya know.

There was a line outside the Comcast Center but it was assigned seating, so you didn't have to show up that early. Rubie had an umbrella, I had a hood. Mom waited outside for Averie and we went in to get our seats.

We were a ways back, but there were screens so we could see the show. Seats were uncomfy and the place was cold. Oh well. Averie and Mom came in at around 7:15 and then come 7:30 it was time for So You Think You Can Dance season five tour!!

The top 12 were there: Jeanine, Janette, Randi, Caitlin, Kayla, Evan, Brandon, Ade, Kupono, Jason, and Phillip. I hooted and cheered and clapped plenty. In between dances, they hammed it up. There was a narrative about that unfortunate Russian Dance that went through the whole show. And every now and again they would switch things up. Other dancers would come in during the numbers or they would mix up their outfits. It was soooo much fun. Saw a lot of the numbers that I loved so much over the summer. All our favorites were there, and Averie who had not seen much of the show also had a good time. Oh oh and there was Bollywood! The lights were bright and the sound was loud. It was great. Made me wish I could dance...

It was hell getting back. It was pouring rain, the roads were pooling water and ma did her best not to hydroplane. Dropped Rubie off and then off we went into the dismal night. It was horribly slow going and when we got to Seabeck, there was SNOW. Actual snow coming from the sky. It as only a slush and it wasn't at our house, but for a few miles it was bonafide snow.

Tomorrow I return. Then I am in Portland for three more nights, then I am back in Washington for Thanksgiving.

blue underwater lights and bright stars

The water heaters were being replaced, so I had to wait a bit for my shower. Piled all my things for the weekend. I am almost getting better at pairing down the supplies I think I need for visits.

Katie was cleaning hardcore. Apartment will be all nice and shiny. For a week.

It was raining as I departed, but it wasn't so bad. Waited for streetcar, got to the station at a good time. Didn't have to wait around forever to board. Got an aisle seat. I read a chapter out of Dylan Dog, bought my standard train hot dog with mayo, mustard, and ketchup. Then I took a nap for a couple hours. I didn't think I napped for that long, but I woke up to mom calling me at 4:30. Train ended up getting into Tacoma a bit late.

Mom took me, Nate, and Rubie out for dinner at a nice little place in Tacoma. It was uhh some dude & some dude. I don't remember the name. Fish and meat mostly. Rubie and I both had Mojito's, ma and brother stuck to water. The mojito was tasty tasty. My grilled steak salad was enjoyed, except for the steak which took too much effort to cut. The onion rings and salad part was quite good. My portion was gigantic compared to the others, and I think mine was the cheapest. After eating, we played some Wii. I mostly lost, except at Wii Golf.

After the drive home, mom and I got in the hot tub. Just perfect. It is a really fabulous unit. Huge and better than the one at the Bremerton athletic club. And it has a great view of the stars. Mmm, nice.

I'm so ready for that hot tub

Ohhhh man, yoga really ran me over. I felt so sore and beat the whole day. Anyway.

Got my images ready for class like a good girl. We had a run down of where we all are, and we are all pretty awesome. Loaned Madeline my copy of Raw Shark Texts. Gave her a little drawing for her birthday.

It was a work day. During lunch I put emulsion on my screen and loitered in the print lab while it dried. Katie came in and we gabbed. I showed her the exposing room. Cool stuff. I left my screen to dry and returned to class. Worked on digital stuff.

Finished my digital version and printed it out. Martin ordered me to do another illustration, seeing as how I had the time. So I worked on finishing up the other one and printing it out. Ha.

At around 5:20 I returned to the print lab and found Mark and uhh oh dang I forgot his name. The boys working in the lab last night. They were in the lab and Heather was showing them how to stretch a screen. So I jumped to get a piece of that action. Ripped the silk off the screen that had the razor accident in the drying room. The stretching process is a combination of hydraulics, metal bars, silk, and glue. It's pretty cool and the hydraulic operation box looks like cheap sci-fi with it's two knobs and two gauges. And it is all sky blue. So yeah, I inhaled some intense glue fumes and we three got our screens stretched. Looks all shiny and new. Now I have three proper screens, and one wooden one. Heather was talking about how she has so many screens because she just takes old frames and stretches them. $10 for a great screen, versus the $30-$40 it costs to get one ready made. Whoo whooo!

Then I printed the first layer of my rain piece. There is so much printing to be done on it. Heather even gave me some of her left over mylar so that I could use it for registering the small details (otherwise I would be hefting a big piece of mylar back and forth for each print, and that just bogs down the process). It pays to hang out and be friendly in the print lab. I had a great time talking with Heather, who told me the origin of the Christmas tree. I made sure to reuse some of the left over ink for my printing (she was going through all the ink and sorting through it).

I got out of there at around 8pm. Went to Safeway to pick up dinner and train snacks. Theatre size candy was one for a dollar. Runts, Gobstoppers, and Nerds oh my! Got Sushi and Perrier and cheese puffs and tried to find corn nuts but had no luck. Outside the store, I had a chat with another biker about how awesome helmets are.

It is really believable how tired I am. Lots of roaming, lots of bumping into things, lots of work, and biking here and there.

Oh, I also collected a file of the best of my kitten and cat photos for Samala (she is doing a plague of cats piece). Sent them to her for reference. Afterward I thought "oh crap, there are pictures of my family members in there, she will realize we all are crazy, not just me." I hope I can see a little bit of Basil in one of her 30 cats.

Just relaxed. Ahh. So nice. Sushi was good, even though it was just Safeway.

Rain - Red Umbrella

Photoshop.

if both knees are bad, do they both become good again?

Moved on to the Lenny Bruce segment of History of Laughter. First there was some discussion about the breakdown of communication due to technology (I agree on the idea that the easier it is to say things, the less important those things are). Discussed...more stuff. Yeah.

Today, I wore this shirt Celia gave me way back around 8th grade. Red with wild prints. I love it. It is loose and stands out, which you think wouldn't happen in a place as wacky as art school. But there is a set system to how to combine prints, and big floppy actual 90's shirts are not in that system. Normally it is a boho dress or some torn tights under a patterned skirt. Flannel everywhere, but not old school flannel. Just as a print, not the real deal. Anyway, I love the shirt and got many comments on it. I took them for compliments.

Lacey and her blues dancing crew were giving a demonstration in the commons. She brought cute boys and one, Andrew, asked me to dance. I sort of moved through one song then went for Quizno's. Diana really cut a rug on the cement floor. She danced with all the boys (all three of them). It was a jolly lunch.

Some prints from the Schnitzer collection were on loan to us for today. 60's minimalism mostly, with some Josef Albers thrown in there. Really top notch stuff in name; only about half the pieces held my interest. But it was productive and insightful. Some of the other printmaking classes joined us in our learning. Morgan told a story of how some guy he met in the gym said that he looked like an artist and this led to Morgan meeting him at his place to look at his art work. The guy lived in a purple house with no floors and they had to line his huge paintings outside along the fence and the peacocks came out to be fed. All the while it was snowing. Morgan says that experiences like that are why you should 1) say yes and take a chance and 2) be an artist. He said that things like that just seem to happen to artists. Maybe because we pay enough attention to realise what is going on? Or maybe we would appreciate it more. There is more to the story buy I can't disclose it here.

I had to loaf around for two hours waiting for the print lab to be free enough to print. In the downtime I cut my paper down. I'm doing a huge edition to make up for the fact that I'll probably lose a few just to me not caring enough. Well I do care. I need to get good practice, but registration is such a bother.

In an hour and a half (between the class getting out and yoga) I: applied emulsion, put an image onto the screen, exposed the screen, washed the unexposed emulsion off the screen, let it dry, mixed a color, set up my station, and printed the some 40-50 prints. About 30 are at 8"x10" and 15 are 8"x6" or whatever. The image I was printing today is 8"x8". It is on tan paper and I used a transparent brown. I will layer the brown and make a nice soft toned image in keeping with the aesthetic I utilized with the Katie with Jade Plants piece. I didn't get an exact count of the numbers. 6x6=36. Ohh. Wow I should have just bought five sheets of paper. Ha, oh well. 36 8x10 and (lets see, 3 8x6 a sheet, 6 sheets, 6x3 is...) 18 8x6 prints. That's a lot of art. Whoo! Enough for the edition, and if I am lucky, I'll get some stuff in the Holiday Art Sale for the first time.

The Holiday Art Sale is an annual sale where students put their work in the commons and people can buy it right on the spot. The paintings are crowded on the wall and there are tons of cool prints and goodies to purchase. Good for last minute gifts. I've always slacked on getting things in it, but now I actually have a reasonable stock of things.

I think I forgot to mention that I slipped in the print lab yesterday. I was wearing my Romeo's and those shoes have no traction left on the bottom. There are tons of puddles of water around the studio left from people moving wet screens about. I stepped in one and my foot went out from under me and I hit the cement floor with full force on my good knee. It hurt but I got up and went back to what I was doing. The bruise isn't so bad, and it isn't really all that injured. Just when yoga came around tonight, it kicked my butt. I couldn't do anything that required strength in my left leg.

I can bike just fine though. Caught a little bit of rain coming back, but nothing too hostile. Relaxed. Ate food. Drew a little something something for Madeline's birthday. Drew the stencils for my silkscreen project for illustration. I drew them at relatively small scale, and I will see how they look blown up. I'm excited for this project. Just sucks that there is a print class in the studio on Thursday. Boo!!

And I can't print Friday because I am going home for So You Think You Can Dance! Yaay! I haven't watched the elimination episode, no spoilers.

screenprint season begins

Getting to an entry at a reasonable time. Whoo!

Monotype introduced a "rainbow roll" which is when you roll up several colors on one roller. That way you can get a nifty gradient on your plate. Whee! For the first half of class, Phil and I collaborated. We did two images with his backgrounds and my stencils. First one we tried to put the ink over the stencil and that proved most difficult. Mainly because Phil didn't quite figure that it would be best to put the stencils LAST. But it was an experiment. It had a different look than regular cutouts. Still neat, but not perfect. Then we did one of Ahab going after the whale. A combination rainbow roll + stencil + multiple layers. It was okay.

Then we went our separate ways. I did another stencil image. Just this one girl on a rainbow roll. The paper was bumped on the plate so I got a double line. Not perfect. Bah. Oh well. Cutting out the stencils takes so long.

Got my schedule. I am in all the classes I signed up for. Go me. confirmed for intermediate silkscreen: Diana & Patsy.

After class I hung around in the studio and kept Cherish company while she printed. I also bought another screen because I realized there was no way I could do the print final AND illustration piece with one good high mesh count screen and one low count mesh screen. And since I am taking intermediate silkscreen, it is probably for the best that I have another one. Yay for new clean never used screen! Cherish's screen is so used.

Went home. Ate an apple. Ate some pasta. Wow, where did the last four hours go?

Anyway, I think I will do the silkscreen for print using the reductive method. I can get started on it tomorrow and hopefully print the first color. Just need to get paper.

Also need to think of Christmas presents for the people back home. What would you guys like? Art? Okay, art it is!

bad poems

Ahk, how did it get to be 1:36am? Well, I don't have to actually roll out of bed till 10, but still. Day after that I get up at 7. Bah.

Okay.

Narrative Image critique: check. It went well, just minor suggestions. Danny brought in a piece with some hot dogs that made us all hungry. It's interesting to know the mediums one goes to when forced to work on short notice. I've done a lot of ink and watercolor, no digital yet because digital printing is such a fuss.

Before lunch, the people who hadn't read their flash fiction read theirs. Then it was food time! And food on days when I didn't pack a lunch beans: Burrito! Chipotle! A meal that lasts me all day.

Talked with Robyn and Rachel and then did the things that needed printing out. Unfortunately I forgot that we needed a poem for when we got back to class. A poem we liked. I would have done with one about rain, but oh well. I've done all my work so one little poem flub ain't no thing. We spent an hour struggling to write poetry and then we did some weird writing exercise using found text. That is, creating poetry using terms and words we find in other sources. My favorite was:

When will I die?
When will the world end?
When does New Moon come out?

I came up with it by entering "When..." into Google and forming a narrative based on the automatic fill in that Google does.

Then class got out and I read an article in Esquire about this hippie commune/video production team. They made this video:

Then I took a nap. Then it was time for yoga! Only three people in it today. Did a lot of warming exercises.

Nick, Katie's friend, had made dinner. Yay! Chicken and pasta and sauce! And I got some because they used my pasta and my sauce. Fair trade I say.

In the mail, we got a large mysterious cardboard flat package. The gold spray paint and fancy lettering could only indicate one sender: Karen Berger. We opened it to find a Hammerpress 2010 Calendar! Probably printing by our beloved sassy lady in the KC. Oh my god so AWESOME! We can't wait to put it up. It is soooo cool. It has a great design and a lovely little month tear sheet.

House was good. Exciting character developments. Then I put in Showgirls to inspire me to start my printing final. I have her face all drawn out. Now I'm not sure how I will progress. I'll screenprint it sure, but I might change how I do the layers. Thankfully I'm printing such a small area. Only 8"x8" on a 8"x10" piece of paper.

Finals time is here. Project list:
-extend a previous Narrative Image assignment
-monotype something (I don't know what our final quite is, or if we even have one)
-write a paper for History of Laughter most likely
-print piece for the class portfolio in History of Print
-finish current illustration piece + final illustration assignment
and somewhere in all that, I'll have to document it all. Not actually so bad in terms of finals. Last spring semester was hardcore.

the scent of ripped out perfume ads

Another late Sunday night.

Got up at noon three days in a row. It's nice.

Katie came back from her wedding. We watched Misery together and ate breakfast. Good movie. Very tense. Kathy Bates was perfect as a deranged fan. While working on homework, we watched The Good Son. Early Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin movie. Not very good. High points in creepy though. Then I watched the new AMC remake of The Prisoner. Decent enough premier. I shall watch more. All in all, a lot of weird and creepy things watched. Best of them was Misery.

My painting is okay. I don't like bristol paper for watercolor, but it isn't worth it to buy better stuff. The poetry packet was interesting, though I mistook some of the descriptions as poetry (but maybe they were, oooohhhh). Did some drawings.

Yeah. My eyes hurt. I want to go to sleep, even though I have been staying up late. Another week. Then it is So You Think You Can Dance! Then Thanksgiving break! I have to get on top of things NOW because if I don't before next weekend, I'll run out of time, yeah.

movie posters

Some cool posters, none of which I made.

yaawn

The the sketch for my Narrative Image piece. It looks pretty cool. I'm looking forward to painting it tomorrow. Mostly ink.

I like Sunday because I just get up and get stuff done. Not going out because it's Sunday. Saturday feels like I should be doing something, but I just do nothing.

Watched Thirst. Korean vampire movie. If you don't like the sound of people chewing and slurping their food, this is not the movie for you.

Tea. Toast. Pasta. Apple. Banana. Cookies. Peppered salami. Fed Luna.

blah

Uuuhhhgg. A more do nothing day than regular Fridays.

Katie is out of the apartment for most of the weekend due to a wedding. Not her wedding, of course. A friend's.

So no Friday Burger. Maybe I should have still gone on my own, but eh. Lazy.

Banana, apple, and toast breakfast. Mmmm.

Pasta and alfredo sauce lunch/dinner. Mmmm.

Candy cane Trader Joe's JoeJoes. Mmmm.

Bought the second batch of train tickets. The next two weekends, I'll be out of town. Need to get ontop of all that I need to finish. Can't silk screen if I am in Washington.

Due next week: flash fiction final piece + flash fiction writing. Illustration stage two. Some History of Laughter reading. Not much, but that just means I have time to get a jump on things. Need to draw out my printmaking portfolio piece.

I'm excited about Dad's woodcraft for Christmas. I won't give it away but I'm sure it will be cool. I'm sad I'll just miss his return this weekend. But I'll see my pop pop in a week after that. Then I'll get steak and bacon and Basil and all those things.

Fire alarm went off again. This time, when they turned it off the firemen forbid us from reentering, so we had to stand in the cold for another 10 minutes. This nice couple with two cats offered me their old cat carrier! Their cats were named Theo and...well I forget the other cat's name. After the alarm, they stopped by my place and gave the the carrier. No more suitcase for Luna! Thanks Joe & Belinda.

food! and art!

Ahh a nice end to a relaxing week. Calm before the flurry of finals. They loom, yes they do.

The first stage critique was amazing! Everyone had a lot of ideas and well developed concepts. I think because we were not hindered by only being at a certain stage, we felt free to go further. It was refreshing. Lots of work to look at and talk about.

For lunch I chilled in the illustration room with Madeline and Danny. Brought a peanut butter sandwich with me. Mmm.

When class resumed, it was an open work period to develop our images. I worked on taking my two main concept sketches and planning them out and refining them in photoshop. It took all class, plus an extra 20 minutes. I'm trying to think how to take them out of the computer and into silkscreen land. Do I take the photoshop layers and print each one out as a black transfer? But that would require further refining and not use the organic ink work that I am fond of. I'll probably redraw them and just hand draw the layers, utilizing a light box.

Right now, the weather goes from day to night with almost no warning. I can be in the computer lab and turn around and suddenly the sky is like ink.

After class, I went to Trader Joe's The candy cane Joe-Joes are back! Joe-Joes are the imitation Oreos that they sell, but now the seasonal kind are back! And they have Advent calendars, which I didn't get because I couldn't avoid eating them for a month. Picked up bananas and cereal bars and pasta and apples and peppered salami and this spiced apple bread mix. Lots of stuff. Stocked up so that I won't be consistently hungry. Oh and bread and bagels. Mmm.

I'm not surprised all the tappers are gone on So You Think You Can Dance. Nigel is rough on the audience, but he does have some truth. The people are not stepping it up like they should. Katie has wedding stuff to attend, so the regular burger is out of the question. Boo. Maybe I should still go, and just sit at the bar and talk to Shelley.

rain : two

Quick photoshop layout for a silkscreen image.
For the Illustration assignment "Natural Phenomena"
photoshop

rain : one

Quick photoshop layout for a silkscreen image.
For the Illustration assignment "Natural Phenomena"
photoshop

dreams of hot tubs

We finished watching Fitzcarraldo. Very good movie. Rest of class was more discussion about comedy = village = raw and tragedy = city = cooked. Or something. And how bad TV is. It's a lot of rehashing of the same subjects. Over and over and over. Oh well. Free pastries.

History of Print had a long discussion about costumes and characters and plans for the rest of the semester. Then we finally got down to learning. We got into Piranesi and Tiepolo Jr and Sr. I remember the last one because their name is Tie and Polo combined. They inspired a lot of etchers, like Goya.

I just wandered around school for lunch. Ate a sandwich. Talked to mom. Can't wait to go home and get in that hot tub! Oh, and see Ma and Pa and Rubie and Basil. Maybe Nate.

We spent half an hour talking bike safety. It's a very heated subject. The main reason for bad Portland bikers and bad Portland drivers is the lack of consistency. No one knows what to do, so it all comes to a standstill. It's odd that the less signals there are, the better traffic is. Then we got back into print discussion. It was good.

Rainbow gave me a Norfolk Pine. Hopefully it won't die, it needs more water than my jade. I had my meeting with Pearl. All I need is Illustration and my senior stuff. No worry there. It was a quick meeting, I barely had to sit down.

Yoga was canceled. Boo!

I missed a huge downpour by minutes. I got in and took of my jacket and then the clouds spewed their heavy guts.

Caught up on So You Think You Can Dance. They are supposed to be the most talented people, but a lot of the numbers are falling flat to me. The ones I remember are the racer & mechanic hip hop number and the Bollywood one. Hard to forget Bollywood. Some of the sequences are just not hitting it as hard as I would like, and the lifts seem sloppy to me. A pause and then a move, it doesn't feel fluid. Yeah.

Got all my work for tomorrow done early on, so I can get a nice long night's sleep.

Oh, Glee was good. I enjoyed the furthering of Kurt's story line and some explanation of Artie.

white sunrise

In monotype, we talked about our own prints, instead of having Tom hold them up. Then we took another walk! A chance to gather supplies for further stencil printing. Walked up to 23rd, walked around a Synagogue, then we went back. I crossed paths with Liz and Katie heading to the studies, so I chilled with them for the rest of lunch. Liz and I went to Safeway for munchins. Watched Katie set up her installation. Her studio is all black and she put in a ceiling. The rest of the studios seem really lack luster. Not lived in at all. Oh well.

Got back to class a little late. We did a communal print where we all put in colored shapes to form a print. I cut a leaf in the shape of a hand.

I mostly played with graphic figure shapes. First I did an image of a girl with an umbrella, a sort of early imagining for my illustration project. Then a girl in a striped sweater on a colored background which bled to the edges. I like bleed prints that lack borders. Then I did one of a woman in a coat reading a book and walking. I cut the image out of paper and arranged it on a colored plate so that it would stand out against the bright blues and oranges. Then I arranged more shapes on that plate, once I removed the paper of the woman. It was a lot of fun and it inspired me much.

This week has been really relaxing. Not much is due, but the time to think about finals is upon me. Time to get to work work work on that that that. After class I talked to Natalie. Helped her with her print.

Watched John Doe on Hulu and did my laundry and ate toast. Mmm.

Laurie/Roth Monday Night Double Feature

Despite minimal sleep, I have kept high energy through the day. Go me.

Got to school early and registered for the classes I spoke of yesterday. It will be intense, and I have more 8am classes. Joy.

The sketch assessment went quick. We were given time to edit our flash fictions before lunch. I talked with Natalie in a way of assisting her with her silk screen woes. Tried to explain reductive image making. It's hard to explain. Yeah.

Bought joe joes and mac and cheese for lunch from Safeway. It is cold and drippy and I needed something warm. Mmm. And picked up some supplies for home. Soap and the like.

Checked out a book on mug shots from the library. Did you know they were invented in France in 1881 by a man named Alphonse Bertillon? Well the exact system of criminal mug shots and the recording of information was, at least. That is the something new that I learned today.

We read all the stories to one another. The majority of people started off their readings with apologies. Why do people feel so ashamed of their work? What is the disconnect between a rough sketch and a rough piece of writing? It is annoying to listen to people bash their work and I called someone out on it, but they kept doing it a minute later. Argh. Oh well. It was sort of an open work time till 4:30. I gave Mel one of the three color Lynch posters (on newsprint), because she is such a big Lynch fan.

Next up on the narrative image slate is poetry. We have a big poetry packet to read and react to by next class. Fun.

I loitered till yoga. We did much of the usual with a few shoulder twists that I am sure to feel tomorrow.

It wasn't raining for my trip home. Very good. Watched House. Decent episode, I was expecting more but a good return after the two week break. No more baseball, yay! Then Bored to Death, then Lie to Me. Now it is time for bed. Have to get up in eight and a half hours.

work and classes (or trillian is getting in way over her head)

Got up slightly before noon. Folded my new clothes.

Did homework. Touched up painting. Did a sketch that isn't to par with what I normally provide. Oh well. Yeah. I worked and read. Not much to say. Mad Men season finale was spectacular, as expected.

Tomorrow morning I will go into the registration office and try to sign up for: Intermediate Screen, The Figure, Illustration Studio II: Cultural Marketplace, Phenomenology & Existentialism, and Theory and Practice: Homeland. Dumbed down respectively it is: fun studio to advance my skills, technical class to advance my drawing skills, core class for major, probably way out of my league lecture class, and something with Duford to improve my thinking skills. Actually it is looking to be a pretty intense line up, if I follow through with it. And three 8am classes, two of which are immediately followed by a studio. But it would be three day weekend again.

Dad: No matter how good a seal I get with the bike pump, it will not show me the proper pressure.

Mom: When is a good time for me to be picked up in Tacoma? Should I come up Thursday night the 19th or Friday morning the 20th?

semi naked ladies

Slept in. MMm. It's nice.

It rained and it poured all day.

My back tire seems to be constantly a little flat. The bike pump I was given doesn't accurately measure pressure and it doesn't get a good seal when I inflate my tires. I need to get a gauge. Or a better pump.

Another day where I loafed around. Ate couscous. At around 5, I started to go through my closet. Cherish was having a Naked Ladies party. That is, a shindig where you get together and swap clothes you don't want anymore. I found that I had more things to get rid of than I thought, but not much in the shirt department. I want to hold onto some teeshirts, mostly because I want to get one of those "101 things to do with a shirt" sewing books, and remake them into a tote or something. Anyway, I had three bags full and they fit into my side baskets perfectly. It was a potluck but I didn't bring anything.

It was miserable riding there, but I warmed up and dried off right quick. I got trapped in the stairwell for a minute though. The elevator only went up to the fourth floor for no reason, so I took the stairs, but the doors in the stairs were only open from the outside. Thankfully I had my cell. I'm not use to such a secure building. But Cherish was there and let me in. There were mini pizzas and hot cider to consume. Cherish is a great hostess. Laura and Cheyenne, her friends, were there. The boys left so that we could swap and try on clothes in peace. I went mental for clothes. Well not mental, but I grabbed a lot. Whatever fit and no one wanted more than me.

Rainbow and Heather showed up later on, as well as some other friends of Cherish. It was a good group. We gabbed. I had more energy to try on clothes than the rest. Rainbow had two beautiful dresses that I picked up in case of a nice occasion. One was a lovely green, the other a darker black with red print. The latter not so sleek and saucy, but respectable. I got some great finds. I hope I didn't come off as too greedy...

Heather and I stayed the longest, chatted about family and really got to know one another. It was a really nice night. I left with the same bags full of new clothes. Have some great tops, some nice more formal things. I just need a reason for them. I'll find one. And Thanksgiving is coming up.

goats

Ahhh sleep. It is good. Lay in bed for about an hour before I got up.

Liz crashed here after Katie and she got their after art show drink on. Together we went to get our burgers. Liz had the veggie. Our regular booth was occupied and Shelly noticed this. She was very chatty and has almost got our names down (well Kate and Trillium, but that is close enough). It was a good meal, as usual. It's good to have a habit.

Afterwards I contacted Jaymee and Robin and we decided to meet at 7:00 to go see the 7:40 showing of Men Who Stare at Goats. Jaymee brought her roommate Caroline, who is very nice and from Spokane (like Jaymee). It was a cold night but I was feeling all right. Robin has learned a couple songs on her ukulele. I heard her play earlier, she is quite good and sings along with it.

Most was $10.50. Dang. And they made it so students can't get discounts on the high income days. That's bull, but the movie was good. It was charming. Less goofy than I thought it would be, but the movie didn't suffer for it. Ewan McGregor was good, as usual, even if he didn't have his accent. Clooney looked very good in the flashback scenes with the shaggy hair and mustache. I would recommend it, maybe not for the cost of a ticket but defiantly worth checking out down the line.

We walked back. I showed Caroline where it echoes in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Goodbyes were said and I vegged. A perfectly acceptable Friday.

To do list for the weekend:

• Narrative Image reading + response
• Narrative Image flash fiction rough draft
• Flash fiction sketches
• Think about "natural phenomenon"
  

alma

Wednesday:
History of Laughter. We covered the origins of some words. Again. It sort of had to do with laughter. Then we watched another episode of Fitzcarraldo. I've been pretty disappointed with this class. I don't know what I'm learning in class specifically and I don't know if Barry even knows my name. Oh well.

History of Print. It was field trip day! We walked down to Augen Gallery and checked out the show. Some photos based on celebrating artists known for being celebrities. Some cool stuff but nothing that felt new. There were some amazing woodblocks in the back section though. Beautiful huge prints with great detail. After that we walked over to the Jelly Generation show, or whatever it is called. Portland has a China thing going on right now. About 8 shows all within walking distance. The thing that pissed me off about the Jelly show was how many large images were printed at low resolution. That is, lacking crisp detail that printed work often needs to look presentable. The show looked cheap. There were some neat design things, but yeah. Cheap.

DeeDubs, DiDi, Rooner, and I went to get lunch. Or rather Daniel, Diana, and Cameron. They get nick names because of their average names. I get nothing. We went to the Blossoming Lotus, which I thought would be Chinese. Turned out to be overprices health food made up of ingredients I didn't know and special made for people with wanker diets. I had the tempeh sandwich. The bread and sprout part was good. The tempeh, uhh not so much. Not my thing.

We walked up to Utrecht and then over to the Portland Art Museum for the second half of our field trip. We checked out the China Exhibit on the first floor. A lot of building and architecture. Macaroon, aka Cameron, had a ladybug on his shoulder. At around 2:00 we wondered where the rest of the class was, and found them in the second floor chunk of the exhibit. The staircase we ascended had this red glass over the windows (a lot of the museum had redglass installed for the China show) but the glare of it was horrid. The second floor had pop culture things. And a Chinese typewriter that was insane. It was cool. Not something I'd consider Portland Art Museum worthy. Also at the museum was a Raphael. A portrait of a woman with a veil. It was all artsy and stuff. A great master painting, but since it was given the star treatment with its own guard and own room, it just seemed not special enough for the treatment. The Rijks Museum had many masterworks, but they were not over cared for (except the Night Watch, but that is the blood Night Watch).

Daniel and I started to walk back to school together, but then the streetcar was 2 minutes away so we waited. I loitered in the Library for two hours, while waiting for the screen printing class to leave. Distracted Madeline. Put up show posters. Finished up show. All that.

Printing was easy as pie. I got my 8 done in under 15 minutes and then just printed a pile of extras to give away to people. Lucky Lynch is the new Lucky Luna. I helped Natalie with screen printing. Talked to the people who were just learning. I think I oozed confidence or something. The piece looked darn cool. I am very pleased with it. I just wish that the second color hadn't been so difficult to print. I think I would have had a larger number of nice prints if I didn't fudge so many of that layer. Oh well. Live and learn and do yoga.

Gave Lynch prints to the yoga crew. Then went home and chilled because I was done done done. HA! It feels good to not have school work for a while. Next week is looking like a nice rest period. No finals due.

Made cupcakes for my show. Ran out of eggs and had to substitute butter for vegetable oil. Still edible.

Thursday:
Critique! We did it differently this time. We got up and talked about our method and ideas for five minutes and then it was opened up to questions and critique. There was a pause and then I went first. I talked about Lynch and how ideas are like fish, and how I conceived of the composition and image, and all that. It was a generally awesome critique. Lots of positives, and only some of the blue printing was commented on. Felt good, and the good art kept rolling. Danny's Hitler was very Bacon. Very physical and nice. Beth's tangle of wires was resolved and spectacular. Kristen's Roxy Music had great warps of anatomy. Well I could run through all the pieces but it would be the same Mad Lib: (name of classmate)'s piece was well rendered. It was very (insert generic positive comment) and had great (color/body party).

Kristen, Danny, and I went to Chipotle. Delicious huge burrito. Mmm. Sustain me all day. Mmmm.

After lunch, Martin gave us a lecture on the marketplace and the specifics of things like pricing, and jobs, and management, and all the stuff that is important to know. And what some words mean. All very important. Then we broke early. Martin and I had a meeting at 4pm to go over my progress. Check in and see how I'm doing, that old thing. We talked about being confident with lines and intelligence in image making. A good meeting.

After that, I saw in the library with my bowl of cupcakes and waited for people that were familiar. Bekka and I stuck around till the cupcakes were gone. It took about an hour (people actually refused free sweets).

After the library, I went to 12th and Washington for the Little Gods show. Katie was in it, it is also a part of the grand opening of this huge new condo building. At first I waited in the line to check out the penthouses, but it wasn't moving so I went to the show. Katie introduced all the work, except for Christopher's, which he explained himself. It was installation and animation things. Katie's was nice. I saw her work on it all summer and now I finally got a chance to interact with it. Some webcam thingie where you can cast curses on people. Then I went back to the penthouse line.

I must say the penthouses were disappointing. I expected better from the 23rd floor. Small bedrooms and tiny bathtubs. Great view, but that was it. Still, free food. Kenny and Zuke's. Mmmm. Chocolate as well.

It was rainy and miserable and my bum got totally wet from my bike seat. My bag had blown off during the day. Booo.

Got home. Ate sweets. Finished burrito. Watched TV.

The next illustration is totally open ended in terms of what we want to present. The theme is: Natural Phenomena. I have no idea where to start.

down down down

Internet went down right as I was trying to get into blogger. Dang. Oh well. Don't have time for a full entry right now. See you guys tonight!

Character Creation

Character Creation
A show by Bekka Hannesdottir and Trillian Spencer
Up for the month of November in the Charles Voorhies Fine Art Library in PNCA

short post

It's 1am. I get up in 6 hours. Lets make this quick.

Printed. Did 6 prints, tried to be abstract. Didn't really think that hard, I was out of it and sat in the other studio by myself.

Put up show. Bekka and I arranged our pieces in the single case. Looks nice. Needs a title and posters and blurb, but we got it.

Silk screened. At 4, I switched techniques. The first color went down smooth. I had to rearrange my screen and mylar three times to fit the long image. It was really hard to print it. Thankfully I don't need perfect registration. The second color isn't as presentable as I would like it to be, but I think once I apply the final image it will all come together. I'll be able to go home tomorrow and get some good rest. After Yoga of course.

Worked on paper. Then took a break and watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which is about how insanely arbitrary the film rating system is. Also the people who rate films and decide the appeals of filmmakers are all kept very secret and hush hush. The film hires some investigators to find out the secret identities of the raters. It's cool.

Fire alarm. It went off. Again. Stuffed Luna in Grandpa's suitcase.

Essay finished. Not really great but I don't really care. I don't understand what the guidelines are and even though he tries to play loose and breezy, it will still get red penned. Whatever.

same old, and not the same

Decent enough critique. My work needed some work. Some stuff was good, some stuff was bad. Same old.

Had Quizno's for lunch. Did reading response. Same old.

After lunch we split in half again and read our short stories out loud. Danny had some lovely mood language, Cassi's was long but had some great descriptions of a punching bag, Bryan's had it's usual charm, Robyn's had me thinking of Lutefisk, and Nicole's blew us all out of the water. She had voices and it was just lovely and a joy to listen to. She was shy so we all turned our backs to her while she read, and she knocked it out of the park.

Mine was fairly well received. The main comment was that it needed a little more, but in general they dug it.

We took a break. I photocopied my Lynch and turned it into a silk screen transfer. Unfortunately all the woodblock/silk screen classes have become silk screen (they do one technique up until midterm and then switch). Now the studio will have more people in it, and if I want to print I will have to wait till after 5.

After break, we learned about flash fiction. That is what we are doing next. Easy enough in appearance. We were all handed different ones to read and mine was from the point of view of someone with dementia. I didn't know how terrified I was of it, until I read that story. It really disturbed me and that feeling stuck.

Then I put emulsion on my screen and worked on making the other Lynch transfers. A razor was bumped in the drying room and it slashed my screen. By that I mean, the taught screen was torn from top to bottom rendering the screen useless until it becomes re-stretched. Thankfully I have two backup screens (and the one that was busted was the less favored of my larger ones). Still, that sucks. Oh well. Applied emulsion to my other screens and let them dry.

Yoga. My right hip and foot have been paining me. I rocked at yoga but in one seated forward bending pose, my leg suffered immense twinges and tweaks and general agony.

After yoga, I exposed my screens and washed them out. They look great. Hurray! Can't wait to start printing. It will be generally a small edition, for the purpose of the assignment. With time I can make more.

Went home and read Barry Sander's very depressing essay about how The Daily Show makes us passive to the horror that is the news. And all that.

Mad Men had the Kennedy assassination episode. It was intense.

working through it all

Sweet, it is 1am and I am ready to go to bed. That's a good feeling.

David Lynch: drawn. I've been staring at his face for so long that it doesn't look like him anymore though. The hand looks small. The eyes feel crooked. It's hard to say, but I'll bring my supplies and work on it some more tomorrow. I have time.

Reading Response: done. It was super short and a little confusing, but a much needed rest from some of the heavy stuff she has had us read.

Illustrations for Short Story: Done. Like the portrait more than the table, but I think they will both go together nicely.

Short Story: Edited and finalized and I like it so much more. Has a nice length and a sense of completeness I feel. I'm very proud of it, I just wish I could have illustrated it more the way I would have liked. But if I sign up for advanced silkscreen, then I will spend that time making comics and make this story into a comic.

Meetings begin next week and registration is soon to follow. I can't believe it is already that time again. I have to take the second part of Illustration II. Everything else is up in the air. I want to take Le Fig part two, advanced silkscreen, and maybe another lit seminar. I'll just see what's what on the list.

I woke up sick and that persisted. I had a feverish, almost delirious night sleep. No good at all. I had toast for breakfast, goldfish for munching, and made an early pasta dinner which I ate through the night. Drank plenty of fluids and stayed warm. I think with having about 8 hour to devote to bed time, I'll be in good shape for next week.

Next week is busy. I have printing to do and a possible date on Tuesday, if I can get my essay sorted in enough time.

Today's watch list included four episodes of the Avengers, two episodes of New Amsterdam, and Goodfellas.

illin'

I don't like being sick. Too much irregular eating has caught up to me and really weakened my body. This sucks.

Woke up with my alarm. Got the place cleaned up. Ate some oatmeal and orange juice. Called Bekka.

From around 2 to 10, we worked on art. We cut the paper, taped the paper, and drew drew drew! Our play list was: Idiocracy, Four Rooms, episode of Lie to Me (Tim Roth double feature), Chicago, and half of Repo: The Genetic Opera. We cranked our show out. Got 16 little painted pieces ready to be put up in the library. Go us! We got pizza for dinner. Mmm. So yeah, just painted all day. I felt continually bad.

Katie went out dressed as Dakota Block from Planet Terror. She looked really good. Got her hair done and everything.

Bekka left. Katie left. Now it is almost Midnight Halloween night and I am indoors and ill. It sucks. I'd like to go out and party but I don't have the energy or the health to do it. I'd rather be out having fun, but my better sense is keeping me home and miserable. Oh well. Next year.

girls go go

I woke up today and looked at the clock. It read 2:15.

Got up. Showered. Drank a big thing of tea. Watched some Telly. Katie, Luke, and I went to Leaky Roof and had the usual (plus one, Luke). Shelly wasn't there. It was a good meal and it kept me going through the day.

After than I went to Art Media and picked up some paper for the show Bekka and I are doing. Got three sheets of whiteish paper. Then I stopped by Safeway and picked up bread, cake, juice, and a huge thing of toilet paper. The toilet paper was too big to fit in my side basket, but I rigged it to stay using my scarf.

Sipped juice. Did nothing. Got my pre-Halloween costume on. It is one of Katie's actually. This waitress uniform she had in her costume trunk. I tied my hair back and put on my Gap name tag and I was ready to go. Katie was Batman again.

We went to Fez. Or some place that sounds like Fez. It had a cover, which kept out the majority of slimy Portland folk. Which was nice. I had my standard vodka & cranberry. Then we hit the dance floor. First some douchehat danced with me. I moved to a Wario pretty quick. He was nice. We took a break then returned. Dance dance danced. Danced with a guy who was in a track suit with the Hammer and Sickle on it. Said he was the Olympics. Or something. I didn't quite get it but his name was Aaron. We sat and chatted for a bit. We might hang out again before he goes back the Philedelphia. Small world though, he came with Ric who is one of the tech guys at my school. He left (with my number) and I shimmied a few songs with a German guy. Then Katie and I walked home. It was a really fun night. Aside from that first guy I danced with.

My alarm is set (I've only been awake 12 hours now, hahah). Gotta get up and work on show with Bekka. If I get done, then I may go out again.

the cold has set in

Forgot to mention that yesterday's post was my 900th. I might do something for my thousandth. That will be around, what, February?

Exhaaausted. This was a long week with a lot of late nights.

First part of class was a printing demo and explanation courtesy of JP. He told us about paper and all the different things one can run through the printer.

The second phase critique went fast. A lot of good ideas and good progress. Generally a greater volume of work and some larger pieces. It's nice to see. Martin said my piece was ready to go. I think I'll do a three transfer silk screen. If I get the ink drawing done this weekend, I'll be in good shape.

I had some of those Trader Joe's noodles for lunch but my appetite for them wasn't strong. I was hungry but I just didn't feel like eating. And I like food.

Rest of class was spent doing the digital thing. I finished early but hung around till Martin said we could leave. I like my printout. Having big work like that, it looks good.

Went home. Worked on getting my appetite back. Caught up a bit on television. Played dress up with Katie's costume box a little.

The Portland chill has come. Gloves are permanently stored in my helmet so I never forget them when I go riding. My mobius strip scarf has returned. The jacket I choose to wear differs, but sleeves are a must.

that hair

I had a really restless night sleep and that put me in a funk for the whole day. And my ears are still ringing. That's what I get for never going to shows.

Revlon can outlast so much but not a pasty and a thermos full of Billy Tea. It was weird. I applied it perfect and then by 9:30 it was almost all off. We learned how to destroy common spaces, you have to destroy it in the mind. And how late night new comedy shows wipe the guilt plate clean. Like, they cleans your mind and make you feel okay with all the horrors in the world. Hmm. Then we watched an hour of Fitscarraldo. Amazing moving. Loving it.

History of Printmaking covered some of the plans for next week (epic museum trip) and then we got into our creative writing exercises. Everyone picked a really wide selection of prints, which was great. Saw a wide variety of artists and had some good things to listen to. I was fourth to last to go. I was pretty out of it but it still worked.

I had another quesedilla for lunch. I've fallen into a bad no-lunch-making pattern. I ran out of bread and haven't bothered to buy another load. Bad bad Trillian. Diana and I talked about TV and I bought a cola to sustain me after lunch. It was cold but I didn't need my rain pants (but I had them with me).

After class I took three 45 minute naps back to back in the library. I was curled up in one of the big chairs and passed right out and woke right up in pretty even times. It was enough to keep me going through Yoga but having a near empty stomach made it really difficult. It was just Hillary and me doing it today, but that was nice. Did a variation of things and really worked our hands.

It took over an hour between getting home and eating, to get to the working point. I was very queasy. I didn't over stuff myself for my final meal of the day. Probably a good thing. I'm trying to work on my portions. I tend to eat till I'm full and I eat late in the day. The only problem is I inadvertently go long times between small meals, because I get caught up in work or napping. The lunch to after studio stretch is quite long.

But once I got paper in my lap, I drew drew drew some David David David Lynch. His hair is just amazing.

long haul

Uhg do I really have to blog right now? I am supremely drunk. Christ. Okay.

Monotype was great. I did six portraits. We did the viscosity stuff again. Olive green and red. I'm sick of red. Whooooo for spell check. Okay. I'll keep on track. Better. Okay. Yeah. Robin was picked on for liking pink. I choose to no longer pick on Robin. A girl came in, Vanessa I believe her name was, she came in and showed her monotype portfolio. It was cool. I ate a bagel for lunch with Madeline. We talked nerdy things. It was nice. I did six portraits in total for class: Robin, Danielle, Jay, Serenity x2, and Tom. The Serenity one at first looked like ectoplasm so I reprinted it. I've switched to cheaper paper. I photocopied both the Jay and Serenity one for them.

I brought Katie's Glue Gun back home for her. Then we got ready. Ready for what? The PNCA party at Berbatis Pan or Belbatis Pan or B-something Pan. Yeahhh! The Halloween party. I finished my paper before the party so I wouldn't have to do it after. Read Mom's email about her being a Lumberjack zombie and how she wants to be a part of Thrill Around The World. Go mom! Anyway yeah. Finished little assignment for class. Then I dressed up as Wenda, aka Waldo's Girlfriend from Where's Waldo. Changed pants and shoes for skirt, tights, and boots. Looked good. Katie was Batman. We missed the Max but caught the next one. I had a Cranberry Vodka, Katie had a whiskey with beer back. She had four total over the night. I finished Jay's beer and then had a drink with Mona at the end of the night. So I'm now feeling that last drink which was coasting on the tail of the beers. I danced, I ate free food, I chatted, and I participating in a costume contest. I didn't win (Katie did though). But I got pretty far along. At the end, with the heavy metal band, it was only Illustration majors on the dance floor. Oh and Katie. Jon, Janessa Josh, Dominic, this dude, Katie, and Myself. I left with Katie and we walked to catch the Max. I walked, she stumbled. I continued to talk to her, to keep her awake. She was dressed as Batman so I asked her Batman questions. Some nice guy helped me get her off the Max. Right now she is on her bed, with her alarm hopefully set to go off at 8:30am, but I can't be sure. I'm drinking water and waiting for the ringing to stop.

Bed time!

7:00am edit:
My ears won's stop ringing. The first band was some sort of cover band, the second was the scream loud metal kind but they were entertainers. Too bad most of the kids left after the costume contest. There were about 50 people there, which was almost a decent sized crowd. Could have been more but it was a Tuesday night and some people had to get up for class.

red lips, yellow pants, blue shirt

Black tea got me through. Except I dribbled on myself and now my blue vneck has a stain and it didn't wash out when I did laundry. Mild critique and then lunch. I hit up Chipotle for the all day lasting meal: the burrito. Talked to Michaela and Dom in the library a bit.

For the next hour we had meetings with either Daniela or Sara about our stories. They read them and then gave us immediate responses. Mine needed some more explanation and a proper spell check. I rearranged things on the file at school but the magic of iMacs made it so it didn't save at all. The file just vanished. Lame. If Apples are so great, how come they still have to use Microsoft Office programs?

It was a work time so I spent a long time Googling the different centuries and making a character list of immortal people so that I wouldn't accidentally overlap. Then we watched a slide show of portraiture.

After class I finished my burrito and read the first chapter of Dylan Dog. This comic is awesome. Great lines, wonderful character designs, and overall superb execution. Talked to Kim a little and then it was yoga time.

Did a lot of side stretches. My ankles didn't hold up so well.

Katie made Larb. I did laundry and watched a couple episodes of New Amsterdam. Really enjoying it, sad that it ended after 8 episodes. I'm going to finish this episode of So You Think You Can Dance and then go to bed. Yay for specials that only have dancing and no harsh competition!

Oh, it was really rainy today so I had my rain pants. No biggie. Still devoted to the red lipstick. I don't think it is going anywhere.

sketchbook Responses - 4 - Them Old Cowboy Songs

Sketchbook responses to Annie Proulx's Them Old Cowboy Songs.

Graphite and ink on cheap paper.

now the work ethic kicks in

I got up. Finished Annie Proulx's short story. It was massively depressing. Stillborn baby eaten by coyotes? Really? Dang. Then I worked on drawing and painting for many hours. Watched a lot of InfoMania and started watching New Amsterdam. It's on Hulu.com. About this guy who can't age or die until he finds his soul mate (some Native American curse thing he got when he arrived in America a few centuries ago, he is actually Dutch). It's interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes I watched. His son is a nice character and since the short story I am working on is along the same lines, it is cool to study how they did it. Sad it was canceled.

So I worked and worked. When I sit back in my chair, I really notice the crick in my neck. It may be almost 3am but at least I don't have to roll out of bed till 10.

Blah blah blah.

Homework. I have a good pace going and I feel good about this. And for once a story won't be about barely getting to the minimum length.

field trip

Worked on Annie Proulx's Them Old Cowboy Songs. For Narrative Image. Tomorrow will be a long work day, as usual. It's hard to get into it on Saturday.

Need to do laundry. I need more underwear. I run out of clean underpants before I run out of clothes. Then again, keeping it at this number keeps me washing clothes at reasonable intervals and that I don't have to do many loads at once.

There was an illustration field trip today. All those who wanted were to show up at Pioneer Place at 6:30ish and get a free ticket for Where The Wild Things Are. Dominic & Michaela, Madeline, Kristen, Cassie, Daniel H, Kim, and a few others showed up. We played "pretend that person is Martin" while waiting. A game where you imagine people dressed in parkas and bright colors as Mr. French. It was fun.

The movie was very touching. Beautiful imagery and direction. I didn't cry but I was emotional. It was a good watch.

Ate some of the pasta from mom's package. Had to buy some milk first.