improv???

Blissfilled wonderful sleep. Mornings free of panic and worry. Great feelings. But now I just realized how much I have to accomplish tomorrow. Oops oh well.

Had a breakfast of bagel and tea. Need to go shopping. Tomorrow. I'll do that tomorrow.

Rode down to the library to get a new library card since I can't find my old one. Did that. Went to Josephine's Dry Goods and bought some new buttons to sew onto my pea coat (a coat that has been in need of buttons for years). All though the coat is so old and worn and was cheap to begin with...but buttons will spruce it up!

After that I coasted to a couple other places looking for something but I forget what because I couldn't find it. Treated myself to a cupcake from Cupcake Jones. Uber big cupcake. Then went home.

Finished Clash of Kings. AHhhh that final chapter! I don't get it! What was that? Time to start listening to Storm of Swords.

Tonight, thanks to PNCA, I got a free ticket to see The Mitch Show at Bodyvox. I wasn't quite sure what it would be, because the description was sort of vague. Improv? Video? I knew there would be audience participation, and I was down for that. So I went there. Met Carrie and her sister Jenny. My seat was front row center pretty much. He showed us some of his funny videos, that were perfectly hilarious. Then he had us all stand up and one by one sit down if an answer to a series of his questions applied to us. I got out with "I updated my Facebook status today" but not the ones about checking email since you had been in the theater and knowingly eating gluten free. The first major audience participation thing I volunteered for. We were all given mp3 players and headphones and a beanie to keep them on. The players were started at the same time and gave each of the five volunteers stage directions and lines to say. It all synced up and we all played parts of this play, even though it was totally new to us. And I must say it was FUN. I just wish I could have watched us do it. I played a mutant chasing a gang of teenagers, a person doing the twist, some person trying to pull someone through a time vortex, a lady in 1812 and a gunslinger! It was awesome. Everyone on stage really hammed it up and went for it. I had a blast, and was sad that it finished. Technology has really revolutionized things. There was another thing where he made a guitar hero esque game except with laughing that we all played. So when our laugh came up, we did it. It made an interesting audience coordination. There was ALSO a bit where he lined up people in the formation of bowling pins, Mitchell Rose in the front. And well explaining this thing would take too much effort so I'm not going to bother. But it was great. His videos were awesome as well. Loved it. So glad I went.

It was rainy on the way back, but I'll take rain over snow. SNL was hosted by Dana Carvey for some reason and it was pretty funny. Linkin Park was the musical guest and they were not good.

Now I'm just chilling. I think I'm going to sit in bed, sew buttons on my jacket, and listen to Game of Thrones. I'll set my alarm and get a fresh early start or something. Have a lot of reading to do and some writing as well. All though it is 750 words and pfft, thats like...nothing. Also have some drawing to do. There is also this drop off for this Thing A Day show. The drop off is on the other side of the river, and I have to photocopy my project. It will make a nice excursion. When I cruise down to my studio to pick up some stuff, I'll just keep cruising to the East side. Maybe. I might just get lazy instead...

Todays Portrait Is: Elliot Mann.

panic receding, is it a tide or a drain though?

Uhg. Totally horrid start to that day. I just couldn't think about ANYTHING with my thesis. Totally blocked. Horribly, horribly, inexcusably, blocked. So I knew waking up that I would have to face Martin and say "I'm blocked. Help." Got up early anyway. Looked at some portrait books. Piddled around on the internet. Just got increasingly more anxious and tense and about ready to panic. Time moves forward and I had to go face my fate with Martin. I managed to keep it together through it all, no tears! I just admitted I was stuck and he gave me some great advice. I pretty much lopped off the seven mantra for seven poster chunk of my thesis. Some of the core values of the mantras I am passionate about will remain in the body, but I won't be bound by that. Now my thesis is changing into studies of friends and the who and why. Still will be distributed, but it is more a presentation of my group and some of the bigger ideals. I really wish I had recorded what Martin said so I could listen to it again. His advice was perfect and the weight and panic lifted in such a short amount of time. Now I have some drawing that I am actually excited to do. Now I can spend time with people drawing them in a manner that I enjoy. Now I can do a thesis that I have passion for. When I started down this road, I did have the passion, but I didn't have a good idea of the images and lumping it all together. Now I have some freedom. It will still be folded up, but I think I'll have more free writing instead of analysis.

Just can't be bothered to do something I have no enthusiasm for, especially when it comes to art.

Yoga was cancelled, I think Fawn wasn't feeling too well. Went to Safeway and got myself a beer treat. A nice Ninkasi red ale in one of those slightly bigger than a pint bottles. And got some cash. Took that cash to the laundromat and changed it into quarters for laundry. Hurray.

Popped my laundry into the laundry machines. Two loads! A lot of shirts needed washing. Popped open my beer, made some pasta, and allowed myself to unwind. Now that I'm in a good direction once again, I need a night to regroup so I can attack tomorrow with vigor and enthusiasm. Fringe was good. Community, watching it another time, was also good. Now I'm waiting on Portlandia. But it should also be funny.

Todays Portrait Is: Nicci Spisak.

heat is needed

I'm not feeling too hot but I just drank a bunch of black tea so going to bed isn't an option. Damn. The problem with the studios at school is that every minute you spend in them feels like another minute closer to never being warm again in your life. There are overhead heaters in the open space that is used for critiques. But that doesn't do diddly for all the spaces. It is so FREAKING HORRIBLY COLD. I sit there trying to work and I have all my layers on. It seems almost warmer outside. I need to get a space heater. Maybe tomorrow I'll go over to Fred Meyers and check out their wares.

For the first hour of class we looked at our assignments. Some really great stuff was drawn. Mine was cool just not all that dynamic. I could have worked harder on it, but didn't. Josh's looked swell. Dom resolved the translation from the sketchbook image to the final really well. Nice batch of work. After that Kristin gave us a little run down about how to talk with clients and stuff.

For lunch I went to Chipotle. First lunch bought this semester, go me! Normally I'm lazy and buy lunch once to twice a week. Oh wait, I think I got pizza some other day. Err. Anyway. Back in class we talked about the website blog project we are working on. Mine is Portraitoday so I didn't really have much to offer, since I'm already on track and have the site set up and all that. It is good to be ahead on a couple things (blogging mostly) so I don't have to worry about adding another thing to my schedule that has been in my schedule for three and a half years now.

The next assignment was given. It is to do a piece for a themed blog and submit it. There is this site where people draw recipes called They Draw And Cook, and I'm going to do that one with Brynne's chili recipe! So I'll be drawing the recipe and submitting it to the site. There are other submission based things, but naaah. I'm just going with the first hunch. And I got some good sketches done. So I think this one I'll really spend time on, as I'm excited about it.

After class I froze in my studio. Checked out some books on portraiture. Took a nap. Stared at my notes trying to make some sense of thesis. I didn't think I'd be blocked like this. It SUCKS. I have a much needed meeting with Martin tomorrow. I don't know what to expect. A scolding? Maybe in the next ten minutes I'll have a breakthrough. I think I'll sit in bed and draw. Because in bed, it is warm.

Oh totally forgot to mention yoga. It was tough. Really strained my legs. We were extending in downwards facing dog the length of the mat and I'm short so I couldn't hold myself up and I flopped on the ground. Thankfully it wasn't a BIG drop. Got right into position and resumed. It felt so good though. I'm so glad yoga is back in my life. I've missed it so much. And it warmed my frozen body right up.

Todays Portrait Is: Travis Brainerd.

back in the studio

Slept in more than I intended to. It is so hard to face a long day of work. Shouldn't feel like work. But I think it is because it isn't drawings or stuff I'm doing with confidence. It is the nitty gritty. Anyway, got up. Got my stuff together. Packed a lunch of a sandwich, apple, meringues, and almonds. I put on many layers, planning to not need them. But the studio remained horribly cold all damn day. I was in shirt, light sweater, hoodie, and jacket pretty much non stop. Sometimes I had my scarf on. Listened to a lot of Clash of Kings. I'm now two thirds of the way through it just about. It is so good! So scandalous and magical and awesome. The first half of the first book is set up, and it has been non stop pay off ever since.

Worked on the text for my poster. Worked on finalizing a type face based on my hand writing. It was just a lot of careful lettering, but I've settled on my letters now. So that is good. Not sure how they will work on a bold scale. But I can always work on them and make them bold. Still not sure what I will say in the essay. Had a nice talk with Dom about thesis stuff. He is a rad dude to bounce ideas off of. Anyway. Worked on my letters. Then I read a bit from the Turabian book of technical things for thesis. Printed out the paper I have to read. Went to Safeway and picked up some food stores to leave in the studio for snack emergencies (pop tarts and propel and snickers). It is good to have food on hand. Worked on my stuff for Illustration. Didn't have references on hand for the rest of it. So I went home. To finally get warm.

I watched pretty much all of Downtown Abbey tonight. Thankfully I wrote most of this post at around 10pm, so now that it is 3am I won't be exhaustedly hammering out my days stuff. Downtown Abbey is FANTASTIC! Period drama. Great cast. Great costumes. Ahhh perfect show to watch while I draw stuff and ink stuff and otherwise do stuff that seems to take longer than it should. This piece looks so awkward. Totally not senior level stuff. Don't know whats up with that. I'm probably just tired.

Todays Portrait Is: Josh Ramp.

ooo eee ooo ah ahh ting tang walla walla bing bang

Things take longer than you anticipate them to.

In student council yoga three times a week was approved. Yay! Now I have another thing to structure my week, and more fitness in my regimen. I'm running low on food again. Need to go shopping. I'm pretty much just in pasta mode right now. Bah. Pasta and bagels. After student council I put up the shelves in my studio. It took a little longer than I was expecting but they look great. Now I have a place for books and other things. I can't put too much on them, as they are just screwed into the studio walls. Still, it is good to have them. My studio looks so great. It's all colorful and stuff. I need to bring more layers down, because it gets randomly chilly. Just some shirts and a sweater or two. And a scarf. After the shelves I made the yoga poster for the Spring Semester. Drew the figure and then brought it into photoshop and actually added color. I figured that since it would be up all semester, I might as well put in the buck fifty that color copies cost. Not saying one costs that much, but about fifteen do. Put them up around school. They are so bright and eye catching. I think people are afraid of yoga, and what the fitness might imply. They should just get with it and do it!

After that I rode home to grab a snack. Didn't want to do yoga hungry. Returned. Put on my new Guggenheim shirt (courtesy of auntie Kirie and uncle Mark) and stretchy pants and got down to yoga. And boy am I out of it. Lots of struggle. I wonder how much I'll feel in the morning. Still, it felt good to get back into it.

Returned home. It is so easy to zip back and forth. I haven't timed it, but it certainly is less than four minutes to school and no more than six or seven back. Real quick. Spend almost more time waiting for cars on 21st and 14th than riding between the blocks. And occasionally I see a gorgeous car. But mostly there are dinky little Mazdas.

It was bright today but cold cold cold. Back to legging weather again I guess.

Worked on portraits while watching White Collar and Lights Out. If I'm going to do something unproductive like watching tellie, I might as well do something productive like draw. I'm getting faster with the portraits. Likenesses are still hit or miss. But it has only been a month. Can't imagine where I'll be in four!

Tomorrow is a sit in the studio and draw day. I have a lot of drawing that needs doing. But Wednesday is my most wide open day. No class and no yoga (which is T, Th, F). I have a lot of drawing though I don't quite know most of what I'm drawing. I'll just draw and listen to my precious audio book. Leave the computer and internet and distractions at home where they belong.

Thesis is difficult. Right now my mind is all "why didn't I think this project through a little bit better?" Oh well.

Todays Portrait Is: Becky Holladay. Bonus Portrait: Becky in color!

Yoga Poster: Spring 2011

Micron Pen.

Photoshop.

newakami

I hate it when I remember that I have to actually get up earlier that I thought and it is already late. Oh well. Getting to school by 11:30 am isn't that bad. Washed my hair, which is worth noting because I keep playing the "can I go another day without washing it?" game. Long hair sucks. And my hair is prone to tangles if I don't put goop in it. The henna kept it looking really nice for a while. Hmmn. Anyway. I got to school and put in my five entries for the Society of Illustrators student competition thingy. Then I worked on adding some color to tomorrows Portraitoday. There will be a bonus post! One month down, 11 to go and my list is almost full. If there is anyone that you would like me to draw, just say so.

Oh, I also hauled my Ikea shelves that I bought ages ago down to my studio, along with my power tools. Once I buy screws, I can put them up, and then I'll have even more storage space in my studio. Whoo!

I went back home after that little school excursion. Ate some scramble. The frozen veggie kind, not the meat kind. Had some tea. Worked on my writing analysis a little more. Not sure how I feel about it. Went to class.

Good ol class. For the first bit we did some free writing. And then we went to the library and pulled up Zotero. I struggled using the software. Also I need to find my library card. Or get a new one. So we tooled around on that. Zotero is a link keeping, bibliography making type thing. Then it was break time. I chilled with Robin and Mel and met this friend of Robin's named Kiki. Back in class Joan gave us a run down of different types of thesis papers. We also discussed the difficulty of "why". "Why is this important" "why is that" "why why why". I put forward my sort of thoughts about variant printmaking in regards to the standards of editions for a mind mapping experiment. So we discussed that. Then we moved on to a good discussion of Casey Brown's thesis essay. I put forward I think the most negatives. It was apparently a high pass paper. It did flow well. My negatives were mostly about it lacking definition and explanations for certain things. It did talk about sculpture in a very accessible way for a non sculptor.

Class ended. I rode to Powell's to pick up the writing manual that we are required to get. Also the new Ryu Murakami novel is out! Hurray! So I got the 6th edition of the manual and Popular Hits of the Showa Era. So excited! I love Murakami. Author of Piercing, not Wind Up Bird Chronicles. That is Haruki Murakami. Anyway. From Powell's I went to Ace Hardware and bought some screws. Returned home finally. Ate some dinner. Worked on some stuff. Watched Lie To Me. I think I'm done with that show (all though I think it just had its season finale). There isn't a larger plot. Just Tim Roth being awesome.

Anyway, I think I'll tuck in to bed early and read my new book that I have been very excited about for months ever since I learned a new Murakami book was due in 2011.

Todays Portrait Is: Janessa Bork.

crafters and artists, why is it one or the other?

Got out of bed early. Showered. Had some breakfast. Then I scooted off to downtown to have a mid afternoon hang out with Rollyn. It's good to relax for a bit before getting down to the serious dreary rest of the day grind. We couldn't get Portlandia to work on his computer because he didn't have the proper codecs. His Internet was dial up slow so I couldn't fiddle with it to get the proper codecs. So we watched MST3K: Soul Taker instead. And ordered pizza. That is my ideal Sunday afternoon. Cheesy movies, food with cheese, and a cute boy. Yes indeed. He had a script read through for a short film he is in, so I didn't stay long. Which is good. Because I had important stuff to get to doing!

It is also nice to get extra bike rides whenever possible. I'm biking a lot less these days and I think I'm noticing how I am falling out of shape compared to the days when I biked to school five or so times a week.

Stopped by Utrecht and got some more little sketchbooks to do Portraitoday in. Also Microns were cheap, so I got some more. Microns are cheap pens that work well with the type of moleskins that I draw in. I love how artists find their "thing" their "mediums". Mine, for sketching, are microns in size 01 and the floppy moleskins that come in 3 packs. They have a good line width and are not super precious, so if it explodes (like when I shake it to get the ink into the felt tip and I shake it too much) or if the nib breaks or goes into the pen...no biggie.

Got home. Got the latest episode of Top Gear downloading. Since that would take a while, I put on the kettle and got to reading the thesis paper Joan assigned us. It is an interesting read and it relates a lot to my project on several levels. It is about the craftsman and the artist and the differences. My main problem is he (Casey Brown, the writer) doesn't establish a definition for either. Are you a craftsman because you employee craftsman techniques? Or are you a craftsman because you make craft. Is it the technique or the product. At one point it seems to be the product because he talks about for something to be craft it has to serve the function first before aesthetics, and then he talks about this artist who identifies as a craftsman and uses the techniques but doesn't make objects that serve a functional purpose. And that seems more aligned with how Casey Brown is talking about the artist.

For me, craftsman are just a subjection of artist. Dad is an artist whose section of artistry is craft, mom is an artist whose section of artistry is textiles (as well as drawing and all sorts of things). I'm taking a little reading break right now and typing this up. I like blogging in chunks through the day. It makes it so I can relate stuff fresh on my mind better, and it helps me not stay up late with blogging. I hate making stunted posts because it is 2am and I am tired, but I still want to post. Anyway, back to reading.

*****

Okay that essay never quite established a definition of craft and art. It's good to know that if I'm talking about an either or type thing, I need to define the either and the or. If something isn't both and only plays between things, the things it plays between need clear definitions. Had some pasta for dinner and a beer with it. The beer actually helped with the reading. Nursed that sucker as I turned page after page. Removed the "WHAT DOES THIS SENTENCE MEAN WHY CAN'T I GET PAST READING THESE SAME 12 WORDS" anxiety that plagues me when it comes to "intellectual" reading. Getting through it is the first step to understanding. Worked on portraits and watched my Sunday night round up. I'll probably be up late. Have a little mini analysis to write. 750 words. This single blog post is over 700 words. And half of that is just about what I ate and who I hung out with. Anyway, back to watching Top Gear and working on drawing.

Todays Portrait Is: Addie Vawdrey.

questions

One thing I am pretty stumped on when it comes to thesis are the sheer amount of questions to consider. I was a little unprepared for this. So for the sake of any non thesis person reading this, or for my family who wonders what I mean when I write "well I sat around and thought a lot", here is an insight into the questions that thesis brings:

general questions:

-what is the work that you want your work to do in the world?

-how will your work do that work?

-what are the questions that you are asking of the work, the research, and the writing?

-how would you describe your area of inquiry and how you are carving it out?

-what is at stake in how you are arranging, thinking about, disturbing and/or aligning your position with the research that you have done thus far?

-how has history, the art world, and/or art history framed these issues that are before you?

-how will your unique framing of these issues contribute to the discourse of art, art history, media studies, etc?

-what agency do you attribute to your role as maker? to your work? to the role of the viewer, the spectator, the visitor or the public, (or publics)?

-how are you thinking about the idea of where meaning is made? does it reside in the object that is made? the makers intention? with the viewer or public (or publics)?

-as I think about locating my practice as an artist, this is how I might situated my work relative to the work of others (historically and in the present):

-as I locate my own writing (the function, form, and style of the thesis paper), I would like to locate that writing relative to the following types and/or examples of writing:

-as I think about career choices I would like to locate my practice, and the development of my career, in the following way(s):

Yikes, right? I have some thesis specific questions too, but those are more personal conversations between Martin and I.

arvey & melissa

Got up early, well got up at the usual time of around 10, because Karen was taking me to Arvey paper! It was a giant place for reems of different papers. I needed to check out paper for my thesis and figure out what I am to print on. It was a nice bright day. Threw on my new shoes. Karen picked me up and off we went to the magical land of paper. Since I'm not picking "art" paper for my thesis, that is to say "archival", I have the benefit of ordering reems. I just needed to pick up some samples to test on. I needed to test how a sheet would react to say, three layers of screenprinting ink with double sided printing. And I needed to see how it folded. Didn't want to buy a ton of paper only to find out the paper was crap.

So I looked at paper. And then looked at a paper sample book. And then talked to the guy and found out how much a big thing of the paper would be. Went "EGADS" and he directed me to the paper I could buy by the sheet. So I grabbed a sample of each type, even though I knew I wouldn't be printing on some of them. It is good to know. I also bought some little tags to make business cards out of. Karen and I wandered over to this craft store to look at stuff, but there wasn't much to look at.

At Mazatlan we grabbed lunch. I had a chimichonga. We discussed "the system" and anarchy and stuff like that. We swung by my place, where I grabbed some of my reading, and went down to school. I figured that since I had the time I might as well be productive.

So Karen, Carla, Heather, and BT were there working on restretching screens (the process of pulling fabric taut and then gluing it to a metal frame). BT mainly tore the screens off, while Karen learned how to do it. I applied emulsion to a screen and got some stuff ready to print. Mainly just samples. Something small, something big and flat. Just some sort of printing to mimic the type of printing that I would do. So I would print that on the paper samples I had, so that I could see how the paper reacts to the printing and also how it folds with the printed matter.

So I got the screen ready to go and I printed and it printed well. And folded well. The thicker stuff, while it takes the paper really well it is a problem to fold because it is so stiff. And the stuff that is easy to fold because the paper is so thin doesn't take the ink well. But there was a perfect medium and that was the Mohawk Bright White 70 pound paper. Now I just need to order it. Though that can wait a little bit. It was actually next weekend that I was scheduled to go paper shopping, so now I'm ahead in one part of the project.

After that I went to my studio. Dom and I put our heads together on this little packet of hard difficult really big questions that Joan gave us. I don't know how to answer so many of them. But we got a start on it. And it was good because we could converse with one another and ask questions. Then I walked home, as Karen had been my ride and she had left earlier. Gave me time to listen to my audiobook. Kristen and her family left for dinner right as I got back. I decided to blog the day between my day and going to Melissa's birthday. When I get back, I'll fill in the rest of my details.

*****

Arrived at Oasisba, this Thai food fusion cuisine place, in celebration of Melissa. There was a reservation for 10 people and I was the 9th to show up. Melissa, Mel, Cidney, Phil, Robin, Sohkun, Travis, and Karen were already there. Oasisba used to be Sweet Basil Thai or something, but it changed owners. Now it is run by Drag Queens. So the wait staff is in drag, and every now and again they would sing and dance and frolic. It was AWESOME. Melissa was even brought up on stage for a number. Oh what a show. I had the special mojito. It was delicious. I had the avocado larb for dinner (in retrospect I wasn't that hungry and should have just stuck with the drink and had an appetizer at Rogue later). It wasn't quite larb as I like it. It was good just not what I was expecting. Shrimp was good. The food in general was fantastic. The location is kinda crummy. I think the word hasn't gotten out that there is a DRAG THAI FOOD PLACE. The word needs to get out.

From there we went to Rogue. I bought Melissa the John John Dead Guy Ale. I just had water and sipped from a few other people's beer. I'd already spent enough money dining out for the day. Way more that I should have, but I'll allow it because it was a special occasion and now that I'm not at school for long stretches, I'll be eating less bought lunches. Some people left between Oasisba and Rogue, and some more people (Mike, Shelby, Zaneta, uhm three other girls) joined us. From there we went to Red Cap. I just bought the birthday girl a jello shot. I only had like, two bucks in cash on me and didn't feel like dealing with a tab. I left at around midnight. Wasn't feelin' it. Red Cap is a little bit loud and dancing for my taste. Plus I think I'll get up early tomorrow, as I have a bunch of stuff to read and write. And I might hang out with Rollyn for a bit....so if I'm going to be social I need to be productive and if I'm going to be productive I can't drunk walk home at 3am.

Still, it was fun seeing Cidney and fun seeing Melissa enjoy her 21st immensely. So many free shots for that poor little lady. I hope she fairs well tomorrow. Mel will take care of her. It was a nice night out, even though I was all responsible and stuff. No fun till May now. Bleehh. It's all serious and work work work from here on out.

Todays Portrait Is: Eva Ashford.

magicians do not exist

Went to sleep with a pounding headache. Not sure if it was henna fume or stress induced. Popped some advil. Listened to my audio book. Eventually it subsided. Woke up just fine. Rolled out of bed at 10. Had some scrambled eggs and tea. Took a shower because I can't start a day without one, even if I shower at night. I just feel gross after sleeping if I don't have a shower.

Did the Internet rounds. All though the round where I check my student email I neglected.

Went to my studio so that I'd be in a "work" place so that I could focus on work. Which worked! I got some good writing and planning done. Did some sketches. Got my mind thinking. I think I'm going down a good track once again. My mind has been having trouble visualizing this thing. I think it is getting on visual track as well as the foundation. I think I'm getting there. Getting to it. Doing it.

Then 2:20 rolled around and I went in search of Martin. Went to his office. He wasn't there. Went to the commons. He wasn't there. Went back to his office. He wasn't there. Went to the commons. He wasn't there. Asked Ruth at the front desk if she had seen him, she said no. So I went to the computers and checked my student email. There was an 8am message saying he couldn't make the meeting. Well, at least not knowing that got me out of the house and working. Scanned some stuff and shot him an email summing up my thoughts. Worked in the studio a bit more.

Returned to the apartment. My Roos from Zappos.com were waiting for me! They look so freaking awesome. And the fit perfectly. So comfy too. So much grip, so much cushion. Chucks better watch out, I might just have a new sneaker love.

At 6:30ish, I went down to Le Happy, this crepe place that is on Lovejoy and 15th or something, to meet Cidney and Mel. I've never been though I have passed by it a bunch of times. It was a little hole in the wall place. Very cozy. We chatted thesis and Washington and general stuff. I had the ham and cheese crepe. Delicious! We split a honey and lemon one for dessert. It was a great little meal. We left right as people started to line up for tables. I had some time before the movie so I joined them in the walk back to Mel and Melissa's. Because they have a kitten! Little Zsa Zsa! I terrorized it for about fifteen minutes, and then headed home. No one calls me all day and then they all start calling and texting when I'm riding my bike! It was just Karen saying she wasn't going to be at the movie, and Rollyn saying he was at the movie. But I'm not going to bike and talk. That is crazy!

Dropped my bike off at the apartment, said hi to Kristen and her visiting family, and then dashed to Cinema 21 to watch The Illusionist. Rollyn joined me in line, even though he had the ticket. Inside we found Asha, Eva, and John (Eva's boyfriend). I had organized a little "hey who wants to see the new Sylvain Chomet movie" get together on Facebook. Heather and Daniel were also due to show up. After we got settled, I went to get some popcorn. Heather and Daniel were in line for treats, perfect! They sat behind us, because there was no more room in our row. Which was better almost, because it is easier to talk to people behind you than five people down.

The movie was delightful! It was also a bit sad. Set in the late 50's (I could tell because of the cars, yay for fins) it was an animated movie about a French illusionist and a Scottish lassie. A mostly wordless tale of their friendship. Lots of great character designs and little moments. A darling little film. Sad at times. And it made it seem like Scottish was a foreign language as well. Couldn't understand a bloody word of what the girl was saying. Afterwards we all chatted in a little group. Daniel and Heather parted ways. And Rollyn and I parted ways, so I could walk him safely to his car. But then it turns out that Eva and Asha and John all live along the same walking path, so for a few blocks they mock stalked us and we chatted some more. Then we really split paths. I got Rollyn safely to his car and then I strolled off back to my place. Love my 'Roos.

Kristen's family is in town for the weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to go paper shopping for my thesis! Oooohhhh! Big decision big decision. And then in the evening it is Melissa's 21st birthday. I'm likely to only be there for the first chunk of the shindig. But who knows....

Todays Portrait Is: Asha Whittle.

enabled and slathered

And now my inconsequential school week comes to a close. While Kristen was in the shower, I prepared a nice lunch for myself. Benefit of so little class days: don't have to buy lunch hardly ever! So I made up a tuna sandwich and filled a baggie with almond slices and a couple of the sweets from Trader Joe's. Go me!

The first half, the pre lunch, section of class was a discussion of website and the syllabus. Then we looked over our sketches. There are some really cool pieces that seem to be happening in these sketches. The assignment was to art direct one another. So pieces that played to our strengths while also challenged us. It's quite cool. During the lunch break I showed Danny how to kern in Photoshop. Then I ate my sandwich and watched an episode of Bob's Burgers with Jeff. After lunch we walked down to the Museum of Contemporary Craft for the Era Report show. I was mostly caught up with the book exhibit, that had Anthony Roberto's amazing thesis in it. There was also a book that if you read every other word....it was quite scandalous.

The curator of the Era Report show was there and he gave a little talk. He was a nice fellow. Looked very much like a "character". I stuck around a bit to look at the books and then walked back to school. Texting mom.

I was trying to get mom to talk me out of henna dying my hair. Tried to get her to give me a lecture in not being impulsive. All she said was to go for it! I talked to Karen, who told me to go for it as well. So when I got home, Kristen and I walked up to Lush to pick up the henna. I went for the Caca Marron color, which was to be an auburn shade. It comes in this brick. They didn't have any spare gloves so they gave me some freebies to make up for it (like the balm and a leave in conditioner). I had some gloves at home, so no worries. Kristen dyed her hair (with drugstore dye) first. While I worked on breaking up 5/6's of the brick into little bits. Hammered and grated and crushed. Took a good while. Then I put the bits in a heat resistant bowl and covered them with boiling water. Let that sit. Mixed it up. Then I put that bowl in a larger bowl filled with boiling water, so that it heated up further. When it was hot enough, and with MUCH help from Kristen, I slathered it on my hair. It was gritty and drippy and oh what a mess. It was all over the sink. I then wrapped my hair up into a saran wrap turban. And waited....I worked on the dishes. The henna kept seeping down my face. Had to constantly wipe it off my face. If my hands were not such a mess, I have have been inclined to take a picture.

After about an hour, I washed my hair. Then as I was hair drying, I blew a fuse. Went down to Ace Hardware and bought some. Returned. Replaced one. Then when there was light I saw how fantastic my hair really was! It was perfectly subtle. A nice auburn tint. Really nice. All though now the smell is giving me a bit of a headache. But damn if it isn't worth it. Sort of.

Anyway. Watched Community. Another sort of "meh" episode. Come on, you can do better Community. Ate some microwaved stuff for dinner. Now to work on thesis stuff. Got a Martin meeting tomorrow.

Todays Portrait Is: Jennifer Stark.

not so serious

Decided to sleep in. My body hurt so much yesterday I figured that it needed the rest. Had my usual scramble and tea. A good way to start the day: protein! I'm working hard at getting the food groups. Veggies, protein, dairy. And sweets. Always sweets.

Anyway. My skin looks so bad today. Bleh. Don't know what happened. I think I'm fussing with it too much. Maybe using too heavy of moisturizers or scrubbing too much. I'm almost out of my Ocean Salt Lush stuff, so I think I might try a different fancy goop from there.

Went to school to meet with Joan. Just a short little thesis meeting to touch base and talk. Her conversation with Rachel went long. In our conversation, I mentioned being unaware what I wanted to argue in my thesis. I then started talking about the preciousness that people apply to the word art, and then Joan said that there was my argument: art shouldn't be this word synonymous with good, precious, fine, quality, and so on. Art is art and shouldn't be relegated to just "nice" things that have no function. What of architecture and craft? Anyway, pretty broad thesis right now but I'm also talking about gift. I think I can whittle it down.

Afterwards I returned to my studio and got to cleaning it up. It has become a bit of a depository for stuff and less of a work space. Recycling a lot of old pages. Put away some flat work. Stowed some stuff in this book shelf that Karen left in my studio. She also left a paper garland and her spray painted yellow folding chair. It is a nice looking space once again. All Robin's egg blue and red, with white accents and the yellow chair that stands out vividly. I love it.

Went home. Ate a salad. Went on Tumblr and looked at art. Then I took my birthday money and went up to 23rd. Went into Lush and talked to them about skin care. The nice face lotions are out of my reasonable splurge price range. I think I need to work on the cleansing part of my skin care first anyway. So much nice stuff in Lush. They even have henna to dye your hair with. I wonder if doing a Henna rinse might be a nice change of pace for me. It isn't permanent, right? Maybe going redder for a bit...hmm. Or darker. Or maybe just pump up the color in general. I haven't done any sort of dye to my hair in ages. I'm sort of impulsive about certain things, once the idea is in my head. The odds are good that tomorrow after class, I might return to Lush and talk to them about the henna and by night's fall, I'll have a different hair color. Or maybe I'll regain my senses. Anyway. I got a bit of the Herbalism type facial scrubby cleanser. It seems a bit finer and more gentle than the Ocean Salt I've been using. I wish I had a chance to try some of mom's Mask of Magnanimity. Anyway. Excited to try my new face stuff. I then wandered over to MAC, as I am wont to do when I have some extra cash that has been gifted to me (or earned through art, I like to spend money that is mine on the extra frivolous stuff, as opposed to the money that is for food and art supplies and ohh I need to pay rent soon...). Anyway. I looked at the blushs, thinking of upgrading, and then remembered that a primer for eyelids would also be good to have. Primers make the eyeshadow stick a lot better. Anyway, the lady at MAC was nice and even gave me a little make over! She put on two different primers on each lid, and then eyeshadows and mascara. Gave me some tips. That was fun. And now, many hours later, I still look the same. Thanks to the primer. So I got the primer. Fun fun fun. Next time I give mom a makeover, I'll make it more dramatic and take pictures.

Now that I've blahed about makeup, the idea of changing my hair color has gone. I shouldn't muck with it.

Anyway. Went home. Munched on more veggies. Worked on reading. Worked on sketching. Back to serious school work.

Todays Portrait Is: Jennifer Hayes.

veggie trip

It will be interesting to see how I use these many days off to work and be productive. Like I've said many times, recording my productivity in this blog keeps me productive. Today I got up at 10ish, instead of sleeping in till the last possible moment. Had a little breakfast. Got ready. Went to school for Student Council to turn in the Yoga budget request forms for Fawn. Got them in. Talked to Michael and Carrie a bit. Student Council went pretty well. The days of squabbles and money concerns seem to be over, which is nice. The vote for yoga is tabled for next meeting because it is over $200. Afterwards I went to the library and checked out a big pile of fun books. Namely the complete Taschen vintages mens magazine tomes. Really awesome scandalous books. Stuffed them into my bike basket and went home.

Our fridge was devoid of vegetables so I went to Trader Joe's. Salad, apples, bananas, bread, some treats. Had a salad with almond slices and vinaigrette for lunch followed by some chips and hummus. Go me, being healthy! I've now moved onto listening to Clash of Kings. Now anytime I'm not doing a task that requires reading, I am listening. So hooked.

For the rest of the day I sort of stared at my notebook and tried to wrangle my thoughts. Last night I had this bolt of an idea for how it could look but now I'm having trouble really making it visual. I sat at the table, ate some pasta and orange juice. Looked at my notebook. Started writing more stuff out. Realized that my thesis at the core is about the self and the community and the relationship between the two and appreciation for both sides of it. So I wrote out some thoughts about groups and community, and self worth and stuff. The foundation is slowly getting built, piece by piece.

Drew some more portraits. I need to buy a new note book to draw them in.

Sat with Kristen at the table while working on my logo as well. That was nice. Bounced a lot of stuff back and forth from one another. Now I'm tired. Damn you alarm clock and not sleeping in! Tomorrow I am having a quick meeting with Joan. And then I shall sit and draw and try to sort my thesis out more. Meeting with Martin again on Friday. End of the month I'm supposed to have a sense of the visual language of the piece. I feel like I'm behind, even though I'm doing work. Eerrg.

Todays Portrait Is: Beth Austin.

research it!

Woke up to a text at 9:30ish from Madeline asking where the thesis meeting was. Thankfully that text reminded me that there was a meeting, which was in the Stevens. Another group thing where we all got together and Linda gave us the run down for the next semester. I threw clothes on, stuffed my hair under a hat, and set out. Thank god for living 10 blocks from campus.

Still got there with time to spare. Might have had time to shower...

We got another thick thesis packet with instructions and tips and schedules and rules for Thesis Defense. She gave us a 50 minute talk on the calender and set up and rules and how at first sign of trouble we should talk to her and how there is no shame in delaying thesis a semester. I ain't gonna though.

It was a good little run down. Afterwards I went home. Showered. Made a scramble. Put the clothes I threw on in the morning back on. Looked at my schedule. Tended to stuff. Did the dishes. I'm so close to being done with Game of Thrones! I am so utterly hooked.

Soon it was time to head back to school for class. I uploaded a .pdf of my thesis abstract. In my school mail box was a wonderful little card and book from Chad. It was his promotional mailer thingie...thing. A Bruegel inspired story book. What a lovely present. I sat in class early and worked on my calender some more, filling some things in with pen. My teacher is the highly recommended Joan Handwerg. In my class is Antonia, Nico, Portia, Mel, James J, Ali, Robin, Beth, Jennifer H, and Dominic. A good group. In the class we will focus on research and writing a 20 page thesis research paper. I don't know quite what I'm trying to argue yet. Friendship is good? Anyway, we will be doing a lot of readings and stuff and writing. 20 very concise pages. I remember when I started at PNCA, I heard it was something like a 60 page paper. I guess it is our job to psyche out the underclassmen?

We will be meeting Joan one on one in the coming week. Just to show her our art and talk about stuff. We got out early, so I went home.

I pulled out my notebook and got to sorting out my seven mantras. I'm up to six. Some of the themes are hard to nail down in one word. I made a few pages of maps and thought webs and just free form writing. It is actually quite helpful, I think. Getting a lot of words and areas and directions to go to. And it isn't psyching me out to do. Right now my calender is dominated by sorting out these mantras. And once I sort them out, and the over arching themes, the uniting themes, then I can get to the visuals. The themes are the foundation. The ideas I want to get at. Themes of community, self reflection & worth, friendship, and other things. Tomorrow is a busy day. Sort of. It is a lot of little things. Thinking. Thought webbing. Trying to narrow things down. Mantras. Themes. Thumbnails. Reading. Figuring out what I want to say in the printed essays. One half of my project is what I'm going to say on the folding out of the poster, but I'm sort of at a loss for what I want to say. Oops. Well, that is what I'll be a thinking about tomorrow. And sketching. And proposing yoga. I think I'll tidy up my studio as well. It's been untended and piling of stuff. No room to work and I'll be needing to work there.

Worked on thought web while watching House. Worked on portraits and inking portraits while watching Lie to Me. Only half watching. A good chunk of that show can just be listened to, which I did from my room as I pulled up references for portraits. I'm really excited about tomorrows.

Todays Portrait Is: Nathalie Heizenrader.

party and whatnot

Yesterday:

Got to sleep in! Hurray! It is nice to sleep in. Oh how quick I appreciate sleep, even though I've had too much of it. Ate my breakfast and made a to do list. Showered. Kristen and I walked to Fred Meyer. I got chili fixings and took out some cash, because it is good to have cash on hand. It was a very bright day. My sunglasses had dropped on the ground and the center part broke. I need to get super glue to fix them. It was a good little Fred Meyer's haul. Though I forgot to get super glue. No matter.

I poured all the stuff into the crock pot, set it to low. Helped tidy the place. All that jazz.

My party was a sort of sequin dress theme, though not enforced. It was mainly an excuse to wear the sequin butterfly shirt that belonged to mother dearest. A great high statement piece. I also took the time to do a nice eye makeup look. Kristen put together a great ensemble. At 6:20 we walked to Blue Moon. Unfortunately only one of the three big tables was open. Last year all three were, so we expanded as people arrived. I just figured we would wing it as people arrived.

Harmony and Peter came next. Then Rollyn. Asha. Jennifer & Steve. Jim. Then the table was full. Then Eva. Mel. Thom. Daniel and Heather. Karen. What a lovely massive group, all in celebration of meee! And there was only one waitress for the whole place it seemed. She was obviously over worked, but she wasn't good at all either. Had to double ask all the orders, should have just written them down. And any food orders took forever to come. I tried to do my best to go around to all the different people and chat. Eva got me a new micron. Peter and Harmony gave me some jam and tea. Thom gave me a James Jean sketchbook (Sweeeeet). Daniel and Heather gave me Bacon soap and a sushi stapler and a wonderful unicorn card. It was awesome. Not awesome was the service. I had thought we would stay longer but because it took so long, we ended up packing up for my place early. The check was a hassle as well. Dom and Morgaine arrived as we were packing up. Hurrah, they didn't have to order!

Most of us went back to my apartment in one group. Harmony and Peter went to Freddies to buy beer. We had just enough places for people to sit. Oh also Dashon, Asha's boyfriend was there. The chili went fast. Too fast. It was all eaten before Harmony and Peter arrived. Oh nooo! Robin and Samala and Jon also missed out on chili. It is too good to stick around in the crock pot. It was literally full when I had the first taste, half gone the next time I looked, and then scraped clean the third time. All in the span of like, five minutes. I gave Peter and Harmony my recipe as consolation.. So people came and people went. Oh, my owl cupcakes were well received as well. Everyone thought they were cute. I drank the rest of my giant Ninkasi Sleig'r beer, what I used in the chili. After a game of spoons and when it got close to the last run for the buses, it came down to just Jim, Robin, Harmony, Peter and myself. I popped in Big Trouble for whatever reason. A nice charming laughable movie. After that it was just Robin and I for a bit more. And then it was just me. Kristen and Tabitha went clubbing. I tidied up a bit and then crawled into bed.

Today:

Thankfully with a crock pot full of chili, the only thing you have to clean is the crock pot and the bowls. I listened to my audio book and cleaned bowls and spoons. Went fast. Showered. Ate breakfast. Tidied up. It wasn't a hootenanny, so it wasn't really that unclean anyway.

Rollyn and I met up for the 4:45 showing of Blue Valentine. Hurrah for student discounts! It was a solid little depressing romance story. Nicely unveiled as it went a long. Beautifully shot and acted. Wasn't the uber film I had been anticipating, but I think that I might have hyped it up too much for myself. Still, nice performances. Hard to watch sometimes because it was so real seeming. Afterwards we watched some MST3K. Always a better note to end a night on.

Stopped by Safeway on my home to get some super glue. But they didn't have it. So I got some razors instead.

Now I'm working on sorting out the themes of my thesis mantras and waiting for stuff to download. Top Gear, Shameless, Episodes...that stuff. It is only 11pm but it feels much later. Feels like 3am in Trillian time. I feel very....tired. I need to photocopy my master calender that I've made. Photocopy it, make it bigger. Hang it up. So that it looms. Tomorrow is thesis research and writing. It isn't till 3, but I plan to get to school early to do some stuff. Like photocopy my master calendar. The next few weeks contain a lot of decisions that will decide the next three months worth of work.

Todays Portrait Is: Alfredo Lettenmaier.

place holder for the day

Birthday! I slept in, which was nice. I say the word nice a lot. Lots of things are nice.

Uhm...I'm actually pretty tired. I think I'm just going to crash.

Got my birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa! Thank yoooou!

Todays Portrait Is: Jay Lee.

23 years young

Oh boy! It's my birthday!

In the morning a package came from Auntie Celia. Perfect wonderful timing! I got some tights and a Zappos gift card and some nice incense. With the tights, I threw on my nice dress that I wore for Harmony and Peter's wedding, a black sweater, my Chucks and I was ready for a nice day of looking good.

Oh, I also opened the presents in ma and pa's box from home. Got a teavana tea thermos, some fancy blooming tea, a collection of short stories edited by David Sedaris, Chris Ware's sketch book (the one from 95-02)...awesome tacular!

Also Kristen gave me some lovely lipgloss in a fabulous subtle color. Goes great over my Lush lip tint.

I got my stuff together. Had some tea and toast. Got my MP3 player and walked down to school. I scanned my print proof drawings and brought them into Photoshop and arranged them into several different compositions. Printed them out. Unfortunately the print studio was occupied with a class, so I couldn't get the print in just yet.

While wandering around I heard "Hey, Carmen's cousin!". Molly! The girl I went down to Eugene with for the Odd Owl concert! She is going to be an MFA at PNCA! Totally neat.

I met up with Martin in his office. It was a good meeting. Mostly talked about ideas and thoughts and different subjects and planning the semester. Now I just need to do it.

There is a big pile of art in one of the Illustration rooms. I dug through it looking for my art, and the art of my friends. I didn't really find anything of mine, but I found stuff of Dom's, Samalas, Lacey, and Madeline. I took it to my studio, dropped off some stuff, walked back to school.

BT and Karen were at school, waiting to go to Rogue with me! I dropped my proof off, and off we went! Also ran into Dom, Jon, and Sivonna and told them to come to Rogue to. They said they'd come by in a bit. If you are a member of Rogue Nation, which I am, you get a free 32oz beer and a free shirt on your birthday! I ordered my usual oatmeal stout. I could barely hold the mammoth thing with one hand. Everyone else had reasonable sized beers. I also ordered myself some fish and chips. When I was picking out my shirt, Dom, Jon, and Sivonna came. Beth came by near the tail end too. It was a nice little day-of celebration. I wandered back to school with BT and Karen. Printed out Brynne's chili recipe. Walked back home. No biking today. No drinking and biking.

Once home I put up my feet for a bit. Made cupcakes. Watched Fringe. Decorated cup cakes. Talked to Mel. Spent my Zappos gift card on a pair of red, white, and silver Kangaroos. I'm excited! They look comfy. Now I'm pretty tired. Tomorrow I have to go get chili and make it. I don't think I have much else that I have to do. Just sleep, shower, eat, and enjoy being born.

Todays Portrait Is: Madeline Conn.

print portfolio proofs

proofs for print portfolio

pen drawings, digital composition

back in class and back on track

Oi vey, back to alarm clocks and all that business. Got up at 9:30am, like a champ. Showered. Made a massive scramble. Smeared some pretty on my face, and went out the door. Today's class is the second half of Advanced Illustration with Kristin Rogers Brown. It is an 18 person class, the Friday one is only four. Samala, Kevin, Jon and Sivonna will have a good time, I guess.

Kristin went over the gists of the class. We will be making a website, working on self promotion, working on art, and all that good stuff. Her computer crashed so we don't have a syllabus yet. The first assignment was to split into pairs and art direct one another. Madeline and I of course paired up. I art directed her to do a narrative illustration of a historical criminal or con man. She art directed me to design a portrait + text logo that would be used in web, shirt, and mail stuff. Love it! I wasn't hungry so during lunch we watched Portlandia. Literally everyone (but Madeline) has seen it. So painfully true and it hits so close to home.

The rest of class was about the next project, which will be ongoing through the semester. It is to make a blog and to keep it going for the next 16 weeks. I'm just going to make it my Portraitoday blog. It's a good project. I can just take the time to design it better. The rest of class I worked on the blog and sketched stuff. Then I went home.

I had a brainstorm breakthrough for my print project. So for the rest of the day, with a bit of a break, I sat in the bathroom and drew. I drew every object in our beauty cabinet. Every thing of eye shadow, every face goop, every hair band, every little thing. Took me three and a half hours. The idea is "uncurious cabinet". That is, a display of every thing that is in our cabinet. Lots of neat little drawings. Might end up being a minimal little print. I'm not sure how I'll arrange them just yet. Tomorrow I'll sit at the computer and arrange them and then print out a proof and turn in the proof. Took a break to unkink my hunched back and eat dinner and watch Community. A pretty weak episode unfortunately.

Returned to draw the cabinet itself. Now I'll work on my thesis calendar and idea for broader audience and visual language.

Todays Portrait Is: Sandra Scheller.

my tummy, and my esquire subscription, has issues

Uhg. My stomach is at war with me today. Not sure if it is just unhappy in general, or if it isn't fond of the yogurt and flax seed oil. Was going to sleep in my then my stomach told me to get out of bed. Hmmn. My tummy issues persisted through the day. Maybe it is nerves, as tomorrow is my actual first day of school. My vacation is over. Dunzo. Finished.

Walked to Fred Meyer's to get ourselves some toilet paper. I always get the largest kind available because I don't like having to worry about toilet paper. I like knowing that we are set for two months, instead of it having to be something to constantly buy and risk running out. Also got some misc cleaning supplies. I'm really getting into Game of Thrones now. A bunch of stuff suddenly happened and I'm like "daaang". I don't think I'd have the patience to read it, because fantasy stuff is always a bit of a challenge, but listening it is wonderful.

I lounged and read for a bit as well. Enjoyed some tea and toast. It is good to get away from the computer.

I've been enlisted to educate some high school art honors people in learning silk screening. I'll give them a little demo one of these days. How cool is that? It is volunteer, but I don't mind. Something I can lob on my resume "helped spread the good gospel of silk screen".

The print portfolio proof is due Friday. I might back out of the portfolio. I'll see if I can bash my head against the sketch board and come up with something cool tomorrow. It snuck up on me.

I've been feeling tired all day. I think that is what happens when you over dose on sleep. Even though I've been setting my alarm for 9am every morning. I still rest too much. Now lets see if I can get out of bed tomorrow. 11am class. Eep. I think I'll tuck in to bed soon, read read read, and then sleep.

I'm really powering through Bad Marie. Good read. Thanks Nate and Rubie!

Todays Portrait Is: Isaiah Sherman.

livin' upside down

I thought it would be a good idea to turn my alarm clock off at 10am. Big mistake. Anyway. Had my breakfast of scrambled eggs and tea and an apple.

I need to figure out how to cook more things. I'm constantly wondering what to make when I'm hungry. I went to Trader Joe's and got some salad dressing. So now I'm back on the salad wagon, after a week of being off it. Dressing and toppings make such a big difference.

I foresee a lot of early mornings. There are no printing classes before 11am, so I bet I'll be in in the morning printing before classes, more than saving it for the weekend. This is good because if I can get most of my printing done early in the day, I have the rest of the time to draw and work on other stuff. As many no late nights as possible.

I wrote myself a note "its not worth it. spend your time on good pursuits" to rest on my desk. To remind myself to waste less time on the internet and on silly things. I'm already doing better with it looming right there. Once I have the structure of school, I think I'll keep on track a lot better. The pressure isn't on me, but I do feel the heat.

Had just enough quarters to wash my sheets and pillow covers and unmentionables. Yay clean stuff! I actually had one less quarter than I thought, because one of them turned out to be a Franc. I don't know how it got there at all. When was anyone I know recently in France? Maybe it was accidentally categorized with quarters ages ago and dispensed when I traded bucks for quarters. Hmm.

Tabitha promoted Portraitoday on Facebook and now I have people I don't know interested in my work! Yay! So one upcoming portrait might actually go somewhere. Anyway. Yay! I've been doing Portraitoday for a couple weeks and it has six followers. I've been doing Trillobite for three and a half years and it only has 12. Hurrah, popularity.

Watching Zen. Waiting for Lights Out. Going to do some portraiture and think about thesis and stuff.

Oh my teeshirts came! I never got an email saying they were shipped, so it was a nice surprise. I'm such a teeshirt hoarder. I should submit some designs to Threadless. Potential for cash there, if they get printed.

This is great:

Todays Portrait Is: Cherish Prado.

bags and dresses

Another day of morning texts and early afternoon plans. Karen and Phil came by at 12:45ish and picked me up for a trip to the East Side and The Bins. Viva bulk Goodwill! I was mostly in it for the trip out of the house. Anyway, it was a nice bright day in Portland, though still a bit brisk. At the Bins I found a nice bag, perfect for days when I need more than my cloth bag will carry but less than a Trader Joe's bag. Also found two cute dresses and a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit. And a nerf gun. Came up to seven bucks, perfect. Just gotta wash the clothes and I'm good to go. I bought a Snickers as well but then I dropped half of it on the ground. Booo! We then drove looking for stuff to eat. The food cart court was mostly closed for the holiday, so we went to Fire on the Mountain for wings and beer. I had a nice Oatmeal stout. Karen didn't have anything as she was driving.

And that was it for that trip. I've taken up the habit of blogging the first chunk of my day, once my portaitoday uploads, so I don't add extra hits to my site by constantly going there to get links to the images. It is nice. It cuts down on the blogging time, and the early details of the day that I usually skimp on get summed up with more attention.

Went to Trader Joe's. When will my favorite seaweed snacks come back? Booo. I'm going to give yogurt another chance. Oh dang, forgot to buy salad dressing. I'll go there tomorrow. Anyway, got some yogurt. The kind that doesn't have bits in it. Because I have issues with texture, especially chunky gritty things in viscous dairy. Got some sauce and pasta.

Then my Monday night TV line up started. Microwaved myself the butter chicken masala and basmati rice meal I got from Trader Joe's. Made some tea. Put my feet up and watched a good episode of House. Matthew Lillard as the "sick person of the week" was good. Had a yogurt. It was technically a chocolate yogurt parfait...it was good. Then when Lie to Me came on, I pulled out my thesis stuff and started sorting out the next four months of my lifes. Focus Week is the last week of April. So keep that week open if you want to come to Portland and see me defend my work. Anyway, drew out calenders. Made to do lists. Sorted out what needs to be done and when. February is mostly technical and prep and research and decision making. Then near the end of February and straight through to April is drawing and printing and drawing and printing. Basically a poster a week, with a couple weeks here and there as "design" buffer weeks. It is a soft schedule, a draft. Now I have Harry's Law, the new Kathy Bates show on. Thankfully law shows are just chatty, so I can listen to it from my own room while I blog. It's a goofy little show.

School starts tomorrow for everyone who has class on Tuesday. Class starts on Thursday for me.

I'm wearing my new birthday sweater today. Love it. So cute. I really like my new 'do. It is the hair that I want to have. Wavy and stylish.

Todays Portrait Is: Colin Matthew.

green and red, the unappreciated complimentary colors

Was woken up at the rude hour of 9am with a text from Rollyn asking if I wanted to catch the matinee of Green Hornet with him. I agreed and went back to sleep where I had a dream that I missed the matinee of Green Hornet and then I had to explain to Karen that Denmark is a country, not a city. She was wearing her dirndl and was planning to move there. Then I had to escape the bad guys through some docks and Venetian canals and did some parkour type stuff. Yeah. I woke up and then was afraid I would miss the matinee if I slept in any more. So I showered. Ate some breakfast and scooted out of there. Got in the theater right on time.

I really really really enjoyed Green Hornet. It was directed by Michel Gondry (Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). It was less all over special cool effects like his movies tend to be, and more consistently well executed practical effects. That is to say, not a lot of computer stuff unless it was needed to amplify a bit here and there. Seth Rogen was great. Maybe not the biggest stretch of his acting, but he carried the super hero role well. Jay Chou seemed to muddle his lines here and there, but he was good. Loved Christoph Waltz as the baddie. It was just really fun all around. Good effects, nice color useage. There were some Gondry moments, but the fact that he was pulled back a bit made his sense of flair have all that much more impact. The 3D wasn't really needed, but it did add a bit more depth to the real stunts. It would be fine in 2D, and it will age better than any of these super computer graphic heavy movies. I just saw it in 3D because it is only showing in 3D.

Parted ways and I rode back to my place. Ate some food. Drank some tea. Then I settled in to watch the Golden Globes and draw some portraits. Whooo! I'm glad Colin Firth won, he deserved it. Natalie gave a great little speech too. No major surprises.

Got three portraits done. I'm ahead of the game. It takes about an hour to do one. I need to get the time spent down. But that will take time. The likenesses are getting better. Now to, I dunno, eat some more stuff and do some more stuff. Might chill with Karen tomorrow. Need to get on my proof for the print portfolio. Need to think about composition and all that.

Todays Portrait Is: Matt Grigsby.

stew it over

Got up a bit late. Kristen made a lamb stew (crock pot) and in exchange for stirring it, I can have some. Hurrah! Made a to do list. Rite aid for a new hair clip (I broke my octopus one, well the floor broke it, but I dropped it). Made some lists. Dishes. Trash. Did them. Then I started cleaning and organizing my room. With the new over head lights, it really brought out the clutter. So I got on that. Now my room looks a lot better. And I have a clean desk again.

Went to Rite Aid to pick up some air freshener spray because we are out. It was raining heavily all day, so I wore wellies. Which came in handy. Damn puddles! I really like the character of Tyrion in Game of Thrones. Also picked up some small hair clips. Didn't get a replacement large octopus clip because I think I can find one for a bit cheaper.

Oatmeal. Tea. Later on some udon. Kristen made a lamb stew. It is quite good. Mark was a vegetarian but he has fallen off the wagon. He had his first burger in 15 years today. Hahaha. Good for him.

It is nice how clean everything is. Ohh I need to draw some portraits. That is what I was forgetting to do today.

Had Star Wars on in the background. Now to draw some portraits.

Oh! Got my package from Mom and Dad. I opened the box and a couple of the presents that I knew (pants and a sweater). But I'm saving them. I guess. I'll see how long restraint lasts.

Todays Portrait Is: Terry Green.

49. "down the _____"

Woke up this morning just planning to use a haircut as an excuse to get out of the house. Woke up to an email from Martin asking if a 2:30pm meeting today was too soon, I shot him an email saying I'll see him there. Showered. Took notes about my thesis real quick, ate some food, and then went down to school. Talked to Tippi, who was helping with some new student orientation. Chatted to two new students: Eric and Drew. Chatted in the library. Came back and talked with Martin.

Talked about my struggles and questions. Mainly took a lot of notes. He told me what to have done by next week. Mainly a lot of decisions and a calender. A big scary calender of deadlines. Yeek! It is looming! But it was a good meeting. He didn't come down on me for being behind. He was just "you need to have thumbnails done by the end of January". Totally doable.

Afterwards I went to Bishop's to get a haircut. My ends are so split. Just need a trim so that my hair is healthy and not dry and frizzy. Also to get properly cut bangs. I only get a haircut about twice a year. Come summer time, I'll get another. When I was waiting, I talked to this guy Kyle, who was also waiting. He had broken his leg so I used that as a conversation starter. Slipped and it was broken in three places apparently. Ouch. He said he was thankful that he hadn't bought a ski pass yet. I suggested some movies on netflix instant watch.

My lady did a really good job. I have nice layers now and she gave me a hair product tip (I didn't buy the product though) and she did a nice awesome blunt cut on my bangs. Very straight. Afterwards I went to Powell's and got Lewis Hyde's The Gift, which is pretty much required reading for any artist, especially if they are doing a thesis like mine. Giving and stuff like that. I got in contact with Rollyn and we made plans to see Rabbit Hole at 5:15 at Fox Tower. I grabbed some Baja Fresh fast food for late lunch and met him there. Blue Valentine is also playing, but we missed the start of it. So we stuck with Rabbit Hole.

Rabbit Hole made me crrrryyyyy. A lovely little film about tragic loss. Based on the play. Brilliantly acted. Well directed by James Cameron Mitchell. But during some parts, I was crying pretty bad. It really hit close to the heart. But Rollyn didn't tease me about crying, he is nice like that. We lightened the mood by watching MST3K: Werewolf. Haha. It wasn't a blisteringly cold ride back as it usually is.

Now I have some aim. Hurrah! And a bunch of reading. I was hoping The Gift would be a small book.

I ordered some discounted Threadless shirts. Birthday treat! Also they were having a sale, so awesome. They haven't arrived yet, nor has my box from the parents. Yay presents!

Todays Portrait Is: BT Livermore.

hippos are cool

I want this hippo mini bar so FREAKING BAD. Sure I would probably store all sorts of things in it. But awesome metal hippos are awesome. Daddy make me one.

Managed to crawl out of bed a little on focus this morning. But again I was a lazy sack of lazyness. I'm eagerly awaiting my birthday care package. Had a scramble for dinner actually. Ohh I haven't had a salad today. I really should. I need to get more dressings. I've been enjoying this Gorgonzola cranberry dressing, but it is Kristen's and I've probably used more than I should. Anyway....

I did my makeup after an online tutorial. Split crease with pink on the lid. I like the style of it, just need to practice more. It is very dramatic. Watched Collateral. Now I'm going to meet Karen for a beer.

Annnnd now I'm back from The Gypsy. Karen brought along BT and Phil, which was cool. Company is always wanted. And what as even better was that it was Karaoke Kings night, which meant that you sing with a live band instead of some bloopy music. And karaoke means that BT is going to kill it. I owed Karen a beer in thanks for some of her services. We constantly owe each other things. I don't know where we stand. Maybe I should put a box on the side of the blog to keep tabs. Anyway, I had a beer and some onion rings. Not the best onion rings I've ever had. Anyway, BT first sang...crap I forget what he sang but it was good. I shouted along up at the front to Billy Jean. Tons of people got up for that. Karen sang Kiss. BT finished our night with another song. Phil just sat and ate nachos. That was a nice surprise night. Friends and singing and a couple beers.

Todays Portrait Is: Liz Shweryn.

vlog - final semester

starting the final semester from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

uncurious cabinet

Turned off my alarm at 11 but then fell back asleep instead of getting up. Oops.

Oatmeal for breakfast. Then a bagel and shmear. Later had some ice cream.

Walked down to school to turn in my health insurance waiver. Turned it in. Ran into this lady who suggested this silk screen teaching thing to me, just a little one off volunteer thing. She said she would email me the details. Printed some stuff in the library. Talked to Serenity and Libby. Ran into Karen. Karen and I might catch a matinee tomorrow of 127 Hours. She wanted to see King's Speech again, but I think 127 Hours is more worth seeing in theaters.

Walked back home. Watched Winter's Bone, which is tragically good. Great acting, depressing story, lovely direction. Mel and Tabitha and Mark came over. Mel and Tabitha and I went out for dinner. We went to O'Briens Pub. I had the burger special and a pint of Guinness. Tabs had a grilled cheese, Mel also had a burger. It was a good meal and good conversation.

It is raining. At least it isn't snowing. I'll try to get up early tomorrow. School technically starts next week, but as there is no class Monday due to the holiday and the only days I have class are Monday and Thursday, I still technically have a week. Have to do some more drawing. I have my print portfolio idea done. I just need to draw it and sort out the colors.

Todays Portrait Is: Samala Coffey.

salad days take two

It was so cold it started to snow today! What the hey? I don' want snow. Well, I guess snow would be nice actually. My room is just the coldest point in the apartment because the window doesn't shut fully at the top. I tried to hit it closed, but it didn't quite work.

Oatmeal and tea breakfast.

Wandered down to Fred Meyer to get some cleaning supplies. Swiffer wipes and bleach and stuff.

I like walking around listening to audio books. Too bad it is so horribly cold. It would be nice to do when it is sunny and I can catch some of that sun.

Uhg, I've eaten too many sweets. Now I feel ill. I think I'll eat a salad to finish my days consumption. I've been eating a lot of salads lately. Go me!

Another lame duck day. Tomorrow I'll work on the proof for the print exchange. Totally forgot about it. Erk...

Todays Portrait Is: Morgaine Faye.

salad days

I'm not no longer thrashing my alarm. It goes off, and I hit the snooze again and again. Slowly shifting into a rhythm. Toast for breakfast. Watched the new episode of Zen. Watched some Sons of Anarchy. Got a lot of drawing done. I'm liking the portraits though some of the likenesses are off. It's hard to draw people without them right in front of you.

Had a massive pasta late lunch/early dinner. Followed with a salad. Trying to eat more vegetables, and I'm doing a pretty good job of it. Apple and a salad every day just about. I wish I had another puzzle to work on. Now I feel like reading.

Todays Portrait Is: Sivonna West.

walkies and listens

I like my Pacific Northwest days like I like my apples: crisp. I like a dry day with a clear sky, I don't mind if its a bit cold. Perfect for walking. Planned some errands. Had my breakfast and tea and pint of cold fresh from the fridge water. Set out for Oblation to get some nice cards to send off to thank you. Headed towards Glisan along 22nd. Went down to 12th. Popped into the shop. Spent some cash. Popped out. Went down to 10th and went into Rite Aid for some soap. Picked out a lipstick and some lipliners that were at an awesome 75% off clearance. A buck fifty, can't beat that. I was feeling hungry, so I got a slice of broccoli and hazelnut pizza at Hot Lips. Then I went up Johnson. Popped into my studio to pick up my thesis notes, the ones from my presentation panel. Then back onto Johnson and back home. It was a nice walk.

I've been listening to Game of Thrones and now the story has really hit its stride. Really digging it. I poured myself a big glass of orange juice, pulled out some cheese, chips, and dip, and got to solving my Christmas puzzle. While listening to my audio book of course. Puzzle solving and audio books work well together. Took me a few hours, but I got it all pieced together. Did the border. And then the neon sign. And then the neon stripes, and then the turquoise car, and then the yellow and pink card. It all came together. A nice little diner scene with classic cars. It was nice to relax with the puzzle instead of wasting time on the internet. Afterwards I made myself a sandwich, piled a salad on the plate, and put up my feet to watch The Cape and do a mind map of sorts about my thesis. The Cape was campy and was aware of that, I only hope they play up the camp more.

It feels good to put pen to paper and really spell out the thesis shape. I've been much neglecting it. I've been at an impasse for the past few weeks. I don't know how to think outside of the box I've been thinking in.

Now I think I'll work on crossword puzzles a bit. Tomorrow will be a portrait and thesis work draw. Lots of drawing! And watching of tellie. At least the drawing is very productive. It keeps me constantly moving. I want Portraitoday to be a success. Artistically, of course, but I also want it to be popular.

Todays Portrait Is: Thom May.