print exchange!

Even though my alarm went off at 8, I slept in a whole bunch. Still, getting an early start is good. I had one of those bizarre mornings where I wake up at 5am and am not aware of the time and start doing stuff, and then I realize it is way too early, so I crawl back into bed. Ya know?

Anyway, eventually got up and had a scramble and some Emergen-C. Then I went to Coffee Time and drew the people there for an hour and a half. Had a large hot chocolate. Mmm. It wasn't the best of drawings, but it was a start. Ran into Carlson on the way out. If the weather wasn't so icky, I would have stopped and talked to him more. Went home and changed into wellies, as it was raining and icky. Went to school. Had a fabulous meeting with Martin. He liked the work and liked the direction I was going. By next week I should have some final designs of the posters ready to show him. Just to know how it looks like before I print it. So another week of drawing drawing drawing and some designing. Hurray! We have a mid term meeting with people soon. So I need to have a few posters made by the 7th or 8th or whatever. It shouldn't take more than a day to print one poster anyway.

After that I looked at my new Esquire and noticed that this reader letter was suspiciously similar to this letter that Karen said she submitted. Except it was by Kara in Kansas City. Turns out Karen wrote in under a pseudonym. It was her letter! Karen was published in Esquire! And it took up half a page! How awesome is that?

Yoga was relaxing and rejuvenating. It was a bit tough because my tail bone was so badly bruised from yesterday's tumble. But it was nice. Went home. Threw on a dress. Zipper was funky. Threw on another dress. Did my makeup. Karen called me and I hopped in her car. She cruised by her place and picked up Phil. We stopped by Safeway and Phil got booze (just a six pack). Then it was off to the print exchange!

The exchange was 46 prints strong. It was held at Christy's house. A very nice house designed for printing (upstairs) and hosting (lots of open space and tables and general great mingling atmosphere). We were a little late, but not so late that there wasn't food a plenty. Heather, Daniel, Heather, Christy, Yoshi, Tom, Patrick, Diana, Chelsey, Robin, Casey, Morgan, Morgan, Jalissa, Justin, Justin, Lacey, ...uhhmm. Anyway, tons of people were there. The whose who of the print department. And boy do they bring the booze. I stuck to a nice amount of gin. Chatted to people, ate delicious food. I didn't bring any because I am lame. We piled the prints so that we would all get the same number out of the edition. I drew #19 out of a hat. I roamed and chatted and had great conversations with tons of cool people. I forgot my camera, but Yoshi was a shutterbug so there are pictures somewhere. I had one of my Goodwill Bins dresses and some tights. Looked good. Fancy. There was a cat named Leche who was irritable and unpettable.

It was a bit of an early night, Karen took Lacey and I home. Got back at around 10 or so. Not a late party. I walked to Fred Meyer's to get some beer. Good old beer. I also needed to get ten bucks to pay for the box that the print portfolio will go into.

So now I'm drinking beer and watching Fringe. I'll probably call it an early night. Tomorrow and the day after are thesis paper writing days. Gaaah.

Todays Portrait Is: Annie Heisey.

ow my butt

I tripped over my laundry basket and grabbed my chair to prevent my fall. Too bad a wheely chair on wood floors does nothing to stop a fall. Now my butt hurts. Bleh.

Got up an hour early to finish my illustration piece. It just needed some final color and some texture. Did that. Had some toast and tea before I left for school. Got to class right on time. For the first chunk of class we played around making websites using Virb. Very little of my art looks properly nice online. I do such a poor job of documenting it. That is the benefit of digital art, it always is crisp. Hmmn. Anyway. We did that. Madeline and I got burritos for lunch. I think Chipotle are making them smaller than they did. They don't seem quite as filling as they once did.

Back in class we reviewed our projects. We got our new prompt. And then it was work time. The next assignment is wine label design. In front of the back row's eyes Chase whipped out an amazing digital illustration just like that. He sure is good at his monsters and digital art. Kid is a whiz.

After class I looked up the address to Arvey Paper and rode my bike over to the other side. Then it turns out the directions were all wrong and I was about 15 blocks north from where I needed to be. Going down traffic on crappy sidewalks isn't fun. But I got there. My thesis will be 11"x17". Because it is an intimate size, and it is easier to print, and easier to buy in bulk than single sheets. Hahaha. Anyway, I could either order one thousand sheets and pay around a hundred dollars (because I'd be buying reems and then paying for shipping) or buy a box of reems which contained two thousand sheets, wouldn't have shipping, and it would cost $130. I went for that. Now I can go for broke on the thesis. I'll be printing a "distributing" edition and a "collection" edition. So there will be one set of prints that are designed to be given away in a whole batch of thesis prints. For the parents and people. Yeah! Just need to start printing, now that I've figured out what I'm going to put on the other side of my poster. Just draw draw draw and print print print. Once I have my paper, I can just go full on. I'm so excited. Tomorrow I have a meeting with Martin and I feel really good about it.

But I did not feel good about riding my bike through icky traffic and across bad roads. But it wasn't that bad. Crossing over Broadway is easy, and it sets you down right in the Pearl District close to school. I finished my burrito. Talked to Jon. Then I went to the library and took a nap. I woke up right on time for yoga. Which passed by very fast.

Out of yoga I tracked down Mel and spent a couple hours tailing her and drawing her. Drew her screenprinting. Drew her eating pizza. Hot Lips was closing and they gave us free pizza! Huzzah! And I drew her screenprinting some more. Talked to people about my project. Was all "we should hang out!" to Carla and Heather. Three friends drawn! And if I draw three interiors then that is practically three posters done! Whoop whoop!

Got home 10:30ish. Downloaded my tellie. Drank some water. Fell on my bum. Now I shall retire. I'm setting my alarm for 8am. Trying to slowly get myself up earlier. Normally I hit the snooze on a 9am alarm a bunch of times. Setting it to 8 gets me awake earlier and even if I snooze a bunch, I'll be starting my snoozing earlier. Tomorrow is a full day. Going to draw some interiors. Talk to Martin. Go to yoga. Go to the print exchange.

Listening to Jamiroquai's A Funk Odyssey right now. Makes for nice background music.

Todays Portrait Is: Kristin Rogers Brown.

Aunt Brynne's Chili

16.667"x6.75"

Pencil and pen with digital color.

Drawn for TheyDrawAndCook.com

buddying up

The weather sucked and I stuck around in bed for a long long time. Rain and rain and rain. I like the morning. I just lay about and think. But then I have to get up. Boo. Had a scramble with frozen rice and veggies. I should get a straight up frozen veggie medley to throw in scrambled eggs. Rice is such a filler. Followed that up with some nutella and toast. Then I headed to my studio. Worked on finishing up my chili recipe. Inked it and did some pencil shading. Then went to the library and scanned it. Threw in some digital color. Before I knew it, it was time to head to Goose Hollow to see Robin. Tonight she was my drawing subject. She made me a wonderful dinner and I drew her as we ate and talked and drank copious amounts of tea. We walked to Safeway and got some cake and watched Glee. It was a really nice evening. Just hanging with a friend, talking progress and relationships and gabbing about this and that. Got some great drawing done. Really understanding my practice more. And last night I figured out what I'm putting on the back of my posters. On one side will be portraiture of friends drawn from meetings and chattings. On the other side will be anonymous group drawings. Malls and coffee shops. Anonymous depictions will unfold to personal ones. Lovely. I can't wait to just go places and draw draw draw and listen to my audio book copiously. I need to order my paper though. But I'm building up a good stock of images.

Left Robin at midnight. Now I'm going to finish watching Justified and go to bed.

Todays Portrait Is: Serenity Ibsen.

Editioning, Drawing, Yogaing

At 9ish, I was awake in bed thinking that I was so awake that I might as well get up. But then I went back to sleep. Damniiit.

Had my breakfast. And a salad. Went to my studio. Took a long while to title, edition (that is, to write the x/50 on every print...1/50 45/50 and so on), and sign all my print portfolio prints. But that is done! And in a few days time, I will have 48 or so prints from a brilliant crop of artists. Huzzah! After that I worked on the illustrated recipe. Got it mostly inked it. Tomorrow I will shade and scan and color and finish it. I'm meeting Robin later tomorrow to draw her, so I will have to get an early start on the art. Yay productivity! Yay not waiting till the last minute.

Last minute waiting exception: thesis paper. Saturday and Sunday I will work hard core on that. Right now, it is art time. Drawing and scheduling and yoga. Yoga was good. A nice full class. Lots of hip work.

At home I worked on some more portraits. I am almost a week ahead now! So I can relax during the next couple days....and work on real stuff. But now that I officially "draw portraits while watching tellie" I'm just going right through them. And I'm generally more pleased with them across the board. The ink and brush works a lot better than pen. Raising Hope was nice. Glee was funny. Lights Out is good but it is kind of getting into a lull. So funny how bad the actress is at covering up her accent. Why not just make the character Irish?

I need to order my paper for thesis.

Todays Portrait Is: Megan Fix.

red day

Another school week starts. I wonder how many blog posts have started with "another week starts". Probably a ton.

Had my scramble. Used a little less beef than usual and more onion. I bought the wrong kind of onion, so these ones don't dice into little pieces and more so stay in bigger bits. Still good though. Really got a liking for onion now. Had a big cup of tea as well, to get me stirring. Worked on my thought web. Basically it was a mind mapping and inter connectivity of our thesis paper and we were to put them on the board and get feed back in class. So I worked on that.

Then I grabbed an apple and went to class. James J. put his up and for some reason my eyes couldn't focus on his hand writing. He is doing some complex vision spiritual painting type stuff. There are tons of directions for him to go. I went next. I got some good feedback, mainly on the "don't cheapen my artwork" front and the "what it means to be drawn" side of things. Jen and Dom and Nico went. All were good. It was a fast paced fun class. Though this coming week will be chock full of outlines and writing. I actually start writing the damn paper this week. First draft is due in week. 10 pages. It will probably mostly be the artist side of things, as I don't have the research yet. But I can figure it out. I'm not too worried. If I have a good comprehensive outline, I can write. Outlines are key.

After class I swung by Safeway and got some food. Then I headed over to Rollyn's. It was rainy and sucky. Bleh. I mainly got the food for myself, because he had eaten and I know he doesn't have any food in his apartment. It is the most sparse fridge I've ever seen. And kitchen in general. But anyway. I ate and we watched the Rifftrax version of 300. Rifftrax is from the people who did Mystery Science Theater 3000. Basically they do funny audio tracks that accompany movies that you own at home. It's silly. I gave him this Bob Dylan valentine that I drew (he is a big Dylan fan). It was a nice relaxing evening. It wasn't raining on my ride back.

I have plans to draw Mel and Robin later on this week. Tomorrow I think I'll label my print portfolio edition and work on shading my piece for illustration. So a studio day. And then yoga of course. And some reading.

Todays Portrait Is: Rollyn Stafford.

beggar & trobrianders

I'm reading The Gift (it is 3:47 as I write this first chunk of blog post) and it is stirring a lot of thoughts. One of them is how linguistically, words that are in fantasy books shouldn't be in them because the world lacks the origins that the word we use has. Such as "beggar", which comes from the Beghards, that are these 13th century friars from Flanders that wander and beg. Fantasy novels that have no Beghards because there is no Flanders should not use the word beggar, because the origin of that word doesn't exist. Still, to pick apart every word would be time consuming. I think if I wasn't studying art, I'd be studying linguistics.

Went to Trader Joe's. Got vegetables a plenty. And baby spinach so that I can spruce up my salads even more. Tons of apples. Bread. Egg. Meat. Yum. I have a new episode of Top Gear waiting to be watching, but BACK TO READING!

*****

Reading went pretty well. Went down to the studios to draw Dominic for thesis. It went really well. We pretty much just sat and chilled. He worked. I drew him. Nice and loose. Smaller images, and he didn't hold still. They turned out a lot better. Four images drawn. Didn't take that long. And if I work on enough of these, I can create a good body of art. Just need to draw draw draw hang out draw. I love that part of my thesis is hanging out with people. All part of the process. And the more I know about my process, the more I can speak about it. So happy that that went well. Also had a good conversation with mom that lifted my spirits and stresses. Mum is so supportive. Love her.

After that I returned home and caved and watched Top Gear. And Episodes. And Shameless. But I worked on portraits! So after Shameless, it will be back to reading. And I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow morning before class, so I think I will try to accomplish waking up early tomorrow. Make myself a scramble. I love scrambles.

Really loving the next two portraits that I made. I think I need to avoid pen. Ink is where its at.

Todays Portrait Is: Michael Anderson.

coffee shop failure

Got up earlier, which is good. Had a small toast breakfast. Today is a hat hair day. Left the apartment at around 1pm. Walked to Coffee Time and got a cookie and caramel with steamed milk. In a few hours of sitting I accomplished very little. Though The Gift is reading a lot faster now that I am past the introduction.

I spent most of the day picking up The Gift and putting it down and picking it up again. Took out the trash. Did the dishes. It is interesting, I just can't keep my mind on it. I'm having real focus issues. But seeing as how tomorrow is a big "lots of stuff to get done for Thesis Writing & Research" day, I'll probably be more productive. And when I'm not being productive on my book reading, I'll draw portraits. But my tellie doesn't come on till later..soooo. Yeah.

Goddamn. I hate feeling like a failure. I feel like I am not working nearly hard enough. Not reading enough. Not drawing enough. It has been a month and I have no pieces printed. What the hell? Gaaahh.

Todays Portrait Is: Matt Wilson.

soba!

It is utterly impossible to roll out of bed before noon. Blah.

The main problem with my thesis is trying not to try to hard. I was drawing Karen today and all the images were so forced. They didn't have the naturalness. Some were good, but the proportions were inexcusably off, and not just "full of heart" off. But I'm also not fully done with the images. They still need to be shaded. So they are not finished. I think I'll try drawing smaller. It is better to draw small and good than big and empty.

Anyway. Had my usual massive scramble. Now I'm out of beef again. But plenty of eggs. Need to get some mayo. And bread. I'm so uncreative with food. Oh well.

Yoga was restorative today. Longer held poses. Lots of twists. Some strain. But it was nice. I like having yoga in my life. I wonder what will happen when I graduate.

Afterwards I drew Karen in the print lab for a bit. Like I said, the drawings were just not natural. Trying way too hard. I think I should do smaller images. And draw faster. Draw like the zine. After that I finished up my print portfolio piece. For a wide open studio, there wasn't a lot of people there today. Just me and Yoshi. Then Lacey, Karen, and I went to Mio Sushi. I had rice, some shrimp ebi, and soba noodles. Because I haven't had soba noodles in a while. They were good, though kind of one note. We ate Lacey's vegetables. I'm now at the place in my life where I eat OTHER PEOPLE'S veggies. Whaaa. I'm a grow up and stuff, I guess. We had a great conversation about art and our art practices and how we relate to our different mediums. It was lovely.

Went home. Watched Fringe. Worked on drawing portraits some more. Now I'll go to bed and try to get up and do some reading. I think if I incentive myself to get a caramel steamer, I can go get some reading in a cafe done.

Todays Portrait Is: Andy Pilarski.

why is he in a wedding dress?

Last day with ever so slightly swollen eye. All though going fresh faced is a nice change of pace. Need to not be "reliant" on makeup. It needs to be fun.

Got up. Laid out my clothes. Had some breakfast. Showered. Went to school. Scanned. Went to class. Critiqued. There are some cool looking visual recipes happening. Sneezed a bunch for no reason. Got a sandwich from Quizno's for lunch. Beef dip. Mmmm. During lunch I watched Community with Madeline and Kristen. Jeff was all "is that the Dungeons and Dragons episode?" and I was all "yes!". Back in class we looked at some CSS websites and then it was open work time. I noodled about a bit. After class I went to my studio, prepared to leave, then remembered I had time to print, so I went to print. I had to keep reapplying tape on my screen, because of a blotch in my transfer. So there was a part that was printing ink that I didn't want to print ink, but because it is silk and a bit damp, the tape kept coming off. Argh. But I did get a layer done. Went home for a little bit. Went back to school.

YOGA WAS BRUTAL. Lots of thigh work. And back stuff. But mostly thighs. We did some insane moves. I felt brutalized after. But in a good way. Diana picked me up from home and we went to BT, Karen, and Phil's for the night. Evan and Holly were there as well as Lacey and Mel. They were watching Zardoz. I worked on some sketches. Mostly chilled though. Drank a beer. Mel left. Dom came. Phil and Diana played Katamari Damacy. Jalissa and Morgan B. came over too. And that was fun. It was a good little joking crowd. A nice night with friends. I have pictures but I'll post them later. Diana drove Lacey and I back. Now I'm going to chill. Drink some water. Tomorrow is yoga, drawing Karen for thesis, and maybe more printing. Or reading.

Todays Portrait Is: Craig Wheat and Cat.

Auntie Brynne's Chili (sketch)

Sketch for a visual recipe.

Rougly 17"x7". Graphite on paper.

Recipe courtesy of my aunt Brynne.

what a crock (pot)

It's weird. Once reading gets labeled as "research" I don't want to do it. I'm so behind in my reading. Just can't get around to doing it. Got around to doing other things.

My eye was barely puffy and barely hurt this morning. Hurrah, it is almost healed! I'll still live it alone for another day or so. Nursing it with a wet cloth is quite soothing.

At 4ish, I went to school to get to my print portfolio. The lab was pretty full of people carving and printing. So I got my screen and paper ready to go. And then I waited. Waited for the class to be over so I could nab some space. Amazing how many of the students actually sat around using the whole damn class time. What the hell kids? You are supposed to leave at 3pm! That's how normal students do it (not me though, I'm also responsible). I got one layer done (there is also a class at 6:30 pm). It is going to take so many early mornings once I actually get cracking on printing my thesis. Not looking forward to a reasonable sleep schedule. Bleh. Afterwards, Karen, Lacey and I went to Yur's for dinner. I had a grilled cheese and a couple Sessions. We talked Doctor Who (Karen doesn't like it but she started in the Matt Smith episodes, and with ones that don't show off the show in its best lights. Diana, who had joined us, and I agreed that The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances would be an excellent place to start). We talked thesis. We talked and talked. Then went our separate ways. I pulled up my television queue and started working on my illustration homework. It's 17"x7" just about, and it is an illustrated recipe. I'll scan it tomorrow and show you guys.

It is just a sketch, to be finished over the coming week. But it looks good. I'm excited for it.

Also I forgot to mention that two mornings ago I fell in the shower. Nothing major. Mostly just banged my side. I completely forgot about it till I lay down that same day. Still, a scary thing in the moment.

Todays Portrait Is: Olivia Britz.

eye see

Woke up with my puffy eye even puffier. Still no symptoms of pink eye, just regular old eye sty. Looked up sty on MayoClinic.com (WebMD should be avoided, thanks to my lovely yoga instructor Fawn for the health care searching advice) and followed the advice of a compress. The swelling went down. Still hurts a very little bit. Mostly just sore type of hurting. I'm just going to wait it out. For a second I was thinking about going to the clinic, but that is just me being a hypochondriac. I'll wait and see and if it gets worse or changes, I'll go. But for now, I'll stick with compresses.

Took my sweet time getting out of the house today. Had a second meal before I left, just to make sure I wasn't starving by the time yoga rolled around. It was good that I got to school when I did, before I forgot about print lab congestion. The class was just getting over with when I arrived. Boy, I remember a time when there was a full open lab day. Tomorrow there is also a class and I'm not sure if I should go SUPER early and print before it and get other stuff done in the mean time while they are in critique (they might be in critique, but if they are not, then I can work because the Screen & Relief class is still in Relief). Or do I wait till 5 and print straight through and listen to my audio book. Wednesday sucks for television anyway. I like the sound of the latter. Go late, take no risk and work work work. Instead of hitting the alarm a bunch of times and then taking a nap for four hours. I'll get to my reading tomorrow instead. But back to today. Today I took my paper to the chopper at school and chopped it into a very nicely cut 10"x10" stack. It looks so perfect and ready for printing. After that I played with my print pieces and thought about how they will be arranged on the paper. Before I knew it, it was time for yoga!

A lot of knee work today. Felt good. Got nice and warm. It hasn't been as cold these past few days, which is nice. After yoga I returned home. Worked on drawing stuff mostly. Nibbled on some more food. Contemplated tomorrow. The problem with not over scheduling myself, is when I leave the schedule open I accomplish less. I need to do better about setting firmer goals, instead of leaving things aside. Right now: print portfolio. Right after that: illustration recipe thingy. Right after that: draw people. THESIS! Right after that: work on mind map and writing. I've been doing tons of mind maps, though now we need to perform our mind map for the class. In some sort of performing monkey show.

Did you know Netflix has Top Gear on instant watch? Glee was good I guess. I like when we get character internal monologues. Raising Hope was funny. My eye sty is doing much better. I just put a cold cloth on it and the swelling goes right down. Hurrah! Guess it will be a lipstick only couple days. Oh well. My skin is looking great though. I think I may have nailed a routine that works. Cleanse every night. Use the gentle scrub every other morning. Once a week use the intense scrub.

Todays Portrait Is: Phil Bone.

preliminary thesis sketches

pen in moleskin.

unopen open time

Woke up with a sore puffy eyelid. The puffyness is barely noticeable, and I only really feel the soreness when I squint. Probably just a stye. See how it is tomorrow.

Another week starts. Another busy week. Got up early to work on stuff. Worked on sorting my bibliography. Ate a scramble. Yum yum yum. Big breakfasts are good things. Went to school at 12:30 and worked on the computers there, because it is much easier to use Zotero at school. Went to Utrecht and dropped some cash on paper for the print portfolio. Sketched and read during the time I had left. In class we mainly talked about format and our reactions to the reading and the stuff we worked on. Class moved pretty slow, but it moved. During break I scanned my thesis sketches and mailed them off to Martin. It wasn't the most eventful of classes. But we have 10 pages of our thesis paper due in two weeks. EEEEEKK!! Need to get on with my reading.

My next week doesn't have a lot of given responsibilities. It looks relatively open, but I know I have a lot of general work that needs doing. Printing and reading mostly. I'm drawing Karen on Friday. Need to order paper to print on. Reading and yoga and printmaking.

Back at home I ate some pasta and salad. Watched House. Drew some portraits. Drew the last piece for my print portfolio piece. Relaxed. Tomorrow I'll get up and get to work. Chop the paper down. Work on the layout. Maybe print a few layers. We'll see.

Todays Portrait Is: Kasia Alexander.

journey to the east

Something happened with my alarm and it didn't go off like it ought. Still, I wasn't in bed too late. Got up. Showered. Had my usual breakfast. Then I decided I would go drop off my pieces, no matter how long the bike ride. The show is a Thing-A-Day type thing, but only for January. Not a 365 project. So I swung by school and photocopied my first months worth of Portraitoday. Then I headed down to Couch via 9th. Then down to Naito Parkway via Couch. Got onto Hawthrone Bridge off of Naito. But I took a weird turn off and got onto Clay, and then 7th. Turned left onto Harrison. Rode straight on Harrison, all though not totally straight because there was a large roundabout and a few square gardens to zig around. The Harrison Street neighborhood is quite nice. Eventually I got up the hill to 28th and found St. David's Episcopal Church. That was where the drop off was. I dropped my stuff off. Filled out a form. Then I sat and caught my breath and relaxed a bit from my very long multiple mile bike ride. Whew! After I felt relaxed enough to hop on the bike, I did.

I zoomed down Harrison, and went over to Hawthorne by 12th. Stopped at Burgerville and got some burgers and a soda. Yum! Then I went over the bridge. Swung by Pioneer Place Mall and picked up a cheap loop to put in my one piercing hole. Maybe I'll get the other one pierced one of these days. Third times the charm? Rode back home. Talked to mom for a bit.

Went to Trader Joe's. Got some apples and food stuffs. Salad! Tabitha and Kristen were getting their hair did by this lady tonight. Highlights and a cut (I think) for Kristen, new nice shade of blonde and a good cut for Tabitha. I sat in my room reading and drinking tea. Now I shall read some more. And then draw while watching Top Gear and Shameless and Episodes. But first, more reading.

Todays Portrait Is: Casey Hatfield.

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.