the one, the only: Karen Berger!

As you may have read, my friend Karen has headed off to Kansas City for a summer internship with Hammerpress Studio. The picture above is her multi-juried show accepted piece "The Legendary Hank Williams Jr.". It won the Bronze award in the Illustration Juried Show.

She will be writing about her adventures in her own blog (and hopefully by promoting it here, she won't laze about with it):
http://toperceive.blogspot.com/

moving out in august?

Guess what?
What?
Karen, Adam, Phil, and Andy are trying to get a house in NW Nob Hill district! And they have asked if I want to go in with them. It is five bedrooms, two living room, two bathroom. I agreed to do it, nothing it for certain right now but I figured I should give it a shot. It is considerably cheaper than The Goose and in a good area and we might be able to set up a silk screen printing studio in the basement. It is about time to move out methinks. My lease is up in August. I filled out a part of the form. Give it a shot. Why not? There is still a lot up in the air right now, it isn't solidified. I haven't put money down.

Gabe made this noodle shrimp cabbage dish for Nathalie's barbecue. Karen and I drove together. Hit some hella traffic but got there alright. Terry, Colin, Amanda, Ursula, Ursula's roommate, Nat's twin Katie, Matt, Bryan, BT, and Megan were there. A nice little crowd. We ate barbecue food prepared by Nathalie's uncle (or was it her dad? Her parents and an Aunt and Uncle set were there and I couldn't quite tell them apart). Chatted nerd stuff and drew a little. Nathalie lives up on 43rd in a nice little house filled neighborhood.

When it got a chilly, we grouped together in the basement and played Taboo. Nice little party game but tricky to get the hold of it. Terry killed it, as did Ursula.

Karen left early because she is off to Kansas City tomorrow. Bye bye Karen! Ursula, her roomie, and Amanda left to a bar that held another graduation party. Terry, Colin, and Matt all departed for whichever reason. Bryan had to meet his girlfriend for something. It got dark. Nathalie loaned us sweaters. I was one of the last to leave. Walked by my lonesome the 10 blocks to the Max Station on 43rd. It was running a bit late but getting back was pretty much uneventful. Portland is safe.

Jason was in the Goose Hollow area (his friend Sandeep lives in a complex about two blocks from my apartment) so when I got back we hung out for a little while. Not too long as he had to catch the Max out to Beaverton.

Need to plan when I want to go home. I don't want to think about internship till I sort out my visit to Washington first (I want to see all yall, Christmas wasn't much of a visit). I don't want to go home till I know what to draw while home so that when I get back to Portland I can get right to printing for the Zine Symposium in July. I want to print a second run of my comic before I go home. I have a week left of free time in the printing studio before I have to pay the summer use fee.

Need to make a list.

happy three one!

Okay so the rafting trip was bust. Even a little picnic was bust. It all fell through. But it also wasn't that brilliant of a day. Not super boiling hot where you just HAVE to find relief, so no big lost.

Had a restless morning. Got up early. Read. Ate a late lunch. Not much happened. Karen helped me move my art from her car to my apartment.

It was Gabe's birthday so there was a little get together at Scooter's. Tom came down from Washington for it. Gabe's friend Chaz was there. Super nerd. We drank and talked and took pictures of ourselves making funny faces. We walked back and Gabe went to sleep and Katie, Tom, and I are going to watch Pineapple Express. Yay. Mmm.

I made Gabe a little card with lots of Luna drawings. Katie made him this photoshop card where she put their faces on these Japanese girls from a fashion mag. Really silly, really lovely.

I did good shopping!

Who was it that said I should be hitting the pavement in regards to my internship? Do you guys want me to visit home or not? And it hasn't even been a week since I got out of school! Let me relax a little, it was a very stressful semester!

Anyway, so I relaxed today. Karen and I got together to do some summer shopping. Got the blue with white polka dot bikini from Old Navy that I wanted (I scoped out the website ahead of time). Also grabbed some flip flops and some plain tees from the sale wall. Mmm five dollar teeshirts. Forever 21 provided a cute shirt dress. Gap provided another 5 dollar tee. I looked at all the cute full priced things with sadness in my eyes. Sadness that they are once again priced too high for a student with no discount. Karen did some intense grabbing though. Lucky girl.

I wore my UV reactive teeshirt. The color shows up real quick and fades just as fast. And it takes bright light to react so it is hard to show off when it isn't bright outside. Still, I dig it.

After frolicking around Lloyd Center like a bunch of high school girls, we went to Hot Lips and then to school. I transported my locker contents and most of my. Oh dang, forgot to unload the woodblock drawer. I'll have to remember to do that. Anyway, unloaded my silk screen drawer. Left behind the comic paper and transfers for when I do a second printing. Having just seven left, I'm not cool with that. I want to have more to sell and pass around.

Took the streetcar home and lounged around.

At 8pm was a technical Munchkin Party. I didn't know it was a potluck of sorts so I grabbed the left over caramel corn that Gabe made a while ago. Phil made very spicy pasta sauce and I cried a little while eating it. Robin and I walked to Safeway and grabbed some chips and dip. Mmmm. We ended up watching movies to increase Robin's pop culture knowledge. Spaceballs was followed by Mystery Science Theatre 3000: Space Mutiny. Karen dyed her hair to be a smoother blonde. Looks good.

The rafting trip has been demoted to a maybe swimming trip to maybe a not happening at all trip. We'll see.

a day indoors

A real, quality do nothing day. Ahhh.

Well I added some more show cards to my in progress decoupage chest of drawers. covered the third drawer.

And my teeshirts arrived from Threadless! I can't wait to wear them out and about. One has UV ink that the color shows when you get out into the sun. Very cool.

Gabe has left for a few days so I ate the can of chili that has been sitting in my cupboard for a while.

Still haven't slept in past noon.

Watched What To Do In Case of Fire tonight. This Til Schweiger movie about a group of revolutionaries who plant a bomb in a building and it goes off 15 years later. They band together again to try and get the evidence back that condemns them. A great little film. Fun. Then I watched Following, a short film by Christopher Nolan. A little mystery film told slightly non sequentially. A nicely rendered little thriller. I dug it.

I also worked on cleaning the apartment. Threw out papers that had been piling up. Put away books. Put away clothes. Did a little vacuuming. Didn't get much reading done, just did a lot of watching. The weather was cooler but I heard it is supposed to be in the 70's and 80's for the rest of the week. A second rafting trip is planned for Thursday.

Mmm summer.

not quite as warm but much much more wet

Karen called me at 11:30 to ask if I knew the meeting was at noon. I didn't but I was up and washed already so no biggie.

The student leadership meeting was a free lunch of Thai food with plenty of rice to go around. I had a lot of rice. MMmm. It was mostly a little meeting to hash out what the responsibilities were of the jobs and not an actual time to solve the school's problems. It went by fairly easily. Just buzz words and advice and expectations. Karen had a meeting so I was on my own for my way back (she drove me there).

I lounged around school and bit and was going to get an Italian Soda but the streetcar was right there so I went home instead. I picked up some cheap, but better quality than the ones I have, Popsicles to have and share with Katie and Gabe.

Karen invited me to go rafting with her, Adam, Tony, and Tony's friend. They were in separate cars so we were lagging a little behind. Karen had a meeting about an internship so we were a little behind. I sat int he car while she had her meeting and it was about 20 minutes before I realised that I could in fact open up the door to relieve the heat inside then automobile. I read The Road.

There was a slight communication error about rafting. The other party left without us and we went anyway to just swim and enjoy the Clackamas river anyway. We assumed that they had left when it turns out, they had left about 5 minutes after we arrived. Yeah. Oh well. Karen also locked her keys in her car. Oops.

Adam was the drop offer and the pick upper for the rafters so he met us at Carver(Carter?) Park, which was the end point. Adam asked a guy about getting to other rafting stops and he told us about a little route. We waded across a shallow river bed and followed an ingrown trail to find a little swimming hole farther up river. Only a couple people were around. Tony and his friend came by in their raft from upstream and they managed to paddle over and greet us. We lounged about and a couple of us hopped in the water. The freezing river water. It was easier to jump the second or third time. And much more fun.

We decided to join them and raft further down the river and find a way back from there. Right when we started the sun went behind some clouds and it stopped being drying and super sunny. Still we had fun. Except at about the 45 minute mark I was getting worried about where the next rafting stop point was. It was supposed to be (according to Tony) a 30-40 minute raft. Uhh yeah. This nice old couple was fishing and we asked them how long till the next place and they said another hour.

So we decided to just get off the river at the next available spot, which ended up being slightly private property. Just little cement stairs into the water and a back gate to a yard. We got out and to the shoulder real quick and no one was home. Hehehe.

Karen called AAA from our place there. And you know that nice old couple that told us how long we had? They offered us all a ride in their truck! We deflated our raft and all five of us fit quite nicely in the back. The couple even gave us a few jackets to drape to keep from being too chilly. They were super cool. And so nice. They offered to take us, we didn't ask (though we wanted to). It was either that or walk or call a cab. We even received a little, "you kids watch out" lecture. What an adventure!

AAA showed up pretty quick and the boys and us parted ways. We both managed to half change on the way back. Karen struggled to get her top on during the drive through wait. It was silly. I took a shower when I got back because I was still chilled and damp. It felt really good. Gabe has been a little under the weather so my Warren Ellis comics have been keeping him company.

It rained a little. Katie and I watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Gabe made really rich chocolate cupcakes with creme cheese icing. Mmm.

I lathered on sunblock so my pasty complexion is preserved.

Here is another dose of Luna:

Trillian and Jen's

I couldn't convince Gabe or Katie to go to Powell's with me. Jen however was game for a day of walking and sun enjoying and ice cream and lunch and a brief trip to Powell's.

I opted to walk because with her having to part at work I knew I would probably end up near a max line and would have an easy route back. Plus walking with my bike is a hassle. It was a lovely warmth. Not so frying but I could still manage pants.

We met inside Powell's and I picked up a used, non movie cover, version of The Road. Both our tumblies were grumbling so we went to Kenny and Zukes. It was a little pricey but our sandwiches were the size of all our fists combined with another layer of meat ontop. I was only able to get through half, but now I have tons of pastrami and roast beef to nibble on over the next couple of days. Yum!

Ben and Jerry's was the next stop. Frozen chocolate bananas were ours to eat! What a lovely phallic treat for dessert. Mmmm. We consumed them in Jamison, where the number of kids had multiplied since yesterday. There was a wonderful dad and daughter squirt gun team and the dad traded with the mom. I like seeing playful parents. There were naked toddlers and squirt guns and bad faded tattoos. We waded a little. At 11th and Johnson, Jen ran into her friends Ed and Shad. The streetcar came and we parted ways. On the way back home I helped some German tourists figure out which stop they needed.

I read The Road. It has big font but the words are chosen wisely.

When night fell we rented Severance and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Only watched the former. As violent and fun as when I first watched it.

Tomorrow is my last obligation as Student Club Coordinator. A little leadership retreat where we hash out all the answers to the school's problems!

summer reading

First day of actual summer. Kicked it off with finishing Preacher while a nice wind blew through my open window. What an amazing read.

I read comics for most of the day. Sat out on the porch with Gabe (who I have working on going through my library). Just relaxed. Enjoyed. It was beautiful and sunny but not impossible.

When Katie got back from shopping with her mom and sister (who is like Katie's exact opposite) we all went out for ice cream! We went down to the Pearl District and to Full Moon and eyed their lovely locally made stuff. I got a sundae with the as-yet-unnamed chocolate. Katie got a cone of blueberry or something. Gabe got a Kulfi and Almond cone. Jamison Square was full of kids frolicking in the fountain. Katie only got about 5 licks in before the cone fell to the dirt. She was very sad but we generously shared from our own treats. She stepped her foot down into the scoop in spite of it. The ice cream oozed up between all her toes. She shrieked from the cold and delight. Then washed off in the fountain.

I blew bubbles.

Gabe cooked us a light little pasta bacon thing with quail eggs. He called his Almost Breakfast for Dinner pasta. It was tasty. I now have forgotten how to cook for myself. But that's okay, I wasn't all that good at it anyway.

I think I'll walk down to Powell's and pick up The Road or Lost at Sea.

and no waterballoons or red rover!

I got up really early. Just wide awake at 9. Still on school time but I will change that soon enough. Read Garth Ennis' Preacher for several hours. Just tearing through the volumes. So good, so fun. The Boy will never really "Out Preacher Preacher" as Ennis said. Probably because Steve Dillon isn't illustrating it (sure Darick Robertson is good but not as good as his Transmetropolitan days).

Anyway, that was fun. At around 2:50 I went to school to finish up my errands. I dropped off my library book. I talked to Kristen and Kim while I backed up my disk. Then it was off to 25th and Pettygrove!

The end of the year party was moved to a park this time, instead of just being around the loading dock by our school. It really gave us the room to spread out but also form more groups and kinda minimized the mingling. Still there was free food and beverages a plenty as well as Frisbees and bocce (which I didn't get to play because I couldn't locate the set to borrow). I arrived on my own but quickly found Matt and Daniel and Jim and other people to sit with. We sat while the shade covered us and talked about movies and things. Colin, Matt, and I played Frisbee for a while. I was not so good at it but I had fun.

Karen and Robin were eventually freed from printmaking and showed up. Karen and Madeline chilled on the nerdy blanket with us. Thom, Kim, Diana, Madeline and I played Frisbee. I got a little better. I had a hot dog when I showed up and a hamburger later. Katie and Gabe arrived and we hung around. I slapped Karen on the head and said Goose and she did nothing. She later slapped me on the head and I chased her and lost my shoes and keys and searched all over my path for them, only to find that Madeline, Katie, and Gabe had hidden them! Jerks.

I didn't get a chance to be on the bouncy castle either.

It was a jolly little day in the park. Everyone relaxing all across the grades. It wasn't just a social thing for Freshmen and Sophomores. We stowed my bike in Katie's car and went home, tra la la. I read more Preacher, ate caramel corn, and further enjoyed the beautiful night.

summer is coming, it is here!

Rubik's final has arrived. Shawn tested, with hecklers, at 2:01 seconds. A tough time to beat. I gave him a Lucky Luna. He said his wife wanted to get a cat when they were in Kansas City, now they won't have to! The timer went and off we went along with it. Yours truly was the first to finish.
"Done!"
"..."
"Damnit!"
I was two seconds after his time when I looked but he was kind to take a few seconds off for the delay. I got the 3% extra credit! I waited a few minutes. Liz was next. Jen got a quick time with notes. Karen got in at 9. I wish all finals were that easy.

I picked up a late breakfast/early lunch at Safeway and enjoyed it with Amanda, Lacey, Nathalie, Matt, Jen, and Karen in the library. We all gathered round each other and talked while avoiding the digital work to be done. Matt was in figure drawing and they came through the library with their float final assignment. Matt's was the Queen of Cheese (or was it the Cheese Queen?). Diana had a remote control thingy.

At noon I checked out a tablet and at 12:30 I picked it up because I had to wait for the people to get back to The Cage so I could check it out. Watched Lost and worked. Lost was INTENSE!! A nail biting season finale.

The final critique went quick. We always have little end reviews in that class. It was mostly little advice things exchanged. One by one, Joe took us aside and talked to us about our progress. He liked how different my pieces were and that I tried different things. I gave him a Lucky Luna.

Then we were done. Then I was done. My semester is done. I'm into summer now. Woah.

I read Preacher and ate dinner. I convinced Jason to take me to a late showing of Star Trek. Exactly at 8:30, he arrived. So punctual. It took a little loop around the parking lot to get in but we arrived with plenty to spare. I had never been to the Lloyd 8 before; the theatre within the mall. It wasn't all that nice. Rather minimal with a small screen. Less intense of an experience but still Star Trek was AWESOME!! Loved it. Wish the audience was more pumped but Jason and I were content to nerd out on our own.

After we just hung about my place and harassed Luna till he had to leave. Someone had work in the morning. Whatever. I wasn't so sleep deprived this semester but it will be nice to have no tension.

Done! I'm done! I've been getting some nice messages and words and calls from family. It feels so good to know how supported I am by all of them and all of you. In the tough spots it keeps me going. I know this is where I want to be and now more than an ever I feel I can accomplish it. I can push myself harder, I am more open to putting myself out there. It helps so much to feel that this is where you all want me to be as well.

Oh, and the crew and I are planning a little inner tubing trip down a river in the next week.

Also forgot to mention that at the end of Yoga, Tatum had little ceramic bowls to give us. Art pass outs are spreading! Patrick Melroy mentioned reading my blog and asked if it was cool to talk about it to new students and parents (as in an example for ways for students to keep in touch). He put his Lucky Luna up in his office. Fawn said that when she put hers up, it felt like it always belonged there. When I sat down and scribbled a little drawing of Luna one morning, I didn't think it would become this. You really never know what pieces might change the direction of your work. Lucky Luna has really increased my ideals that art should be available and affordable. I like things that are easy to mass produce at low cost. I like that people get such a kick out of receiving art. It is being asked for by name or by image. Viral printmaking!

Luna loves it as well.

Lucky Luna

So notorious they ask for it by name.

Post it or share it for good luck.

Silkscreen. 15"x22".

my nose is all runny

The last comic meeting went slow but well. We looked and quickly critiqued August's and Maddison's piece. August managed to finish his. Well, all 10 pages of it. It was printed and presented all nice but there just wasn't much to it. Maddison just had one copy, still it was an interesting dissection of his thesis. I had a runny nose like crazy.

Gabe made a rice corn medley meal for the printmaking potluck. Diana brought guacamole. And that was about it. People went to Safeway and got drinks and chips. Yoshi made his little usual food. The rice went over very well. We sat and talked and tried to lure more people into the Perceivers.

Before all that we critiqued Patsy and Aubin's. Patsy had a lovely fine bird line art combination. It was all good and stuff. Mostly came down to comments about paper color and how it makes us feel. Aubin's was shorter. Her science portrait of her grandfather was mostly talked about looking like a text book image and we talked about color choice. Err yeah. I was spacing out a little during the critique and continually sniffling.

Karen and I chilled during lunch. Didn't go to comic club. We just ate potluck grub and solved cubes.

After lunch Yoshi explained the rules of summertime printmaking and showed us how to dehaze our screens. Then I set up printing Lucky Lunas! A herd of kids came in and they group drew with some of the rest of the class. I just printed Lunas. About 75 in total. And a few on thicker paper. I didn't really get how many I did until I started folding them. Gave about 25 away by the time I left school. Pilar asked for one by name as did Lacey (different Lacey). Michael, Andy, the girls in the Library, Dominic, Thom, Daniel, they all got one.

Yoga was only Tatum, Tatum's friend, and myself. Her friend left due to shoulder pain. It was fun and good to stretch out all the tension that standing printing caused. Afterwards I wandered around trying to find more people to share Luna with.

The rain stopped just long enough to get me and my prints home. It started pouring in the last 10 seconds but I was safe!

No Gabe to make me dinner. No Katie to harass. Just sat and read Ennis' Preacher.

feet hurty

Math test was exactly the practice test that we did in class. Same one I reviewed with Jen. I didn't know a good second example of a real group but oh well. Small points. Go me! And the Rubik's cube will have full points, no problem there.

I loitered around with Karen for a while. Watched her size down her print. We went to Sushi Land for an early lunch. It is one of those pay-by-the-plate type of joints. Had plenty of $1.50 sushi. We grabbed a booth before the rush came in. Then the rush came and everyone glared at our booth having abilities. Some people were very aggressive in defending a spot at the table because some kids came in, unaware there was a sign up sheet. They were very rude. Made me wish you could pick who got your spot after you left a restaurant.

Met up with Dominic in the library. He returned some comics I loaned him. He and I decided to venture down to Floating World Comics. Chatted with Craig and Thom a little first. I was wearing my wedges, which are ya know those heeled shoes without the bit missing in the middle. They are comfy shoes for about 2 hours and then they kill my feet. I didn't plan on taking a walk today.

Weather was very erratic. It would be sunny then a drizzle then warm then a mist then cloudy and windy and cold. The sun kept up for the journey to and from Floating World. Picked up some of the benefit posters from the show, some back issues of Kick Ass, Farel's comic Pop Gun War, my subscription box, and Warren Ellis' Freak Angels. All of it at my awesome regular discount. Go me! So comics and teeshirts mark the end of my good-for-Trillian splurge.

I haven't heard back about that internship. If that doesn't go through I think I might pay for summer use of the schools studio and screen print to my hearts content. Give me something to do and some art to make. A goal.

Dominic didn't get anything at the shop. Such a great selection. I needed recommendations but I didn't take many of them (oh how I wish I could).

The streetcar was right there when we got to 10th(it was also coming right as Karen and I left Sushi Land, my lucky day!). Spent the rest of the break nursing my poor feet and talking with Jen, Terry, Matt, Amanda, and Nathalie in the library.

Digital tools was fairly productive. Got most of the line art, color, and texture in. Just need to add patterns and refine it. Last project to complete!

I spent the evening eating bread and reading Millar's Wanted. Very very different from the movie (but I can see why they changed it. Wait no I can't, they could have fit the comic into a longish movie.) Gabe made the bread. Of course.

Figure Drawings from Illustration Class

Figure drawings from my Illustration Studio.

Graphite on bond paper.

getting it finished

Documentation? Done! I cut it rather short but I finished it. Well, I forgot to take a picture of my final illustration. Looking at what I did in Illustration this semester, well it seems very underwhelming. I didn't do all that much. I'll get to uploading the pictures here in a couple days.

Critique was only an hour and a half. Nothing compared to Yoshi's critiques. Then again, with Yoshi we don't look at our work every week and note the progress. Robin's piece was beautifully rendered but I felt it could have been larger (but she also was working on this massive painting for Annie's class). Josh and Janessa seem to be set on course to be the next PNCA power couple. Kevin's had naughty undertones. There were some excellent pieces and some more choppy ones. My critique was mostly nitpicks. Nothing that can't be changed with a little more work.

Robin and I ate lunch together. I had a late breakfast so I just needed some breadsticks and a soda. We went up on the rooftop at the Hot Lips/Laughing Planet complex. A nice little balcony area I haven't been on since the first lunch my first semester.

We only had private consultations after that so once that was done, we were done. Daniela was running about 15 minutes behind. Mine went well. Main critique was to focus drawing figures in perspective some more. Doable.

Jen and I studied group theory a little bit before parting. Just reviewed. The cubes in the library were solved so it was time for me to wander home.

I deposited by Student Clubs Coordinator check on the way home and when I got home I checked to see it went through and treated myself to some teeshirts from Threadless for a semester pretty much well done.

Gabe slowly fed us through the day. He made a little cheese crusty spinach thing and salad rolls and chicken wings (non hot made just for me, Gabe is awesome). We sat about and cheered Katie on. Relaxed. Math test tomorrow. At this point what I know, I know and what I don't I don't. I'll ace the Rubik's part no question. Maybe even get extra points if I beat the teacher's time. Final comic meeting and printmaking on Wednesday and then Rubik's and Digital on Thursday. Then I am done. End of the year party on Friday. Nathalie has a party in another week. Hmmn.

Happy Mothra Day

Slept in and lounged in bed for as long as possible because I knew that once I got up and showered and ate it would be time to sit and paint for 8, 12, 16 hours (however long it took).

Really it only took about 7. Well, some of it feels a bit rough but I don't quite know how to fill it in. It looks nice if a bit clustered. I'll document it tomorrow and you guys will see.

So yeah, that is what I did.

Katie gave a Luna to her mom, who loved it. She brought home leftover rum and ribs which was a fun reward when I finished my painting. Will the ribs more so.

Just painted. All the mothers that I know are up in Washington. I'll see them soon enough and hand out prints.

reference photo for final piece attached

Woah, its 1:30. Today really flew by.

Got my sketch done and done. Now to just sit in front of computer all of tomorrow and paint paint paint! I don't think it will need much rendering, it just needs to pay attention to some of the shades of light shifting or whatever.

I took a nap in the middle of the day even though I wasn't very tired. Just drifted off.

Been reading Palahniuk's Lullaby. You can totally get the aggression of the main character.

Gabe made eggs and bacon and english muffins for breakfast and I finished it all!
Gabe made fish and chips for dinner and I finished it all!

I also finished off the Coca Cola I nicked from the May Day Soiree and the Lemonade Iced Tea from Trader Joe's.

It was a beautiful sunny day. Not a day that encourages work. Took a long while before I worked on the sketch.

Solved the cube a bunch. Whoo, cube!

Apparently someone put up a very nasty warning to the person who keeps defecating in the far hallway. I wanted to get a photo of the note but someone took it down. Who poos in a stairwell, seriously? There are bushes right outside and doggie doo bags. Bleh.

I woke up to Gabe snoring from the other room. No nightmares last night, lets hope for none tonight.

Also, seeing as it is in the AM: Happy Mother's Day Ma! Looove yoooou!!

check out the video, it's neat

I had a terrible nightmare about being attacked by a T-1000. We got him stuck in a closet and escaped only to have biological warfare zombies come after us! There was a long sequence in which I was in a library and frenzied people were outside. We made a slow retreat (we being me and lots of the MFA's) and then I woke up in a sweat.

I spent today cleaning house. My room was a wreck. Tidied up, cleaned the kitchen, cut out some stuff from magazines, threw out the trash. Did something so not finals to distract from, well, finals. I will document Monday morning, that is my plan. The whole weekend now is set aside for my grand illustration piece. Whoohooo!

Did I mention that there was a redshirt in Star Trek? There totally was a redshirt.

I had a date tonight. Ohhh! How exciting. It was with Travis, the comic liker and animation major from AI. We met at my place at around 8pm and walked up to 21st. The Spike and Mike Animation Festival was playing at Cinema 21 so we went to catch that. We arrived early so we had some tea and Italian soda at Coffee Time. The Spike and Mike festival was very wonderful. Just lots of weird little shorts. Some were sweet but most were weird and a few were just plain gross. But hey, a reaction is still a reaction. My favorite was Aurthur De Pins's Crab Revolution:

Afterwards we walked back and had a pitcher of beer at Goose Hollow Inn. We talked mostly about art and our different approaches to it. Art is wonderful. We both like it. And comics. And school. Yup. After our single little pitcher we decided to take a walk up Washington Park. It was a lovely clear night but it got really chilly. Still we sat on the swings and the bench and shivered and chattered until we could take it no more. With Lucky Luna print in his hand, we parted ways (he only lives about 5 blocks away).

It was a nice little date. I like taking walks around Portland. If only I was in better walking shape (biking yes, walking no). Now to dream hopefully nice dreams.

STAR TREK!!! COMICS!!! PERCEIVERS!!! YEAHHH!!

STAR TREK WAS AWESOME! The new movie, oh so very good. Great action and all that. Clean effects, lovely casting, nice references to the original series without being out of place. Waah! Saw Midnight showing even though there were ones all through the day for some reason. I am PUMPED!

I slept in because math was just the cube. Whatever. Had a tuna fish. I can solve the cube in under 3 minutes. I even got it under 2. Amazing.

Digital illustration was frustrating. I started over and started over again. I just can't get my head around the project. Had to take a mental break and talk to the crew in the library.

Oh and Simon Pegg was wonderful as Scotty. It was just, ahh. The audience was excellent. There were cheers when lines were said and when some characters showed up. There was even a hot green skin red hair alien. Sylar as Spock was seamless. Leonard Nimoy was there as well. Time travel! Phasers set to stun! Hitting on sexy alien chicks!

It was First Thursday as well and that brought around crackers and cheese for the Illustration Juried Show. We had a little table and everybody gathered around and snacked. Terry, Matt, Nathalie, Amanda, Erin, Karen, Dom, Sally Jablonski, Jen, myself. You know, the crew. Everyone who showed and got in got a free sketchbook! There were even moleskins to grab so I now have a shiny new moleskin to draw in. Fancy. The awards were also given out:
Bronze: Karen's Hank Williams silkscreen poster.
Silver: Jen Lee's watercolor collage Clint Eastwood
Gold: Erin's watercolor portrait of a lady singer that I forget.
Honorable Mentions: Matt's Mama Cass and Trillian's Katie with Jade Plants.
That's right. I got honorable mention! Which means out of the top 5 pieces, mine was around 4 or 5. This show was juried by high ups from around the country that Martin brought in. People totally unaware of us, just looking at the cohesiveness of the piece. And I was high up on the list! AWESOME!

I stuffed my face and Karen, Erin, Erin's boy and I walked down to Floating World Comics. We ran into Shaun, the math teacher, and I declared how fast I could solve the cube. Morgan has a show at one of the galleries and looking at his paintings and prints, it makes perfect sense. Fits just wonderfully in accordance with who he is.

Floating World Comics has a Kitty Pryde inspired show which the proceeds from the print sales are going to fund research concerning hemophilia. Kitty Pryde is a member of the X-Men. She is the one who can go through walls. So it was tons of different artists all drawing her in whatever way they wanted. It was really cool. I can't wait to check it out when it is more vacant. Farel had a piece, Matthew Seely had a piece, Zachary Baldus had a piece, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Joelle Jones, Nathan Powell, and just more and more. It was real neat. Karen bought a silkscreen. We walked back up and talked about our plans for our own comic/art/print collective we are forming: The Perceivers.

It was a surprisingly easy ride back home. Relaxed. Ate some pasta. Katie and her friend Eric are going to see The Shins tonight. At 11:20 I met up with Karen and we drove to the Lloyd 10. There was a slight panic at the sight of a full parking lot but there was a 11pm show. We were in the massive theatre and found side seats pretty easily. STAR TREK WAS AWESOME!! The audience cheered and clapped. A guy had a lightsaber which he whipped out during the trailer for the second Night at the Museum movie. He brought it out only once when Darth Vader came on screen. It was awesome. It really got the energy going. Nerd audiences are the best. When the movie was over, all I could say was how brilliant it was. Ahhh I just want to see it AGAIN! Go see it people, it is way neat.

I have to document my work over the weekend. And finish my illustration. After that it is just study for group theory and finish digital and turn in said documentation. Endgame for my fourth semester at PNCA. I will be a junior. I will have one year until my senior thesis. I am half way done. I am halfway done and getting honorable mentions in juried shows and selling my comics and forming collectives.

blue ink, my new foe!

Arrived at school in time for a supposed comic class meeting. Then no one else was around. Grabbed some cocoa and a muffin. And still no one showed up. Uhh. Yeah so later Lacey texted me to inform me that it was delayed till next week. Ha. Okay. Oh well. I was more than on time for the final printmaking critique.

First up was Junko's butterfly piece that felt very trapped. It was registered like a dream. Patrick's piece was confusing both in technique and execution. It was printed on yupo, which didn't take the ink at all and made it very brittle and in need of a spray sealant. The image also didn't read all that well. Bre had a lovely Audrey Hepburn that was critiqued as seeming a little contradictory and unfinished. Still, it was pulled nicely.

Everyone loved Luna! It also probably helped that I handed out the single image posters to bribe everyone. The cat was said to just have an aura of indifference and even when the registration was off, the cat just didn't care. I loved it. One of my favorite critiques. I like that my art brought a little joy to people. Everyone loves it when I give them a poster. I can't print them fast enough, or give them away quick enough. It's great!

Lunch was met with about 20 minutes of comic club where Taylor spaced and didn't show up for. Went and got a burrito after Daniel bought another Luna for a buck (I had given him one, which he gave away, and a second to replace that). Had a delicious burrito.

The other half of critique was Devin, Phil, and Brandon's collaboration zine silkscreen. They worked on making images together and putting them together in a little booklet that folded out into a larger poster. It was so rad. It really came together, which was good because Yoshi had been on their case from the first hint of them working together. The colors really tied it all together I felt. Some of the styles were a little different. It was a neat form of folding, I'll have to look into it. Right now I'm thinking of single image prints I could easily make oodles of. Hmmmn. Diana's 14 color owl print with pretty much perfect registration was met with a, "YOU ARE CRAZY!" I don't know how she got it so impeccable 9besides talent and patience and perfectionism). A really beautiful piece.

We were let out early but I stuck around to print more Lunas. I bought some nicer paper but when I cut it down she didn't quite fit so I don't know how I feel about them. I got a few more newsprint though and used up some ink. Then I was pulling the ink across the screen and DISASTER the block holding the screen up slipped and the screen clattered down and ink got all over me! A huge strip on my shirt and pants! Cherish helped grab my spare shirt out of my bag (I had ink all over my hands) and I dashed to wash the wet ink off my clothes before it stained. It came out of the shirt alright but I needed the private bathroom to remove and wash my pants. The person took forever and I shall name that person: TABOR! Took for freaking ever while the ink began to set. But it all came out. A lot of water and brisk scrubbing in the sink and it came out. It was not fun to wear the sopping wet pants. I just had to wear them long enough to get my yoga pants. Whew for spares!

In yoga duds I cleaned up my station (and washed my screen out which now has an insane big blue stain). Got everything folded. I felt a little doofy but at least I was comfortable.

At a little after 5, I helped set up the Illustration Juried Show! In the hallway! Outside the bathroom! Seriously, someone dropped the ball and we didn't get a halfway decent spot. We had to set up our fancy juried show in the hallway that we normally have for our classes. Bullpucky! Still, I got in. There is some serious talent in the show.

Then yoga! I remembered to do it. A new gal joined us. It wasn't so tough but I was stiff. I gave away prints after the session.

Then it was time to go home and do my laundry. Wash the ink victim pants and shirt and all my other regular dirty clothes. It all came out and they are folded and warm. Mmm.

I get to sleep in tomorrow because it is just a Rubik's cube solving day. I don't really need to spend an hour and a half solving something I can do in 5 minutes without almost any notes. Yeah. Go me.