Reading! And Baby Pictures!

Do you like how I lured you in with promises of baby pictures in the title? A small token of my appreciation for those who are reading my modest little blog.

Micromanaging my schedule has really helped me stay focused on being productive after I get home from work. I’ve decided I have to take it another step further. My schedule used to be the following:
Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays are dedicated towards reading, website revamping, and blogging.

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays are for studio time.

Now that I’ve been doing this (tiring) schedule for a while now, I’ve come to realize that I need to designate what I DO on my Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Fridays…. Or those days just get lost.

Wednesdays are now designated “READING” days. Once Brody goes to sleep at 7pm… I won’t watch TV or go on the computer at all. I will take a shower… grab a beer… and read… SOMETHING! This way, reading is always on the docket and is given a higher priority than it’s ever had in my life. I really do like reading, but I always think about what else I COULD be or SHOULD be doing… then my mind wanders. If I tell myself that Wednesdays are for reading… then I won’t think those thoughts because…. Wednesdays are for reading!!

Time for BABY PICTURES!! I could stare at this boy forever...

Six Rolls of Tape Later...

I just need to figure out how I’m going to finish the surface of this piece and I’ll be done!! I’ve done a lot of tests and have yet to reach a decision. I think I’m going to upholstery the figure in burlap, layer it with shellac, then finish with a thin layer of polyurethane. Sounds like an extremely strong (and toxic) mixed drink.

bark and shellac test is getting bigger.

acrylic yarn and shellac. If I could get the loops tighter, I would consider doing this on the figure. But alas.. I don't like the gaps.

This week I added the breast and pregnant belly to the figure. I feel so much more connected to this piece now that it is clearer what the final product will look like.  There’s definitely a powerful energy that surrounds this piece.  It demands your attention. I think I’ll have some good luck entering her into shows. That’s right. It’s a she. Like a large boat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m starting to think about picking a freight company to ship my larger pieces when the time comes to ship. Unfortunately, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to show locations. If I get into a show in Wisconsin or… Maine or… one of those square states… I have to participate to build my resume. I wish that showing work didn’t have to cost the artist so much money! There’s the entry fee…. and if you get in… then you get to pay for your own shipping (you have to pay for a return label as well)… and on top of all that, if you happen to “win” best in show or some sort of money, its always something like $100. $100? Really? Thanks for paying for 1/5 of my shipping cost ya jack rabbit. I understand that a lot of galleries are non-profit and what not… but I think artists should be rewarded more if they get into shows.

For the record… I’ve applied to 8 shows since January 1 and I’ve gotten into…. Zeeeroooooo! Still going strong! Hopefully my new work will breathe life into my quest for shows…. Or maybe I need to start entering proposals for shows. That’s probably the next step. Very high-risk, high reward. There’s a lot of work that goes into proposing a show and to have it be rejected would suck so much more than just losing an entry fee. We’ll see! There’s much making to be had before we jump that hurdle, you and I.

Beautiful Video

SVOS

The Silicon Valley Open Studios event has created a website with all participants’ work! Here is a link to the Palo Alto Studios participants! Look at all the painters! I discovered a few weeks ago that the studio directly below me has a full ceramics set up with a massive kiln. It was a cold…dark… night where usually I would be layering up a little in order to work... but I noticed I felt really comfortable which was confusing because the building does not have central air. This is how I discovered the huge kiln heating my studio! What a happy surprise... I'm sure it'll be awful in the summertime! Yeehaw!

Larger post to come this afternoon.

Arachnophobia!

Oh no! Last night I started to work with some of the bark chips I’ve collected to make a large abstract piece…. and I discovered that the bag is INFESTED with spiders!! EEEE! Anyone who knows me… I don’t ‘do’ spiders. I don’t ‘do’ bugs…. Haha! I think I’m going to buy some RAID and fumigate the bag. I can’t bring myself to throw the bark away… but, after closer examination, I noticed there’s a significant number of spider eggs all up in that bag! I don’t want to think about them nesting in my studio. OH MY GOD THEY ARE PROBABLY NESTING RIGHT NOW! EEEE!

LOUISE BOURGEOIS

Every time I saw a spider trying to crawl out of the bag… I dripped super-glue on it.

I’m going to hell for all the cruel ways I kill spiders.

I’m going to spider hell.

Feather Leaves

I really like how these shellac leaves came out. I think I may brush them with some resin and see how that works out. I like it when tests work out.

My Breast Piece Ever

Just finished the armature for the breastfeeding-warrior piece… that’s its unofficial name for now. Unofficial, people.

Where Everything and Nothing Makes Sense

Went on a little bit of a blogging hiatus… I know my many readers in South Korea and Slovenia were worried...

안녕 and Kako/Kak ste? friends!

This past week I had to deal with going to court with my former nanny. She made me realize that I’m very grateful for the stability in my life. I’m only 25 years old and I’m married, have a beautiful son, and a stable job. It’s safe to say that I live pretty comfortably and I earn that through hard work and determination. This girl I sued... I couldn’t help but feel bad for her when she showed up to court in jeans, a frumpy sweatshirt, and Uggs. In front of the judge, I painstakingly muddled through what is now known as the four month nanny SAGA… and all she had to say in her defense was “Judge, I’m guilty. I’ve been very irresponsible. Will I be on a payment plan?” Yea I wanted to slap her too. We wait for the judge’s ruling in the mail. I hope he saw the carelessness and disrespect we had to deal with. She didn’t even argue that she was broke and couldn’t pay us our money. If I were the judge, I’d be peeved she wasted my time. TO BE CONTINUED….

In the world of fiberglass and shellac, where everything and nothing makes sense, I've made some tests this weekend to try and figure out what I will make my figure out of.

I have this desire to cover everything and anything in shellac and I blame Jaime Bennati for this. Here are some of the samples I've created: 


Leaves from the parking lot



Rope



Bark chips covered in Shellac

 This last sample is this interesting bark that sheds off of the trees outside of my work. It seems as though the sun dries out the bark which causes the bark to curl and fall off the tree. I walked around this weekend and 'harvested' a whole bag of them. Some lady came up to me while I was plucking the bark who thought that I was picking mushrooms. Needless to say she was very disappointed and weirded out when she discovered I was only picking nasty chips of wood. It's free, beautiful material, lady! Don't hate!

Lastly, I attempted to try my hand at fiberglassing… and against my best efforts; I don’t think my sample turned out very good. I had left my sample outside for ventilation purposes and it seems that it had rained that evening which made it so parts of my sample didn’t get a chance to set properly… or… I’m really awful at this. Either way, I probably won’t be fiberglassing my piece. I’m going to look into possibly buying some marble dust that I could mix with my resin and see how that looks. I know you are all disappointed that I had no one available to take a rediculous picture of me in my rediculous protective gear. In time I'm sure I'll get a classy picture.