Week 11 and a bit overwhelmed

I haven't been able to take time to update my blog....My daughter Lauren had told me that a Masters program would take a huge amount of time. She's right. I spent 6 days writing a 6 page paper. Of course that includes the amount of time I had to relearn how to read and write critically.(Thank goodness for my 3 different tutors to help me!!) My aluminum quilt took 54 hours. I had tested and prototyped up 3 of my 4 weeks to complete the project..sooooo I spent the final week building. That was the first week in a long time that I didn't paint....not good. Funny thing though....writing about art, talking about art, creatively building art is making me a better painter.

4' x 4.5' Aluminum quilt

This is my second sculpture. I wanted to see if I could make metal look like fabric. I used the traditional quilting process to cut and piece this quilt. It was very positively received by my prof and the other artists. A friend of mine asked if he can use it as a backdrop for a nude model :) I enjoyed the process so much that I'm going to build another quilt. I can see it in my mind...I can't wait to touch it!!



Print of prototype quilt
embossed with caustic residue


Having access to all of the departments at UC is the best part of being in the MFA program. I have never considered print making as an interest. I'm excited about the results and the potential...... I intend to play with the other images that I embossed...The Print prof invited me to use the print studio.....so I intend on making more proto-type structures and running prints! I was told at one critique that I need to make some ugly art LOL....I have a studio back home full of ugly art. I want to play with the emphasis on beauty at UC.



My studio after 2 months

Another bonus is to have your work critiqued by national artists. I had two studio visits from visiting artists  Joe Fig (sculpture/painter) and Kate Steciw (photographer) . I don't actually "learn" how to sculpt, paint, draw, print make.....I take studio classes to experiment. The prof and peer critics are amazing. I've learned that I'm easily distracted with learning new things and I need to be corralled at times. I was considering an Intaglio class but both my paint prof and Kate told me that I don't need to learn new skills....I need to explore deeper into the skills I have now.

Grad Crit



Powder graphite on encaustic panel



Value sketches and old work



These are images from my presentation in my grad crit class.

I talked about my art for a half hour then I opened to discussion/critic

to the class of 2 profs and 20 fellow artists. I LOVED it. It was fun

Plasma cut steel organic shapes

telling my stories to artists that don't know me!! All eyes were on

me :)

Powder graphite painted on varnished pape

But really, the class is filled with very talented artists that are also

artistically intellegent. They had some great ideas and thoughts about

my work. 

I made it

Driving into Cincy today I got this overwhelming feeling...I belong. I'm not sure why it would happen now. Is is because of repitition? Or the fact that when I'm walking to my next class that I recognize faces? Or I have a sense of direction? I'm living a dual life right now.....city mouse and country mouse all in one......I have always based my actions/design on what other people wanted or expected. Doing my own thing always scared me because I didn't know what my own thing is....Maybe that is why I feel I'm starting to fit in because I am getting a very strong sense of who I am and what I want to express.....The funny part is the pic I took when it hit is of a high school! I originally thought it was part of the Univesity!!

Now where have I been? I spent 7 full days working on a paper for my Critical Art Exhibition class. If you are going to write a paper, this is the one you want to write....I just personally suck at writing..(Look at previous writing)..I wrote a critic on the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition. I had the unexpected honor of actually seeing this exhibit....You can google it!! anyhow I spent all last weekend in tears on the floor yelling "I can't do this". I even gave up seeing my best friend Cindy at Ogle Bay, WV.....that makes me really sad, I LOVE to spend time with Cindy. (hitting the floor and crying right now). I did it through the help of the tutor service at UC...why isn't everyone taking advantage of their help...and my girls tutor, Judy, I now know what an explorative is!!!  Oh by the way my new favorite word is juxtaposition...look it up, I had to 3 times before it stuck!!

Contemporary Art Center



Left: Lonnie Graham,artist  Righ:t John Stone, installation consultant





It was so cool to be a small part of this installation. Mark and I flew done to Cincy...My friends Grant, Vicki and Nancy gave me canned goods for the Grandma's house. We bought canned vegies and mason jars on the way to Cincy so that I could make some fake canned goods. It's hard to do that in the back seat of a car at 70 mph...I had vegie juice all over my legs. Lonie wanted pies to add to the kitchen feel...the visitors were helping themselves to the pie!! No forks or plates but they found a way to dig in....We were able to sit and watch them through the window....Lonnie loved that people were making themselves at home and interacting with the installation.

me bopping ballons

This exhibit had large silver pillow shaped ballons filled with helium...I couldn't resist hitting and kicking balloons. Mark swatted 1 ballon and this musuem woman went after him and said "sir, you are striking the ballons too hard and I would ask you to stop striking the balloons so hard". LOL we ran from the room.





Left: famous artist

I'm peaking behind a famous artist...sorry I can't remember her name. Nope didn't talk to her...Mark was having troubles seeing his phone...so it was a bit awkward for me to stand there that long.It's blurry and I don't know who she is....but I got it!  LOL

Week 4: On the way to the studio

You just never know what will happen on the way to your studio....

Natalie Bookchin is sitting in front

I got swept up in a small group to have lunch with Natalie Bookchin. She is the visiting artist from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her work in media, and serving as the co-Director of the Photography and Media Program in the Art School at California Institute of the Arts. She is currently at work on a participatory documentary composed of intersecting video diaries made by people in the United States hit hardest by the recession and its aftermath, as well as on a multichannel video installation about the mass online retelling and unfolding of the Trayvon Martin case. She also talked about CIA's focus on instructing their student how to talk about their work...I'm realizing that the MFA program is all about conceptualizing and narrating your work....I guess they assume that skill will come with the overwhelming amount of work that we have to produce!

Lonnie Gram is centered in the doorway.

After a nice salmon and walnut salad, I was asked to go to the Contemporary Art Center and help build and installation by Lonnie Graham. Lonnie is the Director of Photography at the Manchester Craftsman's Guild (MCG), where he teaches photography to Pittsburgh high school students. His work reflects his views on responsibility to reality and the communication of human experience. This installation will be a basket and inside he recreates his grandmother's kitchen.  Joe (the one with his back to us....not his fanny) the is the Art department's head director....he is high energy and be quite funny....he announced that I'm a sculptor extraordinaire and I can do anything....LOL hmmmm I thought I was a painter but hey what the heck. I got to use a saber saw to cut shelves...but I had to pass on soldering....The opening is tonight at 8pm. Mark and I are going to go down early....Lonnie needs canned goods to put on the shelves for decoration....So I am now pestering my friends for old canned goods! 

Week 3 Painting, Sculpter and Art History oh my

Now that I'm starting to get my feet on the ground, I can do a little self reflection. I can be very territorial when I'm face with a new environment and when things get real bad I run for my car in the parking garage and sit....I've had so many unknowns thrown at me. School, people, motels, morning rush hour, getting lost everytime I leave campus, different ways of looking at and approaching art, setting my own schedule, reading about art history and having to look up every other word in order to attempt to understand what I'm reading.....and the dreaded papers that I'll be expect to write and use the Chicago Style WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ONE!!



Mini sketches



I signed up for painting studio but I have been focused on these small graphite value sketches. I've drawn 20 mini's. My painting prof wants me to continue with my drawings. I'm also exploring with painting with graphite powder....



Sculpture: proto type and plans



 In order to build my skills using tools int the shop, I'm going to build this piece out of galvanized steel. It is actually a steel table top that I'm reworking....I got to use a grinder to remove the flanges on the table.

Week 2 Sculpture

Monday was a holiday, so my week was short...which does not translate easy! Tuesday morning I had to present a proposal of work to my Grad Sculpture class. I like that the class only has 6 students...We could talk about our ideas and get great feedback from the Prof and the other students....I am interested in working with different metals to recreate my thumbnail sketches and then using different patinas to add color to the metals. I am also curious about incorporating Model Magic in the my work...it's a moldable foam...My prof said that I have material I want to work with but I don't seem to have a direction...I guess I'll be searching for a direction for my art to follow....I guess I just want people to feel good about looking at my work. hmmmm maybe I'll follow that path for a short time.

This is a view of my Sculpture studio from my desk...It's a small space that accommodates 4 artists.

 I'm glad to have the space!

 Even though you should have an idea of what you want your work to represent, we are told to make a lot of stuff...It's been suggested to make small and make a lot....My friend Julie said that's my middle name!! Now I just need a statement...

This is another metal landscape. I created it from a salvaged  aluminum file folder. I din't have much success with values and I need to play with the edges some more.  I have another folder so I'll try again...

Week 1

Classes started 8am August 27th. I was on time...my first class is Sculpture Studio. I thought sculpture was working with clay...nope that's ceramics....again I thought ceramics was something my mom did with her friends to kill time. Sculpture feels, looks, and smells like Industrial Arts. It is the creation of art using materials either found or purchased. I get to use any of the equipment in the woodshop or metal works area. I finally feel like my Engineering background has connected to my love of art. I can't wait to see what I create!!

This is my first attempt at Mig welding...I like Mig welding.



1st Sculpture

After welding, I was pumped to make something....I don't have any materials so I dug through the trash and found some nice cardboard. I recreated a value sketch I had done of downtown Troy. I tore or cut abstract shapes....cutiing for sharp edges and tearing for soft edges. I achieved values by revealing the ridges for a dark value leaving the board in tact for mid tone and krinkling the paper for light. The strapping tape not only held it together but it added a 3D element.

Field trip!!! We went to the Recycle center for a treasure hunt of objects...We were actually walking close to this equipment....It was AWESOME!!!  I found a couple of things to play with. I went back to take some pics....I plan to go back and plein air!!!