Books, Boiling, Blocks

11/12/11

I've been keeping busy with classes!
Here are a few photos from what I've been working on!



Almost Completed Cover to my Nutcracker book!

Boiling squares of my old worn-out favorite jeans to turn into paper 

I made coasters for a friend for Christmas!
I bought 16 cent tiles and used coordinating scrapbook paper,
modge podge, and I glued cork to the bottom!

Finally cut another layer of my woodcut. It's turning own nicely!

Second (r) and Third (l) layers on my woodcut! I have one more layer to go!

A copper plate for class, from a Life Magazine Cover, through silkscreen transfer process

A Nut Case!

10/12/11

October is usually my favorite month of the year! It's now fall- the weather is gradually getting cooler, the air begins to smell different (maybe from ripening harvest fruits and veggies, but it's likely the dying, molding leaves, although inspite of that, it smells refreshing!) I love Halloween, so rich with imagery and smells and tastes! I fill up with joy from seeing or making costumes, and ghoulish, spooky, frightful, cute or tacky creatures or decorations. And not to mention, October is my birthday month!

I've been keeping busy! Here are a few pics of my ongoing class assignment making a carousel book (also known as a star book). My book is a very loose fantastical narrative involving 2 nutcrackers from my childhood- the red one was mine and the blue one was my twin's. The blue one is only the star of the book because I thought it was more interesting to play with, with its little drum. I'll have more pictures later, including some from my finished concertina book. 

Part of my mock-up carousel book

My completed mock up carousel book!

Star of my book! My sister's nutcracker.

A couple of partically completely spreads from my book!

Three partially completed spreads from my book.
I apologize for the brightness, I was doing this quickly.

Happy Fall!

09/24/2011

As with most journal-like media, I tend to start things and then get distracted, so it's been a while since I've posted.
I'm currently taking two art classes at George Mason now and I'm still researching grad schools. I need to choose which ones to settle on, and I think I'll apply to 5 or so, since it's expensive.

I'm in an artist book class and a digital printmaking class, mostly to figure out if I wanted to consider pursuing any of those routes in the printmaking realm. Its funny how after a few weeks I feel like I was meant to be in those classes at this time. I'm glad I have the background I have, and these classes have helped me both reflect on all that I've learned, and unlike at other art classes I've had, it forces me to dig deeper into my subconcious to find my interests or reoccuring themes and what not I really haven't focused on before. I used to try to avoid sentiment, in a sense, since I used to feel it wasn't professional and some people don't take it seriously, and I knew that just because I was emotionally connected to something doesn't make those pieces valuable except to me, and besides, I liked the inherent beauty of things around me more at the time than trying to do things by memory or imagination. But now I guess I'm at the point where I'm ready to infuse a bit more memory and some imagination into my work, and it has helped with my first books for sure.

But then again, these classes could just as easily be distracting me from focusing on grad applications. I haven't made an oil painting since summer. But visiting friends, orchestra, and playing tetris battle and games on Facebook are also major distractions, as well. Maybe that is a weakness to keep in mind for future interviews? Maybe not... Oh decisions!

One of my first assignments was to bring in 8 3x3" images I liked.
I used some of my grandpa's photographs.
Apparently I am drawn to images that are cinematic and filled with a sense of nostalgia. Hmm

I finally got around to beginning to print my woodcut from the summer. Here it is inked up!

Here it is printed! I mixed etching and lithograph ink for this, so it was a little strange,
but I got the color I wanted that way.

First pronto plate image! It's supposed to be about our relationship to George Mason.
As I don't feel all that connected to Mason, I am much more connected as a commuter

One of my first completed prints with two pronto plates.
The orange writing is a plate I made from my journal entry on what I think about when I drive/commute.
I managed to write about 4 pages.

Went to Potter's Violin recently with my dad to get my viola checked up. They had this broadside hanging on their wall- I love all the slab serif, fat face type faces!

Working on the latest book. Lucy sometimes gets in the way.

Lucy sitting on my homework. Talk about a distraction!

Ink drawings part way completed for my first Concertina Book.

Pendants and Jewelry Part 2: 8-28-2011

08/28/2011

Hopped up on Diet Coke again this evening, I decided to work on adding metal rings to the pendants and seashells I had successfully drilled holes in before. I chose to use my copper wire because I only have copper, brass, and this really cheap other wire that rusts super easily, and copper seemed the nicest color with the turquoise-y green and other stone colors. My tools and skills are rather limited. I have jewelry pliers and that's like it, so I don't have any sweet patinas to use or soldering or welding skills or experience whatsoever. This is the state these are at. Maybe I'll add feathers and beads. Or just leave them alone in their found form. (See This Entry for the beginning of the tale! http://catherinecole.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-month-of-little-tasks.html )

Jamestown Jewelry! Named because I found the things at Jamestown Beach.
(I found out later it may not be legal to take things from beaches)

Two seashells and the other pendants with rings!

Here's the oddest shaped piece. I love the direction of the painted hatching stripes on this one.

Here's one of the ones with two holes.
I should go into jewelry modeling.
jk!

Here's one of the pieces with the two rings.
I hope to get some chain some time so that I can attached
separate strand to each side which comes together.

This pic was unintentional, but kind of perfect.!
I hung my necklace on my bulletin board which is covered in a bunch of pictures,
 and its the teardrop shaped piece that lands here on this Roy Lichtenstein print-out..
Happy Accident! :-D

Also, I continued carving my woodcut. I'm just about done carving what I wanted to be white. Or off-white. Or cream. I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll do them all! But it (paper, ink) gets expensive. I've been wanting to go with the limited edition strategy of making prints (like 10 and under in my edition) because, as also seen from prior post, I have limited storage and I'm not actively trying to sell my prints. (Yet. )

What What Another Woodcut!?!

08/27/2011

I recently finished a life drawing course, and now I wanted to turn some of them into woodcuts. I taped up my favorite drawings in my room and have been doing sketches attempting to combine some of them into something a little believable, mysterious, interesting to look at for me. I only have black and brown relief ink, and etching white ink, so I have to hand color the rest if I want anything more than that, unless I find that medium that I can combine with oil or acrylic paint to give it a consistency I can use for printing. Plate oil, maybe?

I also just signed up for two classes at George Mason University: Digital Printmaking and Artist Books as Visual Language. I figured I can learn skills and new printmaking media that I didn't know before such as pronto plates, solar plates, digital copper plate etching (I have no idea what this is), new transfer techniques (like screenprint to copper plates?), digital photography, scanning and book binding/artist books) and get a chance to see if I like it or not. If I continue in my printmaking route, (I love it so far!) it would make me more employable If I'm any good. Also I took an intro to computers in creative arts class and Typography there two summers ago, so I figured I'd have to send a transcript from GMU to wherever I apply to grad school. Having more than two classes may be more worthwhile, especially since some of the places I was looking at want people with a BFA or 60 credits of art classes (I have around 40 credits, plus my internship, plus a ton of art history, and this life drawing class, so with these hopefully I have enough of the studio experience required).

This class looks so exciting! I feel like I needed a kind of routine/structure to working on prints since I don't have much available table space at home, and most of my house is carpeted) and looking at this class alone (I haven't seen the syllabus for the art book course), I think I will be way more experimental that I have been before. Hopefully my word for the semester will be "Play", and hopefully I will work hard yet have fun and let loose with these projects. I want to use more color and textures and dive into these processes! I also am required to go to art openings and shows and I have to go on a trip to NYC! I'm not sure if I could ever handle these kinds of art classes while at W&M because it sounds like this requires a lot of time and homework assignments and travel time (since I'm commuting from home).

And I'm not too worried about Hurricane Irene. My sister and I may go out shopping. Where I am is inland enough that we're not too worried, it just seems like a prolonged rainstorm with more wind. But I am concerned for other friends and relatives living closer to the sea and rivers.

And the earthquake earlier this week was fun! I was in my backyard, finally spraying fixative on my charcoal figure drawings, when all the sudden the fence I taped my drawings on started wavering around. First I thought I had finally inhaled too much fixative and that my brain was making my senses warp my surroundings. But not only was the fence was moving, but trees, and then my legs on the ground felt as if I was feeling waves in the ocean, and then my mom opens the backdoor and yells out to me something to the effect of "There's an earthquake! Get away from under the tree where limbs and walnuts can fall on you". I was perfectly fine. I kind of wanted more, it was kind of fun being outside and feeling it.

Beginning of a reductive woodcut! I may make it have 2 grays and a black.
Maybe I'll mix those with the brown to give it a nice warm feeling.
Or do I want to keep the mystery? Make it colder and make them seem more distant from one another
The woman is already kind of looking away, distantly, thinking of something to herself.

Some of the drawings I'm basing my woodcut on. I'm really deviating from the original, huh?
(I'm kind of being sarcastic)

This is from a recent trip to DC. Its the Moongate Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle.
It reminds me of this postcard of a Japanese woodcut I recently got



Here's Sherlock again. I was never a big cat person, but I love the shape of the light and the way the Sherlock kind of interrupts the strong triangular shape with his lovely fuzzy curves. So that's why I've made several pieces with my cat in it. Also with this pic I love how the shapes in my yard just kind of zig-zag back and forth. I find that kind of exciting. 

August: Month of Little Tasks!

Illness kept me from doing a lot in July. And August has been more of a lazy month. Its been so hot I just haven't felt like going outside to paint or do anything too productive, really. But despite this, I have been gradually making improvements to my room and to my art. So here is a series of pictures with some of these projects I've been occupying myself with.

I've bound my prints together with hardboard I drilled holes into to keep them flat(ter).
Apparently its the same material that goes in the back of bookshelves
(And hopefully its not too acidic!)

Newly bound prints are under my bed with my other portfolios!

I've started to make pendants out of these fragments I found on Jamestown Beach
(Not sure if that was legal)

I had my sister examine them to see if they were worth anything.
She didn't tell me too much. But this should be an interesting piece

Totally used my Dremmel tool to drill the holes!
The clay was tough to get out of the grooves of the screwdriver

I also attempted to drill holes in seashell fragments.
This was tougher than it looked.
Also, the powder that came from the seashells was sooo soft!

I got a ton of frames for prints/art I've had lying in my room!
But this frame had unusual hangers!
 Not one in the center, but two near the corners?

Everything I framed! Yay!

I had to add this to this frame.
It came with the frame, but the tiny brads could barely go in the wood.
See what a great job I did nailing it in?

Meet Lucy

08/16/2011

Last week my family welcomed a new little soul into our home: Lucy, a calico kitten we adopted at the Manassas animal shelter. She's mostly my twin sister's, as she is taking care of her and it is in her room we've been keeping Lucy. We have to keep her there to acclimate to the house, and for our other cat, Sherlock, to get used to the idea that there's a new little feline in the house. So far, when my parents have introduced the two (with Lucy in a carrier), Sherlock just looks at her, usually walks over to her and hisses. Its kind of scary. It usually leaves Lucy quivering a few seconds and then she's moved on to something else in her mind. But my goodness, cuteness abounds with Lucy around!!!

This is Lucy! Meeting her at the animal shelter

Here is Lucy hiding in the tower at the animal shelter

This is Sherlock. This is a welcome/unwelcome sight at 2am.

Oh Sherlock.

Sherlock meets Lucy for the first time. I believe he is hissing.

Excersize, Art, and Orchestra

7/27/2011

Today was a good day! It was the first less humid day (it was only in the early to mid 90’s and there was a cool breeze!!!), and I was productive!

I woke up determined to go to the gym. While I’m still recovering from my illness, I wanted to get back to the gym, so starting yesterday I’ve gone, but I take it easy, sticking with less strenuous cardio and lighter weights. Even though I’ve been feeling blah, I felt less blah after the gym!

Spot in front yard!

Since  today felt like it was going to be a lovely day, I was determined to finally start a new painting! And I did! From about 1 to 4:30pm! Although maybe I didn’t choose the best composition, I was more concerned with the fact I haven’t been painting as much as I had hoped to this summer, so  I figured if I started something , that would be better than nothing. So I wandered around the backyard and then the sideyard and then the front yard, and my dad came out and pointed to a spot that would be in the shade as the sun moved (even though its cooler today, it’s still 90 or 95 degrees). I went with that and decided to look back towards the house into the sideyard.

Gesture!

 So here are some pictures of what I started. My goals for today was to get a gesture sketch in and to try to cover the canvas with basic color blocks, nothing too detailed or anything.  I want to say that it kind of looks like Diebencorn-esque, or Gaugiun-esque color, but not really (although those  two artists are two of many of my favorite painters. I thought about Fairfield Porter today, too, but really my painting looks nothing like any of it). My strategy with the color blocks was to get as close a color to what I see in real life, but then I wanted to get everything in so I kind of sacrificed some of the accuracy of the color and leaned towards making the colors more saturated, mostly because I really think saturated colors are beautiful and more exciting to look at, I’m somewhat impatient, and I haven’t mastered the subtleties of color mixing quite yet. Also when I try to get to the colors I see mixing colors, I get ugly blobby blah colors instead. I figured I can fix things later. My easel was also a little catawampus, so it ended up looking off. Oh well! I was happy that it at least looked summery so far!

What I ended with for the day!

From another angle!

At least I’ve been more honest with myself in terms of what I like about art and why I do it. And since I’m no longer taking classes, I’m my only critic (unless I contact my former teachers). I find that it is difficult to judge my work because there is so much push and pull involved, bringing things to clarity and smooshing things back. The editing process truly is a never ending, difficult process, especially since there are so many variables to play with at once. (Thats why I like printmaking, I can deal with one thing at a time). I don’t know where to start and stop things, so I’ve been going off my own intuition, as right or wrong as that may be. It’s amazing how many tiny choices go in to making one painting. Its even more difficult for me to decide if what I’m doing is actually good or not. Should I measure more precisely? How should my brushstrokes go? What can I do to make my painting more harmonious and how can I unify elements in the painting? I usually just feel constantly overwhelemed when I ask myself these things, which is why I end up shutting those thoughts out, which is more how today went. I didn’t measure, I wasn’t too precise, went with my gut, and above all had fun mixing paint and scrubbing it about the canvas, all while listening to my iPod and jammin out to the same 5 songs over and over.  

After painting I showered and went out to dinner with my family to the new Jukebox Diner. Our waitress was the same one we saw at IHOP 2 or 3 weeks back. Somehow we started talking about jobs and my dad mentioned I had waitressing experience and the next thing I know I’m being offered an application. They actually ran out, but the waitress encouraged me to come back on Friday for one. I’m tempted to get a part time job there. We’ll see.  I feel like I want to get a job, and I think I can make more money serving than at retail (I was tempted to apply to a job at a local arts and crafts store). Of course maybe I should look into an entry level marketing job or something. I’m even tempted to volunteer somewhere, like at a gallery or museum, but I kind of would like more job experience and a little bit more income. And I want part time so I can have time for me and for researching schools and doing more art. We’ll see.

After dinner I went with my sister to orchestra rehearsal. That’s right. I auditioned for the Manassas Symphony Orchestra yesterday and got in. And when I went to rehearsal today, there was only me and one other violist there today, so I’m glad I went! Its exciting because I know several people in the orchestra already, mostly my former teachers. I like the atmosphere so far and I’m looking forward to this upcoming concert already! Its funny I joined because I had really thought that I didn’t want to play the viola anymore because I feel like I am not able to play the instrument in the way as I feel it deserves to be played, and I didn't feel like I wanted to put in the time and effort in the practice it takes to reach that level. But now I'm reconsidering.  

Recent(ish) Photos

7/25/2011

I've been ill the past few weeks so I don't have too much to share.

Fourth of July weekend I went to Williamsburg to celebrate with my boyfriend. We had a cookout with friends as well!
 

Cupcakes from Fourth of July Cook-Out

Grill!

Me in my festive Fourth of July Whirligig Headband

Several weeks ago I started a Sunday afternoon figure drawing class through the Smithsonian, taught by Max-Karl Winkler, who shows his prints at Washington Printmaker's Gallery.  I've gotten to explore the Freer Sackler Galleries of Art and the International Gallery at the S. Dillon Ripley Center. I could could lose myself in the Whistler Nocturne Paintings.   

A picture of a blues band at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival

The weekend after I attended my first wedding (outside of my family) for one of my roomates.

The Wedding Cake at my roomate's wedding!

The Wedding was on a farm next door to these cows!

 My boyfriend's birthday was also this past weekend and I went to visit him and celebrate! When there I got to go to Water Country USA for the first time! That is no park for wimps. 

Screenprinted Shirt for my boyfriend.
The ink squirted under the stencil, 
but then I traced with gold screenprint ink so its still snazzy

Anyway, I hope to start more art projects soon. I managed to read Franz Kafka's The Metamorphasis, and I started reading Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone. I've watched and fell in love with a BBC series named Lark Rise to Candleford, and I'm currently watching Bleak House (2005).  I've also watched another season of How I Met Your Mother and several Art 21 episodes.