What day of the week is it again?

Right...Friday. Good. Can I sleep in tomorrow? Yes? Whew!

It has been a hectic June/July so far and I am so looking forward to having August off. Filling in for the secretary who walked out and left the office in shambles is more than I should have taken on. I am glad that I now only have my ceramics class and a project for my museum course to work on in July. I have crafting on the brain and not nearly enough time!

My show went up in the TC gallery...yeah! Here are some photos. The rest can be seen in my Flickr photos)










This was the culmination of my month-long Advanced Studio course. We were able to work on what ever we wanted to develop into a full studio project. I have been playing with photo transfers and wanted to take that process into my art work. The class worked around the theme of "Found in Transition" and it suited all of our very different projects (I still need to photo the rest of the show).

My focus became the deterioration that I found around my in NYC. There is a lot of it and although it is sad that beautiful ornamentation on buildings is falling apart, there is a unique and beautiful character to this dilapidation. I took lots of digital photos around where I live and school...lots of photos!

I explored three ways of presenting these images. The first was prints of some of the photos. I kept them small and chose a few that did not become transfer prints and displayed them in a box I found in the studio that matched my focus. It was an old wooded planter with a water damaged inside. And check out this detail...




Notice how the shadow lines up with the angle in the photo. This was a complete fluke...I lit the piece the night I hung the work, came back the next morning to take pics and afterwards noticed this line...talk about crazy! A subtle detail which no one would notice unless I pointed it out, but how crazy is that!?!

My second was an exploration of one image I was fond of...the black door. I love this photo! I printed the photo on design vellum and found that the light coming through the transparent image was quite nice. The old light box in the studio looked a little worse for wear and complemented my over-all focus (yeah!). The prints above it are a clear transparency, a vellum print and a photo transfer. I like the "transition" between the materials and how it affects the image.

And lastly my photo transfers! A labor of love. I have three groupings of images...one of rust, one of peeling paint and one of cracked wood. In each group there are three images that fall in to the group heading. I did a double transfer for each piece. One transfer of the photo and one of the text. The text is a passage I pulled from the web about each process of deterioration that is also printed and displayed with each print. The paper the passage is printed on was soaked in water and crumpled to add to the character. Not sure how successful that addition was, but it was fun creating them!

All in all I am pleased...I hung my art, set the lighting and only relied on my classmates for springboards for my ideas.

Found in Transition

I have been a busy bee working on a series of works that combine digital photography, photo transfers and painting for my advanced studio class I am taking this summer. I am pretty happy with the process, I am just struggling making sure that my hand and artistry is in each piece...not just my technical process. I love the photos I have been able to take and the transfer process. This week I need to focus on making it my artwork.

We are getting ready for the show and I have my walls picked out, the flyer is ready...all I have to do now is finish my pieces and install them next weekend. Here is the flyer for the show!


There is a possibility of taking our work to a gallery in Brooklyn that is associated with some people at school. Other than the exhibits at the school gallery this would be my first public show. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Color Catch Up...

This week has been insanity! So I am a little late with the rest of my color posts because I have a show to finish art works for in 8 days, a group project for my month long Museum of Modern Art Roundtable course, the program secretary at school quit suddenly (with out notice) and as the assistant I get to fill in until a replacement is found and last but not least I needed to get my friend's wedding invitations finished (I crafted them for her). Whew!

So here are my last three color photos...

Black
(a faded black door...part of my upcoming art show and not a b&w photo)

Blue

And Red & Pink





Now that the invitations are done (I'll post about those later...I was in a rush and didn't get a chance to scan/photo them) I can focus on my art work for the show and my lesson plans for my musuem class.

Brown Tuesday...

And here are the browns...

White Monday (Better late than never)...

The wonderful idea of posting color themed pictures has popped up again this week (credit here). There was a round of this a little while ago so I am happy to do this again...especially since I am taking photos for my advanced studio project. Many of the photos I'll post this week are from my source photos. There will be more on the projects later!

Here are my whites...

Not Exactly Scarf Weather...

I finished my scarf using that yarn I was drooling over in this post. I know I won't be able to wear this creation for quite some time...especially since the weather in NYC is hazy, hot and summery.

Walking in Brooklyn

Yes, I love to walk. This time it was group fun.

My Advanced Studio class made a trip to the Dumbo section of Brooklyn to visit a small gallery that we very well may have an exhibit of our work at the end of the summer. That is a story for later when the details have been confirmed, but what I really want to share is some of the pics that I took while we wandered.

This is a piece of art created by one of my instructors. He creates pieces of art that are placed outside somewhere. They tend to disappear before too long, but he documents them and checks in every know and again. This particular piece sits in a second floor arch way of an old warehouse in Dumbo. It is a little hard to see, but is a back view of a woman and her spine is a violin. A real violin I might add...

I am not sure if this was a piece of art, a poster or what not, but it looks quite intersting in its current state...

This was another architectural detail that caught my eye. Like others that stop me in my tracks this one is a littel decrepit, but the pealing paint adds character. This sort of thing might be the inspiration for my next set of art works...























And to close this post...these are the feet that carried me around (sporting my snazzy red mary jane mules).

Floral Goodness...

The last two days have been gorgeous! It took me quite a while to get to work yesterday only because I was distracted by all of the flowers that suddenly exploded around my apartment complex. I just had to stop adn take pictures...I just couldn't resist!!!

The two areas that seemed to be the most photogenic were the roses and the irises (along with other purple flowers of an unknown name).

Lovely!

I decided that it was time to try some new knitting projects last week. I picked up a copy of the Summer Knit.1 and was excited about some of the sweaters I saw. They may be a bit advanced for me, but a girl's gotta learn sometime, right?!?

I decided to try the green cropped cardigan (for anyone who has seen the mag, you probably know exactly which one I am talking about). It seemed more challenging than what I have done so far, but not so complicated I was afraid of trying. I picked up a nice pink yarn for it, but not the one you see above...that is something else entirely!

While I was browsing (a store that sells the standard yarn manufacturers...not a shmancy lys) I found this lovely spun yarn by Kramer Yarns called Mauch Chunky. That is what you see in the photo above. The color is titled "Rhubarb" and the photo does not do it justice in any way. I fell in love with the color. It was a bit pricey for my budget (Approx. $5 a skein) so I only bought 2 skeins. I had no idea at the time what I would do, but on my walk home I figured my best bet was a scarf (another one) but I would do something that would not overwhelm the color and texture of this nice yarn. I found a post somewhere with a pic of a simple scarf (knit 3, purl 3) and decided to do a thin scarf (24 st across) and make it quite long. I just started and I love it. Such a thick, chunky ribbing for a luscious rhubarb yarn.

Not that this yarn captivating me isn't enough, but the very end of one skein looks like a five pointed star...which is shown in my photo. To top it off there is a swirl in the middle...could it be more perfect!!!

Ok...I'll stop with the yarn lust now!

And now for something completely different!

I have no idea if anyone actually comes back to see this little blog o' mine but if you do you will probably notice I am trying to change things up a bit. I want this to be a space of my own... and be a better reflecion of my style. The blogger templates are a little limiting so I am trying to find a free template elsewhere or gather enough saavy to customize one to suit my fancy. It is a bit of a headache but could to be quite nice once all is said and done.

I did want to post pics from two seperate walks I took over the weekend. I always see neat little nooks and crannies all over NYC that (unitl now) I would pass by with a memory picture. Now that I have my sweet little Canon PowerShot with me I can actually make a record of what I see. Love it!!!

So with out further ado, here are my latest snappies...






There are so many wonderful architectural details scattered about the city. Many go unnoticed because they are not in the best of condition or attached to buildings you wouldn't suspect would have such treasures. Take for example the colorful ceramic tile work- that is on a narrow section of wall between Burlington Coat Factory's storefront windows. In some spots it looks like there is some sort of compound that held some other covering overtop of the tile work. This happened alot in the 80's when antique or vintage was not in vogue. I am glad that is no longer hidden!

The face with the peeling paint, although in disrepair, has so much character. Although he could ue some love, I think that he is quite wonderful as is.

Ack! Too many crafty ideas not enough time!

The semester is starting to wind down which means lots of work to finish! On top of all of the work I am doing I have a million and two craft ideas that I want to try.

My knitting is coming along...I am having the problem of the occasional dropped stitch but all in all it is going well. I have a project I want to try (which I won't mention in detail just in case my swap partner is reading) and it invloves felting! I have never tried this so it could go horribly wrong. We shall see!

I have been researching felting and I have all sorts of things working against me. Living in NYC generally means you have to use public laundry machines either at a laundry mat or a laundry room in your building. I do have a laundry room, which greatly reduces the public aspect, but our machines are front loading. Wouldn't it figure that a top loader is recommended for felting. Go figure! I have been brainstorming a few ideas to increase the friction and agitation that will give me good felting results.

First- friction. There are recomendations all over the place for using a bag to control fibers that could ruin the machine plus recommendations for including towels for friction and agitation assistance. So I think I am going to fashion a towel bag to control stray fibers AND add extra friction directly to the item to be felted.

Sencond- agitation. I definitely do not want to put too much in the washer so that there is as much movement as possible. I do want to include some heavy items to help out though. Jeans seem to be prefered. I am thinking one pair of jeans and a towel or two. I also imagine a couple of washings will be needed. When time comes to felt I will post my progress and techniques.

I haven't had a lot of time for ATC production the last few weeks (with the holiday and all) so I made three last week. The theme of "God" is still in progress but I stretched it a little to include "goddess" as well. Here is what I came up with...

New ATC Theme for April

This week was a little slow on the ATC front...our organizer for the Craftster thread is on vacation and didn't get to post the new theme right away. This was probably a good thing since I had a relatively busy week.

The new theme is "God"...it can be open to whatever we interpret that to mean. I went with my first impulse and copied the definition from the dictionary. I then found an image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that fit my non-denominational definition (in my opinion anyway). We only needed to do one card this week. I think other weeks I will try to use ancient Gods & Goddesses. So here is my ATC for this week...

A Warm Color on a Drab Day...

Red is my favorite color...I am not at all like the emotional association for this color like fiery, hot tempered, spicy or anything like that! Maybe I wish I was though.

These photos are a corner of a door jam at school, a knob for a very old fire hose rigging (also at school), and an architectural motif on a building on the Upper Westside (near school).

Better late than never!

Yeah it is Saturday alrady...but I did take these photos yesterday! I started the transfer process from one PC to another so it is taking a little fanagling to get everything running the way it should.

Technically I did not get another new toy...just the hubby's hand-me-downs. Daron got a new gaming pc a little while back and I get his old one. Of course the computer I was using prior to this one was the previous hand-me-down. I can't complain really. I get a machine that is capable of doing all that I need it too...probably even more so since the gaming pc's are designed with great processors and video cards. This makes running my Adobe programs a dream!

I had a wonderful afternoon running around the Upper Westside of NYC taking photos with my new camera! Flowers are blooming, the corner stores have lovely displays of fruit, veg & flowers. It was kind of a gray afternoon so seeking out color was sooo refreshing! So much so that I have a double dose of orange!




1st Group: Oranges at Garden of Eden, tulips at a flower shop and gerber daisies at a corner deli.

2nd Group: Wonderful paper in the office where I work, my necklace from Lin Glass on Etsy, and a few Prismacolor pencils.

I did it!

Yes...I went out and got that little Canon PowerShot I was lusting after. I love her!!! I took all of the above photos with her. I think there is a huge difference already...but the hubby couldn't tell. Maybe the difference is really in me. I have a sweet little camera that I love to use and therefore take pics I love. It could all be psychosomatic...but I am happy!!!

All of the above pictures were taken at school...either inside or in the immediate area. The photos in the top left and bottom right are motifs from an old elevator shaft. It reminds me of the one they describe in The Timetraveler's Wife (a very cool book btw). I love it for the motifs and definitely not the dust whici makes the wrought iron look white/gray. The other two photos are a corner of a door jam and a good ole' NYC sewer manhole cover. It is one of the few I have seen that does not have that horrible looking insulating coating. I understand that coating serves a purpose, but man is it ugly!

Well these are my black/white/brown photos for Thursday. Tomorrow is orange...that should be fun. I am so excited to tote my new little snappy with me.

Spring Greenin'

I never think of my apartment as very colorful. I guess that is one of the reasons I am so excited about this color day process. I see color everywhere now! Granted the newness of Spring certainly helps, but I have been focusing on what I have inside since it is a little harder to find. I am so anxious to get a new digital camera to replace my crappy clunker. My Kodak has served my well, but the size and quality no longer suit my needs...and it feels like it may just gie up on me any dayy. It will be a well loved back-up for sure.

I am lusting after the new Canon PowerShot SD600 (shh...don't tell my Kodak). It is small and has sooo many more megapixels than my current camera. I have been pretty restrained about buying it...but I don't think I can hold out much longer.

Oh yeah...my pics today (from top left to bottom) are my rescued jade plant, my shiny new bag I bought from SugarLust on Etsy, and Boylan's ginger ale bottles waiting to be recycled.

I love my little jade plant. I have been wanting to get one forever and I found this in the hallway near the trash shoot. Why would someone toss this lovely little plant!!! My Mom had one when I was growing up that grew to the size of a small shrub and took up the whole front picture window until it caught a parasite or mites. I was so sad that it went from a luscious (giant) plant to a sickly mess. Hopefully mine does not have some wierd disease and that is why it was trashed. If it lasts for a few weeks I will upgrade it's ugly copper pot so it can grow bigger and bigger. I want my little jade to rival that of my Mom's!

Yes, it must be the colors!

I found a lovely blog (Mecozy) that suggested a color focus for each day of the week! A few other blogs that I peruse are in on the fun and I want to play too...it is a nice way to see things around you in a new light (or should I say color!) and capture that vision so others can share.

Since I just stumbled upon this fun little challenge I snapped pics of things around my apartment...(from top left to bottom right) a lid from a ceramic container a friend brought me from Mexico, a party hat from New Year's Eve '05/'06, a detail of my niece's fingerpainting she gave me for Christmas (she'll be 3 in May!) and two bead bracelets.

The last ATCs for March...

This wraps up the theme for this month. I am anxious to see what is next for this ATC-a-long. Each month the theme never ceases to amaze...there are so many fabulous posts from my fellow craftsters. Check them out on this thread on Craftster.org.

The two I made for this week are inspired by the idea "take off expectations." The first one I used an image I found on the web pasted onto a background I drew with Prismacolor markers.


The second one is another one in watercolor...my little lass appears again. The quote beneath her is "Let me listen to me and not them" by Gertrude Stein.

Knit One

So this week I started a community knitting class at school. It is one of the community-building activities they started last semester.

On Monday I learned how to cast-on and the basic knit stitch. After many "do-overs: from dropped stiches and that sort of thing I finally am getting some where! I am sure there are little boo-boos here and there, but no major holes!

Yeah!

A Sense of Self

So this is me...ok actually it is a self portrait I painted in me painting class last semester. It is the first self portrait I have done in years! It was one of the last paintings I worked on in class so it was a nice culmination of the experience of painting again. I had only dabbled in the past, but it certainly reminded my why I enjoyed it so much.

I brought it home recently and Daron feels like the eyes watch him where ever he stands in front of it. He is not so artsy so I take that as a huge compliment! Of course living with it for a little while and seeing it everyday makes me notice the little details that I would tweak or change.

No fixing...just changes. Fixing implies an error. There are no mistakes in art, only changes in direction. I love that quote! We had a guest lecturer in class last night since our prof is at the NAEA conference in Chicago this week. The guest is a high school AP art teacher in one of the nicer schools in the Westchester area of NY state. She had some fabulous examples of her student's art work and lesson ideas. It actually made me reconsider my phobia of teaching art at the high school level.

There are no mistakes in art, only changes in direction. What a fabulous thought!

She also shared her process journals which are basically sketchbooks filled with experiementation and exploration. I took a class last semester called Processes and Structures and that was the sum of the class...exploration and experimentation with materials combined with thinking about how this might relate to our lessons we teach. I am going to give this a try as well...it was too good of a notion to pass up! It reminded me a lot of a book I have been thumbing through called Painting from the Source.

Wow...that was a huge tangent. I really need to work on my paper for Artistic Development of Adolescents. No more procrastinating today...ok, well, I'll eat some lunch first and then work on my paper!