tuesday

i went on a photo shoot with blake and jesiah. we wandered downtown springfield (i know, great location!) it was fun. i let blake borrow my digital camera while i used my tlr. i'm hopefully going to get the film processed soon. poor blake though doesn't know much about cameras and my camera was set on manual. so his first 30 photos were a little over exposed. i took this first one in his apartment. he took the second photo of jesiah and i after i reset the camera for him.

when cory starts school in the fall i'm going to have him check out a negative scanner at the uo art library for me so i can scan a bunch of negatives, both 35mm and 120mm. then hopefully i can do something with some of the images i have stored away in binders!

textile

i currently am working on textile based projects. i love fabric. i love making things. i'm looking forward to the challenging aspect of textiles. generally textile based art dips into the abstract realm of things... can be kinda weird. but thats ok. i feel like the challenging part is not getting too 'crafty', which is easy to do. i'm not really aiming to be crafty... but i suppose its ok if i have to fall into that category.

1. cloth napkins. not really art, but fun to make. a slow process (lots of folding and creasing)... i will post photos when they're done.

2. embroidery on canvas. done by hand. i found some bright blue canvas (a small piece of it can be seen in the second photo of this post) for a dollar at st. vincent's. i'm embroidering isaiah 40:25-36 in grey thread. it makes my fingers hurt. canvas was probably not the wisest choice on my part. but the color is just so great, it needed a purpose and i'm hoping the final outcome will make it worth it. i'm going to stretch it onto stretcher bars that are 36''x36''. of course, more photos to come later.

this is my work space. i'm moving into a new room next week and i'm excited to be able to spread out a bit. my tiny 10'x10' room is a little confining.

i decided to not forget

that i am a photographer. i am an artist. and i do not employ that part of my created self nearly enough. not that in order to make art i can only take photos, but i think i need to take more time to create.

so, here's my meager start. a reminder to myself.

until further notice

i think tatum is my soul mate.

or something like that. however that applies in best friend world. she's just really great, and i am unbelievably blessed to have her as my friend.

this is a quote from mrs. kara towne about tatum and me: "your lives are gifts that one day you will fully know was a saving grace to each of you."

this is SO TRUE, i am fully confident that tatum is a picture of GOD'S GRACE manifested in my life. we didn't pick each other, we were handed to one another, and then drug through life and growth and whatever else. friendship is something that i don't quite understand, but i have learned that it is hard to come by in its purest form, and once you've found it then well, you better not loose track of it. because you'll be left wondering why other relationships are missing that depth of love and trust.

end table!

i bought this table at saint vincent's this weekend for $32

i am attempting to make my apartment look like we like to be in it. this weekend i'm going to tacoma, and will bring a coffee table back to eugene that my grandpa made.

i sanded down most surfaces of the table, then sprayed a clear, matte spray paint on it. i wasn't sure how it would turn out compare to painting a nicer varnish, but it worked well! its nice and smooth! and definitely warms up the living room.

bring projects

i've been wanting to check out this place called Bring Recycling, its in Glenwood, which is a strange little town, I would actually call it an in-between. Basically, Bring is full of all sorts of fun, dirty, old pieces of people's houses. For example: doors, windows, hardware, moulding, sinks (lots of sinks). Sometimes you can find really great pieces to use as art/decoration/etc. on my trip out, i found a couple of fun things. a window, which has one pane of frosted glass. and some pulls for my dresser drawers! i have been looking for drawer pulls all year! but they're expensive and i never found any that were quite right. these were only $0.50 each and were so simple! (all the ones that i've found have been too decorative). of course, these finds created a couple projects for the rest of my day...

i'm not sure what i will end up doing with the window. i would like to paint the wood to make it look really clean. i'm not looking for the "shabby" look. my first inclination is to paint it yellow. but i have beat yellow into the ground, and i need to branch out. we will just see. i might go to the UO art store, because they have a wonderful spray paint color selection. i'm also thinking of using white vinyl on the glass. not sure what i will cut out though. lettering or imagery? it will probably be lettering, but that takes so long that i'll have to be really dedicated to the project to make that decision. after sanding all the wood, the window cleaned up pretty well! has good potential as a luminaire, but that would require some more construction. potential is always hopeful though.

matrimony... however holy

so... i have recently been presented the opportunity to design wedding invites for a number of gals that i know. the images above aren't quite complete. they are basically "appropriated" images. i created them in illustrator, and gave them my own twist of course. i deserve no credit in all reality. its kindof fun... but not my favorite thing.

reasons i DO like designing wedding invites, save the dates, etc:

1. creative outlet

2. people are getting married! i'm usually a fan of that.

3. i get to use illustrator & photoshop for hours on end and get mindlessly sucked into the computer (only downfall: my eyes start to sting. but i turned the brightness down on my computer)

4. there must be more reasons... hm.

reasons i DO NOT like designing wedding invites, save the dates, etc:

1. people are very picky (understandably so, i would be to)

2. people are also very vague (1 & 2 are a very bad combo) they don't communicate their pickiness until after you made what you thought they wanted. then they just send you pictures to copy instead of letting you be creative

3. i usually spend much more time than intended on any given project

4. don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining, just processing. trying to understand "people"