Here is the postcard I was working on. It was for my tops-of-the-pops friend Erin and she got it in the mail yesterday. I had been carrying it around in my sketchbook for months and months.
I have a mission to make and send postcards to important people in my life; so far I’ve sent one to my sister, my friend Jenny and now Erin. I am inspired by a post I read on Superhero designs. When she was starting out her jewelry business, she made and sent necklaces to a small group of famous people that she really admired. I thought that was such a cool idea; aim high.
While going back to look for that post I found some other posts worth mentioning where she spoke about signs and bringing greatness to yourself. I know that is a lot of reading, but they are worth it, trust me. I absolutely believe in signs and manifesting your future. I have a list of things that I wished and prayed for and down the road they just came to me, often about the time that I forgot it was something I even wanted. I know that I just need to reflect on these gifts I was given and concentrate on the positive, but I still struggle with pessimism often. I don’t want to end on a down note so I will ask Do you believe in signs and/or the ability to manifest amazing things for yourself?
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This weekend I started on a silk screen to finish a postcard. While I was working, I figured I might as well do some prints on other papers as well. You can see them above on the blue, cream and green papers. It was originally going to be a 4 color print but I decided against doing another (shading to show more detail and depth) because the piece that I did this for didn’t really need it. My original intentions were for the inks to be very translucent and I used a bit of transparent base but when I printed, the white almost disappeared on the postcard. Also, because of all the mixing, mixing, mixing and the transparent nature of the inks, the prints I did on solid paper were extremely bubbly. Instead of being a solid color there is all this undesirable texture.
Well it was fun and it got me to break out my screens and inks. Maybe I’ll do some more silk screening.
Two things:
Today I was so happy to see an update to ramahughes.com. I just love, love, love to see his artwork and then even more to read his words, his stories, his experiences and the way he seems savor every drop of life. I read the new updates, and then like usual, randomly clicked on a couple old ones. This entry told about a message he picked up at his church. I hope you can quickly visit and read it. It’s about being true to yourself and it got me thinking and rolling the quote around in my mind all day. This afternoon I was driving when a serendipitous song came on, a song I’ve heard as background music bajillions of times but never really listened to it. I just looked it up and it is Gavin Degraw’s I Don’t Want To Be and he says “I don’t want to be anything other than me” You can see the lyrics here and I don’t know if that is how he intended to have the lyrics interpreted but right now it seems to fit so well with Ramas entry.
And then totally unrelated, someone asked me today, “do you think better sitting or lying down?” and without a moments hesitation I knew my response was lying down. Since I was a kid I always read and drew lying down. As I grew I always did homework in bed. On so many occasions when I would be at school and taking an important test or needing to write an essay I would wish I could just lay down, my mind would be able to work better if I were lying down. It is very inconvenient to know that you think clearer when lying down, you can easily become blocked, focusing on that rather than the problem at hand. Supposedly it was a question posed in one of those “Are you right brained or left brained?” tests. I wonder what that indicates. Which way do you think better?
1. My brand new 80 gig ipod
2. Finding a rubber skin for my brand new 80 gig ipod marked down to $7, normally $20 - $30.
3. Gung hay fat choy! Erin proposed the wonderful idea of going to Chinatown in Chicago to see the New Years Parade on Sunday. It’s the year of the Boar. I had no idea it was so huge, there was so much to see and erin, jacob, al, elinor and I had a great time.
4. My flickr favorites
5. Spring Fever: with temperatures possibly reaching the 40s this week I am giddy and filled with so much excitement for spring. I think being in the sun Sunday set it off. Now I am looking forward to having sunlight for more than 5 minutes after I get off of work, laying a blanket down in the grass and reading or painting outside, and going camping! Of course I also have this same desire to plant a garden, I always do this and it never pans out so I don’t keep my hopes up, so goes apartment living. 1-it’s hard to have a garden when you work a 9 to 5 without your plants getting fried during the hottest part of the day and 2-it’s not like I’d be able to just go outside whenever I wanted to enjoy the garden, I’d have to travel to where ever it was.
I’ve been watching The Science of Sleep again and again. I’ve watched some of the extras but have been saving the commentary until I buy my own copy. There is a lovely extra (I think) called Lauri about the artist who did most of the sewn items. I really liked the bit tied to The Outsiders because that was a favorite book from middle school. I even memorized the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay by Frost and can still recite it to this day. Then there is a couple of extras that are just downright hilarious and creepy at the same time with this crazy “kitty” lady. I guess it would be funny to watch those bits and count how many times she says “kitty”.
This Saturday Tom, Nikki, Matt and I went to go see the Shins. We had a good time, as usual, lots of laughs and the show was excellent. Oh yeah, before the show walking down the street of the theatre I saw Glenn Kotche on the street. I’ve met him several times before since, Dacia, my future sister-in-law’s dad is Wilco’s soundman. I said hello to him but I don’t think he recognized me and I felt like a fool, oh well, what’s new. Next month, Of Montreal again. Talk about embarrassing run ins…Kevin Barnes
I’ve been painting more artomat paintings and started some striped mittens. I had to work early hours yesterday and when I went out to my car it was snowing huge clumpy snow flakes. It was so beautiful. We’re supposed to get up to 9 inches today, weeee!
This looks like something right up my league, I will have to make an effort to watch it.
I like the quote where the woman says, and I will paraphrase to the best of my memory, “We are making things that no one needs but people buy for the aesthetic beauty.” Once again I will reiterate a thought I share often: Every art student in college should take a class in Aesthetics. They offered a class at my college but it was only required for Art Education students. Fortunately I fell into that catagory for a short while and had the fortune of taking it.
I don’t know if I’ve ever posted a link to Rosa’s blog. She is this really amazing artist who came up with a project called Found Art Tuesday. She releases a topic each week and then asks people to create a piece of artwork with the theme in mind and then leave it for others to find. She of course shares her work each week and has the most clever and beautiful pieces. I really, really, want to participate in Found Art Tuesday but I have several things holding me back. 1. That I should be working on other stuff like artomat and 2. It scares me to think of leaving my artwork out in my own community because I don’t like the idea of a local stranger or even someone I know of possibly finding it and searching me down. That is one of the reasons why artomat was so appealing, it takes me art far far away. It is also a reason why I was kind of freaking out when Clark stocked the local artomat with my pieces. Fortunately they were all sold out within a matter of minutes and I saw each person who bought one. Anyway, back to Rosa. She is great and so sweet, check out her blog, she has so much to share, important things, unlike my fluff.
Yesterday The Science of Sleep arrived through netflix. I have been so anxious to see it and so today I asked Matt to come over and watch it with me. I was afraid after Pan’s Labyrinth, where I had worked it up too much in my mind beforehand, that it wouldn’t be as great as I hoped. But it was wonderful. I am going to buy it because I know it will be something I will want to watch again and again.
There was so much to love about it. I loved that it was about artists and I loved Stephanies apartment because it reminded me so much of my own. I loved when he said he loved her because she made things with her hands. I loved that he got a job doing paste up because that is where I started originally in design. I loved the surrealism and the sets and so many things built of cardboard and felt. I loved how it just showed the everyday magic of real life and how the dream parts were so very much like how my own dreams are.
I asked Matt “why aren’t you like that, asking me to make projects?” Halfway through the movie I was reminded of a typewriter that a coworker gave me. We put the movie on pause, and for a brief intermission, played with it. I’ll need to buy a new ribbon because it typed so light. Where can I find a ribbon for a Brother Cassette 815 Correct-O-Writer?
So yeah, um, the movie was just so good. I recommend it highly.
Also, tonight Matt is officially on break from work for 30 days, yay!
Apparently my dads company is downsizing and released everybody that was willing to accept a severance package. It worked out perfectly because he was planning on retiring in June anyway, and now he will be retiring a few months early with pay. I asked him what he would be doing during his retirement and he said sitting on the front porch playing guitar. Classic.
I listened to Metamorphosis today at work, and have bought several canvases and wood blocks to paint and I’m participating in this swap and have bought the perfect book and prepped it, pictures to come.
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You know what is really sad? I am such an internet addict AND so shy (bad combination). I lose contact with great friends that I am not able to email back and forth with. If there are people that don’t live in my city and I can’t see them regularly and they don’t use email very regularly than I lose contact with them. My fear of the phone is that much.
Honestly. It is the year 2007, I’ve had an email address since 1993. It amazes me when people don’t even have an email address or they don’t pick up their email more than once or twice a month. Plus I am just horrible at phone skills. I am terrified of silence and never know what words to fill it with. When I worked at the newspaper my coworkers all knew how awkward I was on the phone. The room would grow silent (jukebox coming to a halting screech) whenever I would pick up the phone, just so that they could hear when I make a fool of myself. Fortunately my short time working at the hotel gave me the skills to answer a phone correctly in a commercial manner.
“Thank you for calling ___________, my name is Robyn, how may I help you?” but after that introduction, all bets are off.
So, please stay in touch, email me.
I also enjoy postal mail as well :D like that’s a secret. Unfortunately, the people that never pick up their email never really use the internet either so this whole post is a waste.
Monday local schools were all cancelled due to the cold. It was -8 degrees with a windchill of about 30 below. Yesterday was GREAT! We had an unexpected snow with about 6 inches or more. It made me so happy.The last two or three weeks have officially been a REAL winter. I’ve finally recieved my Christmas wish over a month late. I shoveled some at work, and then after work I even went to my parents and shoveled there as well. Oh happy day. For all those winter haters: Doesn’t it just make you appreciate spring that much more?
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Some people just don’t understand why I could be attracted to Robin Williams.
(tangent: I had an absent minded teacher in high school who would call “Robin Williams?” everyday when he would get to my name during attendance. I just stopped fighting it after a while and began answering to it.)
I love Robin Williams. Sure, he is a way older man (than me) and you would never find him on the cover of People’s Sexiest Man Alive issue. But to me, he seems to have it all. He’s a guy that could make you laugh so hard, but also has the serious/darker side, (dead poet’s society, what dreams may come, good will hunting). He’s so cool, that I can look away, past all the drug and alcohol abuse and see a devoted husband and father, although most of my basis for attraction resides in the roles he plays rather than the real person he is. Did anyone ever see that documentary he did with dolphins?
Cool I just discovered on imdb that he was born in Chicago, he’s even cooler now.
Anyway, the reason I bring all this up is because I just found these AWESOME mittens and was reminded where it all began (unfortunately they are sold out). I was a child of the 80’s (born in the late 70’s) and amongst my favorite shows as a small child were Casper the Friendly Ghost, Diffrn’t Strokes and of course Mork & Mindy. Most of the humor probably went over my head when I was so small but I loved Robin Williams’ zany antics. Still do.
Nanu Nanu
Man, yesterday was such a horrible day. I went to bed so angry after the game. Things that weren’t really bothering me before starting really fuming me, preventing me from falling asleep. I started thinking about the jerk who put out that tire spike, how I couldn’t print my book and how my ipod was dead. My toes were freezing cold and that was making mad too. I got up to go sleep on the couch near the heat and when I did a huge end of a press roll of paper fell on my foot and I screamed profanity so loud, I’m surprised I didn’t wake you all up. I’m much better today.
Anyway, I’ve finished my first painting in two weeks. It takes me no longer than a few hours to finish a piece start to finish but when I don’t even pick up a brush in two weeks it really halts progress. I need to get back into it. I guess it was that this particular collage was not something very inspiring to me, but it’s over and not too bad, but you can tell 1. I haven’t painted in a while and 2. My heart wasn’t in it. Sorry for the blurry photo. Also, note the tiny brush I have been using, erin lent it to me.
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I am brokenhearted and so sad to say that after spending many,many hours producing and refining a book that I was very proud to have printed I have discovered that the offer I mentioned in the last post must have expired on the third, it probably said BY the fourth, not through the fourth. I feel like crying. I really don’t want to admit to defeat, but what can you do? I am sorry if anyone read that post and took the offer up as well, only to discover the same thing as I have.
Today when I got up around 8 a.m. the temperature in DeKalb was -6 degrees F. NEGATIVE SIX DEGREES! That was not the windchill but the actual temp.
Thanks to Matt my comment options are back up.
Lastly, GO BEARS!
