Fall 2011

This semester I am taking a drawing class and a lithography class. I actually have the same teacher for both and he is a master print-maker. I used to hate drawing, but I am starting to enjoy it more and more. Probably because now that I understand certain concepts of drawing, I am able to make more decisions about what I want to do and show in the final product. My teacher has us bring in a drawing every other week that we have done at home. These are all 18x24.

First Drawing: We had to draw geometric shapes.

Second Drawing: Geometric shapes with organic shapes. 

This drawing happened in an interesting way because I only  had use of one arm/one hand. My left arm/hand was numb and weak because the nerves in my shoulder were inflamed... hence the agitation and inflammation that showed in the table cloth.

Third Drawing: Interior space. 

Fourth Drawing: Interior space with a window.

This drawing was actually done in class but we had an extended period of time to do it and bring it in for one of our homework critiques. We had to find a place in the art building and draw interior and exterior with a window.

This was my first lithographic print. I love how it turned out and I love the process. 

libros

In the past few weeks I've made a few books. I have also started using my typewriter more and I have been mailing letters and cards. Bellow is a book I made for a friend who has asthma and recently had surgery on his lungs.

For my brother's birthday I made a little book with a few pictures of us from childhood.

The last book for this post is a book I made for a friend's birthday. I used information from this book about birthdays. We have an inside joke about bacon, because we made bacon brownies once. In this book I also used windows to preview things for the next page.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Wild Geese 

You do not have to be good. 
You do not have to walk on your knees 
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves. 
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. 
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
are moving across the landscapes, 
over the prairies and the deep trees, 
the mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 
are heading home again. 
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
the world offers itself to your imagination, 
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place 
in the family of things.

It was recently a good friend mine's birthday, so I made him a book.

Worked on that painting a little bit a couple weeks ago. 

I am going to make a book for my brother this week. His birthday is Friday. I decided

I want to compile a bunch of pictures from childhood and I came across this one. 

Fourth of July

great snuggle partner

Niece Haylie

From the farm, lots of thrift stores. This was a swimsuit from

the 50's or 60's.

Awesome dance party in the barn one night

Thrift store jump suit. 

Another great dance party.

Over time we learn ways to deal with ourselves and our feelings and emotions. 

The word process is an idea I have been thinking about

Learning a process for art can be just the same as learning

a process for dealing with sadness or any other 

overwhelming emotion.

Process involves working through an array of things to sort out

and organize and come to terms.

I stayed up very late, until about 5 or so in the morning working on 

a book for my friend who is moving.

I didn't bind it myself because I knew there would be many pages in it,

and I wanted him to be able to add things in the book as well.

Work station for the project.

I used a typewriter a lot, which I love.

I like to collect corks from champagne.

I found these drawings in a sketch book today. These were studies for 

that skull I made.