Silicone and Fishes

Good Monday everyone! Hope you are doing well! It has been a crazy week. Quick recap:  My family came into town the weekend before last, it was a blast. This last week has been a series of running to classes, running to work, then running around trying to get homework finished and tests studied for. Thankfully this last weekend was great. I actually worked both Saturday and Sunday, but C.J. and I spent a lot of time just having fun. No homework this last weekend! That was super nice! Last night he popped Star Wars into the DVD player.....and so I can now say that I have seen Star Wars (even if it is only like an hours worth). Haha. Anyhoo, classes today were pretty good, and most of them let out early. So I have an art post for you and a surprise too!

Art Project Numero Uno:  Clay tile, with flexible mold, and mother mold.
Class:  3D

This project has been extremely stretched out as far as the time frame goes. But anyways, we were told to make a 4 inch by 4 inch tile out of clay. The design was completely up to each individual, but it had to work when 9 of the same tile were laid together. I chose to take my inspiration from the Aegeans and the Italians, and then add some of my own flavor to it. It was both an additive and subtractive process. Here it is:

The finished tile:

So there is that project....well, part of it. Because of the weather we were not able to cast our flexible molds out of the silicone sealant as soon as we would have liked. Then, we had to let those dry before we could cast the mother mold out of plaster....which we did today. So...hopefully soon I will have my nine tiles cast out of plaster. Want to know the best part about this project? We get to paint the tiles in as many colors as we would like! I am so excited!

Project Numero Dos:  Zoology Study

Class:  Drawing 2

Oh my goodness. If you have ever been down to the basement of Life Sciences West on campus you will know why I could not look at a glass jar for a few weeks without getting queasy. If you haven't been down there...let me fill you in. You see, below the classrooms of Life Sciences West lies the most perfect venue for a haunted house. No, there are no ghosts, but there are a lot of dead things. The basement is home to the Zoology collections museum which has animals dating back to before statehood. Impressive! So to help you get the visual, think of those shelves you can buy at Walmart and Lowes for your garage or shop....now think of those completely full of various sizes of mason glass jars...you have your pints, quarts, gallons, 2 gallons...etc. Now fill all of those jars with a liquid that looks like Miso soup....minus the tofu. (yum...right?) No. Now...stuff various types of animals into those soup filled jars. Gross...I know. They have all kinds--fish, snakes, frogs, bugs, polar bears, sharks, pigs....you name it, they probably have canned it. Now...that's not all. They also have several sets of drawers that when pulled out reveal dead birds...they are not stuffed either. They just lay side by side in the drawer blanketed with the smell of moth balls. As you walk out of the museum you can see the many deep freezes that line the basement hallway....creeeepy. Animals in jars not your thing? That's ok, they have deep freezes on the first floor with dead mammals and bones....also blanketed in moth balls. So...you might be wondering what I decided to draw....dead snake....dolphin skull.....Elvis the iguana? Nope...none of those. I chose to draw the live fish in the aquarium in the break room. And I loved it! Here are the fish from the break room. (Disclaimer: these fish were alive, not floating in some nasty Miso soup look a like jelly)

Fish One:  Graphite Pencil

Fish Two:  Ink

Fish Three: Charcoal

Now, the project included six drawings, 3 different mediums, and two types of reference materials. The fish above were all live subjects, and the fish below were all drawn from photographs.

Fish Four:  Graphite Pencil

Fish Five:  Charcoal

Fish Six:  Ink

It was a fun project to do, mainly because it was different than what I would normally draw. The live, fast moving fish were a challenge, but I really enjoyed studying the fish and finding out the functions of their designs in order to accurately draw them.

Here is the aquarium where the first three fish live, and then all of the fishies together. :)

Now...for your promised surprise. Well, my current Drawing 2 project involves using one of my fish drawings in an installation at the Postal Plaza in downtown Stillwater. The Postal Plaza will be the new OSU art gallery, and will be hosting a building reception on the 19th of this month. The awesome news? My installation will be seen at the reception! Hooray! I am getting very excited! Here is a link to the art department's blog talking about the reception:

http://osuma.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/transforming-the-postal-plaza-genus-genius/

I will post pictures after the reception. Sorry for the extremely long post today, but I needed to get some art on here. Hope you all have a fabulous week, and remember to just keep swimming. And, as always...it's the random reasons.

Get Ready

Hello everyone! Hope you all had fabulous weekends! I did--I went to visit my aunt and uncle and their baby, Karsten in Arkansas. It is so pretty there! Anyhoo, back to the blog post. Because of some of the events that today brought I started thinking about school and how it starts on Monday. Not a big deal. I am ready for a consistent schedule. I am ready for art assignments. I am ready for fall and the beauty and weather it brings. So....get ready, because I am sure with all of my art classes that my blog (which was originally intended to showcase some of my artwork) will hopefully start to fill up with some of my creations. My fall schedule consists of Geography (have to get those sciences out of the way!), Art History Survey 1, History of Baroque Art, 3D Art Fundamentals, and Drawing II. Lots of art, but that is a good thing considering I am now officially a Studio Art major.

Now on to some actual art! Remember the designs I was asked to create? Well, I finished them and now it is time to play the waiting game to see which design gets to be featured on the blog. It adds a little excitement not knowing. Here is one of the designs that a lot of people have liked:

"Big Cupcake, Little Cakes"

The designs were drawn out in pen and ink, then painted in colored pencil. They were so much fun!

Stay tuned to find out which design made the cut! I can't wait!

I also worked on some projects for my aunt who just got a teaching job. She found out last week that she was the new 9th grade biology/physics teacher, so to help her out I decorated her classroom. I always thought highly of my teachers when their rooms were carefully decorated. I also made her some signs...a name sign, a privacy sign (pictured below), two bulletin boards, and her "expectations" signs. It was a lot of fun!

It is always a blessing when I can help out my family and friends with my love of art. Sometimes my talent and passion seems useless in the real world. Sure, art adds flare to basically everywhere, but its not really a big resume builder when looking into non-artsy jobs. So I am always thrilled when I am asked to do something for someone! It makes me feel extremely helpful.

As you all go about your day, find ways to make your talents, skills, and passions shine! Use them to help someone out--it will make you feel like a rock star. And, as always, it's the random reasons...

Guggen--huh?

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having a tip-top fabulous week! I have been in the creative mood lately, so that is an absolutely wonderful thing, and I am also very excited that I am going to the Panhandle next week. Sadly, I don't have any finished projects to show you all today, but while at the desk I have been browsing through some potential future opportunities. There are several through OSU that would be absolutely amazing, and I am fairly confident that I have a pretty good shot at getting them. The art department here has a ton of money to give to its students and not very many students who apply for it...so the odds are usually pretty great.

Today I looked at some internships at the Guggenheim. That would be absolutely AMAZING. So, I am getting pretty excited about the possibilities of the future. Can't wait to see what is in store!

Don't ever let yourself not plan and get excited for your future--it is yours for the taking! Two things to remember today: 1. Dreams do not come true, goals do. 2. Its the random reasons.

Big Fluffy Armadillo

It's the middle of the week, and so far the week has been both productive and not stressful. Amazing? I think so. I suppose the big topic for today would be the new acronym in my life--BFA. Contrary to what the title of today's entry leads you to believe, it does not mean that I now have a new pal in my life. It also is not referring to the Balloon Federation of America, which by the way is pretty swanky. Definitely something to look in to! (http://www.bfa.net/) The BFA in my world has to do with college and art, yes I have officially changed my major. Yay!

With the whole "artist" label being sewn back into my life, I have decided  to use the blog as a random reason to showcase some of my creations, once I figure out just how to do that! Art has been a big part of my life since the third grade and it just seems right to be serious about it once again. I am also bracing myself for the reactions I will now most likely be getting when I am asked the ever-so-popular question of  "What are you majoring in?" With my first major being Architectural Engineering and the second being Strategic Communications, Studio Art just doesn't have the "importance" kick to it. That is just fine with me though. I have finally realized that it doesn't matter what the world thinks you should do, what matters is that in your future you can find multiple random reasons to smile throughout your day. That is why I need, not just want, art.

In honor of finally making a decision about my major I have posted my very first oil painting. Brings back so many memories and so much excitement for the future.

So as you go about your day just remember that no matter what everyone else thinks, it is completely up to you to find your happy.

 Remember...it's the random reasons.