3rd semester (spring '09)

more artwork, for those keeping track :)  (and coming up for fall '09: drawing II, 3D design, contemporary art history)

beginning wheelthrowing:

i made my very own covered casserole dish! :) (about 10' dia.)


this design took about 10 hrs to execute, and was worth every minute

metalsmithing II:

"spoon for india", inspired by my own response to my friends' jeff & ade's experience in india, and that of their son Clayton
"for my own protection" - emotional safety glasses, secured by the chain that goes over the ears, held by the counterweights at the end (historic design) - the copper spikes are all manufactured by hand from 6 ga wire...never, ever, ever again :)

mirror project, based on a shell i picked up in galveston w/ my family

2nd semester work (fall '08)

just a sampling of what a 1st year art student does/experiences.  what i experienced during this particular semester was a tremendous urge to chuck the drawing implement across the room and sculpt something with the paper.  more than likely that was due to my own limitations, and my definite preference for 3 dimensional mediums - clay, metals, etc.  but i learned a lot, especially about perseverence, and the fact that just because i don't enjoy it as much as other things doesn't mean it's not worth doing  :)  also, composition & execution are 2 completely different skills...

2D design:

a letterform composition & transparency project in adobe creative suite - oooh, to have had this program during my stint in the mayor's office!  the glare is because my professor put it up on display @ school (with work by 3 of my classmates) & i took the photo when it was behind glass (btw, my professor saw a chicken in this design - can you find it? :)

in this project, the very edges of the design on the far left & right are excerpts from a famous print called metamorphasis by m.c. escher - our assignment was to reproduce both segments & fill in the middle with our own design, making the transition seamless - in pen & ink, not my most reliable medium...but i learned a lot, especially that clean & precise execution can cover a multitude of design shortcomings :)
my favorite design from this class - an assignment to draw the negative space (everything NOT the object) of a still life, similar to a photo negative.  the objects i chose were a milkglass bottle i use as a vase, a stem of silk orchids, and some beach rocks i can never resist picking up.  the lesson here is that when you use objects you love, you get better results than if you forgot about the assignment & dumped out your purse to find something to draw :) 

drawing I - still lifes, some preliminary figure drawing, some charcoal drawings that drove me crazy but turned out better than i thought at the time:

this is one of the many views on the indy canal walk - if you're ever here, it's one of my favorite places to walk/bike (no canal in this view :)