Still Competing

About two weeks ago I received an Email from the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History about a portrait show that I had entered in the spring.  Though I haven't thought about it much, I am starting to get excited about it now that the opening day for the show is coming closer!

I entered 3 portraits and 2 were accepted into the competition.  I'm pretty content that I have had 2 pieces excepted, but it will be exciting to see everything hung up on January 12th.  Though I doubt that I will receive any awards, I thought I would share what pieces actually made it into the show with you:

"Tell Me I'm Pretty" and "The Rewards of Time", an old piece from Drawing 3, that period of time where I feared that art and all the love that I have for it might just be sucked out of me.  Thus, no post about it from the past—however, this piece was in the end of semester show that year, and it even made an additional appearance in my senior show (seen among photos here).

"Tell Me I'm Pretty"

"Rewards of Time" (originally known by it's pet-name: "Botox")

Though I never really cared about names before, my final show at the Arborshire taught me to consider them more carefully (the judge put a lot of weight on the titles! So for the future... it can't hurt to have better names, right?)

Something a little different...

Here is my latest show entry—I entered it into the end of semester show for the final show of my undergrad.
weird.

So this is the piece I offered a little "sneak peak" to a few weeks ago.  not my usual style or subject matter, but they asked for "conceptual", and this is what they got.  More creepy that I usually care to do—I feel like I have fallen into the typical category of "depressed art student", though I am far from it in actuality.

Just in case the "message" is not very clear, allow me to expand on my inspiration a little.  I've been talking with some of the girls that I mentor, and just some that I know closely, and have become more aware of the pain that girls inflict upon themselves in order to be accepted by society—not just anorexia, though that is a more well known issue.  Slowly, these girls kill themselves, hardly able to keep themselves "above water" (represented by the horizontal).  Thankfully, I do not know any girls who are in a position quite that bad, but I do know plenty about how society works against us and pushes girls (boys too, but we're talking my drawing of a girl right now...) to become the impossible "perfect".

The awesome thing is that God is in control—and He allows us to be vulnerable to Himself.  And in exposing what we are going through, the pain of what we have lived through—whatever it may be—we allow Him to come in and provide the necessary healing.

God is so good.  It's hard to grasp how nobody can be too "terrible", too "full of sin", too "unclean" for Him to reach—just look at Manasseh from 2 Kings 21!  He was described as the worst king to ever live, and he had "shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit..." (v.16).  Yet, when Manasseh turned to God at the end of his life, God forgave him, loved him and even blessed him—he did not bring the punishment that the people deserved while Manasseh was living.

Feedback is welcome and encouraged as always—I'm considering bringing the line down a little more and maybe allowing it to fade higher.  Thoughts?

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An Oldie for Ya'

This is a piece that I did for the end of semester show last year (spring '11).  I wanted to include an illustrated piece as well as my graphic design and photography work.  I also wanted an excuse to play around with my new colored pencils ;) hehe

Okay, so that was the real reason I made it...

Either way, I realized that I never posed this piece, so here it is at last—almost a year after I created it.  But the nice thing is that it ended up in my senior show, so this little piece has been in two shows so far.  Kinda exciting :)

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Pictures of the Show!

Here are the various walls of my display in the gallery—hopefully more photos up close of my finished work to come, though we'll see how much work my professors have for me now that my excuse is that I have horrible senior-itus rather than I have a senior exhibit ;)

Something tells me that they will be less gracious, but it's worth a shot, right? hehe

I can't believe that the exhibit comes down after tomorrow... I can't even believe that I actually had my senior show and it is already "over"...  so much work, and while I will continue to reap the benefits, it is a little sad to think of all the work being "on display" for so short a time.  Oh well, I guess it's time to get ready for the next show—the end of semester show :) My last one... weird!

Post-Show Break Time!

There are few things that are more sacred and wonderful than Spring Break.
Oh, how I have needed it!  Last week I was on a strict recovery schedule, where immediate homework was completed, and the rest of my time was spent laying on my bed, preferably in the state of unconsciousness.  And it was lovely :)

The show was great—I found myself overwhelmed by the amount of family and friends that came to support me and the other students.  We didn't think to take many pictures of the actual event, but here are some from the very beginning—hopefully I will be able to post some photos of the gallery layout shortly.

Family viewing the show

Grandma brought me flowers :)

And to be honest, this week has not been much more productive, though I have greatly enjoyed a change in scenery and the chance to see my favorite teacher more than once in a week (I've seen him 4 times since Friday, I'm okay with my life right now)

Anywho, it's been a good time—so good in fact that I need to scoot, hopefully more info later!

Motivation Before the Show

In exactly one week, the show will be hung.  And I will finally be done matting, framing and taking care of it! YAY
If you haven't seen the progress of this experience, you can see the old state of my list here.  After some help from my wonderful hubby-to-be (aka Superman) last week, the daunting to-dos has experienced some progress!  Here is the beloved list in all it's tattered, saturated blue/green ink glory:

The black lines are there because they have begun cutting some of my pieces—I have too many now that there are 4 people in the show :(  It was rather frustrating, but there are now some pieces that I don't need to try and finish, so that's alright with me!

So, so, SO close!!!
I can taste it—let's hurry up and finish!

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Motivation and Postcards

My motivation this week is....! DEADLINES!
Oye, I have 2 exams this week on top of the fact that the show is less than 2 weeks away!  Panic is beginning to set in... But just a little. ... okay, more than a little!

Anyway, here is my postcard design for the show—trying to show off both my graphic design side and my illustration side.  If you don't have a postcard and you want one... well, come to the show! ;)

Opening Reception:
Sunday, March 4 2012 from 2:00 - 4:00
In the gallery at the Arborshire

There are 3 other students with me and there is going to be a lot of great stuff!

Senior Art Show—Advertising

*Drum roll, please*

[Just in case you did not catch on from previous posts]
I am officially having a senior show!  The art show is the goal of art students at Spring Arbor University, but it has been an especially difficult run for me because I have two different concentrations (not to say that it doesn't happen, but within a 4 year block, it is difficult).

Along with two other students, I will be filling a portion of the gallery (somewhere between 35 and 40 pieces) and preparing for the opening reception to take place on March 4th, 2012.  Before the opening, I will have to tweak and complete, mat, frame and hang each piece individually.  Needless to say, it has been a stressful few weeks (since I did not know I was going to have a show until the 30th of January!)

Along with getting those pieces together, I also needed to create a poster and postcard design to advertise the show, as well as keep up on other homework, work related things, write an artist statement and sleep—not to mention my delightful blog.  It has been a very busy time!

Anyway, here is my poster design :)  I don't have a single piece that really sums up my show because of my two concentrations (not to mention, graphic design being so broad in and of itself), so I came up with this idea to translate both emphasis for me.
Sometimes the poster will be hung in one direction: (emphasizing my graphic design)

And sometimes, in the other: (emphasizing my illustrations)

Thus allowing both of my strengths to be displayed, and hopefully to create some real interest :) We'll see how well they work!  Thoughts? (unfortunately I posted one of the older ones—in the final addition, the typographic portrait read better on the left side, but my flash drive is on the other side of the room and I'm honestly too lazy to go get it right now!)

The opening reception is fast approaching—I hope to see you all there!

Oh, and remember me and my craziness in your prayers when you get a chance :) Thanks all!

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Art Show Progress

If you don't know that I'm a list person... then, you don't know me very well! lol
So I have a master list for the art show and all the craziness that comes with it—it is my key to survival over the next few weeks.
Everything is white/gray when it is unfinished, yellow when printed, and green/blue when I finally finish it (so a random blue square could mean that I have the frame or the glass, but nothing else, an entire blue/green line means a piece is completely done!)

Here is a picture of my list about a week ago:

And here is my list TODAY:

YAY for progress!  I wore blue today in honor of all the blue highlighter going around! haha Hopefully I can kick out these last pieces and start working on my new projects :D
(and catching up on all the homework I haven't done while matting and framing... :/

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Progress

Cell phone photo, but you can still see some of my mock ups!  Here are the book covers that are going to be in my show :D  I just printed the last one yesterday and it's super cool :)  After seeing them on the computer for so long, it's really neat to have it look like a REAL BOOK!

Now I just need to finish my other mock ups and all of the mating/framing that i need to do :/
But it's coming along nicely—and I have wonderful friends and family who help out a lot!  Mom is bringing me glass and mat board (because the store here is out of black! And has been for three weeks! RUDE), and Beej is helping me to frame later today so that it won't take me as long :) YAY

God is good, and has blessed me so much :}

ps. Super Awesome Fiancee surprised me and came to visit yesterday, even though he was in a hurry to get from SCS work to SBC work, and I am out of the way :)  All because the day before had been yuck for me
Double yay!

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Reflections

My hardest project for the semester. Well, the most time consuming if nothing else. After about 40 hours, if this piece had not made it into the end of semester show, I would have given up—but thankfully, it did :)
This piece was done in colored pencil (my favorite). The glass bottles are sitting on a mirror and there is also a mirror behind the table that also reflects... again!

Show Biz

Another day, another show.
Well, two right now actually. I am preparing to enter two upcoming shows—both of which will not take place until January, but the deadline for entries is fast approaching. As I've mentioned before, I am required to enter 3 outside shows before I graduate. It is suggested that I take a local (check), a state show(check), and a national show. The next one coming up is a national show, so the likelihood of me making it in is not very high, but I'm going to try anyway—it's not as though I would be doing it for no reason! As a result, I have a total of 3 shows this semester. As though I wasn't over loaded enough! hah
So I am getting the national show set and ready tonight. For a fixed fee I can enter 2 pieces so that's what I'm going with. I will be entering the chalk drawing of George White and my texture study of the Old Lady. George because I believe it is one of my strongest pieces, and the Old Lady because I still like her, and it's something different and will hopefully stand out somewhat. We'll see!
I will be notified in December, so stay tuned for an update—and hopefully an exciting one!

UPDATE::
Unfortunately I did not get into the show—totally bummed. But, this is a national show, and it is the first show that I have not successfully gotten into since before my high school years. Disappointed? Yes, but not devastated, or even very surprised. The competition was stiff, and it was a long shot, but I will probably enter the show again next year. I will have better work and a better shot :)

Art Show—Spring 2010

The art show has come once again. And two of my pieces are in the show! I am very excited, though I am a little disappointed that my other two pieces did not get into the show. I was also selected by my professors to receive the "William L. Bippes Art Scholarship"! This scholarship is given based on work ethic and performance along with a few other aspects. The scholarship is given to a sophomore or a junior every year—as a sophomore I feel so honored! I'm the third person to win it since it began, and I am so excited to have my name in the art building :D It sounds so stupid, but I look so forward to coming to visit after I graduate and seeing my name. Featured are the pieces I have hanging up in the art center :)

Oxymoron Poster

Kind of going for an ironic approach. I found these "oxymorons" and don't really agree with them so I thought I would find verses that would show them as not true oxymorons.

We'll see what Professor Shaw thinks, he might not appreciate the view of oxymorons that aren't really... oxymorons...

oh well :)

Ps. Which color scheme? Monochromatic or contrast? Leaning towards the latter myself

Updated 11/15/09

I've changed a few things—including some of the oxymorons! Once again, feedback is greatly appreciated, and would help a lot!

Updated 11/24/o9

I did end up going with the one on the left—but the colors are slightly different. The gray has more blue in it and the value of the red is darker and more saturated.

I got my grade back on Monday and I got an "A"!!!!! Very excited, I am pleased :)

Cute Old Lady

This is probably my best piece of the semester. This isn't the greatest picture of it, but it's hanging up in the gallery right now, so this is about as good as it will get until September when I get the piece back.
From my 2D class. We were studying textures, and I had to find 20 different textures and re-create a photo out of them. 20 two inch squares. Each a different texture. Each trying to blend in with the others. Each helping to create the same face.
Anyway, I picked a photo of this adorable old lady! Definitely my favorite piece of the semester, and now that it is in the Show I have gotten a lot of compliments on it!!
I hope you like it too!

Value Project

So this is my latest painting for 2D design. We each picked a photo and had to paint a simplified version of the photo - we were only allowed to use 7 different values and there was absolutely NO blending! (I was disappointed about this)
On top of that, we had to create a mirror image of the painting that we created, and it had to be in the negative - so that each spot that was white would be black in the mirror and vice versa.
I spent my entire Easter Break working on this piece - it was rough and took many hours! haha, but it did pay off because my Professor (Shaw) left me a few good comments on it and placed mine on the board!
I did get an "A" on this piece but was really excited to have it on the 'Work of the Week' board!

End of Semester SHOW piece!!!