Wednesday, November 4, 2009

"People are going to want to make sex all over your art."

So I was talking to a coworker who knows that I've got this group art show coming up this weekend, November 7th, to be exact, and she asked me how I was doing with my art.  I told her that I was fine with the art, mentioned the pieces that I had done, and the pieces that are almost done, and the pieces that I was still kind of mulling over whether or not I was going to try to get them done.  Then she asked me how I felt about the pieces.  I told her I felt fine about them.  I like to paint for me, because it feels so gratifying when I'm done.  I paint to work through something, or to capture something, to tell a story or to share a message.... similar to photography, but 100 times more exhausting in pretty much every sense of the word.  Then she asked me how I thought people would react to it, and that question, I didn't know how to answer.  I know all about it from my side because it's a one on one relationship, but ultimately a painting winds up on a wall somewhere and it gets seen, reacted to, appreciated, bought, ignored, critiqued, pick the word, it doesn't matter.  I had no idea how to answer that question.  I told her that I knew that I felt good about the pieces, but that I really didn't know how in this new venue, with new people, and with this much advertisement how it would be received, and that this was the only thing about the show that made me nervous.  And that's when she said it.  That's the best damn sentence I do believe I've had said to me in the last six months.  

"People are going to want to make sex all over your art."

Absolutely fucking hysterical.  I laughed soooooo hard and felt soooooo encouraged.  Love my friends.

It's Thursday morning.  T minus 40 hours.....  

I think we're going to have some more photos like this one from last year's art show after 40 hours with no sleep.

And a few more just for fun...  I sliced my finger open on this painting as I was pulling it out of my truck.  It was still wet when I hung it up on the wall.  1'x6'.

Me and DannyPants.  The man with the plan, and the man in charge of the show.  He's also in charge of the one this weekend, and will be getting me set up with my solo show within the next 6-12 months.

Madre coming out on crutches to show me some love!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Watercolors with DannyPants


So Dan's been bugging me since I moved in to paint watercolors with him.  Tonight was the first time we did. It was fun! Dan went from a field on fire with barbed wire in the sky (it's what I saw), to a "band poster" because he's been a little preoccupied lately. And I made something that I think looks kind of like those caterpillars in Sonic the Hedgehog in the lava levels except for now they're all stuck together and are turning into bubbles.

That's right. We're awesome. We know. You don't have to say anything. :)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

From Medieval Latin "prolificus"

Holy hell, it's been a long couple of days...






(the color is best in photo three...)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A List of Studio Musings

1. It is officially the Red Room.

2. It's bigger than any other space I've ever had to work in, which means it's going to be messier than any other space I've had to work in. (And Dan is not a fan of messes, so I should keep up on that.)

3. There is a HUGE mirror in my studio, which could easily come in handy in any number of situations... but I have a feeling that it's either going to be me using it so that I have a nude model to work from and that I'll be painting a lot of myself (which is normal, but strange to think about since I've never done it before), or that I'll become incredibly self-aware/self-conscious about my body since I'll be staring at it all the time since the mirror literally takes up an entire wall.

4. I am very glad for this HUGE mirror nonetheless, because at least if it gets messy, the room still feels big!

5. Art is fun, but not as fun when you find yourself sans-Disney Princess.

6.  It's orange. Which is different. And bright. And fantastic.  And I'm completely unaccustomed to it. Accompanying my vibrant orange walls, there are gold satin sheets hanging on the walls catching paint that goes places I didn't mean to send it flying, and a deep red rug on the floor. And I love it! And I'm pretty confident that my color palette is about to become incredibly vivid and warm, or will go to the opposite extreme and be very cool and calming.

7.  "Barack Obama is black."

8.  I've got a convenient shelf for wine, but no wine on it.

9. I've got a record player, and more records than I know what to do with thanks to Dan having about 20 times more vinyl than I do.  

10. I discovered something horrible about myself tonight, and I know that the reason I discovered it is because I was in my studio.  As excited as I am to have the Red Room, I'm a little scared of it now because if this is only week one of being in it and I discovered something this disturbing, then what's next?

11. I have a list of ideas in my sketchbook, and I need to start acquiring supplies to make them.  Home Depot rejects, here I come.

12.  I've got more ideas than I know what to do with...  it's going to be a good Fall!

Monday, August 3, 2009

I'm not naked...


...but I feel like I am.  

I've set some artsy fartsy goals for myself lately.  One of them is to become better at drawing, and another to sketch more frequently about whatever pops into my head.  So you can imagine the look of horror on my face when I realized that I left my sketchbook at work last night.  It's sad when the starving artist has to decide between using gas to go get her sketchbook on her day off or waiting for two days since I have today off and a work meeting not in the store on Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and distract myself by drawing octotrees for the one piece that is in progress right now, and I'm hoping some new music might help to enhance the distraction?  I just bought the Hazards of Love by The Decemberists, Noble Beast by Andrew Bird, and my second copy of In Rainbows by Radiohead.  (The first copy went AWOL along with an old lover a while back, I think.) Hooray for F.Y.E.'s $9.99 sale and a roommate with the hook up.

Uhg, this is soooooo frustrating.  We'll see how long I go before I break down and head to work to get my baby!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Thanks be to Dan.

So there comes a point in every artists life when they suddenly realize that a studio is absolutely imperative in order to maintain sanity.  This usually happens about..... oh, the second week of art school.  

If you're a financially stable artist, you can afford a place that's big enough for your all of your basics like a bed, your clothes, some decent furniture, a TV if you're into that, and maybe even a kitchen that's big enough to prepare more than Ramen if you can fit additional food groups into your budget in addition to all of your art goodies.  

But if you're a starving artist, you've got your bed (or an air mattress for 8 months, not saying any names, though), and some cheapo furniture from Target and whatever mom didn't want anymore, your clothes, your desperate attempt at a healthy diet, and the remaining 50% of your belongings are your art supplies.  If you're lucky, you've got enough space to make this work.  If you're not, then you're doomed to always have a messy room, always have paintbrushes and tronies in the drawers next to each other, and to always be forced to clean up after yourself when you're done just so that you have enough space to walk around the next morning to get dressed for work.

Not anymore.  Right now, my bedroom IS my studio and has been for the last year.  But starting August 15th, I will have what so many artists dream of and have to fight tooth and nail for to make it happen.  I will have a bedroom AND a studio.  Not only that, but I'll be paying for both of those rooms for the price of one!  This is right about where the clouds part and a ray of sunshine beats down like a spotlight on a young twenty-something covered in paint holding a half-full wine glass in one hand and a paintbrush in the other raised triumphantly in the air and with her mouth in a "O" shape makes a faint heavenly "oooooooooooooooooooh" sound with a bewildered look on her face and wonders how the hell this happened.

Long story short, through a series of crazy events, I'm moving into a new place (my 4th apartment in less than 12 months), but I think that this one by far will be the best living arrangement ever.  My good friend is giving me the hook up.  Not only do I get to be roommates with him, but I also get both my rooms for a sweet deal for the Metropolitan area, I get to shorten my commute to work by about two-thirds, as well as watch what happens when you put a chihuahua in a confined space with a cat that's twice it's size.  

This is going to be fun.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Starving Artist Goes to the Hardware Store

It's common knowledge to anyone in the artsy-fartsy-crafty world that Home Depot and Lowe's has a scrap wood pile that's a conglomeration of of pieces of wood with minute imperfections, or pieces with slight knicks, or pieces that people had cut and then changed their mind for one reason or another.  The store can't sell these pieces, at least not at full price, and the flawed pieces usually sit in a pile until it becomes a fire hazard and then gets thrown into the garbage to rot... unless of course, some creative, desperate individual teetering on the edge of Ramen being the only thing on their grocery list decides to come in and rescue it from the dumpster.

Enter Me.

I go into Home Depot, in a dress, at that, which is always a huge mistake/the easiest way to instantly feel better about your appearance, in search of scrap wood.  The first associate I see tells me that it's up to the owner of each individual store if they're going to give away scrap wood.  I say ok, and saddened by my sudden lack of cheap canvasses, turn to leave.  I get up to the front of the store and as I pass the Customer Service desk, I see a sign advertising for credit cards for Home Depot.  And it hit me.  I could not recall one franchise that I was aware of that had credit cards; they were corporate and there was no owner.

I ask someone else.  Anne has a much better answer for me.  "Yes, we have wood." And not only an answer, but she also takes me to the pile and let's me pick through it.  Not only that, but she also takes me to Nick who says, "Oh, we have more." And then he let's me pick through that pile, too!  As I'm doing this, I suddenly realize that it's getting late, and that I'm in a short pink and grey dress, which is a far cry from my all black outfit that I have to wear to work, and I have to run home and change, then get back on the highway and battle urban sprawl just to get to said place of employment.  If I stay and buy this now, I'm going to be late for work.  Not gonna happen.

I apologize profusely to Nick an thank him excessively for his kindness and explain that I have to leave, but I can come back and pay for it in the morning.  He said he likes art, so he'll hold it at his desk.  I got sick, and couldn't come back to Home Depot for 3 days.  I was terrified that Nick thought I was full of it and had let my precious finds go to the dumpster.  But low and behold, 3 days later when I show up, sure enough there is Nick, my treasures and all, tucked safely away in between a display of front doors.  He rang me up.  It only cost me $3.15!  

Oh, happy day for the Ramen-fearing artist.  I'm going home to eat a turkey sandwich with hummus, red onions, dijon mustard and spinach leaves on whole wheat bread.

(and yes, those will all be Giant brand...)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Coincidence? I think not!

So I'm sitting in my room, too exhausted to paint, lacking motivation to clean, but not quite ready for bed.  I'm talking online with a friend and I can hear Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on tv in the living room playing for my sleeping brother.  I was just starting to think how I should go turn off the tv, throw a blanket over my bro, and brush my teeth and hit the sack..... but not yet.  I thought to myself, "Self, you should really research The Art Institute of Washington.  I got a thingie in the mail from them the other day, and I've heard some not so fantastic stories lately about some of the other local schools I had on my list.... but no, I'll do it tomorrow.  I should sleep first."  

No friggin joke, not 30 seconds later, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom take a break from swashbuckling for some televised advertising, and what should come on, but a rather inspiring commercial for the Art Institute of Washington.  Coincidence?  I think not!

No more of this nonsense.  No more stalling.  No more excuses.  No more bs.  

I. Want. My. Bachelor's. Degree.  And I'm going to get it.  And I'm going to start with some research.... tonight. :)

Friday, June 19, 2009

(Nothing Happens in the Spring)

So, for no reason in particular, apparently the arts gods have decided that nothing note-worthy happened in the spring, except for a large 2 1/2' x 4' beasty that is now residing in Baltimore.


Speaking of the spring... I've had a particularly unproductive and color-deficient spring as far as art is concerned, however, through a series of events, I've been inspired/driven/forced to grab my brush by the balls and whipped out two paintings in a day yesterday, much to my pleasant and exhausted surprise.  I'm not entirely sure they're done yet, so I'm not posting them here, but it was interesting to me to see at the end of the night when the brush was down and my crazy little art heart was tired and refreshed, that I still have it.  I was also encouraged to rediscover after a mini mental blow to the head late last week that even though I haven't painted anything since March, that both the hectic things in life as well as the simple can still creep deep into my head and somehow escape through my fingers into something that I can look at and be proud of. 


So while my latest babies are still cooking, here's a sneak preview at the hectic and the simple.




Tuesday, February 3, 2009

How to Batch Convert RAW to JPEG in CS3

I recently had a need to convert an insane amount of files from RAW to JPEG.  I learned how to do this in college, but I hadn't done this in a few years and I forgot how.  So, I set about searching the internet for the best way to do it.   After sifting through all of the sites that do batch conversion in programs I don't have or didn't wish to use, and weeding out all of the instructions that involved downloading software that does it, I found some instructions that worked just perfectly for Photoshop CS3.  I'm posting the steps here (and expounded upon them a tiny bit for photographers like me who don't get all the techy stuff) in hopes that they might come in handy to a few people.

1.  Have Photoshop already open, and click on File>Scripts>Image Processor.

2.  Select either the open images, OR select an entire folder that you'd like to convert into JPEG.

3.  Select the location that you'd like your photos to be saved in.  If you would like them saved in the same location, this option will automatically create a folder called "JPEG" inside of your folder holding your original RAW images and it will save every new JPEG image as a duplicate inside the new JPEG folder.  This will not delete your RAW files.  They will still be in your original folder.  If you want them saved elsewhere, then select that location.  

4.  Select the type of file/format you'd like to save your photos in.  I needed JPEG because the photos I converted are going to clients and I wanted to make sure that whatever type of computer program they have, that their computer will be able to read the files.  However, you can select TIFF or PSD files here, as well as make some adjustments to file size. (Note:  JPEG, TIFF and PSD can all have their pros and cons depending on what you plan on doing with the images. Make sure before you convert them all, you've researched which format is going to be best for your needs.)

5.  Lastly, if you are applying actions to your soon-to-be JPEG files, choose which actions will apply to your photos.  

6.  Click on Run up in the top right-hand corner, sit back, go make yourself some coffee, and let the magic happen...

I'm pretty sure we did this differently in college, and there are probably several different ways to batch convert a large number of images. However, if you simply need to convert them to JPEG, TIFF or PSD, then this is a foolproof way to do it in CS3.  

Friday, January 30, 2009

OPI

So, I've had a rather productive evening of cleaning up my laptop, sorting through old client's wedding photos, and sending emails to past clients and potential ones.  In my meanderings, I came across some old photos I took just for fun maybe a year or so ago that I am still in love with.  That was a fantastic feeling, and i just thought I'd share a few of them.



And, speaking of photography, I am adding a photography section to my etsy site.  You can view it here.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Oh-ho, Soho!

Story time.....  get out your carpet squares.

So, there's this nutzoid time that takes place in the heart of Washington, DC every four years called the Presidential Inauguration.  I did what any sane (and hindsight is 20/20, now regretful) American would do and slept straight through it.  I did so because I had been in the city the night before up until about 4:00 the morning of the Inauguration and since I had been awake for just over 2o hours I thought to myself, "Self, Obama isn't going anywhere for at least four years (hopefully eight!), so just catch it on the radio when you wake up and that'll be it."  

But, the night before, I found myself at a coffee shop called SoHo at the corner of 22 and P St at about 1:30 am or so (Jan 20th), sipping on a much larger cup of coffee than I should have been drinking at about 1:30 am.  (Again, hindsight is 20/20, boys and girls.)  Well, my coffee was deliciously caffeinated, and as I sat there thinking about how wonderful it is to have such a great coffee shop open so late in the heart of the beautiful LGBT community, and how fantastic it was that I was able to find a parking space only 3 1/2 blocks away when 99% of the parking in the city was off limits to everyone and their mom unless they drove an emergency vehicle, and how thankful I was that there were Army Officers, some alone, some in groups up to 4 on a majority of the city's street corners making sure that everything was safe at home (and abroad. Thanks, Dad!), and how this not so cute boy was staring at me from sort of behind me and it was flattering in a creepy way but doesn't matter, because I kind of really like this guy right now, (longest run-on sentence ever), suddenly the inevitable happened.  I had to pee.  

I got up, ordered four hot chocolates that I planned to shortly distribute to 4 freezing soldiers, and asked for the bathroom key sitting on the counter.  The cashier handed it to me, and I walked to the bathroom and unlocked the door.  As I opened it, I realized the light was on.  Just as I was about to get irritated for people being energy inefficient, I looked up and saw a camouflaged, neon vest wearing, shocked and for all intents and purposes, urinating soldier standing over the toilet trying to shield his man bits from my view, and the view of the entire table of no less than 6-8 people behind me.  I think I made an awkward sort of noise and yelled something that might have sounded like "sorry!" as I slammed the door and turned and clapped my hand over my mouth, only to have said table of 6-8 people looking at me and smiling, smirking, laughing or looking down or any combination of them all.  One of the men at the table said to me, gently, but with disciplinary undertones, "That's why you knock,"  to which I quickly and exasperatedly responded with, "That's why you take the key inside with you!"  I was quite proud of that statement, because I almost always think of the perfect response to a remark like that..... 2o minutes after the fact.  Nonetheless, I think I was just as mortified as the soldier, who probably didn't want to exit the bathroom and more than I wanted him to.  

A woman at the far end of the table rose from her chair with her coffee and said with an, I dare say, loving smile, "Oh, come on now, it's nothing she hasn't seen before," walked over to me and asked me if I had to go to the bathroom.  I tried to hide my embarrassed smile, told her yes, and she walked to the counter, took another key that was out of sight, and led me down a hall saying, "Here, sweetie.  No one ever uses this one.  It's in with the mop sink, but it's clean and this way you won't have to see him when he comes out."  I could have kissed her!  I thanked her, went to the bathroom, washed up and went to collect my hot chocolate.  

On my way out, I thanked her again, and as I looked at her, I suddenly realized that she was one of the owners that I had been meaning to come in and speak with about my artwork.  I asked her if she was one of the owners, and she said yes and introduced herself to me as Helene.  The conversation that followed was heaven.

1. Yes, dear, of course you can put your art work up!  We'd love to have your pieces here!  We love to support local artists!
2. Well, normally we charge for wall space, but the pieces we have up right now may become permanent pieces for the shop, but you can use the ceiling space and I won't charge you a dime. You can also have this little sliver of wall space, and I won't charge for that since it's so small. And if we end up selling those other pieces than I would only charge you to repair any holes you make in the wall.
3. Yes, please bring in some sketches and some designs, we'd love to see what your ideas are!  We've been wanting to fill this window space for a long time with something!  Your light sculptures sound like they could work!  Bring one in and we'll test it out!  
4. All you have to do is advertise that your work is here and we'll put up a little something about you up by the front and we can sell your pieces, no problem.  Here are three local papers that let artists advertise for free.

Oh my goodness, this night just got better and better...  a promise to hang artwork in a popular DC coffee shop open almost 24 hours a day and a new president who makes it feasible for me to return to school!  It was like Christmas!

So, boys and girls, you can go put away your carpet squares, but stay tuned for the artistic process.  I'm making lanterns!  

Thank you, Helene!  You're a sweetheart!  And sorry to the soldier.  I promise, I didn't see anything!  (Not a slam on you, I'm sure your man bits are lovely, but I know you are all trained to move quick like bunnies, so good for you!  I don't think anyone else saw anything, either. You wanna buy a lantern?)