last days

I have been creating and getting things back, I just haven't taken pictures of everything or anything yet. I think I will get around to that later today since I don't work until 6 with nothing else to do today. I plan on working on my drawing for drawing class, this time I am trying ink, I have tried something different everytime. Which is good, since I don't work with other mediums often. Only one more week left. I did purchase a few watercolors to play around with this summer. I hope to be catching up on painting since I won't be able to do ceramics, though I still hope to take a class at Firehouse, we'll see.

Octopus and Circus Pony

Octopus
Watercolor pencil, on paper, 16x20

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last day of wet work in ceramics was today, which is really weird. It always seems like it goes by so fast, and the end of the semester comes so quickly, especially for the art school, we get out much earlier than the rest of the world. I think I will miss it over the summer, maybe if there is a ceramics class at the firehouse I will take one. Plus, I don't want to get too rusty.

I've almost finished my drawing for drawing class, it was supposed to be on a theme with my other piece I did, but in the end turns out, I don't think they relate at all. Maybe they do, I have no idea.

Circus Pony
Charcoal, on canvas, 16x20

papers and art

Right now I should be writing a paper for my American Indian Women Artist Seminar Class, but maybe I will be inspired to do that later. I am writing about an interesting lady though. Maybe if I talk about her a bit, it will inspire me. I have now realized that I am not as good of a writer as I like to think I am. Now, I can do the art part and all the interpreting and I kick ass at that, its just the filling stuff and the blahdy blah stuff, that baffles me. Plus, I am a comma whore, if you've noticed. David always edits my papers and I secretly think he is horrified. But, I have never had training like him in the art of writing, only the art of art and that is only recently.

Back to the lady I am writing about, I am writing about Kay Walkingstick because when I saw her paintings they intriqued me. She uses a diptych system, and juxtaposes images together, like a landscape image with a body. She uses these to show how two different things are related, be it biracialness, her body and the landscape, or whatever. She was painting during the women's art movement and during the time that Native American studies finally started in the 80's. You could not take a Native American Peoples class in college until the 80's. Which when you think about it is really sad.

On a differernt note, This is my latest painting up top, I haven't painted in a long while, due to that terrible painting class which the professor discouraged me from painting. Not by telling me that I am bad or anything, but because he was such a terrible teacher.
I picked up painting the second semester of my freshman year of college and I instantly fell in love with it. I pretty much was a hermit my freshman year and stayed in my room a lot, so I painted, on the floor. Before I started painting I had thought to be a english major, which is completely ridiculous to me now, I am terrible at spelling and whatnot. And, after my freshman year became an art major. I actually had to do a hometest and send in drawings which I did in maybe an hour. Luckily, I got in. And here I am today, a Junior, now in love with ceramics, although I still love painting. What I love about ceramics is that you can never control it completely, and it is always a challenge.

Back, to what I was saying about painting, that I had forgotten how I loved painting due to that terrible teacher, but I am glad to be back painting. I had been given that stretcher by a friend to paint over and finally did it. Its huge, well huge to me. What I felt when painting that, was actually peace and calmness, but determination and worry about all of the drippings on the floor and worry about my cat jumping in it. It's 48" x 48". I like it, and it definitly says hello in my tiny dining room.

Dodo Bird

This one is a low-fired white clay piece. I just finished firing it about a week ago.
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I brought home a ton of ceramic pieces today. Mostly small things I had made on the wheel, to practice. I think I am finally beginning to get the hang of the wheel. I say this and then of course I will do bad next time, but we all have good and bad days. Someone told me that a person has to throw for seven years to be considered not a beginner, which gives me hope. Lately, I have been doing asymmetrical tea bowls, which my professor says she likes asymmetrical, so hey. I actually like them too, but I would like to do symmetrical things as well. Next time, I will be throwing with way more clay than normal, so that should be interesting, and challenging. Though that is what I like about ceramics, the challenge, the fact that your favorite piece could go completely wrong in the kiln or with the wrong glaze, just the fact that you can only control so much, there is no guarantee on anything really. Makes things interesting. I have links up now, not all of my pieces are on there, as in, the ones other people have, but I hope to get those eventually as well, I'll just have to track them down. But, the link is on the right if anyone is interested.

art showing

Recently I entered two pieces in the 92nd Annual Student Ehibition at The Fred Jones Art Museum in Norman, and both of my pieces were accepted. This was the first time I have ever entered anything, so I was and still am very excited. They will be shown until April 23, if you have a chance to go up and see the students work, I recommend it. These are perhaps our future artists. This is one of the two I entered, this is a mixed media piece made with pamplets from my old church, fabric for the trees and acrylic paints. The title is The Church and its Words. My other piece was a ceramic piece, and I will put a photo up when I get one.

Getting into the art show actually inspired me to do more painting. After taking a class with a horrible professor, I had been quite discouraged. But, the fact that I had gotten both of the two that I entered has boosted my confidence quite a bit. I have started painting again, after not painting for about 3 months, and am glad that I am painting again. I'm slightly stumped in ceramics, though I know I will figure what to do next in time. I feel inbetween projects and don't really have a direction in mind. I need to sit down and think things through but am normally distracted by the computer and tv. I think maybe writing about it will help, even though I am on the computer, and hopefully, I will get back on track again.