Motivation Again! Sort of...

Now that I've gotten pass the whole narrative problem with the first project I'm motivated to actually work again! This time the project is production, and I have many grand plans for that, probably too many to make before the student sale in December.

So here's how my jib is currently cut:

Thus far I have a headstart on making my Link a Dink triangle pins by cutting out forty textured triangles to make 20 pins. Now I have to file, solder, and clean them up. Provisionally they are going to be priced at $25, not sure if that will change. From the scraps I hope to make more "Melty" pins as well.

My third plan for production is to tap into the geek market a bit (I have no idea how far art nerds overlap with regular nerds) by making d-pad pins from this controller. I have yet to double check that the patents and copyrights to the NES design have expired but I'm mostly certain they have.

You may notice the lack of my theme in these projects, but don't fret! some flower and weed modeled hair pins are in the works!

I have thick copper wire to use for the pin part of the hair ornaments (graciously given to me by a plumber friend) and only one idea for what to stick on top: a clover. That will be done by layers of copper sheet cut into thin petals and bent upward. Though since hair pins are not popular at the moment, I may not put them into the student sale.

For fibers I have been making julienne fries out of a linoleum block carving a train wheel to use as a background for the unit on fabric printing. I went with a fun harmless theme of trains just to have a break from the serious development of a semester long one. So far I will use this block to have a random base pattern of yellow, orange, and red. I still don't know what to put over it, perhaps I will emulate a train poster form the 1930s.

For the record this is what the inside of an NES controller is like. It also works exactly like a Genesis controller does yet the Sega ones wear out faster. I also have another project brewing in 2D design and went to the opening night of the Art in Craft Media exhibit at the Burchfield-Penney Museum. If I ever get a chance to go back and take decent non-cell phone pictures I may write up a full review, but for now I leave you with this: The craft exhibit as a whole has some solidly designed pieces and good craftsmanship of course, but seems to lack some sort of wow factor or break out work.

Upton has been bugged!

Quite a beaut, isn't he? perhaps this means a production run of cricket earrings... still no ideas on that front but check back soon.

A is for Rembrandt

Recently I've found myself chafing under the one fallacy many art professors are stricken with. It's the whole conception that an A is unattainable, the holy grail of grades, and more endangered than pandas. To use a quote heard through the grapevine, "I'll only give you an A if you paint a Rembrandt."

After encountering so many professors that hold to the unattainable A I have to wonder where did this idea come from? Is it extrapolated from the fact that A= 100%= perfect? Last I knew 90% to 99% was also an A and none of those numbers are perfection. Why even bother having an A at all if it represents such godlike presicion?

I can see being sparing with the As in junior level and higher studio classes, but it just becomes a crime in the intro level classes. How can an intro level student create a perfect project, or "go above and beyond" while learning the concepts and making mistakes at the same time? Why would I even need to go to school at all if I could create perfect art every time and never made errors to learn from?

It's rather a self defeating idea here and leads me to two possible conclusions:

1. I suck at art.
2. The department guidelines need another rewrite.

So the only solutions I have at the moment are to resign myself to my fate of the dreaded B or work myself into the ground and burnout trying to get an A. And we all now how successful quests for the holy grail are not.

Bada Bing Bada Boom.

The past week (or two?) in pictures, consisting of...

Burning pitch.

Happening late night studios.

Dyeing mishaps.

Chasing leaves.

More dyeing mishaps.

Craaazy soldering set ups.

A finished 2D project.

A finished jewelry piece.

Bored ceramics majors.

And a scenic view.

Sketch Drop, or What I Should be Doing in the Studio

And now a sketch dump, this is my tentative plan for fibers, where I have to dye a piece of cloth themed around  a season. I picked winter for no special reason and am planning to have black shibori vines/branches with a turquoise blue sky. The problem is that discharging dyes never returns the fabric back to white, and the professor likes fabric to have a massive amount of over laid pattern and dying, to the point of obliterating nice patterns you obtained on the first go. So I guess i'll just have to see how it develops on it's own...

But, while I was finishing working on this thing in my 2D Design class:

(can you spot all the craftsmanship errors I will be docked for? I can!)

An idea finally occured to me for jewlery design and here it is!

I've always wanted to do a swivel  locket since I saw one featured in a Lapidary Journal magazine, plus I did encounter an acorn on my earlier attempt to get inspired by walking through the park. The narrative portion of the project comes in with having a little tree inside the acorn when you open it up. that will be formed by  a copper wire, most likely with prongs to hold a wad of green fabric for leaves or perhaps threads.

The bail will be an oak leaf which I will probably have to shut up and patina it green, as much as I hate patinas. Thus I've already gone out and gotten spray lacquer for the occasion, to try and keep the patina from rubbing off too quickly. Currently this is my best plan to have a piece of jewelry that represents a walk in the woods, use of chasing and repousse, and a narrative all at once.

At least I'm closer to having a plan now and can finally begin work, woo.

Greentopia Aftermath

I nearly forgot to talk about how much fun the Greentopia Festival was and my piece on display!

Case in point me looking like a goober behind my piece in the "gallery" space which was the atrium of a bar/restaurant right in the heart of the festival area. Next to my piece is a work that is supposed to represent a tea pot and behind me is the first place winner. I have forgotten the title of it but over a period of 180 days the artist collected some of the garbage she threw out each day and put it in a jar. Thus, the line of jars on the free standing wall with a braided rope of plastic bags trailing down in front of it in a sort of showing-the-audience-how-much-trash-they-throw-out kinda way.

Here's a detail with patrons standing in front of it. I will say one thing and one thing only about it: after seeing a wall of jars at the Burchfield-Penney Art Museum in 2009 and a rack of them again in 2010 or so, it's safe to say jars are played out by now.

Third place was this coat rack welded together from scrap metals and discarded decorative metal fencing. The artist who did this had just discovered welding and was all excited about it in their artist's statement. In the background is another large scale work made of copper and brass which was 8 feet tall or so.

It was styled after an armillary sphere and rather nice looking, and reminded me my of my goal to make a metal garden statue of some kind for my mother. After this point however, my pictures take a turn for the scenic so here's the falls that gives the High Falls area of Rochester it's name:

All in all its was a fun day, and the rest of the festival was quite interesting too, ranging from food to music to purses made out of old plastic feed bags, plants for sale, and naturally jewelry made from old electronic bits.

Finally, here's a parting shot of my piece on display with the placard that had my artist's statement on it. Luckily I was able to keep it afterwards as a litle souvenir of my "win" in the contest. And that just about wraps up my day at Greentopia and the Recycled Art Competition.

On the Bench

Continuing my recent trend of drive by posting, here's whats on my bench (literally) currently. I have the pitch bowl set up and finally got my chasing and repousse tools polished on the buffing wheel.



Aren't they pretty? Besides actual classwork I've also gotten started on making the interlocking triangle pins for the student sale in December, some cam be seen waiting to be cut out on my bench pin.

To end this mad post here's a close up arty shot of my 2D project. I haven't done much with that because I am never near my project and a window when there is still daylight outside. My plan is still to trace my pattern on to good bristol paper, if only I had my lightbox! Perhaps I shall get up early tommorow; until then good night!