Life in Ink

2010-03-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

I'm over here more often these days.

Encouragement

2009-10-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Had a pep talk with Will where he sent me this:

Fortune Cookie Fortune that I got today:

Still have some ink under my nails from the studio yesterday. haha. Impossible to get it out of all the crevices sometimes...

Good things will happen soon.

I'm on Fall Break! woo! No class Monday or Tuesday!

Gouged Ink

2009-10-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

I intend to print some today and I find this awaiting me.
Who do these punk kids think they are? Gouging up all the community ink.
I swear.

This is the second can of ink I have thrown away in as many weeks.
I haven't even checked all of them.

I swear.

I printed another layer of my reductive linocut today, but it was terrible.
I'll probably post it sometime later, but... It is not good.

SUPER COOL NEWS

2009-10-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Doing this print exchange that I wanted to do.

http://littlestprintexchange.blogspot.com/

omg need to go make an edition of 50. omg omg omg. :D

Howdy

2009-10-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have been kind of lazy in the studio as of late, I might have some in progress shots of my reductive lino soon... but as of now, it's mostly just blue, and who wants to see that?

So here is a placeholder, a little watercolor I did this summer. I like it, but also, eh.

"You Thought You Could Outrun Sorrow"

The New Girls

2009-09-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Spend a few hours in the studio today. Working on these girls.

This is the first one I did, she's still in progress (they all are) but without her the other girls would not exist.

This girl started out at my least favorite, but now I really am starting to dig her.

This is the one that i'm afraid to work on because I already feel too precious about it.

Which I realize is the death of possibilty.

There needs to be something done about her left hip's dark flatness....

K.P. suggested a cutout white circle to mimic the one around her face?

This might be what I do.

---

I've been trying hard not to get precious about art stuff.

If you do, you're doing it wrong.

---

So, are they drawings or paintings? ;)

It's ink, some acrylic paint, and cut paper on bristol board.

In Progress/Studio Shot

2009-09-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

Just some in progress studio shots.

I'm working on this collage/painting right now. Really like it.
Enough to be worried if I mess it up or not.
haha

<3

Little painting

2009-09-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Reserve.

Acrylic and collage on paper.

This little painting is around 11 x 14 and has been the only sucessful sort of painting I've done this semester.

If I never mentioned it earlier in my blog (and that was so long ago, who would remember?) I am getting my BFA in Painting and Printmaking at Eastern Kentucky University. I will graduate in May 2010. Hopefully on to bigger and better things after that (like grad school?)

I've been kind of stumped this semester as it is the first semester of my last year, and I've been kind of strapped for interia ever since my grandmother passed away last month.

So, there has been very little work coming out of me, much to my professor's chagrin. Another reason for the blog. Accountablity, I suppose. That is, if anyone reads it. haha.

Hello Again.

2009-09-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm going to recommit myself to posting in this blog again. (as well as being an actual contributor to Mostly Roses)
I need to try to keep myself artistically accountable.

It has been a long time since I have posted here, so I will give you an abbrevaited rundown of the better of the pieces I have done in the time since I posted here regularly. (OMG LIKE MORE THAN A YEAR AGO.)

Tracks and Shadows.
Print/Drawing.
Included in The ASA's art show for 2009

Reaching out with horns.
Drypoint intaglio print.

Snowstorms in April and Dictionary Pages
Linocut, Woodcut, found paper, watercolor.
Used for the central michigan print exchange.

Hold On Now
Drypoint Intaglio.

Untitled.
Drypoint Intaglio with watercolor, graphite and embrodiery thread.
In the 2009 International Small Engraving Salon
(If you would like to see my other pieces that got in that show, click the link then find Riley, Lindsay)

So. There is that.

Hello again!
I'll be back soon,
Lindsay

This is my favorite song.

2009-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some Prints.

2008-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm posting some prints I made this semester.

<-- "We Were Trying Too Hard" Photo transfer and lino cut.

"Expect Changes In the Wallpaper"

Wood grain print under lino cut.

Adventures in Incelism

Wood grain Print under Lino cut.

Those Old Wise Silly Things

Lino cuts

"Taking Polaroids and Catching UFOS"

Wood grain and Lino cut.

----

Sorry for such a long hiatus.
I've been busy?

I got that work study scholarship to Penland like I wanted.
I'm leaving this Friday afternoon.
I'm very excited.
It's about 'Exploring Bookness', we'll be making some book inspired objects. It'll be fun.

Linkage or something.

2008-03-18T18:52:00.001-07:00

I'm addicted to creative blogs. or something.
Whatever the following blogs are, I'm addicted to them.
They're kind of what I wanted this blog to be.
I mean, I just found them recently, but it's nice to see others doing stuff that you dig. You know?

Check 'um out.

Wish Jar
Hula Seventy
Curious Bird

Somehow Podcasts segway into storytelling.

2008-03-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

I love podcasts.
I would say it is because I love getting information, and I like the ease podcasts provide.
I can listen to This American Life for free every week, get movie reviews from Filmspotting, etc.
But I've been thinking about what I like so much about them.

When I was little my mom got me this tape with the best storytellers from some kind of oral storytelling festival, and I listened to it religiously.
And the best memories I have from my family and friends tends to be the stories that they tell/told. Or the stories we create together, I guess.

I've been writing in my paper journal lately, I'm trying to find out what I want my art to be about. I keep coming back to the same things, or at least simular ones.
Communication, Memory, Collective Memory, Storytelling, Myth...
or at least I'm interested in these things. I just still haven't figured out how to make my art meet up with what I'm interested in exploring.

The only one of those I believe I work with at all right now is Storytelling, any of the paintings I do that actually mean anything, instead of being a still life or something done stricktly for the grade, has always been somewhat about telling a story. In critiques on those paintings I'll talk about what the painting is about, and tend to get into some big long story about the painting.

So I want narrative, I want storytelling.
I'll figure it out. Just letting it out into the internet ether.

The Human Form.

2008-03-05T17:18:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about his lately.
I'm in figure painting now and I am painting (generally) nude models.
I had be really wanting to post my paintings and some of my drawings from this class, but really don't want someone to accidently stumble on nudity that they might not have wanted to see.

It's nothing terrible, it's just the nude human form, but I don't want to offend. Personally I don't think there is anything offensive about it, but I want to be polite. Even if this is the internet.

So I'm going to link into my nude drawings and paintings, I think that's the best solution.

First of all, to the left is my first painting from figure painting and she is obviously clothed. So, there you go.

The nude studies I wanted to post are here and here. It's frontal nudity, so there are breasts. If you don't want to see them, don't click.

The nude painting I wanted to post is here. It's from the back, so you see her butt and hips.

Bud Light Sausage Commercial

2008-03-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

This commercial makes me too happy.
SAUSAGES!

My excuses are just babies of snow...

2008-02-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

The Carrot Revolution was kind enough to link to me the other day. Thanks again for the shout out and the nice words.

I sent out a scholarship application to Penland School of Craft this week. I hope I get it. I want to do this summer program on lithography. (Well, the program also includes stuff on intaglio and relief, but I know those processes, so I hope that they'll let me focus more on the lithography, since I know nothing about it.)

But anyway, when I sent my scholarship application to Penland, I had to take pictures of some of my art. Those arts happened to be the paintings I've not yet posted here, so here we go.

Okay, paintings. Uhm. This one is kind of dumb, but my painting teacher likes it. We had to do our paintings about something, and I kind of picked communication, or the lack of.

Essentially, It's a wasteland.

Okay, so this was my final for painting 2, I painted a painting for my roommate, because I owe her some money... No, just kidding, She wanted one of my paintings, so I made her one. She needs to quit smoking, but, smoke is compositionally really really wonderful. I like swirls. Her hair is really not that color. I made it much too blonde, but she says she doesn't mind... sketches of it here.

This painting is really personal. It's the biggest painting I've ever done. It's about 4 x 5 feet. I'm happy with it. People tend to like it before they know it's about death, and then they're like, "oh, i see. uhmmm." Oh well.

It's what I was talking about here.

Anyway. It's snowing outside. It's the pretty big clumps of snow.... or at least it was. It's calmed down now.

Anyway. There are about 12 things I should be doing that aren't blogging so...

A Little Birdhouse

2008-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's day.

...Remember to leave the night light on in the birdhouse in your soul...

It's a link!

2008-02-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

I'm very busy.

Well, make that I should be very busy, right now I should be reading books and doing homework and writing essays for scholarships and many other things.

but I'm not because I've found this great little website.

TED.com

It has speeches by lots of interesting people about lots of interesting things.

Technology, Science, Creativity, etc.

It's a lovely little site and I've already spent a few hours just clicking around watching videos.

To be fair, I found it off of my class' Blackboard page, so I started all this while trying to do homework.

I would reccomend this one. about happiness.

and this one, about if schools kill creativity or not.

but seriously most of the talks are really neat. I'm going thru the site still. It's just great.

Anyway. Thought i'd share.

Owl Dreams

2008-01-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

Lookit!

These are my owls, an etching I did based on a drawing I posted up here a few months ago.

It's from an intaglio series about dreams I'm doing right now in Printmaking. woo.

Pictar

2008-01-29T17:23:00.001-08:00

For my Rachel,

Proof of my being at Vandy:

Yep.

Crazy Ears

2008-01-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

I'm some kind of officer in my school's chapter of the Art Student Association. We need to vote again now that about half of our officers graduated, so that's why I'm not really anything yet. I was once the Treasuer.

Anyway, I made this poster for our meeting.

It's pretty dope.

I thought you'd want to see. yes.

Nashville and thoughts on cities

2008-01-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

I went to Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday with my friend Ann and saw a lovely art show at Vanderbuilt by Xiao Xin Lu. It w

as a series of monoprints that had been drawn back on, sometimes collaged, sown back in, anything that you could name. She had a very lovely control of mixed media.

It was fantastic and has inspired me to try more things with my own printmaking, and maybe stray from the edition-able print. I know that i'm not a 'printmaker', I know I'm a drawer/printmaker who is influenced by form of printmaking. I am really excited about trying to explore this direction that my artistic vision wants to take. I've been thinking about it a long time, b

ut it wasn't until I saw Xiao Xin Lu's show that I realized how beautifully mixed media informed by the printmaking process could work.

I just need to find a way to make it work well for me.

...and I'm pretty excited.

Ann and I talked about how sometimes unexpected things are the best. For example: not expecting a birthday present and getting one makes it so much better than if you were expecting something, no matter really what the gift was.

I can't remember how it came up, but it made me think of

New York. Which brings us to my second 'things I just like looking at'

This photo was taken in Chinatown when I was in New York a few weeks ago. It's not just Chinatown that I visually enjoy, even tho I picked this photo for this topic

(because of the colors and is one of my more favorite pictures I took on my New York trip). It's the hustle of cities that I like and am kind of uncomfortable with. You can be around so many people and be totally alone, and there is some appeal in that to me. At the sam

e time I really love random happenings you'll find more often in city places, which brings me back to my talk with Ann about unexpected things. While I was in New York one of my favorite experiences was getting off a subway with a friend and seeing some people breakdancing one direction, and a guy who played a mean guitar/foot drums (He was playing Tom Petty's 'You got Lucky', actually. I remember because I really like that song.) in another. All while lots of people are streaming around me going about their business.

There was just something just visually great about it. (While leaving Grand Central Station we saw a squash tourney, too. This was not as visually awesome or moving etc., but was pretty out of the blue and cool too.)

Maybe it was because I'm sheltered and just didn't expect something like that.

I'm sure if I lived there, those kind of thing would quickly become old hat to me.

but just that the experience of all these people going about their own lives all around me and how I got to experience some things they enjoyed doing (playing music, dancing, playing squash) filled me with a wonder and a calm for the people who are around me.

I think I like cities for the same reason I like living in the dorm. It's comforting to be around people, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't like them. I'm not a huge people person, and will openly admit to really not liking most people I've met in my life, but the fact they are around going on with their lives and having their own adventures and stories around me that I will never know fills me with warm fuzzies in my stomach. It's just full of so much potential.

A Very Short Post

2008-01-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

This has to be short and without images, I'm due to a class in about 15.
I'd just like to state on my internet record that:

1. My trip to New York was wonderful.

2. I feel more comfortable in my own skin now than I ever have.

and that I'm just in a fantastic mood, and I'm actually very happy.
So much so, to shout it from the internet-blog-rooftops, I guess.
I can't remember a time in my life that I was this happy before.

...Now to eat my Ramen and run to class.

<3 Lindsay

2008

2008-01-02T00:28:00.001-08:00

Sometimes there really feels like nothing to draw,
but in reality you've got a lot of things you'd like to draw
and you sit and think about it.
Then give up and do a self portrait.
and find you drew those things anyway.

2008, you will be good. That's an order.

The New Year's party I went to was really fun, so that's a good start.

I saw Juno today. I liked it. Belle and Sebastian were in the soundtrack, which probably made me forget it's shortcomings.

Happy New Year.

some books

2007-12-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

Pink Lady apples, jasmine-green tea, and books is generally how I've been spending the past few days. I got another copy of The Handmaiden's Tale (by Margaret Atwood) from my father for Christmas, I loaned my other copy out and never got it back. I've really enjoyed re-reading it a lot.
Books are always different the second time, or at least the ones that make you think are. The fact that I read it for pleasure this time, and not as schoolwork, might have affected it too.
The first time I read The Handmaiden's Tale it terrified me. Less terrified this time, but still moved. and angry. and sad.
It's one of my favorites.

I also read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere this week. I think I enjoyed it more than the other novels of his I've read. (Not including Sandman) Neverwhere had more of a fairy tale feel? I can't describe it exactly, but it connected me on the level that you want the world to be more fantastical than it is, and a bit of you really longs to be a part of that fantasy world.

I'm glad I'm reading books again. and crocheting. and generally being the recluse I know myself as. Recluse is not the word, maybe low-key?

But I find myself wanting to read again for fun, which hasn't really happened for about a year and a half. I was afraid it was never going to come back. ha.

Merry Christmas.

American Elf!

2007-12-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

I doubt anyone is really bored this time of year, but one of my favorite online comics changed it's format in the past month.

Previously American Elf required a subscription to read any comic but the one he put up last.

It's by an artist named James Kochalka who has inspired me in my sketchbook and comic pursuits, and racked me some overdue fees at my library for checking out and keeping his collected comics for weeks at a time.

Anyway, now they're all free and if you have any spare time, you should read them.

He does a comic of his day, almost everyday, and puts it up.
It's kind of boring sometimes, but addictive.
Mundane but nice.

Yes. I'm pretty pleased out it being free now. So should you. Check it out.

But I think I got some linseed oil in my ear...

2007-12-08T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's kind of disturbing how much I miss my sketchbook.
I've just left it at a friend's house, but I'm already frustrated and missing it.
I actually want to draw.
It's feels weird that it's not here with me. It's existence is comforting.

I painted for about 6 hours or so today. It was (generally) good times.

I gesso-ed the back of a painting because I didn't put enough gesso on it the first time around, and the back looked stupid with the paint showing thru. (I think this will also eventually destory the canvas) Little white spots showed up on the painted side, and I had to match colors for several hours trying to fix my painting. It actually turned out better than it was before I had to rework it, so I'm pleased.

The RA (I assume) put up signs in the bathroom stalls with names of funny cities.
I wanna live in Chicken, Alaska.

and because I hate putting up entires with no pictures...

I drew that for-freaking-ever ago. Like, at the beginning of the semester. It's kind of like this weird thing my roommate, her boyfriend, and I were talking about one day at the Mellow Mushroom.

Finals and Whatnot.

2007-12-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's getting about that time again.
Last week was dead week, the week before finals.
I've got two paintings to finish by the 12th as well as bits and pieces of metals and ceramics I need to finish by the 11th.
This is one of the first semesters I've had where teachers have opted to have our final critique actually during finals. Usually art teachers will just make final critique the last regular class day.
I am so happy this isn't the case. I need all the time I can get with three studios. (two of the three being 3D art studios, which I lack skills in.)
But I'm really not that stressed, which is nice. The most work I have to do is painting, and since I love it, it doesn't really feel like work. Right now I'm stalling more to let my Ipod charge than anything else.

Here's what I'm working on.

Hope everyone else who has finals does well.
Yay for a break soon.

This semester has really flown by for me.

Punjab's

2007-12-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

More proof that the world is coming to an end.
My favorite place to eat has burnt down.
Punjab's was one of the best resturants in Richmond, KY, and to be honest I think one few remaining fantastic things in Richmond.
The people who worked there were always the sweetest people you'd ever meet. They had the best and kindest service in town.

Anyway,
I was there with my friend Shae, and my roommate Megan.
It started to smoke from the ceiling and we all left...
You read my roommate's (the journalist) entry here.
It's much more thorough than mine. Pictures and everything.

Needless to say, I'm depressed over it.
So close to finals week, right when I need Saag Paneer most.

Groovy

2007-11-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

I did this little drawing this afternoon.

If I had a website, I'd have something like that in flash for the homepage. With actual links instead of random sayings...

Hope the Thanksgiving holiday was nice for everyone.

Things I'm thankful for at this second:

The RA on our floor has really good candy in the bowl in front of her door. (she sets it out there for us. Mini Butterfingers and Mini Crunch bars.)
Lifetime shows Frasier late at night.
Holiday Breaks.
House shoes
People who I can talk to anything about
The cheap pack of markers I bought
My yellow hat
My family
Being able to see my high school friends over break. and it not feeling like we've been far away too long to be able to talk.
Walking in the dark down my street
Yellow Ginko leaves on the ground from the tree next to my window.
Nachos

I braved the cruel day called Black Friday this year with my friend Emily.

The dark grip of capitalism filled the air...

I bought some stuff. I kind of wished I could have made everything for Christmas this year, but it's hard to do that. Some people hate scarves, and really like DVDs and video games. oh well.

Yep.

Whispering your secrets to the goat.

2007-11-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

"Whoever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures and try and see in them what I am and what I want to do."
--Gustav Klimt

This is my sketch for a painting I'm working on. We had to take elements of a still life and compose/change/add/whatever to them to make something interesting to us. Maybe tell a story, I can't remember....
Mines about death and grief.

It's been a rough semester for me.
I can't wait for it to be over.

BFA and paintings.

2007-11-18T23:28:00.000-08:00

I was accepted into my school's Bachelors of Fine Arts program in Painting and Printmaking a few weeks ago. I only get the one degree, but they'll let you explore two concentrations.
You have to apply and they make a bit of a thing over it. Application and deadlines and whatnot.

The painting above is of my friend Morgan and a victorla. And swirly things. It's better in real life. That's an awful photograph.

My letter says

"During the portfolio review the committe made the following observations and suggestions:

...use of color is interesting. However, she needs to venture out of 'tube' colors...
...exhibits nice compositional skills...
...needs to 'lock down' her vision -- her work goes in too many directions...
...shouldn't rely on outline so much -- this needs to be discussed with her painting instructors."

We had to paint a still life with colors different from what they are in reality. It's my elephant statue, my crab toy and my flute.

I asked my painting teacher about that last one. He thought for a second before he shrugged told me it was something I shouldn't worry about. He makes me smile.
I'm happy he doesn't mind.
The strong outline around figures comes from my learning to draw from comic books, and my undying love for the form.
Superheroes don't really interest me, but I like the form a lot.
What can I say? I'm a comic book snob, although I've not had time or the resources to read as much as I would like to. Comic books or otherwise.
I've not even made my own lately.
I think that needs to change.

This is what my life has come to.

2007-11-13T00:06:00.001-08:00

This message appeared to us out from the night.
The Gold Star Chili sign holds many secrets to the universe.
This is what my life has come to.

Hat Comic

2007-11-12T18:52:00.001-08:00

I like my hat. :)
Click on it to make it bigger and to read it.

Sketch Pages

2007-11-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Jokers and Owls.
The fortune says"Birds are entangled by their feet and Men by their tongues."

Some sketch pages.
I'm gonna post art here more.

Louisville TMBG Pictures.

2007-09-28T12:17:00.001-07:00

I went to the They Might Be Giants' Concert in Louisville Kentucky recently. I took some pictures. Enjoy!

2007-06-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend.
I'm posting some paintings from my painting 1 class.

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is what is going to be part of a postcard printmaking project. I am doing seasons, and this is fall. It is also a father's day card.

Happy day for fathers, grandfathers, would-be-fathers, men who inspire people like fathers, uncles, nice boys. Anyone who is deserving. I know it's a hallmark made holiday, but it doesn't mean we don't love you.

The truth is, we don't know anything.

2007-06-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I drew a self portrait this evening.
I think it's.... okay.
I forgot how much I like to do them.
That sounds vain, I know. Oh well.

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."
~Frida Kahlo

Judy dreams of accordion androids.

2007-06-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah, here are some more lino prints.
Full paper sized ones, not the tiny ones.
Anyway, this is judy:

and this is creepy scifi accordion dude:

They both say hello!

Sushi tests

2007-06-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have finished the 'accordion accordion' book, and have moved on to my next project.
Tiny sushi stamps.
I think I might turn them into little magnets and maybe try to sell them?
anyway, here are the stamps:

Okay, below is more work on what I hope to be my etching design.
Hope you enjoy.

\

Accordion Printmaking

2007-06-01T00:57:00.000-07:00

As I might have mentioned before, I like printmaking. Here are some recent linocut prints of accordions. I plan to make an accordion bound book about accordions. A pun, yes, but I do like accordions.

A night in Berea (pt 2)

2007-05-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

...I just think it's funny.
My high school friend and my college friend going to the same preschool.
But not as funny as the fact that he knew *exactly* where his baby book was.
...then again that could be kinda cool, not funny...

A Night In Berea

2007-05-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Visited the coffee shop today. Where Liza Minnelli followed Leonard Cohen on the speakers. We found that although the music might have been dance-able, after she started singing, it was only downhill. :)

mostly, a very good day.

2007-05-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

Existential Crab

2007-04-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

A breakfast fit for a king

2007-03-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

2007-03-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating for so long. (any of you who actually read this. haha)
Ah. The internet. Ah. Doing nothing.
I hate my own apathy.

Animal Crossing

2007-02-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Oh... Animal Crossing: Wild World.....

My (mostly female) friends and I love to play this game on the Nintendo DS.

Now, I enjoy it, although I do find it as pointless as The Sims and other games of its kind.

But for about an hour the other night we all played for about an hour, sitting on the floor, DS to DS connecting and playing in each other’s towns.

In Animal Crossing, the best of all the capitalism simulations, you buy houses, collect furniture, make friends with woodland creatures, and watch the small business in your town turn into wal*mart proportions. While running around shaking my friends’ fruit trees and seeing what new clothes they had at the clothes store, I am reminded of my childhood.

I am reminded of playing house with my friends. Dressing up in aprons, talking about our imaginary animal friends, generally doing similar things that this little virtual world has laid out for us.

And I smile because my actions haven’t changed, only the medium I am doing them thru. I smile because maybe I’m not as grown up as I thought. Maybe I can live in that world where I can play with my friends a little longer. Thru Animal Crossing, going to dinner, or just sitting and talking into all hours of the night.

I used to play with my Dad too, but that 's not really something that so much supports my thesis, as much as it tells how addictive the little game could be.

Well, I’m off to shake trees. Nookingtons’ is closing soon.

They might be Haikus.

2007-01-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

I drew this picture forever ago, but it works for this post:

So I found out from the Wiki, I believe, that TMBG did a thing on Their myspace asking for haikus. They issued a 'Haiku challenge' apparently.
I don't have a myspace.
I don't want one.....
But I do like doing geeky things, and since They incouraged me..
...instead of doing more important things, i wrote some.
you know, like in solidarity, and why not?

They are broken up into sections:

----------

The Problem:

I'm no myspace ho
They tell us to write poems
Oh, you silly Johns.
----------

On John(s):

Hey you, John Linnell!
Will you teach me the ways of
an accordian?
---
Flansy! What is up?
Love your glasses and tummy
a nerd teddy bear.
-----------
The concert poems:

My senior year of

high school. You play nearby me.

very memorable.

---
I was front row at
the centre college show and
you played doctor worm
---
I was up front and
I think you smiled at me
but I looked down, John.
---
You didn't play my
favorite song but that is
okay. How could you know?
---

You didn't come out

afterwards. You are shy, I

know. ...I wish you had.

---
They might be giants!
Please tour kentucky again!
Hey! Take my money!
---------

"Fandom" poems:

I have some coffee
here. Would you like a sugar?
Do you prefer black?
---
All i want to do
is to punch "crying girl". Does
this make me evil?
---
They Might Be Giants
on the internet! Just say
no to slash fiction!

---------

Song Poems:

The nature of zen

What's that blue thing doing here?

That is beautiful.
---
I like you a lot
You taught me about mammals.
and Mister K Polk.
---
Went to Chicago
Saw Ensor at museum
you bet i was glad!
---

James K. Polk was a
manifest destiny jerk.
I think you knew that

--------

Other Poems:

They are lucky. I
wish Sarah Vowell was my friend.
...I guess I would drive.
---
Ah, My cassette broke.
Wish I had ya on vinyl
I dropped my iPod.
---
John! guitar solo!
Everything is catching on
fire! so worth it.
---

If you read all that, you are 1. a very good friend. 2. probably now clinically insane. 3. Might hate me now. 4. If you don't know who They Might Be Giants are and read this. then... what is wrong with your life?

I'll fly away

2007-01-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

---
Birds.

I like birds.
in nature, at least.

Not as pets.

They make me feel lonely and tired.

"...and then I found her, my mistress of the sea. "

2007-01-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

---

Something that I learned from Chicago (Part 2)

Penguins are disgusting creatures.
They may be very cute, but they are equally covered in each other's poo.

We named that Penguin Dave, and he evaded every chance to be clean that he got.
One of the keepers even went into the chamber and was cleaning some of the rocks with a hose, and he kept away from her.
He never got sprayed.
He never jumped in the water.
He was content to walk about with one of his brethren's waste on his back.

Perhaps he didn't know.
But still. He's a penguin.
Maybe he's a penguin that doesn't know how to swim. He live there because he would die in the wild. You know, if you are willing to be covered in poo, willingly, for long periods of time, maybe you deserve to die in the wild.
But that might just be me.

I like jellyfish much better, actually.
They are like little water dancers.
Made of some kind of stingy mucus....

When I was a child I wanted to be a Marine Biologist.
or a zoologist.
I was animal-crazy, and loved sea-creatures and ship wreckage.
I loved sharks.
But my fear of open water, mean that it was never to be....
I loved space too, but I'm not smart enough for that, nor does being a scientist really hold super well in my mind.
Maybe Marine Biology still tho.
The mysteries of the deep still make me smile.
Glow in the dark fish and giant squids fighting sperm whales...
all those things still make me feel excited in the pit of my stomach.

...Penguins?
no.
not so much.

---

Meet James Ensor, because They might.

2007-01-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

---
It actually wasn't an Art-gasam, so much, as Nick had described it.
An 'Art-gasam' would be my reactions to the Picassos and the Impressionists.
This was more a They Might Be Giants'-Gasam, which is twice as sad and geeky.

It's a curious thing that James Ensor has a song written about him.
He's not too famous, I mean, yes he is. He is famous in Art History circles and in Belgium, but he is not famous like Monet, Picasso, or O'Keefe.
For Example, I told my friend I was writing about him--
me: gimmie a minute, i'm writing about James Ensor.
Shae: who the f*ck is james ensor?
me: Belguins famous painter.
Shae: *blinks* belguins, eh?
Shae: freaking belguins

Anyway, James Ensor is considered to be an innovator who influenced those such as the Surrealists.

Most younger people hear of him, if they hear about him at all, is from the They Might be Giants song about the artist.

I'm not a huge fan of Ensor, myself. This comic is misleading.
I'm a much bigger more rabid fan of the band that sings about him.

(A James Ensor Painting: Christ's Entry into Brussels.)

They Might Be Giants is John Linnell and John Flansburgh, along with their traveling hired band companions, and their first album was released in 1986. They are generally funny, witty, clever, or considered 'quirky' by fans, and have been my favorite band since I was 6.
I got to see them my Senior year of high school at a nearby college, where they rocked my socks off and maybe restored my faith in humanity.
just kidding.
But they were fantastic.
And I'm sure that they would be rather amused at the hoopla a dumb art student caused at the viewing of a James Ensor painting.
All because of Them.
---
anyway, more about the art museum.

I already knew I loved the Impressioninsts.
More than as artists but as pioneers.
The rebels of the Salon become the fathers of Modern Art.
...just goes to show, todays avant garde cowboys are on your coffee cup tomorrow.
They opened the world of color and abstraction to the artist that they had never had before.
(By no means am I saying 'classical' art using the classical conventions is less valid or not as wonderful. I believe one might not be able to find something better than one of the madonnas by Raphael. )

But in Chicago....
Utlimeltly i was disapointed.
Perhaps i was looking for some kind of enlightenment from the museum, that going might shed light on myself as an artist.
A kind of art-quasi-religious experience?
Oh, and yes, they are fantastic in person.
The art in the museum is fantastic. They have an excellent collection.
O'keefe, Piccasso, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec....
but... I wasn't left breathless and fullfilled like I did when I went to the Cincinatti musuem of art. It doesn't make any sense since Chicago has so much more....

In Cincinatti, I saw a Rothko.
My work, being pretty much being retyping what the art history book tells me, I had 'seen' a Rothko before, in books and in slides.
I hated Rothoko. I didn't get it. I found it stupid and easy.
(Above: a good example of Rothko)
But I when I was standing there in front of it, I began to understand why.
Rothkos are just swatches of colors to the eye, and I generally dislike purely nonrepresntaional nonobjective art, but standing there his colors seemed to float on top of each other. I didn't hate it. I didn't dislike it. Not anymore, in fact, I could say it moved me.
Which is utterly shocking.

In Chicago it'd been a long day, and i wasn't with other artists, like I was when I went to Cinccinatti. Could that have been part of it?
What was I looking for?
Someone to rip out my heart?
Mary Cassatt's The Bath may have been able to do it, but sadly, they had that room closed off because of photographers.

Also, unlike Cinccinati, Chicago's museum was rennovating, and i didn't get to see many late 20th century artists. (uhm... yeah that's my favorite era currently...) Perhaps it was the disapointment, but I won't let it discourage me. I just came out of season, i suppose...

I intend to return someday to Chicago's museum. Maybe I shouldn't excecpt to experience something like I did with the Rothoko but I will be looking for it just the same.
Looking for another change in my heart.

haha

---

Info on Rothko I found at work:

"The Canvases of Mark Rothko (1903 - 1970) consist of traslucent, soft edged blocks of color that float myseriously on the surfaces of yet other fields of color. Rothko's huge, senuous compositions derive their power from the subtle interaction of rich ocolors, which seem to glow from within; but they are not mere studies in color relationships. Rothko himself insisted that his subject matter was 'tragedy, ecstasy, and doom' states of mind that are bes appreciated by close - 18 inches, advised the artist- contemplation of the luminous origionals, whose subtlety is lost in photographic reproduction. "The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them, "he contended, " and if you... are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point.
Rothko took his own life in 1970."

(from THE HUMANISTIC TRADITION BY GLORIA K. FIERO VOLUME 2)

It all makes a little more sense now, I think.

Wherein we are defeated by a cafeteria in Indiana.

2007-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

I suppose the only consolation is that we didn't stop in Gary, Indiana.

The cafeteria was a rather odd place, where we could never really figure out what the prices were. There was a 'Ginny Plate' for somewhere around five dollars, but the items were specially marked, and it was too late for our wallets when this was observed.

The only good thing to come out of the visit to Jonathon Byrd's cafeteria is that we found a fantastic flyer for an elvis impersonator.

New Beginnings or How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bus

2007-01-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

---

It is close to the new semester.
The only problem with going on a trip with your friends right before sememster starts is that seeing your friends was the only thing driving you to go back to class... and if you've already seen your friends, well. Then it is just class.

Things I've learned (part one)
A 8+ hour bus ride is generally fruitless
where we find that the lowest form of communication is not, in fact, blogging, but pictochat on the Nintendo DS.
Because how many times can you draw fecal matter, genitalia, or animals in party hats and be amused?
It turns out to be much longer than antipated.

Sleep is a good alterative, if one wishes.
Much to the probable chagrin of my seat-mate, Amanda, I did.
And who knows what kind of snoring, muttering and drooling I subjected the poor girl to.

---

Do you remember the first time? (I'm getting sentimental over you)

2007-01-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

---

Even we are not immune.
It is an intresting thing, i think.

I wonder how many bands I've become obessessed over, and how my friend and I have been enables for the other music-wise. (along with emotionally, ha!)
--Did you hear this odd B-side from a Belle and Sebastian release?
--Oooh! Did I send you that They Might Be Giants live song I found? It was fantastic!
--I think we should start living our lives like Jarivs Cocker, if not in actually pratice, then perhaps in spirit.
--Did you hear the new Utada Hikaru single?

What came first the music or the misery?

Maybe it's just that we always seemed to relate over music, or that it was a selling point of our relationship. That she'd be the only one to care about when I bought the John Flansburgh solo effort for a quarter on Ebay, or that I'd squeal if she told me all about her Belle and Sebastian vinyl singles.

And then, of course, is our shared obession with the internet, pop music, and the book/movie High Fidelity. A movie we've left partys for to just sit and watch. (Albeit they were probably not fun parties, but I digress.)
How could a common obsession for music, mixtapes (playlists to those who don't use those 'cassette' things anymore), dorky comic books and collaging (ha!) lead us down a road where I find that I value her advice more than most? When something fantastic or awful happens that I can't wait to tell her about it?

If it weren't for her, I'd not know how hot Jarivs Cocker or Stewart Murdoch are. (ha!)
Or probably survived my third semester of college... or my senior year of high school.
Because even someone off hours away telling me she believes in me
it ends up meaning a lot.
Because someone across the table screenprinting music lyrics on shirts with you perhaps isn't the true meaning of Solidarity, really, but it still makes me smile.

Everyone in High School thought I was in love with her, which I find very humorous.
I just like her as much as she deserves, although she'd probably counter that point telling her that she's not so great.
But I can't tell.
I'm sentimental.
But I do know that I'm very glad to know her.

I'm not exactly sure what set this off.
Maybe watching music videos on YouTube all day did it.

---

Oh? yeah. The title?
A Pulp song and a They Might Be Giants song. Of Course!
boo-yah.
^__^

---

Stories about Cake (cont. )

2007-01-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Something not all that different.
Maybe not true, but very close.

Don’t dream it, be it.

2006-12-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

Printmaking extra credit paper!
Felt like I should not let it's ridiclousness in existing to go to waste.

-----

Every Halloween many people flock to their local theatres at midnight to engage in a cinema tradition: the midnight movie. Dressed in their trashiest finery, they go downtown to catch the midnight showing of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Even if they are only going there for a good time, a thought may not cross their minds. The ‘art’ of Rocky Horror is not just in it’s on-screen performances by Tim Curry or Barry Boswick or in the songs or costumes and set designs. The art in Rocky Horror is delivered thru its audience. Although different beasts, the cult classic ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and early performance art do have some similarities in concept.

Avant-Garde artists in the 1960s were looking for new forms of inspiration and expression; they found themselves making temporary works that were later called ‘performance art’. “In such work, movements, gestures, and sounds of persons communication with an audience, whose members may or may not participate in the event, replace physical objects.” ¹ This included things like throwing paint at blank canvases, swimming in mud to shape it, or covering oneself in honey and sitting with a dead rabbit. The expanses of performance art are endless.

If one has been to a live showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, it’s pretty obvious that the viewers are not idly watching the movie. They are not so much viewer as they are willing participants. The audience has certain obligations to the movie, like shouting things at appropriate times, throwing rice, toast, or toilet paper, or covering their heads with newspapers. One completely removed from society since ‘Rocky Horror’ became a cult phenomenon could easily think that they were watching some kind of weird performance art, since many of the showings and audience participation are very refined.

In theatres where the movie plays on a regular basis, fans have even formed casts. They act out the movie on the floor in front of the movie scene. Many of these actors can perform the whole movie without even looking at the screen and this act really strengthens the ties between performance art and rocky horror, having actually artists in the room. Most theatres even have a pre-show act of ‘performance art’ by finding those in the audience who have never seen the movie before. People who’ve never seen it before are called virgins, and before the movie starts regulars to the movie, usually the shadow casts, go on a ‘virgin’ hunt. They sometimes make them do humiliating things in the spirit of the film. They write ‘V’s with lipstick on their foreheads and make them fake orgasm in the front of the theatre. Different theatres had different traditions, but many make the most out of the fun tradition and make these new viewers ‘one of them’.

A difference between ‘Rocky Horror’ and performance art is that the viewers in a way become artists. Adding dialog to shout back at screen, creation of costumes for the event, and other participatory elements creates an atmosphere of creativity, even if it is within set perimeters of the movie. Every watcher becomes an artist in their reaction, in the act of throwing cards or bread or rice. Every viewer becomes artist by contributing to the act of watching. Is art still art when there is no one looking? Perhaps, but Rocky Horror is nothing without its audience. Before finding a home to the lovers of camp and midnight showings, Rocky Horror was a disaster at the box office.

Like performance art, after the last seat has been emptied, the last bit of cards and toast swept up, there is no object left. The object isn’t’ the point, like performance art, the point of rocky horror is that there is no ‘object’ left behind. There is no trace left behind for later generations to enjoy. While later generations may enjoy going to Rocky Horror at midnight themselves, it will never be the same way twice. The movie may last a couple hours, but the act of togetherness it creates is momentary, while the idea lasts forever as memory. All that is left is some photographs, memories, and the feeling it gave you as a participant and artist, and all you can hope for is that the theatre hurries up and shows it again, so you can be part of the experience and memory again.

Biblography

Kleiner, Fred S., Mamiya Christin J. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages.12^th Ed. Vol. II Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005

Wikipedia. (LOL!)

Nothing is ever as good as it was

2006-09-06T14:33:00.000-07:00