summer at sea + goals and exciting to do's

Today is chilly, but that doesn't mean this photo of a warmer day previous isn't making me wanna get into a swimsuit. What follows is my summer at sea so far, and what I hope to do with the rest of it.

Once again I'm working on Lake Calhoun, a beautiful place indeed. Even when I'm not working, in there running, kayaking, eating and ice cream-ing. You just can't not be there, you know? I mean look at that lake sparkle. Seriously.

To top off the daily views of sailboats and water, so far I have read the original Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, a brilliant writer. If you have never had the pleasure of reading the true and real children's story behind your favorite Disney movies, I highly recommend it. Peter Pan is a masterpiece of literature.

I followed that up with the less-eloquently-written but just as pirate-y and sea-fairing prequels to Peter Pan (as written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pierson decades later), Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves. [granted these were written for middle-schoolers but I giggled and became a 10-year-old all over again whilst reading]. There's something about that little flying boy and the pirates and the sea that really make me want to run away to Never land.

Of course, I have a never-ending list of books left to read over the summer, including several by Donald Miller, stories of art and artists, and some inspiring novels that I've been itching to stick my nose into.

Other summer tasks include visiting the farmer's market, doing plenty of craft-y and arts-y things of course, going to outdoor concerts and movies, creeping on my dream grad school and possibly making a few weekend cabin trips. Can't wait.

xoxo

A reflection on a semester of making (and a year of discovering talent)

This is the final product of what I made as a portfolio of my semester of making art every day. I am pretty proud of the final product, but not as proud of the accomplishments that it represents. Granted, I still have a long way to go to achieve where I want to be, and I sometimes feel way more behind than I really am. But I'm excited to go into summer with a fresh head on my shoulders and a fresh eye for creativity.

This semester, and this year really, have marked huge milestones for me. In the fall I took Graphic Design, which trained my eye towards typography and lettering. I learned a lot about what good design looks like and how lettering can enhance it. I also took feature writing, which - as it turns out - may be the kind of writing I really want to do. My Theology of Justice class gave me this epiphany earlier this year, and now I have a passion I can really work towards.

Over January I went to Kenya and met wonderful people in an entirely new part of the world where they do things drastically different. I got to see safari animals straight out of the Lion King, I got to meet orphans and journalists and nuns and restaurant owners who are working their way towards their own goals, and I was incredibly inspired by their hospitality and generosity towards us white kids. It could not have changed me in a better way.

This semester happened to be the single most stressful and busiest times of my life. I was taking a full credit load and working 3-4 jobs, which was actually nothing different than the past few semesters, but for some reason this semester really kicked me in the rear and spat in my face. I have never had so much to do in my entire life. What was upsetting was that all these classes are things that I was really inspired and wonderfully challenged by, and they are all things I really wanted to spend time on. I truly loved each and every class and job I had. But I just did not have sufficient time to spend on anything. This semester really proved my mother right, there is, in fact, such a thing as too much of a good thing. And never do I ever want to do it again.

But, here comes the benefits. This semester I learned a lot. I learned about how I deal with stress, I learned about art connections, I learned about my creative process and what is necessary for me to create and be fruitful. And I still have a lot left to learn.

Over the summer I am assigned to make a completely new body of work in preparation for my art senior seminar, and we are to prepare a show for the first week of September. Therefore, this girl will continue creating over the summer! So you should see some more art over here in the hole in the wall, just maybe not completely daily.

Follow up message, I am selling these! 50c each, 1.5 inches in diameter. For your laptop or waterbottle or forehead. These are what they look like:

Let me know if you like/want one. :)

Happy Summer!!

Book-making

This is a screen shot of the book I'm working on in InDesign, which is turning out to be pretty fun. Because I'm done for the semester with #artdaily, I'm taking the week to put together my book to send into print on Monday. Wheeeeeeee

Here's to a beautiful semester. To those of you who are on summer already... 

Shoot. Two more weeks left.

Happy Friday! 

Rejection and the art school

This is the very piece I spent hours on last week, you may recall. It's a labor of love, because at the end of the day, this piece didn't go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from this experience, and I know how to deal with rejection. It just feels discouraging that I could never bring this piece up to par the way I wanted.

I always dreamed of going to an art school, studying music or art or something only really artsy people did. I used to dream about what it would be like to paint or draw for homework, to be in thesis shows and showcase performances, and to do academics in a way that academics would frown upon. And the funny thing is that it never felt like an attainable dream. I was always unsure of how I would fit into that area of study, or if I could even make it. Now here I sit, in a studio of my very own, a junior in the art & design department, directionless after a long semester of stretching myself. 

Honestly I'm feeling kind of burnt out. I don't know what else to make, or what else I can do to stick my neck out in an area that I've never felt very confident in my abilities. I'm expected to continue to create over the summer in expectation of a Senior Show at the beginning of the year, going into Senior Seminar and a Thesis exhibition. This all sounds really terrifying, honestly. What on earth am I expected to write an entire thesis paper on?

This past week was the last week of daily art expectations, and this coming week we are to put together a book of the work we've done over the course of the semester. This week will be a break of sorts, but also a winding up of everything else I have to do with my life, hashtag overwhelmed, ya feel me?

In the end, this was just a rambling post. But hey, it's a Monday, and it's beautiful out, and who even wants to get anything done you know?

a week in the life.

Art majors cram, just like everyone else, the week a big project is due. Here's an all-too-real snapshot of what my life looked like this past week, artwork needing to be done by 9am tomorrow morning:

Monday: class from 8:20am to 3:45pm (somehow I managed meals and a workout.)

In the studio 6-10:30pm. 

total of 4.5 hours

Tuesday: Studio from 8-11am

Class and work until 8pm 

Studio from 8:30-10:30pm

total of 5 hours

Wednesday (all three classes were cancelled, it's a miracle.) 

Studio from 8-10am

Buying art supplies from 10-11:30am

Work until 1:15

Studio from 1:30-6pm (!!)

Work 6-8pm 

A little more studio time, 10-11:30pm. 

total of 8 hours

Thursday: Studio from 9am-12:30pm

Class and work until 3pm

Finishing up pieces, last minute shopping for mounting etc. until ?? 

4.5 (ish) hours

Blogging right now as a break. Where do I even go from here? 

Happy Thursday!

By way of explanation

In case you were wondering, or in case you weren't wondering, I'm still around and doing art daily, but I just haven't been posting. I've been choosing to edit out the bad stuff, because a lot of it has been bad stuff lately. Things have been haphazard, poorly executed, and not nearly enough. To be honest, it's been hard these past couple weeks. 

BUT! Things are looking up. This week is the week of a juried student exhibition, and our work is to be ready by this Friday before 9am. aaaaand, needless to say, I had all these ideas of what to do for the show and I didn't have time for them until this week. OF COURSE, duh, hashtag story of my life. 

So. On Monday I spent 3-4 hours in the studio, on Tuesday I spent 2 hours, and today I spent a good 7 hours. in. the. dang. studio.  It was so great, I played music so long that my phone died. I even worked right through a class that met in that room. Didn't even notice. Nailed it.

I'll post my beautiful work of art when it's done, it's going to be up on that there chalkboard. I'm planning something playful. Ya dig?

Hopefully I'll be remembering to post more often, but things are getting a little crazy around here. I just realized that after this week I only have 2 more weeks of classes?? What on earth where did this year go I never even finished reading Peter Pan. That's all I have to say. 

Happy Hump Day!

I didn't make any art today. Whatever.

In my last post I said I had a lot going on. Thirty hours later, only now do I realize how really and truly true that was.

Last night I felt more overwhelmed than I ever have. I'm the kind of person who doesn't really get stressed until I absolutely could not have ANYTHING else on my plate without physically breaking down. And last night was the first time I really broke down.

So no, I don't have any art to show today. I didn't really get much done today, other than studying for a test I have tomorrow. Because I've decided to take things one day at a time.

You know the moment you really lose control and finally realize that you actually can't do it all on your own? Last night, that was really real for, I think, the first time in my life. I really can't do anything at all on my own. Who can? Honestly. Why do we even think that way? Bogus, I tell you. Insanity.

It's a really beautiful thing to break down. Bear with me.. but I honestly think that it's one of the most redemptive and healing things. There's something special about emptying yourself of all your known worth and power, and surrendering it. There's a humility that wasn't there before, and there's a trust that wasn't there before. There's a new laughter at the absurdity of life that wasn't there before, at least not in the past few weeks.

Today I did wonderful things that made me really happy, too. In class today we all worked together to make plaster molds, and sometimes everyone helping out and assembly-line type stuff really gets me. Like we all worked together and bonded and our clothes all got really dirty together and it was wonderful.

Immediately following that I went for a run outside in the rain. It washed all the silicone and plaster off of my dry skin and felt like an angel bath in whipped cream and coconut water. It was cold but super refreshing, you know, like after a long day of sledding in a fresh snow and then coming home to a roaring fire and hot chocolate. It rocked.

Those kinds of things really help. To focus on one wonderful thing at a time, only thinking a few hours ahead of yourself, only focusing on the good that's happening. It's been a good day post-breakdown. It somehow always is, you know?

Whitely sings a great song called 'More Than Life,' <-- and this was fantastic, it helped a lot. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this.

Yay, thanks for making it to the end of this pictureless post and for being with me in my honesty!

Happy Wednesday (almost Thursday!)