It's a pattern...It's a pattern...It's a pattern...

Assignment: Photograph patterns in everyday objects and environments.

Oven Burner 6pm 2/2/11  Rhythm Formal

Green Depression Glass Goblet 6pm 2/2/11 Pattern Formal

My Favorite Hand-painted Candle 6pm 2/2/11 Pattern Informal-ish

Bellows on my Kodak Pocket Fold Camera 6pm 2/2/11 Formal-ish Pattern

Flannel Pillow Case 6pm 2/2/11 Formal Pattern

My Husband's Work 6pm 2/2/11 Formal Pattern

Metal Picture Frame 6pm 2/2/11  Formal Pattern

Socks 6pm 2/2/11 Formal Rhythm(colored stripes) Formal Texture (striped weave in material)

Stabbity Death >:(

Thorax and butt-stick thingy (for lack of a tech. term) of my wasp, along w/ a scrapped stinger idea.

That's how I'm feeling about my cardboard project, or at least how I felt about it on Tuesday.

Despite working on it diligently during the class period, I made no actual physical progress. I cut, I glued, I fiddled around, I cursed, and cut and glued some more. Then, I restrained myself from setting it all aflame. It's part of my process....Honest....

I realized that I needed a break, so opted not to stay after class and work on it. I needed to get some new perspective.

I spent most of the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday considering how to go about finishing my giant wasp (again with much cursing and wishing death upon it), but I seem to have come up with some new ideas and have decided to toss my original plan of having it standing in place of having the wasp posed as if it were dead. This conquers the major hurdles of balancing the piece, and though I had been pretty set on having the wasp stand, I think it will still look impressive lying on its side.

I guess we'll see! (Glue-covered fingers crossed!)

Ambitious Cardboard (pt. 1)

Our assignment: To re-create an organic item in larger than life scale using nothing but cardboard and wood glue.

Given our assignment, we were all presented with a table full of objects. Bones, seeds, shells, corals; there was certainly a wide assortment, but nothing really called to me. Then Prof. Davenport mentioned he had some insects to choose from as well. That piqued my curiosity. 

After having taken Entomology while I was a Biology major at Baylor, I gained a new appreciation for insect's almost alien beauty and the depth of complexity they have once you take a closer look.

Among the collection were several beetles, a grasshopper, a cicada, and several wasps. I was initially drawn to the wasp, but dismissed  it as too difficult. However, the idea had already taken root, and I wasn't satisfied with doing anything else. Wasp it was.

I knew my typical approach of messing around with it until something clicked wasn't going to cut it here. This project needed some planning. I began by making many sketches of the individual pieces I would be assembling: head, thorax, hind-quarters, wings and legs. I decided on this approach since insects themselves are segmented. I even dug out my old entomology text to find more detailed illustrations.

I began by constructing a box-like thorax, leaving it open on the sides so that the wings and tail could be attached and supported inside. Later, I will close this with either cardboard or craft paper, depending on how either looks on the piece. A simple hole was cut for the tail to fit into, and initially, I was going to cut the same holes for the wings. However, I decided to cut a cross-like shape in the wing holes instead, to create a snugger fit for the wings and (hopefully) more support.

So far, plans seem to be working out. I still need to devise my method for constructing the head, though I have a rough idea. My only concerns are time, and I've already become well aware that this project will require a lot of out-of-class time. Perhaps a wasp was a tad ambitious, but why do the project at all if it doesn't stretch you as an artist? I remember Prof. Davenport saying that the goal of this class was to make at least one amazing thing. I want to approach all my work as if it's destined to become that amazing thing.

Thinking INSIDE the box...

Support Your Local Cinder-Block

So, you want me to support a cinder-block with just newspaper and some glue?

I have to admit I was a bit concerned at first, as I both tried to remember if I'd heard this joke before or had accidentally managed to land in some kind of engineering class. However, after it's initial shock, my brain kicked back into gear and began chugging out ideas.

I knew I would need a strong foundation, which would mean I'd have to find a way to make a normally flimsy material rigid. My first idea was to use the glue to coat the paper in a papier mache fashion. Unfortunately, it seems that having masking tape is a rather key aspect of the whole process.

Scrapping this idea, I thought instead of somehow folding or rolling the paper to reinforce it and make it thicker, and thus stronger. After scrapping several folding attempts rather quickly, I found that rolling tubes of newspaper was the best approach. To make it the most stable, I rolled tubes within tubes, and ended up with a very sturdy column.

If I had the project to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing, though I would be able to make the column taller with more time.