W.A.S.H.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Photo Mojo

Photo #1: A photo taken by me that includes someone you know.

Josh and the Kitties 4-15-09

This is one of the first pictures I ever took of my husband, during my first weekend with him down in Livingston. I wanted to always remember that weekend, and this photo is one of my favorites from that day. I love it because of its candidness and how it shows my husband in a very natural way. I also love that it shows two of our kitties, who have become part of our family. Whenever I look at this photo, it brings back memories of the time I spent with my husband, and of our first summer together.

Photo #2: A photo of me taken by someone I know


3-11-10

This photo was taken by my dear friend, Carlynne Welch, to help her gain some more experience with portrait taking. I was more than happy to help, and we spent the entire day traipsing around the woods. I will always love this photo, both for the memories attached to, and because it is one of my favorite photos of me. I love that it is out in nature, and I can't get over how big and bright my eyes look. My friend received many comments when this photo appeared on her photography blog, and I felt so proud to have been a part of it.

Photo #3: a photo of a stranger, by a stranger

During the planning stages of my recent wedding ceremony, I came across this photo, and it has been burned into my psyche ever since. And while I adore Hello Kitty, I just can't help but cringe a little everytime I think about this wedding. One only wonders what the rest of the ceremony looked like.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Madness Is Over

Alas, Modular Madness has come to an end, and though I won't be missing gluing plates to a wall anytime soon, it was a little sad to see everyone's work uninstalled so quickly.

Well, on to the crit!

Ambition:
I feel that I took on a fairly ambitious project, both in scale and in the look that I wanted to achieve. The project climbs the entire wall of the alcove, and comes out from the wall a couple of feet in some places. Yeah, that's A LOT of plates!
Also, I wanted to achieve a very organic look, as if the piece was growing on the wall, which can be difficult to achieve with such geometric modules.

Craft:
Unfortunately, craft was where I faltered with this piece. I left about five paperclips still in place by mistake. (They were used to hold the plates while the glue set up.) and I also had chosen staples to attach some of the plates to the wall. While necessary in some areas, as the actual weight the plate was bearing was pretty significant, this could have been better hidden. In other areas, such as single plates being hung, I should have employed something like double-sided tape.

Form:
I think I achieved my desired form very well. I really wanted to capture the essence of something alive and growing to cover the wall, and everyone seemed very aware of this feeling from the piece. I received a lot of comments about the piece looking like a mold or fungus, red blood cells, or even a tumorous growth.

Presentation:
My presentation could've been better, as there were elements of my craft that weren't well thought out.However, the decision to install my piece in the alcove couldn't have worked out better for me. I really loved the uniqueness of the location and the way the set up of the walls allowed me to build the piece in a closed-in corner.

Overall, I feel that this piece had a lot more potential than I ended up portraying, and mostly due to problems with craft. I really think I'd like to experiment with this technique again and work out the small kinks. I'd also like to make the piece larger, to encompass the entire alcove, so that the viewer feels surrounded by this growth.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

We're All Mad Here!

Modular Madness Assingment: Create a 3-dimensional piece that shows rhythm, pattern, and modulation out of similar found objects.

I was really excited when we got this project and had/have a million ideas as to objects I could use. However, it didn't take me long to decide on using paper plates. I had begun construction on a piece of my own a while back that involved using small, cut circles to create a 3D modular piece, but ended up giving up on it in frustration. This project gave me a way to go back and finish what I started in a way.


First day of installation.

The piece changes with each plate I install, and though I can guide it along, ultimately it decides where it wants to go. Each plate I add drives the placement of the next.

Not Quite....

Sadly, I failed to meet the deadline for the cardboard project, despite many hours spent working on it. For now, it will sit unfinished until I have a break in my schedule to complete and resubmit the piece.


The wasp's head. Though well constructed, requires more detailing. Will add carved,hexagonal texture to eyes.

Though I'm disappointed that I was unable to finish, I learned a lot form this project. Ambition is great, but, as with all things, moderation is key. I went in wanting to make something amazing and wanting to really challenge myself. Unfortunately, I bit off a little more than i could chew, at least in the time frame we were given.

The lace-like wings, my favorite part. Great detail and well cut.

On the up side, the parts that I finished look really good, and I achieved a lot of detail, especially on the wings. So much so, that I was told that I had set a high standard, and needed to show that high level of detail on the entire piece when it is completed. /sweatdrop It's going to be a real challenge, and I hope I can complete this piece to the level I really want it to be.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ambitious Cardboard (pt....???)

And so our story continues, in which our intrepid artist continues to battle valiantly against her 10-foot cardboard wasp foe...

Again, I'm forced to face the beast of my ambition (in an almost to literal a fashion). Am I sorry that I chose this particular object? Almost 90% of the time, heck yes. But that tiny, remaining 10%, I look at that mass of cardboard and see it for what it can be, what it will be......eventually.

The W.A.S.H. House has become my second home lately. I have clocked countless hours over this last Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun., (and in a few hours) Mon. And yet, final wasp-dom remains illusive. I had many issues with design, though I had no shortage of ideas. My main issue remained one of balancing the assemblage. At first, I was set on having my wasp standing. Though the legs are thin, I knew I could place them in a way that it would do so. The problem came when I added the stinger. It completely counter-balanced everything, and I could not devise an acceptable means of fixing the problem. Well, on to plan B.

Tools of the trade.

Plan B resorted to having my poor wasp lying dead on it's side. Plan B never excited me. I felt it took away everything the wasp stood for: it's ominous, predatory nature, it's delicate-ness. And while I tried to reconcile this by saying it would present an interesting juxtaposition, I still wasn't happy. Regardless, I went ahead as planned.

And then came the real kicker, in which my wonderfully delicate, beautiful wings I had cut out so laboriously stubbornly refused to be rigid enough for the purpose I needed. Well, crap. I was already feeling rather disillusioned with the entire piece, having had to scrap many more attractive designs in favor of more functional ones, and I just wasn't going to give up these wings.

And then, I got an idea.

Why not suspend it? That would give me the look and feel I wanted for this piece. And it was never specified how we would be displaying our pieces, so why not?

Disillusionment conquered.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Textually Active

Assignment: Create visually interesting and appealing patterns using a single repeating letter in your choice of typefont. a) Show translation b) Show translation & reflection c) Show translation, reflection, & rotation