la-di-da....

starting to think about school again... getting really excited for the new semester... i have some classes i am EAGERLY anticipating, such as my fundamentals of design class (2- and 3-D design, with my former computer arts professor), history of modern art (whole semester for this one, not just 8 weeks :D), and the most awesome one- computer painting. like, with the digital pen and pad, instead of a mouse :D i'm stoked about this. i just want to hit the fast-forward button, skip to grandfather mountain, then skip to hatteras, and then skip back to school!!!!!

i've had some graphics play to keep me distracted, though. i've created and completed the save the date cards for my friends chris and kristi's wedding, and will get started on their invitations soon. i won't show them, though, cuz it's not fair for anyone but them to see them until they go out in the mail. but i'm stoked about that, cuz i get to do something unique and meaningful for two of my best friends, and ooohhhhhh, the exposure! :DD their wedding planner is already interested in the possibility of using my services in the future, and kristi wants me to make up business cards so she can give them to people who ask about the stationary. i'm going to be taking pictures of them in garb at grandfather mountain, too, for some photos to be used at the wedding and reception.

aside from this, i've been really kicking my jewelry work into high gear. i'm building up a good inventory of pieces, and generating some good interest, too. i'm thinking now that i may start out by opening a simple blogspot with pictures, descriptions, and contact info for each piece, then hitting up some local craft fairs and art shows, giving out that blogspot's info when someone asks about online buying. i'm really nervous; i'm just not sure which is the best way to go about this. but i'm really enjoying the pieces i'm creating, and the ideas keep coming. also, jim's mom has asked me to make two necklaces to compliment two bracelets she's bought for a friend, and is paying me to make them for her! :D

house search is going well, too... i've completely fallen head-over-heels for a place near here that just screams ME. it's open and airy and so full of character, and natural light, and the most incredible little details and SUNROOM- which already has an easel in it >_> see? it's already ready for me!!! lol... and there are several good office-sized rooms in addition to the bedrooms, so i'll easily have room to organize, sort, and work with all my various crafts.

anywho, off to bed now.... two new sigs to share before i go. the first was a redux of an old sig, just used a brighter, cleaner version of the same painting, and added some little touches and chaged the font. the second was an accident. i was going through my fonts in search of some sci-fi/futuristic fonts i had downloaded when i came across the one i ended up using. it took my breath away for a half-second when i saw it, and then i did a little dance :D

laters!!!

'ello thar

i've been meaning to add the various projects and works i created during this last semester, but god, i just haven't had the time. i'm still ridiculously pleased with what i've accomplished- i had no idea i would do this well or enjoy myself so much. i almost managed a 4.0, but a B on my final drawing portfolio killed that. =/ oh, well. i'm sure i can fix that. XD anywho..... a couple simple, technical things first. this was a project i NEEDED to do- both because i needed to learn how to use vectors (and frankly, i was very excited to do so), but also because the only logo i have is rasterized, and it's a pain in the tuchas to recreate it in the size i need for whatever i'm using it for. so, then, i give you one logo and one logotype for seven cities graphics:


























then there is a project i've already shown you- the black and white vector composition. that assignment was such an immense pleasure to me. trite as it is, i think i'd have to say it changed my life. well, i mean, obviously not my whole life, but certainly some part of it. it's just... a joy i can't describe. i feel so stupid saying it, but there's just nothing else i can say. so here's the original one, the black and white one that i actually turned in:

this, then, led us into our final project, which, as logic entails, was a combination of all the skills we'd learned up to that point. rueckert's preferred way of doing this is to take us into the field of digital surrealism. oh. my. god. if vectors didn't change my life completely, walking through this looking glass did. i spent days online looking at the works of jerry uelsmann, his wife maggie taylor (whose stuff is cute but doesn't quiet strike me as solidly), and george grie. and i am in love with george grie. it is so goshdarn refreshing to find fantastical art that isn't chock-full of cheesy, chintzy wizards and faeries and unicorns and crap. not that faeires are crap, but so often, fantasy art is. but my mind has been blown, completely. i have been playing with so many concepts in my mind since that first day, and they don't stop coming. that sure as heck is a first >.> i even felt so moved to replace the picture i took in maine of the full moon over the ocean with a work by george grie entitled "final frontier voyage", which was made for the flat earth society. it's just GORGEOUS. and seeing it completely wiped any previous ideas i had for my project right outta my mind. i knew was i was going to do, and i knew exactly how. and by god, i did it. and not only was rueckert impressed, but a classmate of mine offered to buy it to hang at her beach house. that'll stoke an ego.

george grie's:

and then mine =)
















i'm no george grie, but i'm definitely encouraged >.>

here's to finding more of who you are!!

call for contributions

no, no, not money...... sorta....

i have a project in mind for which i need donations... of materials. i am searching for old, void, no-longer-used, no-money-left credit cards, gift cards, plastic discount/rewards cards from stores, etc, to be used in a mosaic/collage i'd like to make. anyone willing to send me one, or a bunch >.>, please leave me a comment and we'll work out getting them to me. ty!

fun with vectors

after this project, i am hooked. >.>

eeeeeeeeek! choices, choices!

i am considering, at the behest of my drawing professor, entering some photographs into two upcoming juried student exhibitions. while the prospect excites the bejesus out of me, i have no friggin' clue what to enter, and very limited slots to fill for those choices. one exhibition accepts two entry per person, but restricts the top prizes to students under the age of 22, because they're discriminating, prejudiced scumbags. the other one has a MUCH higher prize scale, but only accepts one entry each. i'm thinking that i may only enter the second one, as i may have a better chance with entering two pieces, but the top prize i could win there- if i got anything at all- would barely cover the cost of the custom framing required for the two photographs. that being the case, if i only enter one photo, i REALLY have a hard decision to make. so i'm asking for a little help. the choices are as follow: (and these are all local photos, btw...)

woot woot!!

yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! i finally get to be creative in my graphics class!!! here's what happens when you tell me to create a self-portrait of myself via collage...... (and seriously, click the pic... there's no way you can take it all in in this tiny little thumbnail.)

huzzah!!!!

i finally learned something in my computer arts class!!!! other, of course, than how to use a frickin' mac.... god, i never knew how much i love my PC.... anyway- as part of this next project of ours, we are to convert an RGB image into grayscale, then hand-paint the grayscale image. this was the revelation for me- i had no clue what he meant when he said "hand-paint." well, i do now, and i am in love. i came home from class and immediately started searching all my files for black & white images and color images that would convert well for the purpose, and started painting them just for fun. god, i can't believe i never found how to do this before. i'm sure as heck not going to forget >.>

here is a drawing i did of my nephew aiden from a photograph i took of him a few weeks ago at my mom's house, and next is the "hand-painted" redux i did last night.

diversion...

today was an exploration into uncharted territory for me... i got a message via myspace that one of my favorite small bands, ceann, is looking for a design for a new t-shirt. they'll make the winning design into a new t-shirt just in time for festival season/st. patty's day. this STOKES me, the thought that something i make could be made into a real product, sold to and worn by people!!! and i absolutely LOVE the shirt i made... the design came extremely easily to me, and it didn't take too long at all. what really took the longest was getting the effects right on the glass, but that was more about being meticulous than it being difficult. i have a good feeling about this, and even if it doesn't win, i'm perfectly pleased by what i made. (click the image to view it full-sized, if you somehow haven't figured that out yet... >.> you just can't appreciate the shirt unless you can read it.)

wooooot ^_^

i've been having so much fun with my new camera.... i'm still getting used to its various features, and trying to get over my desire to strangle the man who invented auto focus, but i think i'll eventually get used to it and learn how to take it into account when i compose my pictures. but i've taken a couple of shots with it that i really like, and i'd like to share them now, because it makes me happy to do so >.>

additionally, the real first challenge of this adventure has begun for me... learning how to draw! for as long as i can remember, i've had the urge to let out the emotions inside me in some form of drawing, painting, sculpting, SOMETHING, but every time i put pencil or marker or brush to paper, what comes out is unrecognizable as anything but utter crap. i've never successfully drawn anything that actually looked like what it was supposed to be. it's been incredibly frustrating for me, and is probably what pushed me in the direction of crafting- jewelry, hemp, knitting, cross-stitching, origami... things i can actually DO lol... but the frustration has only ever been slightly abated. so, i am very very excited about this drawing class, and my professor really gets me... she understands the frustration and desires i've had, and i think she's the perfect shepherd for me. look what she already made me do!:

i know, i know; absolutely the most boring drawing ever lol it was an excercise in shading and turning shapes into forms, kindergarten play for many people, but a challenge for me. i was one of the last three people to put mine up on the board, because i am an absolute perfectionist and a horrible self-critic. i was psyching myself out the whole time, and my brand new kneaded eraser is already black with my frustration... but i'm really satisfied with how it turned out (aside from the obviously too large highlight on the sphere, which i will be fixing), and i think there might be hope for me yet!

i'm feeling more and more each day like i want to just go for the fine arts degree. i just wish there were more specifically computer arts and photography classes in that degree, instead of it being mostly history and drawing with photography and CA tacked on. i never thought i could or would be this happy in frickin' SCHOOL. but i am. and perhaps even more astonishing, jim told me the other day that if i wind up with a degree from this, and don't end up doing anything related to it afterwards, he'll just be happy that i went back to school. this is AMAZING. forthe last two years, when i've thought out loud that i might like to take a class in something- cooking, ASL, japanese, anything- his first response is "are you going to do something with it?"; his second is "then, no." it's made it really hard for me, because i'm just a person who enjoys learning and exploring things. to be told that i can't explore something unless i'm going to commit to doing it for the rest of my life is... barbaric!!! i'm really really happy that i made this decision, and i'm glad that jim is just letting me do it, with no pressure and no further expectations.

hmm....

think the new camera will suffice?