NaBloPoMo

I think it might be time again for me to dive into another NaBloPoMo! It might be challenging because we will be moving next week, but I feel like it's a shame that the last one I did was March 2008 - two years ago! It was such a crazy month, too - I interviewed for grad schools, got into two schools, GOT ENGAGED, decided to move to Chicago, and so much more...

They haven't announced what July's theme will be, but I'm already getting excited. NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) started with the challenge of blogging every day for one month. It was so successful that they decided to make a new challenge every month so you can choose your challenge month! The inspiration for NaBloPoMo comes from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), in which writers are challenged to write an entire novel during the month of November. I once began NaNoWriMo and became totally overwhelmed, but NaBloPoMo is more within my reach - though still very challenging! Especially for me, being Shomer Shabbat, I will have to make sure to post late Saturday night.

Who's with me?!

Classic March 2008 NaBloPoMo Lists (the theme for that month), in list form, of course.

• "Donate for Purim" - a list of items JewishGuy, HillelLady and I donated to Texas Children's Hospital Art in Medicine program
  
  
• "Top Remarks Re: Art" - a list of some of the things I hear people say (to me) about art, especially modern art.
  
  
• "Favorite Media" - my favorite art materials!
  
  
• "Things I Capture on Camera" - some favorite subjects :)
  
  
  
  
  

Karate AND Friendship

My brother gave me the Master of Karate and Friendship Award so now I have to perform certain tasks:

" FUCK the rules and just write whatever the fuck ya want. Pass it on to how many ever ya want. Once it's passed on, your in control of making the fucking rules up.

So here are my rules: list 12 things you master, but only the even numbers. Post a picture of your favorite martial arts movie, and pass it on to twice as many people as capitalized words in the title. "

I like his rules, so I'll use them.

2) I am also a master at procrastination. This is evidenced by working on this post even though I absolutely positively decided to go to bed at 11pm (since tomorrow is my 9 hour day at work).

4) Starting new projects. OHHHH the projects I start! Oh such projects. They get started and they seem so fun. How fun are they? They're so fun. Like my new thesis I started two weeks ago and that is due in a month. HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT!

6) Trying to be funny and sarcastic but coming off as not joking so I have to say "I'm just kidding" or say it in a really really exaggerating sarcastic manner in order for people to know I am joking.

8) Futzing on the internet for so long that I lose track of time and don't work on my thesis or blink enough.

10) Talking about being Jewish ... basically all the time. ALL THE TIME.

12) Hurting myself in new and interesting ways, as demonstrated by tonight: jumped up to put something on a high-up shelf (it sucks being short) and my pants pocket got caught on the bottom cabinet's handle and I got jerked back to the floor, breaking/spraining my co-captain toe (the one next to the big captain toe). So that turned my evening into a mess.

Favorite martial arts movie is The Shaolin Drunken Monk made in 1982, that's right, a claaaaassic. I think this is the one I remember... I only saw it once, but it was amazing, and there was this little monk who lived in the hills who could rationalize ANYTHING. That means, according to the rules I agreed to, I have to tag 8 people. I don't know if I have 8 people who blog regularly and who also read this blog so I'll freely hand out this award to anyone who likes martial arts movies enough to have a favorite one :) Please let me know if you tag yourself for this post, I'd like to see your mastery.

PS: My brother said he was master of his domain. I don't know if he remembers that Seinfeld episode very well...

2009 meme

OKAY OKAY ... I am going to do one. I'll do the same one AnotherDavid (aka YoungerJew, my brother) did.

BEST of 2009

1- trip: Austin... it was only a couple of days, but we had a great time and ate some delicious food :D (also it was my only trip this year, I guess except visiting family in either TO or MD/NY). still waiting on a honeymoon...

2- restaurant: Penny's Noodles. I can't even count how many times I have eaten there this year.

3- article: dunno

4- book: Well I read the entire Rashi's Daughters trilogy, which was fun, light reading (yay Jewish romance novels). Otherwise I mostly read for class.

5- night out: I've had some fun nights out, the few nights I've actually gone out... But I think one of the highlights was going to Thanksgiving with my friends in Dallas the weekend before Thanksgiving. That was hilarious and SO much fun.

6- workshop or conference: Well, the only one I've been to this year was the American Art Therapy Association Conference, which was great.

7- blog find of the year: One of my favorite blogs to read is Cake Wrecks, but I can't remember if I found that this year.

8- moment of peace: have I had a moment of peace this year?? haha.

9- challenge: My current internship has been my biggest challenge, I think.

10- album of the year: Regina Spektor's new album, Fall. I have listened to it a BAZILLION times since I downloaded it in July.

11- the best place: home, on the couch, with JewishGuy and the kitty.

12- new food: don't know if I have been so adventurous food-wise this year.

13- change to the place you live: I got a bunch of new plants that are now taking over the windows :)

14- rush: GETTING MARRIED!


15- best packaging: cuties boxes, which I use for storage in the art room.

16- tea of the year: I drink a lot of Tazo ZEN tea.

17- word or phrase: "safe space" hahahaha... therapists.

18- shop: not too much shopping this year, I think. Oh I did have this frenzied shopping experience at the beginning of my internship, when I realized the attire was business casual and I had nothing in my closet that was business casual. YIKES that was exhausting.

19- car ride: coming home from the wedding weekend, looking forward to many nights of partying with friends :)

20- new person: does JewishGuy count..? His status in relation to me is new this year.

21- project: Last winter I did an intense fabric printing workshop... it was hard, it made me cry a lot, but it was really great in the end.

22- startup: don't know...

23- web tool: I'm not sure I really use web tools (?).

24- learning experience: This summer working with the kids in the residential treatment center for children with behavior disorders... I learned, you might not make a major change in someone's life, but that doesn't mean you aren't important to them.

25- gift to myself: art supplies :D

26- insight or aha! Moment: after the big car accident in August

27- social web moment: tagging everyone in my Thanksgiving food picture project on facebook and realizing most of my family is actually on facebook!

28- stationary: I bought robot stationary!! was that this year?

29- laugh: I've had some good ones but I don't know one in particular...

30- ad: I LOVE any ads that have a before and after, where the "before" video is in black and white and someone can't do something simple (like put toothpaste on their toothbrush).

31- resolution you wish you'd stuck with: I don't make resolutions on NYE.

The WHEEL

Tonight was my first night trying to use the potter's wheel.  It is really, really hard.  I knew it would be hard.  Here are the strategies I implemented:

1. Brute force.  I tried to MAKE my clay go where it was supposed to go.  This of course did not work.
2. Cursing at the clay.  I thought, maybe I could insult it into submission.  This also did not work.
3. Whispering sweet nothings to the clay.  This actually did help.  I was able to do some of the preliminary work with the clay.  I was saying, "Okay clay, go up, go up into a cone.  What a good cone you've made.  Now let's go down, down into a plateau, very nice, good job.  Now back up, let's try the cone again."  It was like teaching a three year old... and that three year old was me.

Notwithstanding these successful strategies, everything I made tonight was terribly lopsided and collapsed.  I did manage to make bowl-like shapes, which I suppose is something to be proud of, even though the shapes were really only distant relatives of the bowl.  (I was trying to make a cylinder, our goal is making a cylinder first, then bowls, then plates!)

Also, I think I may have ruined the pants I was wearing tonight due to the massive amounts of clay that is now embedded in it.  I have to wait for them to dry and then I can shake it out over the shrubbery or something since it's just mud, basically.

So, long story short, I am going to have to go in to do a lot of practice.

I Made It! (List #6)

Phew, that was hard.  I had to backdate a couple of posts just because life got crazy, but this has been one insane month!  I am glad I was able to keep up with all the posting!

And now, for one last list:

Reasons why NaBloPoMo was really hard this month:

1. I went to New York and Maryland and had limited access to the internet for a couple of days.
2. Posting every day is hard to do!  I kept having writer's block and ended up having posts that were simply photos with little or no text.
3. Interesting lists are hard to come up with.  I could list all kinds of things, like what are my next 10 songs on my playlist, or what shows I watch on Tuesdays.  But I wanted something to be interesting and related to the blog, which brings me to #4
4. Not only is posting every day hard to do, but making a post related to art every day is hard to do.  It's good because it kept me thinking about arty things every day, not just on days when I went to class or to the studio.

OK So thus ends NaBloPoMo March: Lists.  Maybe I will do it again another month, but probably not April!

Donate for Purim!

Last night/today is Purim, a holiday that follows the traditional Jewish holiday formula "they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat!" On Purim we dress up in costumes, hear the story of Esther and Mordechai, eat hamentaschen (these little triangle, fruit-filled cookies), drink a lot, and more. We are supposed to give gifts of food - at least two different kinds of food - and charitable gifts/donations to the poor. Last night we gave gifts of beer and hamentaschen to our friends, heard the story and wore funny hats. This morning we pretty much did it again.

(The picture to the right is my cat wearing her costume, Frankenstein. I admit I cheated... this photo is from Halloween, however I have misplaced my camera and so Purim photo updates will come later when I get my camera back)

This year's donation for Purim is art supplies to the children's hospital. Every week I go and volunteer in the art program at the local children's hospital. Sometimes we do elaborate projects like watercolor/wax resists, and other weeks we simply color with markers on construction paper. However, the hospital has no funding for this program's art supplies; they rely completely on donations. Often, my coordinator tells me to make sure the kids use up the whole page of watercolor paper, or only squirt out a little paint and wait until it's gone before putting out more, etc.

Today, JewishGuy and I went to Target and the art supply store and went nuts. We bought:

• Boxes of: crayons (different kinds, sizes, palettes), markers (including 2 sets of "stamper" markers), colored pencils
• Little Kid and Big Kid appropriate scissors
• Tons of glue sticks
• Regular glue in bottles
• Many packets of construction paper
• Packets of "foam sheets"
• Foam stickers, both flowery ones and letters
• Paints, both acrylic and watercolor
  
• Watercolor paper
  

It was really fun picking things out. I was especially excited about the watercolor paper, because I found some really fat pads of quality watercolor paper for not a lot of money.

HillelLady is also joining in on it :)

I'm excited to donate objects rather than money, it feels a lot more personal. Also, I am excited because I know exactly who it will go to and I will probably get to see the kids use the stuff we bring!

Interview #3/List #6: New York, revisted

Yesterday I had an interview at one of my very most top schools. It is a little nerve-wracking to have your admission to a university be based on 20 minutes. The Chicago interview was a whole day, so by the time I got to my individual interview after the first 6(ish) hours of being there, I was pretty relaxed and it went well.

I'm not saying the interview in New York didn't go well, I just think I was a little more nervous because it was really just a short period, and very very intense.

I went with my friend GeckoMan. We had lunch beforehand, where I drank lots of tea to be awake as I haven't slept much in a week for various reasons. GeckoMan waited in the lobby while I was interrogated. Basically, three people sat and asked me questions in rapid succession for twenty minutes. I think I was pretty good at answering them and handled myself well. Then, they set me up in a room to complete a short writing assignment - I had fifteen minutes to explain how I would react to a certain circumstance that could come up on the job. I answered it in probably five or six sentences, and then spent the next ten minutes rereading it trying to figure out if I missed anything. Nope. I was pretty much direct and to the point, so I let it be and handed it in.

I should find out by mid-April, which is good because I need to let the Chicago school know by the beginning of May. So far, still no word from the third New York school I applied to, and the Boston school keeps saying I don't have my prerequisites even though I am working on them right now. We'll see what happens with that.

A few differences between this interview and the other NY interview:

1. They remembered me from December! Even the administrative person remembered me, and I barely talked to her! They didn't remember that I had been there in December, but they recognized me and knew that I had already come in. That's why I went in for the information session, so I am glad that trip was worth it. Remember at the other interview, she had no idea who I was, even though I had talked to her for a while in December.

2. They took me in on time, and while I was waiting gave me updates as to whether or not they would be on time. At the other interview, I was taken in over thirty minutes late, with no status updates. At one point I was afraid she had forgotten, and the receptionist basically did not pay any attention to me - just let me sit out there like an idiot, wondering what was going on!

3. They didn't seem to have an attitude of, you are person #198237012 that we have seen, and we are bored of interviews and probably don't like you much anyway. They seemed interested in me, seemed to have read most of my application (even though they focused mostly on my volunteering in the hospital and not as much on the years of experience with people). At the other school, she basically treated me like she was doing me a favor by interviewing me, like giving me oooone last chance to change her mind. Also, she made me tell her about my slides on the spot - I had no idea that I would have to talk about my work, which really caught me off guard.

4. Even though they had a very interrogative style, they asked a wide variety of questions and didn't focus mostly on why I feel I should go to their school - ie, didn't make me sit there and tell them how great they are. They also didn't keep asking me why I chose to do things, they just asked me about my experience. At the other interview, I had questions like, "So, why art therapy?" "Why our school?" "Why art therapy at our school?" (I'm not even joking)

5. I didn't leave with a sense of utter rejection and loser-y-ness. I left feeling kind of jittery, and although I was unsure of the impression I left on the committee I was pretty positive. After the other interview, I wanted to cry. I also had to go straight to the airport. I basically left the building and immediately called JewishGuy to rant at him and feel hopeless about ever getting into school.

More on my adventures with GeckoMan in my next entry, where I talk about St. Patrick's day in NYC!

List #5: Arty Produce

Like I said, I'm in NY, so here's another list/short post. I happen to be helping my aunt and uncle make salads and various other foods for the rest of the week, so that what made me think of today's topic...

Produce I think is Arty or That I Like to Use in Art Projects (in no particular order, and I won't even say this is remotely a comprehensive list!)

1. Red onions. These are really fun if you cut them the right way, red and white stripey-ness abounds.

2. Avocados. Basically I love avocados in any situation. I also like to draw them.

3. Bananas. These are kind of fun because they are a range of yellows and browns. I especially like the peels because they can make all kinds of interesting shapes.

4. Berries. I like to draw lots of little circles anyway, so this would be nice in a still life or as some kind of abstract accent to another drawing.

5. Bell peppers. Maybe you can see a trend where the foods I like to eat are also the foods I like to use in my art. I like bell peppers because they have a really fun shape and when you cut them open they look kind of interesting (and pretty challenging). I usually use them in monochromatic drawings or prints because they kind of lend themselves to that.

6. Peanuts. I haven't actually used these in any art projects but I bet it would be really fun! They're all pitted and fun-ly shaped, plus if you break up the shells you could have something interesting to work with for more abstract pieces. I don't know if nuts count as produce, but I'm going to pretend that they do.

OK it's actually time for dinner so I had better get running. Yummy vegetarian chili!

List #4: Top Remarks Re: Art

I'm in New York right now so I don't have much time to post, so here's a quick list of the Top remarks I get regarding art from "Non-Art People" and my reactions to them in no particular order (whether I express these feelings to the people who say these things is another story).

1) "I don't get it." This is usually when we're at a show or an exhibit or in a museum looking at something relatively modern. I usually feel like this statement is a kind of invitation for me, with all my wisdom and learning, to explain the deep meaning behind whatever it is we're looking at. My response is, Like I do? Modern art has this great thing about it where you have to know more than just what it looks like to understand it. This means I don't "get" most modern art. I only "get" the things I've read about, or if what I'm looking at seems to relate to things I've learned. And, to be honest, there is a good chance that a lot of stuff doesn't have any real meaning behind it, which is why you'll only find it hanging in coffee shops or McDonald's. So don't ask me, I don't know! :)

2) "An art major, huh? What are you going to do with that?" I got this when I was in college, but now that I tell people I am applying for grad school, I am more likely to get the helpful "warnings" about lack of funding for art programs. My response, usually in my head, is, Not everyone can be a doctor. I mean, what's the difference between an Art degree and a History degree? Or any other degree that doesn't obviously lead to some kind of job (like Education, Journalism, Pre-med/law, etc). Why does education have to be a means to an end? And, PS, art students sometimes have an advantage that history students don't, in the sense that many of us are also trained to write and argue a point (through art history/art theory classes), but on top of that we are trained in design, so there are diverse options other than teaching if you want to stay "true" to your major. Nothing against history students, but I know a few and they're all struggling to find jobs that are related to their degree that aren't necessarily in schools.

3) "I'm just no good at art." Sometimes I will respond to this by laughing it off, but other times (especially when working with kids), I will respond, You may just surprise yourself. I taught a class where I took a bunch of random students who had to make a book from scratch in 6 weeks. They found texts, did artwork, bound the book themselves - you name it, they did it. They had no formal training and the books were amazing. A lot of people either haven't been trained how to draw or have no natural talent, but there are so many things you can do and still call it "art," without having to represent something as you see it.

4) "What's the big deal? I can make something just like this!" This is also usually in response to some modern art. My response is usually twofold, although not usually out loud, Maybe you could, but you didn't, and, One of the great things about modern art is that it isn't all about what's on the surface. It's great and it's frustrating. If you go to a show where you are given no explanation, I think it's a natural gut reaction to look at something kind of ugly or really simple and wonder how that person ended up with a show and you still haven't gotten anywhere. So the next time you stand next to a giant canvas that just happens to be all painted one shade of blue, wonder why it was made, not how. ;)

5) "That looks really cool." Assuming this is (hopefully) a response to something I've made, I say, Thank you!

So there you have it... a short post from me today, from New York. Coming soon, St. Patrick's Day in NYC experience, plus interview #3 which just happens to be at my NUMBER ONE TOP SCHOOL!

List #3: Favorite Media

Okay it's lack of interesting things to update day, so here's LIST NUMBER THREE: MY FAVORITE MEDIA. I'm going to specify "Visual Arts" for this list.

1. Pen and paper. Yes, even more so than printmaking and photography, I love doodling with a pen and paper. I like making intricate drawings where you can't make mistakes, and if a line doesn't go where you want you have to, as Tim Gunn would say, "make it work." I've been making crazy drawings with just pen and paper since I was in high school, and before that I would do similar drawings with just pencil and paper (I stopped using pencils because I kept smudging them with my hand). When I was in elementary school I would spend hours creating very intricate mazes. Now I make intricate doodles. Good times.

2. Digital photography. I love photography in general. I got my first camera when I was 7, a 144mm hot pink camera, with which I took extremely artsy photos of my brother. Over and over. He was my only subject for a very long time - he was very compliant as well ... always posing and doing whatever I told him to do like a good little brother :) I got my first digital camera for my 18th birthday and went nuts. I love taking pictures and it's even better when you don't have to worry about wasting film and you can fix it up later.

3. Misc printmaking media. Specifically, I love linoleum cuts. They are so fun to make, very calming to sit and carve and carve. I also love that you make more than one so I can give them away and still keep one for myself. I like experimenting with different kinds of printmaking media, but often I am daunted by the toxic qualities that so many posses (although there are non-toxic ways of doing everything, I don't know them that well).

4. Acrylic paints. I love painting. I love how you can't mess up, you can just keep working on it and it will look good. And if it doesn't look good, you can just paint over it! I love acrylics because they dry quickly and mix with other things well. They're very versatile paints, I think, and can do some pretty cool things. I also like that they're relatively non-toxic, so you don't have to worry about ventilation or mineral spirits or anything like that.

5. Oil pastels. These are basically just oversized crayons. They are really fun to play with. Not only do they mix and smear like really nice quality crayons, but you can do fun things with them like in combination with water colors, or you can paint with them using paint thinner. Good times. They are also SUPER cheap - I bought a nice, large set of oil pastels for $9!

6. Markers. Markers are super fun, probably as fun as oil pastels but not as easy to smear or mix. I usually like them in conjunction with pen drawings, although not always. I really like brightly colors markers, especially pink, yellow and orange, contrasting with a bright blue. For a while I was doing a lot of marker drawings in my sketchbook as sketches for multi-color prints.

7. Magazine pictures and other collage-making materials. I love collaging. One thing I've discovered recently is collaging as a color Xerox. I cut out a bunch of interesting pictures and then color copy them in interesting positions. This way you can have the cohesiveness of a single image copied throughout a series. I did a bunch of these and framed them and now they are hanging up in our living room. When I was an undergrad I actually started a collage right on the wall of my apartment, taping pictures up there. That was fun for a few minutes.

8. Polaroid cameras. For a while I was really into Polaroids. I still like them but I am not as into it as I was last year. I learned how to do Polaroid transfers, which are neat but hard to do and somewhat toxic. (A Polaroid transfer is when you take the image from a polaroid picture and stick it onto another surface. It's pretty cool - the image really just slides off of the paper.) I've heard that Polaroid is going to stop making film after 2009, so that's sad.

9. Paper (and scissors). I first tried paper-cutting when I was at camp when I was in middle school. It's actually really hard and looks really nice. I haven't done much paper cutting since then, although I planned this really elaborate one with a pomegranate and a quote from the Song of Solomon (cheesy Judaica, ahhh), but I never just sit down and do it. However, I did do some small paper cuts when I was in college to satisfy some of my 2D Elementals projects, and I think I can safely say that it's one of my favorite media even though I don't use it much. :)

10. Chalk pastels. I do like chalk pastels a lot but when I'm going to do a project with them I really have to allot quite a bit of time to set up and clean up, as they are super, duper messy (more messy than paint, I'd say). Plus you have to fix everything you do so it won't rub off after. Even though there are a lot of negative points to using chalk pastels, they do create beautiful images and are really fun to mix together. I made a series of giant flower chalk pastel drawings which are pretty cool. If only I could find them and frame them!

OK that's my list! I finished just in time to still get the time stamp for today... I kind of worked on this post on and off for a few hours, so ... phew!

Productivity, hooray!

It's better when you have a plan in mind.

Today in the studio I made:

6 ramekins
2 tart things (like ramekins, but bigger, like for dinner tarts)
4 small jars for hanging
1 vase

The vase:



I like it. It's pretty small, about 5" high.

I was there for about three hours, so I feel pretty productive. I'm going back tomorrow to work on the giant nose if I have the motivation for it.

I can't wait until we start the wheel. Hopefully I will pick it up without too much ridiculous frustration and then I can make some mugs and bowls and stuff that aren't totally lopsided and strange.

List #2: Cutest Boys

I'm watching Southpark right now and tonight's episode is directly related to NaBloPoMo. The girls make lists, and the list in question is the Cutest Boys list. It's arranged in cutest to ugliest.

1. Clyde
2. Token
3. Stan
4. Bradley
5. Jason
6. Leroy
7. Kenny
8. Tweek
9. Kevin
10. Jimmy
11. Butters
12. Craig
13. Timmy
14. Francis
15. Cartman
16. Kyle

Kyle is really upset because he is the ugliest, so he starts hanging out with the "ugly" kids. The funniest ugly kid is this kid Jamal (pronounced "yamal"), who makes me laugh every time they show him on TV:
I don't know why he's so funny, but something about him is so hilarious. Maybe I knew someone like him when I was in elementary school.

Anyway, Kyle gets his ex-girlfriend Wendy to help him figure out how he ended up on the bottom of the list, and it turns out it was a conspiracy to make Clyde the top of the list because his dad owns a shoe store in the mall. The girls thought if he was rated the cutest, they could justify dating him and he would woo them all by buying them free shoes.

Sorry this list was unrelated to art or anything I post about in my blog, but it's funny and related to the month's assignment.

List #1: Things I Capture on Camera

My top ten most common subjects (other than me and my friends, since I won't post pictures of us on this blog) in no particular order:

1. Food, especially food that I make or eat at home.


Thanksgiving Dinner

2. Funny signs.


Christmas Rejects


3. Funny random things


Giant Purple Godzilla Speaks Spanish


4. My cat being cute


Sleeping Like a Human

5. Trees


Construction Backdrop

6. Interesting people


Yellow Mime

7. Sunsets


Sunset in the Harbor

8. Interesting/artsy scenes without people


View in Rhode Island

9. Animals


Mommy and Baby

10. Nature-y things that look cool


In the Caves

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How was that for my first NaBloPoMo list?

(I should add that none of these photos are color-corrected - this is just how they looked when I downloaded them from the camera)