CULT COLLAGE 1

The first of a three painting series based on collages I have made using what my professor calls "images of the macabre."

NEST... A Work In Progress

365

365. Studio Clay with oxide, tree branch, thread and monofilament. April 2011.

COLOR THEORY

I almost lost my cool when my professor told me we were doing color charts. I mentally rolled my eyes, not to be a snob but I'm a junior art major and I took color theory my first semester at FIT and well I just don't waannnna do it. However, I did feel an odd sense of accomplishment as I slowly removed all the tape to see the perfectly perfect squares underneath. Though they are pretty to look at, their real purpose is used in painting from life, you are supposed to try and match the color you are seeing to a color on the chart then adjust accordingly, white to lighten, black to darken, gray to desaturate, etc. I feel like I'm better off just mixing the way my brain subconsciously knows rather than trying to create a formula. These charts will come in handy when picking color pallets for my final series this semester.

PRINTS

Forgive my bad photos, these are just a few of the prints I did in my Advanced Graphic Arts Workshop last semester. I don't feel a connection to printmaking, especially to etching. It's hard to feel a connection with the material when just touching it with the natural oils of your hands can cause a blemish. I find myself more attached to my work when it feels like work, when there is something physical about it. Paint I can push around after sawing, nailing and stretching the canvas, I have to stand on my toes to reach the top of the painting and stoop down to my knees to get the bottom, my back starts to ache and my neck gets sore from craning and tilting my head, my feet throb from standing. Clay is just the same, I scoop huge handfuls of sludge, measure dry clay bases, then after standing around watching out for mice (the clay pugging machine is in the basement of the oldest building at Hunter) I have to catch freshly mixed and condensed clay, then lug it from the clay mixing room to my shelf in the studio. It's laborious. And that's just the beginning. My hands cramp on the wheel, while my eyes go in and out of focus from concentrating on the spin too long, I stretch my body as I roll clay into slabs, squeeze it in my hands, making it smooth or rough, I hold it into place. Most of all my hands feel aged from the clay, worn down from the grit and dry from its moisture sucking power. It seems like a battle and honestly, dramatizing per usual, most of the time, it feels like war.

RECENT CERAMIC WORKS

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1. A piece I've tentatively titled "WR," was made to fulfill an assignment in which I was to tell a story, evoke a feeling, and convey meaning without using any form of text. This piece really is the beginning of something creatively for me. I have since continued re-creating natural elements out of clay, firstly leaves, then mushrooms, then teeth, then antlers, more leaves, branches, more mushrooms. I see this being a constant in my work. I am constantly inspired by nature and the shapes and forms created by Mother Nature, I know I'm gooey and sentimental but the world is full of beauty, and that is how I feel.

2. Detail shot, I feel like I learned a lot from this piece. I played around with inlaying a different clay body, I moved the piece from wall to table top then back to wall, I experimented with glazes and incorporated mixed media elements. Evolution, within myself and my work, is the lesson I am learning.

3. Mushrooms. They are melancholy little guys with drooping heads and bad posture. I experimented with and fell in love with oxides in the process. Definitely not done with them yet.

4. Latest nature series. Much more work to come.