Agitate 10 seconds every 60....

Thursday I spent the day in the darkroom developing some of my black and white film from this summer. I am about halfway through my stash at this point. I also had a chance to scan some of the negatives and I think I will have a pretty good set of images from Duisburg-Nord to choose from. I am sharing a few though I am never happy with the image quality when I scan film, especially black and white. But, I can see the potential in these three...I think I will copper or brown tone the series to evoke the rusted metal on the site. I look forward to some quality printing time in the near future which means lots of time to listen to music. I need some new stuff, any suggestions? In the meantime I am still working on my watercolors and my table is coming along nicely thanks to Ian....

9.30.07 Fairy Thorn

9.28.07 Suture

9.27.07 Yew

Staining the table

Knits 'n Cats

I have been working on a lace scarf and questioning whether mohair is really the best choice for one's first attempt at lace; it is so hard to unravel when I screw up. Now that I know what yo and ssk are (thanks Heather!) I have started making some progress and I think I might even see a pattern in my mohair mess. When I laid out the scarf-to-date on the couch to take a photo of it to share, Haunchy ran over, sat on top of it and began to purr. Damn cat, if she wasn't so cute....

A better shot of Haunchy taken by Ian

Grad school recovery, coming along nicely

I feel like for the first time in 3 years, I finally have the time to do all the things I've been wanting to do, like take photos, make a website or just play with watercolors or yarn or my cat. It is a new found freedom. Jessica mentioned that she felt like she lost some of her creative motivation in grad school. I think it is just part of the process; if all of your energy is directed toward learning new ideas and ways of thinking, there won't be much left over for personal creative endeavors. I really look forward to Ian finishing school just for that reason. We used to spend our evenings working on projects together and listening to the radio, but engineering school has all but stolen the Ian I once knew. He is still in there and he comes out every once in a while (more this semester as he has a lighter course load:) but someday he will return with his creative energy intact and even strengthened by all that knowledge. I guess that is kind of how I am feeling now. I've been gathering, thinking, speculating and questioning for three years, now I am ready to create, design, take action!

9.26.07 Ink wash and watercolor

9.25.07 Ink wash and a little bit of bleach

A Watercolor a Day

My first year of graduate school we were asked to keep a sketchbook and draw the same thing at least twice a week for the semester. I chose a tree outside of our house and I started making little watercolor sketches of the form and balance of the tree. I really enjoyed the project which rekindled my interest in watercolor. I went to Greece that winter and made a little travel watercolor set with a pill case and film canisters. I had a great time painting and sketching as we traveled, now I bring my paint kit and a sketchbook anytime I travel. I am not always on the move, so I thought perhaps I needed a new project to keep me engaged in creating my little paintings. I hope to paint a watercolor a day for the next year. As I am not a creature of habit, lest I get bored, this will prove a difficult task. But, as long as I keep moving forward and don't worry about missing days I should prove to have quite a collection next September! Here are the first two....

Day one: An india ink wash

Day two: Ink wash separated into blues and browns

A Table of My Own

This weekend Ian and I worked on making me a work table. I modified a plywood coffee table design from Make (volume 9) to create an 8'x2.5' workspace. We borrowed a trailer and car from James and Linda and then it was off to get some 4'x8' plywood. We spent Sunday measuring and cutting. I can't wait until it is done, but while we have all the pieces cut out I still need to rout, sand, stain and seal it before assembling and using. The progress so far....

Ian in sexy safety glasses

First assembly...looking good