updates from the studio

Dear Readers,

I love you all. I really do. Just knowing you are out there, eagerly awaiting my posts (at least, this is how I envision it!), makes me oh-so-happy...and yet, lately, a little sad. Sad because I have not been delivering those posts to you with my regular enthusiasm.

The reason is the same as it has been for awhile now: school. Sometimes it feels like a tired excuse, but it really is the truth. I've had to let go of some things temporarily in order to be able to keep up with school as I creep closer and closer to the finish line. Although I'm not graduating until June, my thesis exhibit work is due in 39 days! That is so soon! Aside from putting so much energy into making the body of work I'll be partially exhibiting, I've also been writing the written thesis, keeping up with the four (Yes...four...I'm a crazy lady!) classes I'm taking, and teaching one class.

I've put regular blogging on hold until April 4--the day I turn in my thesis work, but I'll be around periodically to check in. I thank you for your patience during this time and hope you will continue reading once I do return for good! I have so many ideas running through my head of things I would like to post about here, and things I would like to make that aren't part of my thesis work, and exactly how I am going to expand my Etsy shop this summer...so many ideas and goals that I am really excited about! I just have to keep on keeping on with school right now and put these ideas on the back burner for a few months longer.

For now...just a few peeks inside my studio:

First of all, I'll give you one image. Just one! From my thesis body of work. I don't want to give away all my surprises but I will have you know this is one of my favorites so far, so feel lucky:

It's called Color of the Year. It's based on...the Pantone color of the year, tangerine tango. Yes, I am a color geek! And yes, that is my hand, and I did paint my fingernails as close to tangerine tango as I could manage to find (Pantone should make nail polishes...!?). This image isn't just about the color, but I'll wait to go into more detail about content.

I've been shooting my images with a 4"x5" camera! I'm in love. The sample you just saw above is digital--my film is still waiting for me to process it. Just FYI.

A peek at my random studio items...paint that I used for the Pantone color photograph, a super sweet vintage darkroom timer I recently acquired, only part of my growing vase collection, 12 days of Christmas glass that I was actually drinking from at that moment, film, etc.

And a recent thrift store find (even while busy, I go every Friday morning--it's my special treat!)...a camera bag for $1.91. I have another one just like it that is much smaller that can only hold a 35 mm point and shoot camera (it could hold a digital point and shoot if I had one). This one could hold two point and shoots, my Holga, or my Fuji Instax...

...as modeled here. This is the perfect case for the Instax because the other two sections of the case would be ideal for holding extra film cartridges and developed Instax pictures! I love finding inexpensive vintage camera cases in good condition, because I am trying to expand my collection to fit a variety of needs. It's not always the best option to be lugging around my large camera bag. These small, hard cases, are also great for storage and keeping my cameras dust-free. After my thesis is done I want to spend a lot of time organizing my home studio and coming up with better storage options overall...I am excited to get more use out of my space once I no longer have a studio at school.

That's it for now! Thanks for reading, and I promise I won't be gone forever!

Kristen

where does a week go?

Oh, blog friends...where does a week go? I am so looking forward to graduating in a few months (also simultaneously dreading it, for other reasons). The plus side of things: I am learning so, so much, and always moving forward. Downside: I rarely have time to relax, and must do work for school seven days a week! Yikes!

On Saturday, I learned the historic photographic process of wet plate collodion! It was really awesome to learn. At my school, every year the art department awards two post-MFA fellowships to selected artists who have completed their MFA in the past few years. The post-MFA fellows get to teach a few classes and make their work in our facilities for one year. This year one of the post-MFA fellows, Heather, is in the photo area! She specializes in historic processes such as wet plate collodion, and is doing a wet plate collodion workshop in two weeks. I volunteered to help at the workshop, so I got trained on the process a little early with the other volunteers (three fellow grad students).

It's difficult to explain in a few sentences what wet plate collodion is, especially with a wide audience of readers with varying photo knowledge, so if you are interested to know, take a look at the Wikipedia article here. We learned how to mix the chemistry, coat the plates, take and develop the image, and varnish the plate! All in one day. It was a magical, mad science photo time. I took some snapshots of us working but I used a 35 mm camera and haven't developed them yet...sorry! I'm a little behind on everything at the moment, so snapshot development gets pushed to the bottom of my list. I'll post them soon. Also, the whole day was spent mostly just learning the process, and I only made images on two plates, which I then ruined while learning to varnish them. So I'll also post my wet plate collodion images after the workshop. I have some awesome ideas!

Yesterday, I spent half the day cleaning my apartment and half the day doing a take-home essay test. I feel relieved to have both of those things done! My apartment was definitely suffering since I've been telling myself not to worry about it and just to focus on school. It feels so nice and clean now! I am thinking of painting a few rooms new colors soon and I may post pictures here and ask for your opinions. I'm ready for a new look! To anyone else going through a stressful time...if your living space isn't as clean as you usually keep it, do not blame yourself! It will be okay. Just avoid having people over for a few weeks, and focus on your work! I don't feel like we get this permission from many people/places, so I just want to throw that out there for those of you who need it. I felt really guilty that my apartment was so messy when I was so busy, and I think I should have just cut myself some slack! Yes, I function better when my home is clean...but everyone has limits!

Take home essay test...took me a little over 5 hours, and ended up being 7 pages of writing (6-10 was the required length)! Oh my goodness. Did I mention how I can't wait to graduate!? Let me clarify here...I love learning. LOVE IT. I wouldn't still be in school if I didn't. I would just like to have a little more free time on my hands. The class I was writing for is an art history course on the history of video art...it's very interesting! lately we have been learning about guerilla television, which I find very intriguing because I am interested in learning about counter-cultural movements. Check out some footage from this video we watched from this group from the 1970s called the Videofreex:




The Videofreex were an artist collective based out of a small town called Lanesville, New York, where they ran the first pirate television station (for six years!), since Lanesville couldn't pick up any regular channels. Pretty ingenious!

Okay, that's all I have for today...I'm currently dreaming of summer when I'll have time to sew and garden and make things and sit outside in the sun...it will be so wonderful! Until then, school school school! Going out with a bang. That's how it should be.

p.s. Welcome new readers from the Comment Love Challenge!!! Leave me a comment and I will check out your blog!

p.p.s. Millie-cat says, "Get off the computer and play with me, already!"

...and she follows that up with an I-mean-it look!

second vlog & february comment love challenge!

Hey, everybody! I am feeling so on top of things because yesterday I had an amazing day! I had my review with my thesis committee first thing in the morning and it went really, really well. I got some helpful feedback and positive encouragement, which is all I could have asked for. Oh, and I passed! Later in the day, a few other good things happened as well...I made a vlog in order to tell you a little about them:



If you want to know how Nick Offerman was, stay tuned for a more detailed post later this week! Now, to talk about the blog challenge I mentioned, which officially starts tomorrow, February 1st...

I have teamed up with three of my favorite blogs, Desirous of Everything, Edison Rex, and Tamara Like Camera, to bring you the Comment Love Challenge! The four of us have talked about how awesome it feels as a blogger to receive comments on posts. We want to feel like our posts are read and appreciated, of course, and the best affirmation of that is receiving comments.

So what exactly is the Comment Love Challenge? The challenge lasts from February 1st to February 14th. Anyone can sign up, and the goal is for each participant to comment on at least 3 blogs a day for 14 days straight! The blogs you comment on do not have to be other participating blogs from the challenge, but exploring the blogs of other participants is encouraged. We especially encourage you to check out and even follow the four of us, since we're hosting the challenge!

Besides receiving new followers and lots of comments, you'll be entered in a giveaway to win Elsie Larson's Blog Love E-Course! simply by completing the challenge and making 42 comments! Thanks so much to A Beautiful Mess for sponsoring our challenge. We will also feature the participant who makes the most comments throughout the challenge.

Imagine how many new readers you'll get through completing the challenge! And how many new blogs you'll discover! Sounds great, right? Are you interested? First, add your blog to the link-up! Then, post this Comment Love Challenge in your side bar. That's it, then you're in! Keep track of your comments with plain old pen and paper. We're trusting the honor system here.

<center><a href="http://onelonelyapricot.blogspot.com/2012/01/second-vlog-february-comment-love.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Comment Love Challenge" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/soholla/commentlove.jpg" / height="200" width="200" /></a></center>

progress report!!

Millie "helping" me write my thesis.

I just sent the first draft of my thesis to my advisor!!!!!

It felt SO good to press send!

It is not as long as my goal, BUT it's longer than the minimum requirement, and I still have several things to add for draft 2! So I think when all is said and done everyone will be perfectly okay with my page count.

Now to get all my new images ready for my review on Monday! It's going to be a long weekend but I feel relieved to have this big step out of the way!

my first video blog

Thanks to Sarah and her Jumpsuit Friday vlogs, I've been inspired to make a video blog! I hope it entertains you a little bit. Topics include vlogging and what it feels like to talk to the camera, grad school, and big cookies. Thanks for watching!

p.s. If you've had trouble leaving comments lately, they should be fixed now! I could not figure out what was wrong with them, but they are magically better. So, comment away and I shall write you back!

streamlining research

I've been working really hard today on all of my stuff (off school for MLK Day), but I just wanted to take a short break to post this quick tip for research. Again, this may be most beneficial for other students but I think everyone could find a use for this.

Have you noticed that on Amazon you can search through many books before buying them? Duh, Kristen, of course we have noticed...that is so last decade! Okay. Well, then you know that you can view a small sampling of pages this way. I used to only use this to determine if I was interested in a book or not, and I still think that is a great use for this feature.


However! I have found an even more exciting way to use this. When you click on the "Click here to look inside!" book cover, the familiar little window pops up, and you'll see on the left side bar "Search Inside This Book." I used to think this would only search those pages available in the short preview of the book.

But! I recently realized this actually searches the entire book for your chosen keywords! Not all of the pages are available for you to click on, obviously, but the search will give you a list of page numbers with phrases that include those key words. In my scholarly writing I have found this is a great tool to use in addition to having the physical book in my hands. If I didn't make proper notes when reading, can't find the note I made, or do not intend to read the entire book, I can do a keyword search to find exactly the pages I need!

Maybe only those as nerdy as I am will be fascinated and excited by this, but honestly I think it is amazing! Go grab a book off your shelf and try it out over at amazon.com.

throwing caution to the wind vs. being cautious of the wind

Sometimes, it is a good idea to throw caution to the wind. Leave things to chance! Don't worry! Fly by the seat of your pants! But notice I said, sometimes this is a good idea. Sometimes it is a better idea to be as cautious as possible.

Being in the middle of writing my thesis, I can tell you I have learned a few things along the way in this seemingly-never-ending academic career of mine. Today I will share two tips that I believe can benefit every person, not just students. These might seem like no-brainers when you read them, but sometimes a nice little reminder can be good.

1. When you are working electronically, back up your files. You've heard this before, right? Well, do you do it? I hear of people losing important files all the time. They knew better. But they didn't back them up. The two most common excuses? I was too busy and I didn't think it would happen to me. Well, stop being too busy to insure something of such great value to you (seriously, backing up files requires you to click, click, click, then wait for the transfer to finish...you have enough time for a click, click, click?) and stop thinking nothing bad will ever happen to your computer because something eventually happens to every computer, and that's just the way the world works (yes, even yours, you Mac users who are reading).

It is always a good rule to back up your files, but becomes especially important when you are working on a Big Project with a Specific Deadline. Normally, I back up all of my photographs and important documents once a month on two separate hard drives--as a photographer in the digital age (though I still often use film) I really cannot afford to take chances with my work! One of these hard drives never leaves my desk area at home, and the other can travel with me to places like school, the library, etc. I leave photographs that haven't been backed up yet on my camera's memory cards--I never delete photographs from my memory cards the moment I load them onto my computer.

I also try to leave back-ups at my parents' house when I visit (I forgot this last time, oops!). This can be done on a DVD (non-archival CDs and DVDs don't last forever though, be warned) or a flash drive, or another external hard drive if you have a lot of important stuff. You couldleave this spare copy at any trusted friend's home. This is important in case of fire, theft, etc. In the worst case scenario,--may it never happen--I simply would not want to lose all of my data, which includes all of my college and grad school papers, all of my image files since 2005, and more.

A third option for back-up is storing your files on the internet. You can now upload files to "the cloud" through various hosts. I haven't taken advantage of this yet but I would really like to for my most valuable files. You can also e-mail things to yourself! I do this all the time as a temporary way of backing up my files. My thesis in progress? You can bet I'm e-mailing it to myself every day when I finish writing! Why? If my computer crashes for any reason, I don't want to start over! I'm only fifteen days away from meeting with my committee and I don't want to have to pull out any excuses. Be prepared for anything.

Adorable kitty bookmark was a Christmas present from my friend Sara! From Ten Thousand Villages.

2. When you read, hear, watch, or in any other way encounter something that interests you, make a note! I have a lot of information to pull from for my thesis, and that's because in my everyday life, I take good notes. I make bookmarks when I find something online, I write in my sketchbook when a professor or colleague mentions something I should look up, and I scribble notes in the margins of books I own and on my bookmarks in library books. When you find something that is really intriguing to you, you'll have the tendency to think you will remember it much later without any physical reminders. Well, I'm here to tell you if you don't know already, that this time next week you will be thinking to yourself, What was that really important thing I read last week? Ugh, it was so interesting! At least, that's what happens to me when I forget to make a note of something! I don't use every note I make, but I am very, very grateful for the ones I do end up using. Even if you aren't in the middle of writing a thesis paper, if you write other things, consider yourself a creative type, or just want to enrich your life, I promise taking notes will benefit you.

I hope these two tips are helpful to some of you! Now, if you haven't backed up your computer in over a year, go do it right now!! What are you waiting for?

getting started

Dear readers, I must offer my apologies for not posting as much as I'd like to lately. As some of you know, I have only two quarters of grad school left until I graduate--hurray! That is exciting news. The less exciting part is that I am right in the middle of writing and producing my thesis this quarter! I suppose that's actually really exciting when you think about it, but it doesn't feel that way when you're in the middle of it.

What does "writing and producing" my thesis mean, exactly? I feel like I should explain it a little more, since every degree is different. Since I'm getting my masters degree in fine art, that means I'll produce a body of art work to be shown in a group exhibition in April with my colleagues. The written part of the thesis is the paper I write about that body of art. The hardest thing is working on the art and the paper at the same time! Since my program is so short (2 years) it's almost impossible to escape this overlap. The best thing is that I'll be done by spring quarter and can spend that last quarter making awesome work while not being super stressed out!

Coming up on January 30th, I have a review with my thesis committee (three of my professors). At that time, I am expected to be done with the first draft of my written thesis, and have in-progress pieces to show of the visual thesis. I was not in a huge hurry to start the written part for several reasons:

1. It's a paper and who gets in a hurry to start those? (Duh.)
2. I wanted to know exactly what my visual body of work would be before writing anything (less revising necessary this way).
3. It's not super long like you may be thinking...it varies from person to person but my committee head advised me to aim for around 25-30 pages.

Yesterday, I finally got things in gear and started writing! The first page is always the hardest, isn't it? It is for me. Luckily, I made an outline to go by a few months ago, so I didn't have to worry about that before starting the actual writing process.

To help things along, I employed the writing method of my friend Sarah of Desirous of Everything. Sarah is an awesome YA fiction writer and is currently working on a manuscript. To stay on task, she makes calendars which she fills with stickers for each day that she reaches her goal of writing 500 words (which is every day, because she is so awesome at sticking to her plan!). I made a similar calendar on the wall above my desk for myself by dividing up my thesis into 15 2-page writing days. Today was day 2, and I have over 4.5 pages written! For each page I complete, I mark my progress with a sticker. It really does help me to look at the wall and know how much I have done and how much is left, and to see that I'm making progress. As long as I stick to my schedule, I'll be done with my draft in just 13 more days! How exciting. It's going to be nice not procrastinating and writing 30 pages the night before the draft is due...I mean...uh, not that I would do that... (I kid, I wouldn't write 30 pages in one night...but I would definitely procrastinate a big chunk without these mini daily goals).

I'll try to make more posts about what I've been up to lately! I just need to remember to carry my camera with me to document things. Once the thesis madness is over, I have huge plans for this blog and my Etsy store. I wish I had more time to put in sooner, but realistically I know I just don't. I really need to focus most of my attention on school for now. I'm glad a deadline is in sight, though! Until then, I'll make updates here about school and I hope you'll find them interesting.

don't worry, i got this

Recover from cold. Check!

Have car repaired. Check!

Catch up on approximately one million things I am behind on? Ah!

I can't blame the cold and car troubles for everything, but they did start a sort-of snow ball effect that has left me feeling frazzled and a little behind on just about everything. I'm trying my best to catch up and luckily, Millie helps me write essays for my art history class so I can focus on other things (I kid). Just look at her, she's saying, "Don't worry, I got this!"

My art history class this quarter is focused on video art, and Millie just loves watching Vito Acconci videos like this one. Who knew!

Writing essays, watching video art...I might be making her sound like a little prodigy. She still does the normal cat things too, not to worry. Oh, and she's afraid of oranges for some reason. She shudders and backs away at the sight of an orange.

diy screen printing, pt. 3 - lessons in problem solving

I was so on top of everything all quarter. Everything except one thing: making these little zines or artist books that I proposed I would make for a project. At first they went along perfectly with the photographs I was making, but then my work shifted a little and they didn't seem as relevant. Still, I very much wanted to make them. I just kept putting it off. I would work on the stories, and the layout of the books (I was thinking of them as zines but I think now they are more of a little handmade book...the title is irrelevant, I suppose). But I didn't get around to printing them. Screen printing them, to be exact. I LOVE to screen print. I just learned how earlier this year and I am really excited about all of the screen printing possibilities in my future. However, it's kind of a big commitment compared to say, inkjet printing them.

I had it all figured out though. I was completely finished with everything else, so I would simply do all my screen printing this past weekend, just in time for finals week. Then I was sick for a few days. Time was running out! Monday, I got to work. It did not go smoothly. First, the light bulb in my "exposure" lamp burned out...after only about 3 hours of use total since I bought it! It went out Monday night, after I finally had everything ready to go. I went to bed.

Tuesday morning, I woke up and went to the hardware store first thing to replace the bulb. Funny thing: there are only really serious handy people at the hardware store at 8 am on a Tuesday. I was looking pretty girly in a pink jacket and rain boots, and buying a poinsettia plant and light bulbs...at 8 am...got a few strange looks! But I had been meaning to get a poinsettia plant so I took the opportunity when it came to me! haha The new package says the bulbs will last 2,000 hours apiece! Um, what! I was so furious. The previous bulb had come with my lamp and like I said lasted ~3 hours...was it like those batteries that come with stuff and only last 1/4 as long as regular batteries, I wondered? I got home and changed the bulb, only to discover that the one that CAME with my lamp, was the WRONG voltage! Seriously! Super dangerous! It was 130 V while the lamp CLEARLY read in all capital letters, don't use a bulb over 120 V! I got back to work.

I'm not going to lie, my photo emulsion was expired, by 3 weeks. It had been refrigerated the entire time, though, and I thought 3 weeks would not be a big deal...turns out, it was a big deal. If you are reading this because you searched "DIY screen printing, etc., etc." (I know people are searching that and finding me from my stats--that's cool, welcome, maybe I can teach you what not to do today!), do not used expired emulsion. Just don't do it. Okay, I KNOW emulsion is expensive, and I know maybe the nearest place you can buy it is 10 miles away (okay, that was me) and it's raining and you just don't want to drive across town, but you're going to regret it if you use it. What happened, you ask? Well, it just never hardened all the way. When I would wash out my screen, the front would look fine, but the back would look hardened but then become sticky from the wash out water. Maybe if I had increased my exposure time from 25 minutes to 1 hour, it would have worked, but do you have 1 hour to test that out, and then to burn your screen every time? If you do, by all means, try it.

So I finally replaced my emulsion, got home, got back to work, and the rest went pretty well. I did not finish all three of my books. I only finished one, in an edition of 8. But that's okay, I have the pages all ready to go on transparency for the others and maybe I'll get to them next week, or maybe next quarter. I'll be in a studio class devoted to screen printing 6 hours a week next quarter, so I should be able to knock them out no problem.

My home screen printing studio is still pretty sweet, despite its initial hiccups. This was my third time to use it since I got everything set up (almost 5 months ago), I will shamefully admit. I am planning to use it all the time now, though, so get ready! If you've been wondering what sorts of new products will be in my Etsy shop in the next month or so, screen printing might have something to do with it, *hint, hint*! I am working on a small winter collection to start things off, so stay tuned...that's all the spoiler information you get for now.

In my next post, I will show you the actual handmade books I was printing!

Also, coming up this Friday, December 9 to Wednesday, December 20: My 12 days of Christmas! This is the time I have in between school ending and going to visit my family for Christmas, and I'm going to do one Christmas activity per day and post about it. It's going to be amazing! Cookie baking, looking at Christmas lights, making ornaments, and the list goes on...I will be posting lots of photos and DIY tutorials!

coffee coffee coffee

Depressed that my short but sweet Thanksgiving break is now coming to an end, I'm finding that I'm going to be in need of a lot more coffee over the next two weeks as I get ready for final critiques!

"You know what? Three coffees would be great...what do I owe you?"

I say, "Coffee, coffee, coffee!" all the time. I kind of stole it from Gilmore Girls (my favorite show ever). I've recently converted Corey into a coffee drinker...I'd been trying to do so basically since we started dating. I'm still not sure that he loves coffee as much as I do, though...but then again, that's a big coffee mug to fill.

Are you a student? How do you (or did you, if you no longer are) get through the stress of finals weeks?

new work: give and take

This is from a new narrative-type piece I have been working on, Give and Take. I have actually been making a lot of new work lately and am really thrilled about all of it. I had a good critique tonight which is always nice. I've been reading The Artist's Way (cheating...it's a 12-week book but I am taking it at my own, much slower pace) at the suggestion of Erika who writes the blog A Tiny Rocket. Reading this book and doing some of the activities in it have been helping with my "artist's block" which I definitely felt all summer. I don't want to jinx it by saying too much, but right now I have more ideas than I have time to make! Definitely a good thing. More updates on the new work soon...this is just one of many.

new studio space

Tiny peeks into my new studio space. More to come... Loving the big windows, bright white walls, white furniture, and colorful, mostly vintage decorations, supplies, and props! I just got some clothes hangers for my rack of backdrops and costumes, so that will be better organized soon.

so long for now, natural state

One year ago, I was at the beautiful Lake Ouachita with my family. I had only a few days left before I would move to Ohio for grad school. Today, I am going back to Ohio after a week-long visit back at home, to start my second and final year of my program. I've had a really nice visit and although I'll miss my friends and family here when I'm back at school, I look forward to all of the exciting things that I'll be making and doing this year.

Many blog entries await when I'm back in the Buckeye State! And my 30 day challenge begins tomorrow.

everyday picnic

Lately, this is where I eat my lunch during the week, at a breezy picnic table near the river that runs through campus, halfway between my morning class and my afternoon ones. I usually take a little time to read or draw while I am there.

so long, studio

As we all prepare for the building's demolition, my first year of grad school is beginning to feel more like a memory and less like it just happened moments ago. For the next five days, I could go up to my old studio if I wanted to, but all I would find is an empty room.

This was the view from the window by my desk. I quite liked it so I decided to document it while packing up.

My last box of stuff (in a box painted like a tv from one of my photos!). You know your desk is done when the plant's in the box. That's a calico kitten succulent. I had other plants, terrariums actually, as well, but had taken them home already.

The view again, a step further back. I loved looking out the window to see that tree. I hope they don't have to cut it down.

Our light switch plate, covered with this photo by some grad students before us. Just a little art student humor.

My desk on the left, common area and Tim's corner to the right.

My little corner. A/C unit that does not work, just blows out hot air and sometimes sparks and smoke. We were on the fourth floor too, so it got pretty hot the past couple of months (80+ with no circulation). I'm happy the new building will have A/C! It doesn't get that hot here, but sometimes you just need it, to circulate the air or take out the humidity.

Someone made a flag out of two large c-prints and hung it from the hallway window. An inside view was pictured in the first photo.

A lot of life is about movement, packing up from here and moving to there. We move along, and sometimes, hopefully most of the time, experience progress in those transitions. I'm just happy to be a photographer, a record and memory keeper of sorts, so that I have a way to remember this past year which was so influential for me as an artist. So long, Haskett Hall.

welcome, summer

I started reading this book yesterday, Made from Scratch by Jean Zimmerman. It is delightful and fits right into my current research and artmaking. From the Amazon.com review: "In the past century, homemakers have become a dying breed. The domestic achievements of our mothers and grandmothers have been devalued and replaced by the easy options of fast food, hired help and prefabricated products of all kinds; meanwhile, the arts of cooking, needlework and gardening become the province of a dedicated few." The author refers to herself as a feminist and advocates the strides that the feminist movement has made for women in the workplace, but urges us not to forget the valuable handiwork of our foremothers.

Summer classes are in full swing now. I'm teaching my usual "Introduction to Photography" course (in four hour time blocks, twice a week--so long!). I'm taking a food science seminar on the topic "Controversies in Contemporary Food Culture," a beginning ballet class, and in a few weeks, a week-long art education seminar on the topic, "Creative Art Writing." I've also signed up for a metal jewelry fabrication class with my friend Alex, through the parks and recreation association! It is once a week for eight weeks. I'm excited for these new classes and straying outside of photography for the summer (though I'll still be taking photos, to be sure!).

vacation, staycation

First meal on the new barbecue grill! Homemade veggie burgers and roasted pineapple.

The garden is growing!

I'm on day four of my ten-day break from teaching and classes, and it's been great! I feel human again. Last week I seriously spent 12-17 hours a day at school! It got a little insane at the end of the quarter. Also, being on quarters, rather than semesters, for those who don't know, it's absolutely nuts. As of last week, I had been in school since January 3rd with only spring break and two one-day holidays off. I do realize that people who work normal, full-time jobs often go that long without taking time off. And sometimes those jobs demand a LOT outside of the normal 40 hours a week as well. But most weeks I was at school 6-7 days in a row, because I had so much stuff to do outside of normal hours. That might be normal for grad school, but I just couldn't keep it up anymore. It feels amazing to be done for a bit and to have a lighter load this summer.

And it wouldn't feel like a summer break without some delicious food. Let me tell you about my absolute favorite food offerings in Columbus.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream - It really is splendid, to be sure. The Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet is my favorite frozen dessert...ever. All of their ice creams are made right here in Columbus, with locally sourced ingredients when possible.

Hal and Al's - The only vegan bar in Columbus. Everything on the menu is amazing. The bartenders just might know Corey and me by name... They sell Columbus's famous local veggie burger, the Luna burger, cooked to perfection on a locally made pretzel bun. We've tried almost everything on the menu and have yet to find something that wasn't outstanding.

Clintonville Farmers' Market - Although hard to replace the spot in my heart reserved only for the Conway Farmers' Market, this weekly outing always provides whatever is lacking in my own garden. With everything from fruit, veggies, mushrooms, cheeses, pastries, honey, plants, flowers, and the list goes on...I could probably spend most of my paycheck here if I weren't careful!

kitten mittens

In my printmaking class, we have to do a trade print. We make an edition as big as the class, and on the last day, everyone swaps. We can do anything we want for the print, so a few people came up with the idea to do the theme "kitten mittens." It's borrowed from the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. At first, I didn't want to do the theme (and I wasn't required to), because I don't particularly like that show. Everyone was getting really into it, though, so I decided to go ahead and do it. This is what I came up with. I think it's pretty cute.

And the skit from the show that inspired the theme? You can watch it here.

year one, check

As my first year of grad school comes to a close next week, it is hard to put into words everything I have experienced and learned since September. I've made new friends, perfected new art processes, learned tons more about the history and theories of my medium, developed new ideas and work, and found in myself someone who really loves to teach. I'm excited for what summer and year two have to offer, and trying to make every minute count, as I know graduation will be here in what feels like a flash!