| Busy Busy | |
So it’s been awhile…I know. But I have good excuses. This summer has been the busiest summer ever! I got married in June, went to Yellowstone for the honeymoon, taught What's Your Story at RIT’s Kids on Campus in July, and am now in the process of buying our first house. I’m also trying to get motivated to plan for the upcoming school year where I will be teaching a new class called Digital Art.This is all very exciting stuff but it left me little time to work on my art. I’ve been craving creativity and I'm dreaming of my new studio space! There are a couple of mini-projects that I want to share: - I made my wedding bouquet and my husband’s boutonniere out of hens and chickens. I kept the roots intact and then transplanted them into a pot the day after the wedding. I can’t wait to plant them in my new garden! Hens and chicks were also the little gifts we gave to family and friends. - Yellowstone's landscapes were amazing. We took so many great pictures. - I entered a back-to-school-inspired-centerpiece contest for the EveryDay with Rachael Ray Magazine and I won! Above is the photo I entered and below is what was published. Check it out in the September issue. 
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| Topic(s): 2009 craft contest photography middle school lessons | |
| By Gogh on August 13, 2009 at 1:54pm EDT | Add/View Comments (1) |
| Grandpa Donn's Roses | |
I started this oil painting in the summer after getting an idea to transform a painting I had stored away for a long time. It was an unfinished painting by my fiancé's grandfather that I wanted to preserve. It was off the stretchers and slowly falling apart. He loved roses and I’m grateful to have beautiful flowers from one of his rose bushes every year. The background is of his painting that I weaved together and stretched over 3 boards. It formed a trellis-like texture for me to paint the roses and pollinating bees on. The frame loudly repeats the nature inspired theme with real tree bark assembled like a puzzle. Again, I was experimenting with texture and color.I really enjoyed working on this piece, especially while remembering summer as I was finishing it up in December. :P Grandpa Donn’s Roses is on display (as well as my student’s and colleague’s artwork) at the Rochester-Finger Lakes Regional Exhibition at RIT’s Bevier Gallery from January 30 – February 25, 2009. Reception is Friday January 30 from 5-7pm. 
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| Topic(s): oil painting mixed media 2008 exhibit | |
| By Gogh on January 28, 2009 at 9:20am EST | Add/View Comments (1) |
| Alicia | |
I did this small oil painting (about 16x12 I think :P) of Alicia, my fiance’s cousin’s cute little girl, over my 2008 winter break. I experimented with the canvas by painting on an antique looking floral fabric that I thought suited her sweetness. I loved playing with color and tried not to over think anything. My goal is to start doing more experimental studies like this.For fun, I used this for a family Santa Swap and remarkably her parents went first and picked this gift. No stealing needed! |
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| Topic(s): oil painting 2008 portrait | |
| By Gogh on January 25, 2009 at 4:08pm EST | Add Comment |
| Drake and Rascal | |
This was a wedding gift to some good friends. It is of their rambunctious dogs that they love very much. I had a lot of fun painting their unique features, especially Drakes droopy eyes and flops of skin (foreground). I made the time of year in the painting early fall, just like their wedding. My only complaint is that I wish I would have pushed the fall colors a little more, especially after the beautiful drive through Pennsylvania on the way there. I think I was in denial of fall.But what a perfect fall day for a wedding, no denying that! Oil on 48x24 canvas October 2008 
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| Topic(s): oil painting 2008 | |
| By Gogh on November 5, 2008 at 11:38am EST | Add/View Comments (1) |
| Happy Halloween Everyone! | |
Recycled...Origami...Dia de los Muertos...Skull a Day...Inspired SkullI was approached by my principal to create a Halloween inspired project for our 7th grade advisement group. I struggled with an idea for a while because I didn't want just a meaningless "craft". Thankfully, I'm surrounded by creative people and my sister was a lifesaver with an idea! She was very excited to tell me about this interesting artist, Noah Scalin, that she saw on TV. He introduced his new book called "Skulls" that was assembled from all of the creative skulls he posted on his award winning blog called SkullADay. As the site suggests, he created a skull every day for a year out of every imaginable material! As an artist, I'm completely drawn to the repetitions of the subject as it's transformed by its medium. So now I had my inspiration! After flipping through the pages, I noticed all of the organic produce and recycled objects that were used as mediums, so I decided on a recycled theme as well. We used cast-off copy paper and made simple origami skulls. Then we stuck them to a skull that was glued with torn copy paper, to help fill in the gaps. It’s quite large so you get a different perspective depending on whether you stand up close or far away. We also touched on the fact that Dia de los Muertos is coming up (Nov. 1 & 2) and that skulls don’t have to be morbid, but rather symbols of remembrance. They embellished the skulls with color and patterns, similar to Mexican Day of the Dead sugar skulls. 40 minutes is not very long to teach all of those things and do a project, but all in all, I think it was pretty successful. I mean, you can't go wrong with letting boys make freakish skulls! 
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| Topic(s): middle school lessons | |
| By Gogh on October 30, 2008 at 1:10pm EDT | Add Comment |
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Busy Busy |
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that is awesome! i need to get a copy o... |
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Grandpa Donn's Roses |
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Looks great as always!:) |
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Drake and Rascal |
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After meeting them, I think the only thi... |
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Enlighten |
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A short strand of christmas lights. |
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Enlighten |
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I forget, what did you use to light this... |
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