Friday, April 22, 2011

Trading Talents

 Amy and I did a trade. I loved her Tulip vases and she my hats, so we each made what we are good at and shared it with the other. The trade happened at the Art of Yarn, so we didn't have any tulips. I thought her vases would also make great needle holders, so here it is. It looks beautiful with a tulip, but I could also imagine it on my desk holding my needles.
The hat was made with Noro yarn, a wonderful cotton and silk blend. Amy picked the colour which just happens to be my favourite colour and it matches my hair perfectly. Was a hard hat to give up as it look great on me too.
I loved the idea of trading and it was great to share our talents and bring joy to Amy and Amy to me

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Finished 3rd Year

It is great to know that I finally finished my last paper and that somehow I survived taking a full course load at university. It wasn't always that easy to manage all my commitments and things that I had to do, but I am glad to say I did. Going back to school full time at 50 and working 2 full days a week and often teaching a class in the evening,  is certainly a different experience than at 20 and hopefully the things that i have learned through the years helped get me through. I completed Advanced Painting, Advanced Sculpture, Global Contemporary Art, Islamic Art and Literature, Art Theory and 20th Century Art. It was an awesome year and I learned so much and advanced incredibly in my own art practice.

Next year is 4th year and I will only have to do my 4th year studio classes and 1 advanced studio class. I will have lots of time to work on my own art practices. Hopefully I will not be silly and sign up for another art history class, which I don't need but will probably be tempted to take.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Painting was Awesome

It was a great year for painting. When I began the year I was incredibly insecure and unsure of myself. Through the direction of my professor Shawn and my great classmates, I learned so much and progressed and development x fold. It was fun to work in the studio, except, of course, for the terrible mess in there.
Shawn helped me find architecture in my abstract paintings and this procedure helped immensely in my narrative painting. It isn't that easy to spend weeks on a painting only to be told to edit 80% of it out. The first time is a little painful, but you get used to it and the paintings improve. Of the six that I did since January, a few still need to be edited, but, hey, that's what the summers for.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Summer here we come

Third year is almost over. One more paper and one more take home exam and I am done. This time next Thursday, I am free to do whatever I want. All those projects I put on the back burner while I was writing papers, studying for exams, doing the Mad Hatter and painting, 7 paintings.

The theme of my narrative painting was Fasnacht and here is one of the Waggis that is part of the painting. He was my favourite and probably most successful. The painting is 8 feet by 5 feet and though I handed it in, it is not quite done.