to keep things from getting all muddled up, I started a photography blog. That way my painting blog doesn't get all confusing.

Check it out! and often, I'm obsessively taking photos these days.

after easter

I was listening to Joseph Campbell lectures while painting today, and this one struck me as particularly appropriate due to the recent holiday, so I thought I would share.

"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy."

thoughts on a windy day

I have a problem and I’ll admit it: I don’t like staying in the same place for too long. I don’t like settling down. I can settle in to a place easily, get comfortable for a short time. I always have something in my bag, a good book and a sketchbook and some chap stick, that can make a place feel like home. I’m obsessed with bags, I’ve never been a huge shoe girl (though I’m certainly warming up to them), it has always been about the bags…maybe my bags are my real homes. All I know is that I like to move about. Not too fast, not too slow. Just you know, keep moving.

Perhaps I’m this way because growing up, I was always going all over the place. Weekends at Dad’s house, summers in California. Then in college I never stayed in the same place for more than a few months at a time, really. It was school to home to school to Florence to home to school. Then after school it was back in with the parents, then out to Oregon, then back in with the parents, then to London, then to Florence, then to London again, then back to the states.

So, I move around a lot. I like it, its simple. You don’t have too much stuff to deal with, it’s excusable to go a few days without checking your email, and people don’t get pissy with you if you don’t answer your phone. I like being in a place long enough to be comfortable, to be challenged and pushed to grow, and then I like moving on to the next place. Settling in really sort of scares me, to tell the truth.

But I’m going to have to start liking it, because I’ll be settling in to Bowling Green this fall. BGSU offered me an assistantship for my graduate studies, and I’m not about to turn down a chance for free school. I’m excited about facing the challenge of school (god I’m a nerd), and to be around a group of artists again. Having a good studio space is going to be wonderful, too. There’s something exciting about the thought of my own space that I’ll inhabit for a while, but it’s also daunting. I get so very restless. As excited as I am, I’m also nervous. I’m nervous about being in the same place for two years straight, what if I start going bonkers out in the middle of nowhere? I’m nervous I’ll miss Florence, but if I’m being honest with myself, I’m always missing Florence (And, I’m actually going to go to Florence next summer for a month, because two whole years in one place would make me crazy!). I’m nervous about a million silly little things, and none of them I have control over. It seems that the older I get the more I find that to get what I really want out of life, to live as I wish to live and be my most authentic, true self, I must accept uncertainty as a certainty.

Growing up is so strange. I’ve realized a lot of things about myself recently. I’m not an adventurer. I’m not a person who likes wild thrills, recklessness, and seeing things just to see them. I like drifting, floating from place to place, moving about slowly and taking everything in that I can. Mostly I just want to learn as much as possible, feel and experience life in all of her uncertainty, terror, and beauty. Joseph Campbell said that we must “follow our bliss”, not money and security. John Keats and Nietzsche both talked about the importance of experience and difficulties to cultivate a life and a soul. Ultimately that’s what I’m trying to do with my life: cultivate it, cultivate myself, and cultivate my soul. It hasn’t been easy at times, and I don’t expect it to get any easier (the economy is awful and I’m a female artist…lets be honest here). But I’ve come to accept that life is going to be filled with difficulties. All I can do is embrace them, see them as a chance for growth and self-discovery. Certainly, it is easy to say this now. There are times when dealing with burdens will be overwhelming, I’m sure. But I’m determined to follow in my pursuit of beauty, to “follow my bliss”. It’s not just about creating art, creating beautiful objects. It’s about creating a beautiful, open life. Ultimately, my life is my art.

Wait, didn’t Gandhi say something about that?

when the sun came out for just a moment and it was so beautiful

Peeps

okay, here is the deal. A lot of my artistic energy has been going to something sort of silly, but totally lovely lately. A dear friend and I have been taking "Peep Pictures", which chronicle the lives of our peep pals. Here are some days in the lives of my peeps. Hopefully it will brighten your day. If the weather where you are is anything like here in Ohio, then you need it!

Hello!

Polaroid Peep!

Watching a storm roll in...

Reading before bed.

My dog attacks..

But they tamed him.

Lounging in the sun.

Light reading.

Goodnight!!!

transfers part 2

Soooo...

Transfers on to gessoed canvas=bad

transfers on to plain canvas=easy!

The photo was a bad image so it was no great loss to me, but it got pretty ripped up in the trial.

Here is a successful transfer from earlier in the week:

Transfers!

As you can probably already tell, I finally have a polaroid camera. I understand that my joy about this probably reeks of wannabe hipster (is there still such things as hipsters anymore?), but I don't care. I've wanted a polaroid camera since third grade when my best friend had one and we used to play with it at the pool.

I just love the instant nostalgia that a polaroid photo has- I'm a sucker for any tool, process, whatever, that can evoke emotion. The nostalgia makes ordinary images become beautiful, because they seem fleeting and intangible. I just love that. There is also a bit of creepiness to a lot of polaroids. I don't know how or why that is, but there are just some photos that just seem, well, kinda creepy. And I love weird stuff like that.

Needless to say, I've been going a bit crazy taking photos. I've also discovered something else fun. You can peel the pictures apart and transfer the emulsion layer from the clear plastic front, to another object.

This photo was successfully transfered.

This was the original image. Kinda crappy.

To do this transfer, you cut off the white stuff, then throw what's left (so the photo) into hot water, then wait until the layers fall apart. When you are able to take all the layers apart, you can very carefully, with a soft brush, peel off the emulsion layer, transfer to cold water, and then on top of another piece of paper. It's a finicky process, but if you are very careful about it, you can get some really cool results. If you're interested in trying it, I suggest starting with polaroids you aren't too happy about, so it doesn't matter if you rip the emulsion layer (this happens easily-like a said, you have to be delicate).

Here is a great video to help you get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7WtPFttNg

This was my first transfer-notice how some parts ripped. I used a boring photo to try it out,

and the transfer really made it look more interesting than the original!

I love it because it is (hopefully) going to allow me to transfer photos on top of other drawings and writings. More experiments to come, which is making me very excited!

past sunday

waking up

I love daffodils. They signify the early spring, the time when its finally come and you're so hungry for it everything seems ethereal. Much in the same way that, just a few months later, peonies signify the beginning of summer, before the weather turns to warm for comfort.

Spring is just starting to open up here and it’s so lovely. I am always happy during the spring. I love change, I love transitions, and spring is that ultimate transition. The time between the extremes, but also full of extremes: with wild storms, wind, cool days and warm days and the occasional snow, spring sees everything. I always feel like I’m waking up in the spring. I suppose that my body is simply following the natural order of things, as spring is the time when the earth wakes up.

There is something so transient about this time. I am always filled with energy and insights, full of feeling and high intentions. A yoga instructor I once had talked to my class about how we must view winter not as a dark time, but as a meditative time. So spring is the moment of waking up, of coming to, after going inward. How beautiful.

spring photos and other such things

Well, first things first, spring is slowly starting to open up on us here in Ohio, and its wonderful. I am always so inspired by the spring. I feel as though, along with the Earth, I'm finally waking up.

All of that being said, I have news and what not. First, I have created an Etsy account! Please look it over, let me know what you think, and of course, buy something!

My Etsy!

I also spent about two weeks busting my butt on making my very own, grown up website, all about my work! So please, please, please check it out. Let me know what you think!

My grown-up website!

I've included some photos of the spring for all of you. I've been doing a lot of work on Keats-related stuff, as well as some photography experiments. This weekend I will be getting to posting about all of this, so please check back later!

xoxox

Em