Working Logos and Nearing Completion of an Epic Garment

Alright, above are a couple more developed logo ideas...still not 100% confident with them but this is where I am at for now.

Tonight I have been working on my dress....which is no longer really ocean pollution but pollution in general...probably more with littering, actually. I dyed this floral print dress...adorable frickin dress...blue last week and since then have been sewing stuff too it. I began with sewing scraps of paper, wrappers, etc into swirl patterns below the bustline down and then in the back i sewed chiffon, and plastic bags to make a sort of train or whatever. I also stained it with black ink..same swirly pattern. I even have a giant flower made from dryer sheets. As it dries in the living room I know I created something great, but there's more to be done before crit on Tuesday.

I never took my self portrait this week. However, I found a great new location to shoot in. My friend Nik moved to an apartment above a funeral home...and everything about the building is gorgeous. Ideas are storming about in my mind, like mad. Expect photographs. Also, Nik's father, who donated a new door to our darkroom is also a photographer and gave me some 3200 ISO black and white film. Playtime? Yes.

Now. Dishes.

LRRH: Revisitation

Today I revisited an idea because I fell in love with another costume I grabbed from the basement of my house. I still want to use my mom's old bridesmaid dress, but I still was fascinated by the poofy petticoat i found and definitely the little red riding hood cape hood thing. And I had an itch to shoot, particularly because the week prior I had shot so much I was in some sort of habit or consumed by some fever that caused an adrenaline to just photograph...and constantly. So I talked to my lovely friend Greta, who is also my future roommate and has modeled for me before and many others, and she's a great model because she will do anything. This shoot was particularly familiar to her...she's had her share of playing fairy tale characters that are "bad to the bone". Last semester she appeared in a classmate's series of photographs where Little Miss Muffet was taking her revenge on the spider. Anyways, she was Big Bad Little Red this time. We took our story to set at the famous "Church in the Woods"...which is literally this old chapel in the middle of the woods...it's still maintained by the descendants of the founder's children...it's been there since 1925. Unfortunately it's become a sex pot and beer shack for some students. Or a place to shoot, for me. We may have been a little disrespectful...Little Red pointed her gun at a statue of St. Francis.

In other news, I can't find Jezebel's lenscap. Anywhere. It's a snap-on cap that I HATE because if it gets bumped it falls off. So while I was moving my stuff back into my apartment after spring break it probably caught on something. So I need a UV filter at least to keep it from scratching. Especially since I plan on reshooting at the church. The other news is that I came up with this idea, and I'm going to shoot a self-portrait every week. Sure I've used myself as a model but I don't have them labeled as self portraits nor are they meant to be. I'm a body that can fit into my clothes and be available whenever I want it to be...so...yeah. Tomorrow I'm going to shoot the first one. We'll see what I come up with.

I don't get critiqued til April 6th....so I'm printing the first Little Red photo and the "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" One. Four 11x14 prints are being processed of the toy images right now. They should hurry up so I can have them!

Portraits in a Gallery

Today the lovely Miss Clarissa and I went over to the Purloin Studio in the Falls to shoot some portraiture...the gallery offered colored panes of glass and all sorts of artistic odds and ends that resulted in some rather interesting portraits of Clarissa. The process of the shoot was basically putting whatever we could find on Clarissa...including scary grandma dolls. Needless to say it was the most random shoot I had done in awhile aside from the shooting randomly at midnight that one time earlier in the semester. I want to try more.

Tomorrow I am heading back to Green Bay, which probably means less shooting...but I must get my Graphics page layouts done and my Textiles project completed. The semester will pass by quickly, so I must finish strong.

Come May, I'll shoot everyday again. I can hardly wait.

Creating Characters: Little Red

Today my friend Clarissa and I ventured down from the coffeeshop to shoot at Lime Kiln park by the waterfall. We had no ideas in mind, just bags of costumes and our cameras. We found one surefire image, that I added to the Characters portfolio. We may have found another character with Clarissa wearing a fluffy white petticoat but I am still thinking more about those images and who this person could be. I like the Little Red Riding Hood character because she doesn't necessarily have to be Little Red riding Hood. The cape is a symbol that brings out more question about Little Red's identity...if this girl by the waterfall is in fact Little Red or not.

We plan on creating more characters today inside the coffee shop, who we will find, we don't know. But right now all I can think about is how much my stomach is growling.

Oh My

Above is a shot taken this morning...a LOT more is happening tomorrow. All day. And I have no specific goal in mind. Right now I am feeling a little lost because I am pretty sure I left my idea book at the coffeeshop. Luckily the staff and owners know me pretty well, and I was in the store after it closed so it should be safe. It has only been 3 places all day anyways: my house, Amy's car, and John Harbor's. Either way I have to get it back so I don't feel more mentally insane than I already am.

Birth and Evolution Progress of a Series

Finding Imagery

Today was another very productive day thus far (it is only 5:40)...I shot what I consider to be my best digital image as long as I have been shooting with my DSLR, and shot another selection of shots that have a very magical storybook character element to them. The image in the bathroom came from the idea of the song title "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" by the Beatles. This is the image that I am most proud of. The battle I fought with this image was that I wanted natural lighting from outside through the window, but I didn't want to wash out the figure from behind with too much backlighting. So I used a halogen lamp with the foreground to illuminate the figure's face. of course the battle was having two very different light sources illuminating the same image. I chose a period-style dress to reflect the time that the song was written and since there were plants being kept in Tuckie's bathtub, the green floral print compliments the plantlife in the bathtub and balances the color pallete within the image.

The second photograph was more experimental, more with creating characters out of costumes and environments. Prior to shooting in Lime Kiln Park, we tried some more shots in Tuckie's yard with a very elegant red dress...but nothing about these images spoke to me, hence I'm not going to use them...they're "pretty" but nothing comes from them. With the ones in Lime Kiln park, we see a figure walking through the woods in very near-renaissance clothing...this asks the questions of who is this girl, what is she doing in the middle of the woods? Is she from another time, why is she dressed like that? My goal with these photos is not to assign too much meaning although the above image was inspired by a song, although in the end I don't feel like it was created for that reason. After all, I do not intend to title the photograph "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"...there could be any other story...why did she come in through the bathroom window.

Earlier today I visited the highschool again, I sat in Advanced Placement Portfolio and Computer Art. I helped the students and I feel more secure about going into Art Education. I loved learning and am really content with what I am working for. I hope to keep observing and keep learning...and perhaps I shall end up student teaching there someday.

Tomorrow, more photography will happen in this beautiful weather that has finally melted the snow. It may also be my last night in Milwaukee until Easter or the end of the semester.

Toy Animals + Powder Room Sink =

I created a series with occurences at the watering hole which happens to be a sink...and the animals are only toys. I wonder what other concepts these photographs hold. After I put the box of animals I randomly found away...I found another box of animals. Oh we shall see what happens tomorrow...I plan on observing more at the highs chool and shooting with Tuckie as my model.

No shamrock shakes until next spring.

Waited

My brain is on full-drive for photography...it's slightly rediculous. The above photo I found more of a story with it, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to share it. I might make it black and white, but I am not too sure yet.
Tonight instead of drinking green beer or shamrock shakes (all 3 Menomonee Falls locations are OUT!) I read an article on postmodernism and the body and got more of a sense about my work...the costumes, the use of female models, identities...
And of course, browsed deviantart, and found a spectacular photographer to stalk:

www.larajade.co.uk

I just ventured into my basement and found a box of toy animals. I think the sink may become their watering hole. I am about to go experiment...sure, you'll prolly see a new post soon, but I'm okay with that. I may just be an obsessive-compulsive-blogger with my art as my medicine that drives the insanity further.

Half-Absent

I thought for a minute and decided to post the photograph taken on Monday...the process that created this particular piece is similar to that of the milkmaid photographs. I gather random costumes and see what stories I can create with them. Tuckie, who modeled for this photo seen above, also provided jewelry so I created a story based off an engagement ring, a fur coat, and a dress that looks like it came from the 1940's.

Tomorrow morning, more of these photographs are happening...outside.

Dabbling in the Past

Today was my most productive day of Spring Break so far. It is my third day home, and while I caught up with friends beforehand I thought it was about time that I dive back into work. I did shoot some photographs Sunday night but those are on the backburner for now, as I am not sure if I feel like using any of them. One of them I like, but I'm still thinking about it a little bit. I was eager to get back to Milwaukee because of what is available for me. I work a lot with costumes, so I was able to have access to our stash of old clothes and dress-up clothes. I have worked with one of my mother's old bridesmaid dresses before, and am very interested in the way the fabric has worked aesthetically with my photos, and since it was such a windy day I thought it would be a great opportunity to work with that element of the fabric. I am loving most of what I shot, above are two examples. I loved working with the empty dress, to play with the idea of absence while there could still be a near-ghostly presence of a body. And since the dress is from a wedding in the past, I liked that aspect of the subject matter as well.

After my shoot, I ventured over to the highschool to observe the 8th hour drawing and design II class taught by one of my old highschool art teachers. While the kids were squirrely, I enjoyed observing their techniques and what their main struggles were and watching how Mrs. Martin helped them on an individual level as it was mostly a workday. After school let out, I got to know Mrs. Martin's grading process. "helping" her grade projects from Drawing and Design I. I plan on heading over there in the morning to observe Mrs. Spehert's classes, which are more directed at painting and advanced placement. My main reason for doing this is to find out if teaching art is really my thing or not. It has always been an idea of mine, but I have always been turned off by people who teach only because they couldn't find another job with their specialty. After today I am thinking that it might be my thing, as I walked around the classroom I wanted to help...so I guess I have that drive in me.

Until tomorrow, I'll just drink shamrock shakes.

Almost done...

Above is the work-in-progress octopus (now lovingly called Damien) drawing I probably have mentioned in quite a few blogs. He is so near completion it is scary, but ONE thing is holding that back...the blank white orbs he is holding in his tentacles...what are they?? In my sketchbook, he originally was holding eyes, but now I am not so sure. Help? I heard a few different ideas in critique this past Thursday but I am STILL stuck. Shall I stick with eyes? Should I just render more depth to the empty white glowing orbs?? What are these spheres??? As of yesterday I am on spring break, so by the end of break those circles better be filled...help?

Latest headshots

Early this week I shot a couple more headshots. They were my first male commissions and Nik is already using his for his voice acting website:

http://voice123.com/nikolasmeurett

I have been rediculously busy again as usual. I've been planning a bake/button sale for the org I am part of (Art Agency)...which is...tomorrow so I'm stressing big time about that. I constructed ONE jellyfish today and worked more on my octopus drawing which is due Thursday...and am shooting tomorrow afternoon. Spring Break is also next week so I plan on working on photo shoots and working on my commission for my hometown highschool's "Jazz and Java" concert...basically doing some artwork for it...getting paid...I dunno, sounds kinda cool.

I need to also make friends with Quark and InDesign. Because my stupid magazine spread project is due soon. I'd rather design logos or cd covers or fonts than make a magazine spread about some dead guy who made fonts once...but I realize this industry makes you kind of do things you don't want to...but...I can admit work can be boring right??

I need a break but it won't stop. At least I'm enjoying my insanity, right?

The blizzard can't stop me from shooting

Tonight my lovely friends/models Nik and Tuckie and I ventured to the campus lighting studio to try out some ideas. Not sure what I am going to use yet, but here are a few samples of what was shot. I plan on using at least the one with the fabric draped over Tuckie's head. I'm not sure how I feel about these shots, but I know I can be proud of the milkmaid ones. Tomorrow I plan on hanging some work in the hallway, then I want to work on constructing jellyfish (I purchased the wire!) and actually working on the Ocean Pollution dress.

I can't wait for the snow to melt...

Milkmaid in a Blizzard

I was rather dissapointed with the weather today. It had been 40-50 degrees, ideal for outdoor photography in a Wisconsin winter, and today was my only window of opportunity for this. We decided to go out for a quick shoot anyways--a whomping 14 frames--and my model was more into it than I was about going out which encouraged me to venture outside right by my apartment so we could run right back in when we were done. I got a couple good shots, not sure I will use the one in the center as the composition wasn't as strong--I was trying to keep the dumpsters out of my shot. We have more of a costume wardrobe to play with but we shall do that in the lighting studio--as the snow is extra icy-wet today and not so fluffy--my lens wasn't a fan of the weather.

I finally purchased wire for constructing my jellyfish, and I might throw some watercolor onto the background of my drawing. I also am going to hang my work in the hallway in the display case as it is my turn (every Advanced photo student gets a week of the semester to do so). Hopefully the weather will calm down or shooting during the week may be more difficult.

Mother Nature better be on my side...or there will be one very Wisconsin-hating photographer.

Productive Day in the UWGB Photo Labs

Today was the Art Open House at UWGB...it went from 2-6, and I volunteered to demo printing. So I printed like mad...craploads of work that has never been revealed that I just left in my negative holders. I'm really loving them. The shot with the legs was printed in an edition of 7, the rest in 3, and the pine tree was just one print.






After what was nearly 8 hours spent in the darkroom--I went to see the UWGB Theatre production of "Expecting Isabel" with my friend Jessica who is also a theatre major. After which, I took her digital headshots, which I am very pleased with.




Tomorrow we are having a visiting artist on campus from California. His name is Sam Davis and he is a sculptor and photographer. I am not quite sure when I will return to life as you all know it, but at least I'm enjoying myself in my photo-nerd-land.

New Textiles Project

This morning in textiles class we were assigned something new; we must construct a wearable item with a social, political, intellectual, or philosophical message. I realized that I would probably work more politically, so I thought about what issues were important to me, and most issues that I focus on with my political views and thoughts about this world have to do with the environment. I thought about issues such as ecological conservation--particularly the oceans and rainforests, pollution, animal rights, deforestation, the ozone, etc. I decided that pollution unified most of these, so I thought about going off that for my main idea. I thought some more and thought about sealife getting mangled in discarded fishing nets, trash strewn about the beach and found tangled in seaweed (which is fish food--who wants to eat trash??)...and I felt that this would be the strongest presentation. Below are some images that inspired me, and may hopefully shock you, also check out these links:











I was so inspired by this project and idea I began sketching immediately, and I came up with something that I think is workable. The dress design consists of three different parts:

1) Upper third (shoulders-chest-upper back): Fish design. The straps would be made from a sheer fabric to emulate fins, and the chest and upper back area will look like scales. Is th e wearer the fish stuck in the net?

2) Mid-section (stomach-mid back): The main fabric will be dyed to represent polluted water. Above that will be the matrix of the fishing net. Woven/sewn into the fishing net will be objects such as:
Non-Biodegradable Trash
Sealife
Sea shells
Driftwood
Soda rings (if I can even find these--they stopped making them because this was such an issue)

3) Skirt: I want to felt seaweed to create a fringe for the skirt. I would use green wool. I might sew a few objects to unify it with the mid-section...that and you see trash stuck in seaweed washed up on the beach all the time...GROSS!




Above are my sketches and ideas explained pictorally. I also came up with an idea of bottle cap fasteners for the back of the dress. I thought more about why I am drawing an octopus holding eyeballs--as if he wrenched our eyeballs out of our faces because we as the human race are failing to realize and see how we are destroying our oceans...so why should we have eyes if we can't even see the obvious trash in this octopus' home?? I also thought more about my idea of reversed environments by photographing jellyfish flying through our everyday environments...we killed their water...so where do they go?? Perhaps they are forced to adapt to our world or they are migrating elsewhere when their home is no longer a great place to live--like a mass jellyfish exodus. This is an idea that I am still working with, probably have more solutions to find, but I feel that I am definitely on to something.

Now, back to the loom.

A must-see for every photographer

Intro Graphics

This past semester (Fall 2008) I began taking classes for my minor with Intro Graphics. We had quite a few assignments but in this post I am sharing my best and favorite assignments.





Above are my three designs for the CD Cover redesign project. I chose the band, Radiohead and focused on addressing human/technology interactions and relationships.



Above here are my button designs for Pink Week, a national celebration of nothing more than the color pink. The entire Art department here at UWGB participates.

Aside from updating my online art sites today with my Intro Graphics work, I am gathering inspiration for possible shoots. Perhaps I shall embark to the Studio Arts building to weave on the loom, before viewing Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". Next weekend I plan on multiple sessions of shooting. Either way it is nice to have a day off before the crazy week ahead of me.

Studio I and creative blocks

I haven't posted for a few days--because nothing new has been created. I'm in artist standby mode, basically. Above is an assignment for Graphics Studio I that was critiqued and turned in last week. We had to design a display font, I call my design "Skworm". Our next project has to do with the program InDesign and researching a font designer. I'm not too thrilled about this assignment, it sounds rather bland and I'm not yet friends with InDesign--the program and I tend to make enemies. I would love to photograph today. I have two willing friends/models visiting from my hometown. However, I am rather stumped at what creative aim to take. I have ideas written down but the gears in my brain are stuck and need to be spinning like crazy again. The drive is there, just not the brain juice...if that analogy works at all. I ought to go work on the loom today too, and draw the octopus.

Why do I have a feeling that this coming week is going to suck??