a twig, a bird and a flower

scanner art. all you need are: objects to scan, a decent scanner, and photoshop. these three images are made completely from scanned items which i basically cut and pasted together. much more complicated than that, but you don't need those details. my idea was to take people from vintage advertisements and give them an environment. i started out really simplistic and like the way the images were turning out that i just added a bit of texture with some patterned paper, a vignette and called it a night. hope you like them :)

it's me again!

hi! how are you? i'm glad you've found your way back. i know i was gone for a while.

as i was submitting some artwork to a show this evening, i thought i would share it with you. some of you might have seen this from a distance last semester, but here it is, nice and up-close :) it's from my domestic etching series.

"pin cushion"
3" x 3"

a few things about the print for those of you who care: it is a hard ground etching with chine colle and a surface roll. the chine colle is handmade japanese paper i tinted and applied to the inked/wiped plate before printing. the surface roll is the yellow ocher and muddy brown colors applied to the top of the plate after the sepia ink has been pushed into the lines and the plate wiped clean. feel free to ask questions, as i may not have explained it very well, or if you just want more detail :)

now back to some digital imaging. i'm turning myself into a 50s housewife...let's hope it works!

cheers!
michelle

back to school

so, i'm back in school this semester. it's been quite busy and the weeks are already running together. i always have such high hopes for myself...updating my blog every other day or so...and just let myself down, but i will continue to be optimistic that i will update more :)

my semester goes as follows:
mondays and fridays are dedicated to work
tuesdays and thursdays i have a digital imaging class in the morning and a rockin' history of photography class in the evening
tuesday afternoons and wednesday mornings i am interning at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art
and saturdays are dedicated to sometimes work and always homework.
i also have an independent study for art history, which i'm formulating a thesis and writing a very long paper for.
busy. plus i like to see my family and jacques at least once and a while. hah.

anyway, this set of photos is from my digital imaging class. we had to take an old photograph and restore it. luckily i found one of my beautiful mother when she was just a young girl to work with. this was supposed to be one of the "easier," less time consuming projects, but since i'm a perfectionist, it took me way longer than expected, but i sure like how it turned out.

hope you all are doing well! i miss you!
michelle

on camping and canoeing...

this weekend jacques and i, along with seven other friends went camping and canoeing in mongo, IN. i've never heard of mongo before. i knew, going into the weekend, that we would be "roughing" it. no electricity, no biggie. we stayed in tents...although i did bring an air mattress, cooked food over an open fire, and paid little attention to personal appearance (no blow-dryer, minimal makeup...i'm quite partial too my mascara, and clothing to suit the very hot weather). and it was lovely. we drove up to trading post, canoe, kayak and campground after work on friday and set up camp. after an enjoyable evening around the fire, decompressing from the work week, and a not-so-enjoyable night's rest (our neighbors were obnoxiously loud and crazy until 5am) we awoke, made eggs, sausage and oatmeal for breakfast, put on our water shoes and gear and headed to the pigeon river to embark on our 13 mile canoe trip.

an average time of completing the trip is about 4.5 hours. jacques and i took 5 hours, due to the consistent half hour stops of those in our group. after a while we got ahead a bit and were just about to stop and wait up for the group when the never ending corridor of lily pads came upon us. no place to pull over and stop. no banks, no nothin'. so we (at times me) just paddled on, against the wind and made it through to the end of the trip. it was quite an enjoyable excursion. the outdoors, the exercise, the company, the challenge. i would do it again tomorrow...or next weekend :)

after the rest of the group got back and cleaned up a bit, we ate dinner, played corn hole, and chatted the night away. enjoyable weekend for sure. when jacques and i were driving back home, he looked over and said to me, "thanks for roughing it with me this weekend, babe." and to that i should have said, "thanks for not minding that i still wanted to wear mascara." haha.

all in all, it was a great weekend. a much needed weekend away from the everyday.

and here's to a week that is hopefully just as great!
cheers!
michelle

p.s. sorry for the lack of photographic evidence of the weekend. i really did not want to bring my only good piece of digital equipment on the trip with me for fear of water damage. maybe next time, if i have a "back up."

hi...

i'm back.

i guess i took a leave of absence at the beginning of the summer...thinking it would be nice and relaxing and care-free and such. well, it has, but i have missed blogging and keeping my friends and family and other on-lookers up on what i've been up to.

summer 2010 download:
as you know, i went to FL at the beginning of the summer. since then, i've been working quite a bit at the frame shop, slowly (ssssssssloooooooooowly) re-doing my room, grabbing coffee with friends, watching lots of movies with jacques, crocheting baby blankets for my numerous pregnant friends, hanging out with my niece and nephew, as well as jacques' niece and nephew, attempting to read a book, and other randomities. and it's been really nice.

now...all of the sudden...i feel like i need to be super-productive and have even started stressing a bit (not necessary). school is coming soon. my last full semester of undergrad for art history. which means i need to find an internship...my advisor is crazier than i am and couldn't quite possibly remember everything she needs to do (and for this i could never fault her, as i am somewhat similar to her). therefore, i am on my own, embarking on this internship inquiry on my lonesome. the FWMOA (Fort Wayne Museum of Art) seems to be somewhat promising though :) I am to hear back from them this week for a possible interview. hooray. a little productivity. check. but don't let that fool you. i'm behind in my foreign language. i really should have taken a class or two this summer, but couldn't ready myself for that while trying to graduate last semester. i will be attempting later this month to celp out of two spanish classes at IPFW and then register for another for the fall...let's pray this works! IPFW because it's cheaper and St. Francis doesn't offer many foreign language classes, especially the right one at the right time.

other than that, i should be formulating a thesis for my 25ish paper i will be writing this semester...haven't quite gotten that far. and now i'm kind of stressing about paying back student loans and getting all of that jargon in order. hooray for getting older.

in rebellion to that, i will be going camping/canoeing this weekend. bought myself an enamel mug today...pretty exciting! i will be able to use a very lovely gift from my friend andrea (a single cup coffee brewer which requires no electricity or gas, just heated water and grounds) which i am super excited about as well :) i just can't help myself.

and on one last note, i am attempting to stay tuned into the world of art. i have a cyanotype of a suitcase in the three rivers invitational show currently up at St. Francis and i also have a mordancage image of a vintage iron at Artlink. go and check them out in person. you'll like them...maybe. and i will be talking to Becky at the firefly about selling my small recycled envelope books there.



here's to being creative!
michelle

finally! some pictures from...

florida

five days old

is this litttle aislinn claire. well, now she's eight weeks or so, but i was able to capture her on her fifth day of existence in this big world. adorable, as are her parents. this is just one of the things keeping me busy thus far this summer. way.....way more to post. let's see if i can keep up!

michelle