goings-on

here's the happy couple on their wedding day!!!!  so exciting :)  more to come from them for sure!  just a sneak peak of wedding goodness.  i've been pretty busy lately, which is a blessing since those student loans loom over me like that annoying guy who frequently shows up, sucks up your precious time, wears out his welcome and leaves you feeling drained and wanting your mommy when he finally leaves.  so, horray for being busy (work wise)!

lots of other things are happening in the near future...not so work related...

*john (my brother...in-law...although he's much more like an actual brother than an in-law) is turning 30 in less than a week and we're having a party for him on saturday!
*my cousin josh b. (i call him joshie) is getting married next weekend!
*we're having an art opening at work next saturday!
*my brother is graduating next sunday!
*my brother is going to ireland very soon after graduation (his sister is not the least bit jealous of his international travels, nor does she want to squeeze herself into his suitcase or carry-on for that matter, take a bazillion pictures of a land far away...etc...etc...etc...)
*mother's day is going to be here before i know it and i still haven't pin-pointed the perfect gift
*and lots more things in lots more areas...like hanging out with my niece and nephews, enjoying paleo dinners with jacques, exercising (yoga tomorrow to de-stress a bit!) crafting, etc...

thanks for reading...it's time for me to hit the hay (or spring-ed mattress).
goodnight!
michelle

apologies and opportunities

hello!  it has been a while, and for this i must apologize.  it is extremely difficult for me to justify sitting at my computer.  i know this may sound strange to some, but i struggle with boundaries concerning the proverbial world.  i don't want to get sucked in, therefore i neglect it...and in turn you.

my absence does not mean i am not being creative and productive, it just means i am out doing other fun things...like taking walks with my niece and nephew, or jacques.  making delicious paleo meals (another post for another day).  crocheting baby blankets (you parents can sure keep a gal busy!).  making time to meet a friend for coffee (americanos are my drink of choice).  doing the household laundry, dishes, and cleaning/organizing (i must earn my keep, you know).  working full time at the frame shop.  well the last two some may not define as "fun," but i don't mind working and cleaning.  in fact i sometimes even enjoy it!  needless to say, there are a plethera of things that occupy my time that are very worth-while.  and i will try to convince myself more often to plug into this realm and share a few things with you.  i always have a few blog ideas to post on, so that is not the problem, just the fact that i need to make a commitment to visit my cute sewing chair and my vintage desk where my laptop is located more frequently.

and now for some creative sharing!  this friday i will be shooting my first wedding (solo, unless jacques wants to snap a few).  Amy is a long-time friend (and by long-time i mean since birth) who asked me a few months ago to shoot her wedding.  No hesitation.  Her and Adam are very laid back and i am only nervous about the lighting.  i will be shooting with some new equipment (a bracket flash & diffuser) as their wedding will be in the evening and dimly lit.  romantic, but not as easy to get good, clear images as you would with natural day-light.  so, onto the next adventure i go!  this photo of them was part of their engagement shoot we did at the botanical gardens, where they will be getting married...in four days...i hope i'm ready!  i would still like to get a back-up battery pack as well as another memory card (which i mostly likely won't need seeing as i didn't quite fill the ones i had in two weeks in europe, but still, i like to be prepared!  haha.

now let me explain a few things.  this is not my first opportunity to photograph a wedding, it is just the first time i have said, "yes!"  do i want to be a "wedding photographer?"  no, not really.  will i shoot more weddings in the future?  yes (especially if it will help pay off my student loans and i feel comfortable with the situation).  will i photograph your cute family or baby or senior or event other than a wedding?  of course!  i really enjoy being a photographer and capturing beautiful moments in life, big and small alike :)

so cheers to weddings, new equipment, moments desiring tangible documentation, and life!
michelle

let the new year begin!

hello to my dear readers!  it has been a long time since we've met.  i hope you won't hold it against me.

my favorite months zoomed by...september, october...and then november and december.  i actually had/have lots to post, just needed to get on this small box, plugged into the wall and share with you.  i will try much more this year.

speaking of more, i have a lovely list started regarding my goals for 2012.  i don't really like new years resolutions and such, but i was definitely overdue for some life assessing and goal setting.

here goes:
*pray more
*read more
*craft more
*click the shutter more
*write more
*listen more
*exercise more
*save more
*organize more
*love more
*memorize more
*bake more

*spend less
*eat less (junk)
*waste less
*procrastinate less

i kind of like my list.

and i couldn't leave my first post of 2012 without a photo.  here is the most amazing family photo ever.  :)  hope you like it and thanks for reading.

cheers!
michelle :)

august-september happenings

hello again.  it's me, michelle.  the last month has been pretty busy.  i've received lots of encouraging feedback from the fem-in-us show.  i attended a show at the garrett museum of art this friday (figured. out) and a gal i went to school with said she heard some good things from a write-up.  the show is coming down this week, and this was the first i had heard of it, therefore i searched.  below is the complete article from the fort wayne reader.

Feminine wiles

The Fem-In-Us show at Artlink

By Dan Swartz

Fort Wayne Reader

2011-08-21

For nearly a decade, Motherlode Group, a curatorial collective based in Fort Wayne, has been producing some of the most exciting regional survey exhibitions, based around a sometimes ambiguously gendered template. Originally constructed to promote the work of women in the local arts scene, Motherlode has expanded its view to one of a more open-ended, inclusive aesthetic that deals with the artists reaction to, exploration of, or obsession with some aspect of femininity. This art is produced by any gender and the general feeling to their exhibitions has some aspect of humor with the addition of phrases like "You don't need an ovary to participate when X and Y co-habitate.”

In the most recent exploration of femininity through art, Motherlode Group brings us "Fem-In-Us", an abbreviated form of "Feminine in all of us", which takes the form of a large invitational group exhibition containing some of Fort Wayne's old guard, emerging, and new-comer artists. This exciting, cross-disciplinary, inquisitive body of art is a wonderful exhibition of how third wave feminism intersects with art theory to create a product greater than the sum of its parts. "Fem-In-Us" gently reminds the viewer of issues facing women, and educates them about the ever-changing identity of the feminine, while making all of this accessible and humorous.

"Fem-In-Us" includes beautiful pieces of art from artists like Daniel Dienelt, some of which aren't necessarily reminiscent of his signature style; a portrait of a vestal woman by Katie M. Moore; and humorous, almost cartoonish images by Justin Henry Miller. While "Fem-In-Us" is full of other excellent artists like Suzanne Galazka, John Gruse, Justin Johnson, Amanda Joseph, Mary Klopfer, and Dominick Manco, there were a few artists whose work was able to make a strong presence both visually and conceptually within the broad context of the exhibition. Artists like Sommer Starks, Jeremy McFarren and Erin Patton, Amy Reff, Michelle Diller offer works which reach deep into art history and visually hold their own in this exceptionally strong exhibition.

Sommer Starks was given another rare chance to let her installation work shine with three pieces, each distinct, but carrying Starks' signature brand of unnervingly combining material and concept to produce a somewhat creeping feeling which stays with the viewer after they explore the pieces. "The Mother Load" greets the viewer as they enter the gallery, in the form of multiple mixed mixed cerebral structures hanging from the ceiling, inhabiting some sort of space in between birth, life, and death. "Molter No. 3-10" an installation of multiple smaller pieces, mixes high minimalistic gridded sculptural forms with post-minimal process based organic structures in the form of webs of human hair, lint balls, and scraps of string. "Hair Story" a combination of both human and synthetic hair, is a wonderful installation that is visually read in a similar manner to a written text, likely the title's reference, or another visual language like sheet music. These "verbal" and "linguistic" chunks of weave reference a distinctly feminine narrative, but the abstracted nature allows the viewer to question more than answer the piece.

Michelle Diller's three photographic pieces, "The Heel Pop," "The Educated Stance," and "The Leisurely Stroll" are all headless feminine forms focusing on the posture and clothing of these unidentified women. While each image produces a somewhat stereotypical female concept through the wearing of dresses and in-general “girlie” clothing, and proper and demure physicality, they also represent more modern ideas of a woman's role. The blatant but quiet inclusion of the female figures being very conscious of their body and ability to flirt, the importance of education, and lack of domestic constraints all represent a contemporary identity. Diller's powerful restraint allows her work to invite the viewer in and then imprint them.

Amy Reff's "Skanky Hankys" entitled "Floozy," "Bitch," and "Skank" are exactly what they sound like. These word-based embroidered art pieces are formally incredibly beautiful, including the appropriated handkerchief patterns with the directly placed words and all of the baggage they represent for woman-kind. This re-appropriation of words in combination with appropriation of physical objects is incredibly clever, and adds an almost Duchampian "assisted ready made" aspect to the work.

Finally, Jeremy McFarren and Erin Patton's installation "Glimpse," a composition of seven sewing circle frames which at first seem somewhat common. Upon further inspection, this husband and wife artist collaboration brings pieces that become interesting abstractions both two and three dimensional. The lacy fabric stretched across the frames partially covers abstracted drawings which lay on the other side of the frame, creating a hollow space with graphic picture planes on either side. The viewer is then challenged to see the art inside the objects, interacting with the pieces as conduits to see the art. The total piece is read as an object which both obscures and draws out the total image, itself a producer of third piece within the artwork, being the relationship of the viewer to the sculptural object.

"Fem-In-Us" effortlessly creates one of the most interesting and conceptually diverse exhibitions of 2011, finding ways to bring about both feminine and universal ideas to the viewer. This stimulating experience continues throughout the whole exhibition and shows just how strong our arts community can be.

*Special Note:This will be Artlink's final exhibition in the Hall Community Center after nearly two decades in this space. In October, Artlink will be moved to the Auer Center for Arts and Culture.

in addition to the show, i took a quick trip to chi-town with jacques last month.  we visited the museum of science and industry...were able to see body worlds...which was amazing! as well as suited for space, which was pretty sweet as well.  the planetarium, the sears (now willis) tower and giordano's pizza completed our trip.
later, ohio welcomed us.  we visited my favorite farm.  mostly it's my favorite because it belongs to my aunt and uncle and i get to see them, my cousins and my favorite friend amanda.  and eat well (3 squares plus delicious snacks) all the while.  lots of fun.
jacques turned 25 this month...so i welcomed the old man into the 25 and over group with a birthday shin-dig complete with both of our families.  he doesn't like people to make a big deal over him...so he wasn't pleased i was throwing him a party, but he showed up and enjoyed himself nonetheless :)
let me just tell you that i love september.  it's one of my favorite months of the year: autumn officially begins, the air turns crisp, i can wear scarves again (without people making fun of me so much), wearing sweatshirts and sitting around bonfires becomes a frequent weekend occurrence.  and i have eight or so best friends/loved ones who have birthdays.  seriously...jacques, amanda, cheryl, kate, andrea, grandma barnes, my sister jacque, cris...it's birthday mayhem trying to find specific gifts for all of them, while not exceeding a small budget.  but it's lots of fun.

so, anyway, september is almost gone, and i'm back to blogging.  things to look forward to...a post on the books i'm reading/have read lately, some photos of baby asa, maybe a few chicago pictures...who knows!

thanks for reading!
michelle    

ths friday

night is the opening for the fem-in-us show at artlink here in fort wayne from 6-9pm.  here are what my final images look like.  i warmed them up a bit and did a tad more tweaking.  they are printed on a lovely archival double-weight matte paper (my favorite) and are framed in a simple black frame up to the edge.  go and see them in person.  i forgot to say please.  

 

 

and happy perusing.  don't worry...i will be posting about something different soon.  promise!

michelle

fem-in-us

these three images are what i have come up with for the fem-in-us show.  i still have a bit of tweaking to do on them, but am pretty pleased thus far.  my idea changed a few times, but when i went to shoot this time, it was clear that i would leave these as straight photographs and not collage onto them.  i will print and frame them separately, but also like them as a single piece.  i still do not have exact titles for them, but they will most likely be one word descriptors.  i hope you like them :)

here's to a great week!
cheers :)
michelle

here i am

again.  hooray, right?  i'm trying very hard to keep up my end of this thing.

today has been a good day.  let's backtrack a bit.  yesterday was a good day.  after work i made a target run with my mama (we frequently enjoy "target-runs" together...as well as the fresh market!) and afterwards we went to joann's.  lately i've had the urge to sew and as i walked past the sewing section, a few books caught my eye.  The Best of sew simple magazine jumped into my arms and never left them until i turned every page and soaked up every beautiful project.  needless to say, home it came with me...for me to drool over some more.  now onto today.  after church and lunch, i decided to be creative and productive, although a nap would have been heaven!  down to the basement i went, on a mission to un-earth my sewing machine.  a couple of years ago (yes, i said years) john, my brother-in-law, gifted me his grandmother's old kenmore sewing machine, manual, table, thimble and all.  my mother's machine had always been my go-to-machine until recently, when it decided to take a break...who knows how long it will be on vacation for.  thus the mission to get out my very own, obviously sears-bought machine and try it out.  to my joy, the little old lady works like a charm :)  now that she's out and warmed up, she just needs me to get a few supplies.  i believe some lovely little pot holders will be our first project together.

did i mention i am going to have a booth in the markle festival this year?  my friend holly is in charge of the creative side of things there this year and the booth is free!  so i will be there, august 20, trying to sell cute old ladies and thrifty young ones my artwork as well as some hand-made crafts.  and i thought why not pot holders???  haha.  there is still a lot i need to do to get ready for that, but am very excited!  i needed a little boost to get some new things going!

speaking of markets and such, i bought these adorable little colored pencils made from twigs at a farmer's market in MI a few weeks ago.  thought i would share them with you.  five dollars might have been a little steep for them, but i splurged anyway.  one of those "had to have" things.
 

 
so here's to creativity and a productive week ahead!

cheers! 
michelle :)

oh man...

it's been a while. i think about you every day...you faithful blog followers, you. i must admit i struggle with technology. not working with it, but with spending my time in the proverbial world as opposed to the "real world." i would rather sit down with a cup of tea and read a good book or crochet instead of checking email or facebook (of which i am thinking about deleting my account), looking up videos, updating my blog...but i really just need to find a good balance. i desire to update this little blog every week at least. i have so many ideas on what my next post/s should be, on what photo i should edit next...and yet have such a hard time making myself sit at this lovely little desk, in this lovely little chair to spend time on these things. things i do find valuable...unlike facebook. (get the bad vibes?)

so, i'm going to do it. i'm also working on my website finally. when i was in school i didn't want to set up a temporary one, but wanted to wait on a professional one. that fell through twice now, and have decided not to go the professional route (where someone with a web design degree designs the site specifically catered to moi) but to "just do it"...which is a new motto of mine as of late. so, i'm researching which host to go with (you may suggest one if you have a stellar idea!)

in my last post...way long ago...i told you i was going to be working on some things for some upcoming shows. i have already submitted a piece to the artlink member's show...of which is pictured down below. it is a piece from my digital imaging class, which i have not shown yet, but definitely like.

"domestic gathering of myselves"

i have lots of ideas floating around in my head and on scrap pieces of paper as to what i am going to do for my next show, of which i am allowed three pieces. i'm working on formulating some domestic collage-style images with many layers. i just hope i give myself enough time to shoot for it and get them all put together before they are due!

that is all for tonight. i hope to post some on vacation and other summer fun-ness-es soon!

xoxo
michelle

p.s. to my aunt and uncle...i love you guys and need to see you soon!

i''m so behind

in lots of things.
mostly creative things.
i still have not been able to sit down and devote hours to editing christmas photos...which i would like to do.
i have lots of other photos to edit as well.
photos for my sister...of her kiddos (and if i wait too long, there will be another to add into the mix)
photos of mandy and michael from their wedding...this one i'm a little embarrassed about.
photos of Jacques' nephew from his first birthday (although half-way done)
and other creative things i'm behind on...creating artwork for upcoming shows.
two shows specifically i'm going to participate in are "the fem-in-us" and "artlink member's show"
in addition to all of these, i am taking photos of two sweet little girls on sunday afternoon who are cousins and both just turned one. so exciting! i'm trying to come up with some lovely and creative ideas for them! and then i will edit/print/etc.
so, needless to say...i need to get on the ball!!!
no more procrastinating.
in fact, i'm going to go work on that before i have to clock in at work today.

cheers!
michelle

happy

green day...

because i apparently have irish in my background...

but really i just like green :)

mi-chelle

love him!

green things

make me happy. but if you know me, you already knew that. this is probably one of my favorite wall papers ever and it has in fact been my proverbial wall paper on my computer multiple times (i frequently change my background image...adds some spice to my life). a guys blog i used to stalk, who lived in fort wayne, but has now moved on to bigger and better things in seattle, took this image of actual wall paper during his travels and it has become one of my favorite things.

another color i am obsessed with recently is gray. i just can't get enough of it. whenever jacques and i get married, the color scheme will most likely be white, black, gray with a hint of green...classy with a touch of funk. haha. but enough of dream world...back to gray. last year i painted my room a warm "dorian gray" color. love it. lots of white accents and storage bins and some antique things and of course my favorite green color sprinkled throughout. i'll post pictures once it is completely finished. still working on a few things...the perfect room takes time, you know. other gray things...shirts, shoes, socks, scarves, bags, gray skinny jeans...anything that is gray automatically gets a second look. i know, it's not fair to the other colors out there, but i do have my favorites. now, back to work...to pay for those gray things along with school bills...yay!

much love!
michelle

writing...again.

so, here i am, at my desk again...taking a break from writing. soon this thing...this thing i call my thesis...will be over. it should have been done last semester, but due to lack of motivation and all of the other things going on, like my internship and other class work, i just did not put enough time and energy into the darn thing. luckily, i have an amazing adviser who gave me an extension until this coming friday. i just hope, now that i have the drive to finish it, that it gets done on time, and is still up to par! i was struggling with a lack of resources, but decided to just include that dilemma into my paper and offer suggestions as to why there is not much written about nostalgia in works of art. it's slow going, but thus far i have re-vamped my intro, addressed my dilemma and defined characteristics of nostalgia in works of art, and have started on my artistic influence section. this section starts with some of the female photographers back in late 1800s, early 1900s who were creating photographs for artistic purposes, and proving themselves to critics that their work was "High Art" just as painting was. Pictorialism was their sort of genre and a lot of the photographs have a softness to them. nostalgia was not their goal, but their imagery exudes it. i will talk about a few artists in between these early pictorialists and contemporary artists and then discuss my own work and how it is influenced by them and what i am trying to get across to the viewer. i'm about 1/4 done now, but hope to be more like 3/4 done by the end of today.



this image is one of maggie taylor's. i discovered her in my digital imaging class last semester and she will be included in my thesis. i think her work is just lovely. she has done a series on alice and wonderland that is quite beautiful and original to her style as well. you should check her out. seriously.

well, i just needed a moment of procrastination. thanks.

on shoes...

so, for some of you, this just might be a very boring post...actually for most it probably will be. please accept my up front apology. haha.

so shoes...
i have recently purchased two new pairs of shoes. both are earth brand because they rock and are very comfortable to wear all day when standing at work :) if you don't know much about earth shoes, they have a negative heel and you should google them and order a pair while you're at it. so, after christmas, i decided to use some funds and buy some much needed boots. haven't had a pair since middle school sledding and snow days. haha. those were fun. franke park, yes.

black, comfortable, on sale...right up my alley.

the second pair i bought are these gray lovelies. also very comfortable and trendy. yes, this was my splurge, but free shipping :)

these shoes will see much use and wear. standing all day means comfortable shoes are necessary. thank you earth shoes for providing that for me. haha. and now i'm done with my shoe rave. thanks for listening/reading. other brands i find comfortable and trendy: merrell, softs (although i don't own any yet, but jess is getting me hooked), clarks (the ones that don't look like everyday old lady shoes...because they do sell those too). but mostly earth shoes are what i wear.

now you tell me what your favorite shoes are...

and next time i'll write about something more interesting to you...promise!
michelle

hi again...it's me,

michelle...your long lost blogging friend. by demand of my uncle (or as he put it- "you're conditioning me NOT to look at your blog") here i am. just to say hi. much more fun postings to come...christmas pictures, artwork and other lovlies. i miss this...and you.

and i'm sure a post about the new year will be coming soon as well!

cheers!

my twenty page thesis paper

is not my favorite. i can't find enough sources to back up my ideas and thoughts. but i'm trying. here's my working thesis..."working" mind you!

"There is a trend in contemporary art today of artists using nostalgia in their work. The advancements in technology and industrialization in our society have caused some to long for the past. Artists working with this idea, portraying nostalgia of some sort through their work, are sending a powerful message to the viewer that things of the past still hold value."

(very beginning stages) although my intro has come along nicely. if you don't care much about this topic, please forgive this boring post. i just have to put down my ideas somewhere...so why not here.

in this paper i will be talking about specific artist working with this theme, mostly female artists and their calling back to domestic ways...if i can find enough info. i will also be addressing my own artwork and how it fits into this particular theme as well.

any thoughts???

michelle

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."