i'm in the thick

of finals. yuck. and guess what? i'm procrastinating, and you're reaping the benefits of it.

i just finished editing the first of two photo series for a final critique tomorrow morning. this project was an experiment for me...and i REALLY like the way it has turned out. i usually work with a feminine subject matter, but thought i would try to compliment an earlier series with a male version of similar feel. i rigged up my own studio here at home with a sheet and some harsh aluminum reflector clamp lights that my dad had in the garage. horray for being inventive! i dug around for some old-ish looking tools and items most specifically related to men: hankies, an old razor, work gloves, suspenders, a pipe, a handful of change, etc. i then used my favorite man as my hand model and clicked the shutter...a few hundred times.

and here's the result. let me know what you think!

back to the eye twitching,
michelle

senior project: printmaking

hello again. so sorry for the lack of posting. that seems to be a trend, unfortunately. i'm hoping that when i'm out of school the story will be a little different. the last few weeks my attention has been focused on my senior project. i've been etching and filing small 3x3" zinc plates, hand tinting japanese paper, and printing my little lovelies. i chose my favorites and framed them in a shadow box where I attached them to a clothesline i conjured up with the cutest little clothespins! then off to the student show they went with six other alternative process photographs i made previous to this project. if you would like to view these works of art, they are currently hanging in the gallery at st. francis.

so glad this part is over...now two more photo projects to start (and finish) as well as a lengthy art history project. then this crazy semester is over. whew!

now back to some homework.
thanks for stopping by.
michelle

STREeeeeeeeee...............

ssssED!

crazy with school projects that just don't want to get done. but i hope they do. but i'm not sure if they will. but they always do. but i'm just stressing.

20 + change

it's been 25 years since I exited my mother's womb and entered this world. this world full of creativity, of love, of hatred, of variety, of conformity, of community. this beautifully ugly world. i've enjoyed much, i've laughed often, i've loved many, i've experienced some of the world's imperfections, and i've experienced some of God's perfection. i'm glad to be alive and intend to enjoy 25 very much...even though i feel just a tad old :) thank you for being a part of my existence. i have nothing but love for you.

now i must go and enjoy the rest of this day with my amazing family.
your young(ish) friend,
michelle

waiting

out of my reflections came inspiration.

i just wasn't "feeling" the photo project i proposed for the first half of the semester. therefore it was not being worked on, and i felt like a failure. enter bad week. i can now clearly see that my "rut" was partially put in place so that i could gain new inspiration for my work. not my first choice for motivation, but cause for deeper meaning and more personal artwork. clever.

i'm changing my photo proposal from the norm of my domestic objects to a series on waiting. fitting, really. (REALLY)

i wasn't sure why i was taking these images last semester, but i now realize they were a prelude to this particular project...and my life. i'm still working out some of the ideas i have and the specific photos i want to create. lots of sketching and brainstorming to be documented.

above are a few of the digital negatives of images i took last semester for a process called gum bichromate, which will be the same process in which i will develop my new series. glad to have some sort of direction. now it's time to get serious.

waiting (with some inspiration),
michelle

my mantra

lately i've been in a rut. i'm not quite sure what to do to get out of this rut. maybe i'm feeling this way because my room still is not done and is only partially organized. maybe it is because i can't seem to just blow off my academic classes and only be a creative genius 24/7. maybe it's because i'm turning 20-old (that's code for 25...sorry to those of who who have surpassed me in this area) and i'm still living in my parent's house with no hope of moving out anytime soon. and maybe it's a culmination of all of these things and maybe some others. i don't know. i just wish i weren't over here, in this rut.


so what am i going to do to combat this problem i seem to be having? i'm certainly not going to give up. i can't. i have way too much to do for that. i can't blame this on anyone...and wouldn't want to anyway.

i'm just going to be happy. i'm not a "debbie downer" by nature. i'm cheerful michelle (i can't seem to think of a good alliteration for my name except for maybe "merry" and i'm not quite fond of that). i'm going to live joyously and be thankful for my days. a few months ago i wrote a "mantra" of sorts for myself. kate at work and i both did one to try and live purposefully. here's what i came up with:



michelle's mantra

i will use my fun-loving, eco-conscious and domestic ways
along with my creativity
through loving others (with a Christ-like, genuine love),
through reducing, reusing and recycling,
through making baked goodies for those i love
and through my photography and other creative art-forms
to create a world (community) that is organically tasteful, eco-friendly, ever-loving and aware of the beauty which surrounds us.

i've recently pulled this out again to help with my rut. it's good to re-assess and re-group once and a while. in fact, i think it's necessary. maybe this is the reason for the rut...to look at my life and make sure i'm living how i should be.

thanks for reading.
i think i'm going to clear my bookshelf and "craft station" so that i can get a move on my room this weekend.

with love,
michelle

happy

valentine's day. no, i'm not overly gushy when it comes to this particular holiday, but i love to love and therefore am extending some of it to you :) feel special.

speaking of love, i absolutely love robert indiana's love. Have seen one of his paintings in Indy and studied him in my contemporary art class. love!


he's also captured my favorite number: 5

so here's to robert indiana, the number five and love!

goodlove for now, i heart you.
michelle