New school year, teaching and grants....

I never mean to let this much time pass between entries, but where did the summer go?  It seems like I spent all summer applying to things, and now I am starting to hear back.  I sent off my proposal to the MAEP program, and after talking with the program administrator, I think I am getting closer.  I've got some adjustments to make for the 10/31 deadline, and I think I am hopeful.  I've been rejected for a Juried Exhibition that looked like a good opportunity, and two academic residencies...and I am still waiting on a lot.  I did have my SEMAC grant proposal accepted for support of new work I intend to exhibit next summer!  $5000!  I am so thrilled.  My friend MaryBeth also got one for $2500!  We both just got our paperwork in and should receive a check on 9/1/17.  I am actually going to get paid to make work....a large piece I posted planning pictures of earlier this summer.  I can't wait.  

And it turns out if you just keep applying to stuff, the rejections start to sting way less.  

I just found out last week that I have a Drawing 1 class at RCTC, so I have been in planning mode for a couple of days.  Luckily, Drawing is one of my favorite things to teach, and I can do it without much trouble, so I am not worried about prep.  

And finally, my son is about two weeks off of his own school starting.  Fifth grade.  He will be walking himself home in the afternoons as I won't be home.  Missing out on the walk makes me a little sad; that was one of my favorite parts of the day.  And about the only time he tells me anything of significance.  I guess I should be getting used to that.  

Summer camps, tennis, mom taxi and exhibition proposals...

Have been happening this week.  This is my sons first full week off of school for the summer, and of course, I have got us overbooked.  There is tennis in the morning before it gets too hot, about an hour for lunch and then off to a birding camp on the other side of town at Quarry Hill Nature Center.  This has been the first summer in a couple of years where my son has wanted to participate in one of the nature camps, and it has been really fun to see him excited about catching a tagging birds.  I have been bringing my laptop with me to both tennis and birding camp, and I'm getting a lot done....two exhibition proposals for Minnesota art centers, a residency proposal for new work at Wesleyan College in the fall, and a SEMAC established artist grant for four person exhibition I will be in at Rochester Community and Technical College in June, 2018.  So much hustle.  I think the more you do the better you get at it all...I think my writing is improving.  All of these word and character count requirements really force you to get to the point. So this has been my view when I get too hot being outdoors...

I have written a couple of these proposals for this large piece I really want to make:  

I want to make all of these smallish, but varied in size, breast like shapes. All the shapes will be made with the same painted sewing patten paper I have been exploring in my two-dimensional works.  The shapes will be formed with darts, gathers and sewn seams, and maybe even include some boning (like a corset). Some will be open and you get glimpses of the innards....some will be closed shapes and marred with massed stitches.  The value around all of these shapes will be black #1 eyelets (from hook and eye sets) individually stitched together to make this sort of curtain of texture.  I love the idea that when you are far away from it, it will just read as a value, but the closer you get, the more the texture and material are revealed.  And did I mention that I want this to be about 6-8 feet tall and 10 feet wide.  ALL THOSE STITCHED EYELETS.  I am terrified and thrilled at the prospect of making this piece.  I figured I would need 20 GG (great Gross) of eyelets;  A great gross is 1,728.  Maybe I have lost my mind, but here is hoping I get a grant to get it made.  

sawing and glueing

Is happening in my three-dimensional design class right now.  Students are making helmets/headdresses/head pieces with half inch wooden dowels and bristol board.  And I am catching some major sh*t. And it is taking way longer than I had planned.  I am hopeful another week will be enough time to finish.  Images to come when they are done.

so...crickets....

and dust bunnies and cob webs around these parts.  There was the holiday, which was lovely, and then school prep, which was rushed, and then getting back to school.  I am teaching Drawing 1 and 3-D Design at RCTC this semester, and 2-D Design at Winona State University.  It feels like a lot of classes crammed into four days.  So far, so good, but it is only the second week.  I pulled out my million year old copy of Art Fundamentals as my textbook for 2-D...but I have to admit there is another book I am more excited about and wanted desperately to use as a textbook.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  When my husband and I were looking for Christmas gifts for my son and Barnes and Noble, we found it:  The School of Art, by Teal Triggs and illustrated by Daniel Frost.  It is a children's book, but it is brilliant.  There is a Professor of Ideas, of Form, of Senses, of Making and of the Planet.  There is a team on what basic elements we need to make art and one on what design principles help us make art.  The illustrations are whimsical, the book is full of activities, and it makes the academic business of art so much fun.  My husband got it for me.  If you are a maker, check it out, I think you will love it too.  

inflatables...

My 3-Dimenisonal Design class ended the semester on a beautiful day with our inflatables project.  The students mostly worked in groups, and had to create something that was at least ten feet in one direction.  This are some of the results.  

a dragon....

a bacteria....

a three headed creature....