organic seascape

I love silk-screening! It is so magical... I love the rainbow pulls. You can get so much atmosphere and mood out of combining the colors and playing with how you "slop" the ink on! I created something really beautiful tonight; can you say "Christmas Presents"? Each one is different and I've experimented in almost every one of them. Their imperfections just add character and I've placed the leaves at the bottom so they hide most of the worst ones. I love how the leaves break the frame... something I always love to play with:) I couldn't get the whole thing on the scanner, but this is the majority of it... I only did two black and the rest are on off-white flecked paper. The colors came out sooooo yummy. I got the idea for them from some fabulous "organic" experiments done by Leanne in my class (hers are really superb; she did them when there were more things still growing and she has been silk-screening for a while). Still I think all of my experiments make for a really lovely composite!

6-color Nasturtium

Here is one with two screens of the 6th color... the screen slipped, so I have some with one, two, three, and four black dots in the middle. This one is matted in gold, which the scanner kind of went crazy with. I didn't like the black dot too much (looks more like a poppy) so I kept a bunch without the black dot (see below). I like the freedom to be able to do that and change your mind as you go. If you start with enough to begin with you can have numerous final pieces! I love print-making:)

5-color Nasturtiums

For midterm I added two more colors. Here I liked how the 5-color looked and kept a few just like this. This one is matted in a slightly darker ivory mat...

4 of 4 colors

The final (for midterm, anyway, and on a diff colored paper) Mt Roberts print... I called it "Mystic Mt. Roberts" although I'm sure there's a better name for it in my head somewhere... maybe just "Mystic Mountain." This was one of three prints I did with a water-soluble stencil for the black... the other lost all detail and came out all black. I am going to redo the black plate so that I have more detail and the little flecks of other colors can be seen as windows. I was going to redo it as a photo stencil (this one was a water soluble stencil and all detail went away after I printed this!); now that I think about how I want it to look, I may do the Speedball screen filler like used in the rest of this technique (it is called a "Reduction" since you block out until you are down to your last color). You paint the filler on with a brush and it gives it that painterly look. Maybe I will try both and see which one works better...

3 of 4 colors

The deep purple came out a little funky... It is a pretty loose process, so I just have to embrace the imperfections and I do like how it came out kind of bubbly where it bled a little, which gives it more of a misty feeling...

2 of 4 colors...

I had a really productive class last Thursday... but I forgot to bring home examples! Here is one from two weeks ago. It now has the third color (indigo/purple) on it, after last week. I will do a black screen over it to add some details on the "tram/pagoda." I might try to add some detail to the Mt as well, but I don't want it to get too busy!

















I also did a rainbow pull that turned out really cool. I used silver, white, lt blue, and lt lilac and it looked like the moon! Then I printed the bear and waterfall from the Ak quarter, because I was working through my process for a project at work (that probably will go to the wayside... :( unless I can think of a way to use it!) The best things that I have learned in this class is: don't expect perfection, enjoy the happy accidents, and try new things to cut-down on starting over. When the bear's ink started bleeding I would turn the screen and pull from a different direction... I wasn't able to save all the moons, but Dianne says I might be able to print a black "drop-shadow" to cover the bad spots.

mt roberts

I drew a picture of the Tram on a very misty night and it was the inspiration for this marker drawing that I am then going to interpret into a silk-screen print. I forget what our teacher called it, a block-out build or something. We are using screen-block and painting it on the screen with the lightest color showing being printed first, on the bottom, then we will block out the areas we want to stay the lightest, next lightest and so-on... it is really messy and fun, and even if it isn't perfect, that is the point. It is really nice not zooming 300x's to work on something (I like things to look perfect at 300%!(?) It gets worse the longer I work on a design). I miss doing "hand work", it is so rewarding to see the happy accidents happen:)

old sketches

I was looking for some free space in my old sketch books... none! But I did come across some great quick sketches that I did in school. Some times, some days you've just got it... other times it just doesn't come. I hadn't had a drawing class in more then four years, and was getting back into the grove! I think I had it with these; jonesing for figure drawing... of course this model was good; I have a great longer pose of her that is too big to scan at home.

printmaking

I'm way overloaded... but if I can devote some time to my printmaking class, I will be extremely happy! Here is the first thing we've done... a paper cut screen print. I need to work on registration, but it was fun to give it a over-achiever shot with four-colors. It is a nasturtium vine... they are everywhere here this year. I don't remember seeing so many here before, but I love them! So bright, happy, and overgrown during a very bleak summer.

school?

School starts in 6 days, which means I won't have any time to do anything... I already don't. I give myself one month before the breakdown. I'm hoping that won't happen, but I am working two jobs and doing this on-site property manager gig. I may be giving one up and it will cost me. Cool thing is I am doing a logo identity package for a friend and they are creative people who have been a dream to work with:)

I am feeling like I need to create something since I haven't left the house all day... I think I will try to do a tree for a friend:) It's easier to create for someone else then for myself. I feel that autumn inspiration coming on! I guess that happened when I realized school time is here.

proclivity!

I have a certain proclivity to using this word! I woke up with it in my head... crazy:) I also have a proclivity to all things design. What a wonderful word; I love how it sounds, even.

DEFINITION:

pro·cliv·i·ty /proʊˈklɪvɪti/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[proh-kliv-i-tee] –noun, plural -ties. natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition: a proclivity to meticulousness.

[Origin: 1585–95; < L prōclīvitās tendency, lit., a steep descent, steepness, equiv. to prōclīv(is) sloping forward, steep (prō- pro-1 + clīv(us) slope + -is adj. suffix) + -itās -ity]

busy, busy... and Special K Saves The Day

I have been very busy... I found a new job and started that on Tuesday! I love it:) It is doing what I do with some extra learning thrown in for good measure. I will have to find out from my boss if I can share some of my work here. I did two ads and point of purchase displays for an August promo... I will try to do a fun online "button" as well, if they go for it. They have been really open to my ideas and this is the first job where they trust my expertise and are using me and my abilities in the correct way (well the state did, but I had to convince each client of my skills... when you have to do that with every client and you have a lot of clients, it gets old!)

decided I didn't like the way I drew Kanon. I used his blue blanket with clouds as a backdrop, this little cloth world, and his big Alligator crawl toy (I forget what they are realTo feel productive, I am including a little caricature of my son that I did when he was 18 months...he's seven now, so no it's not recent. I was concepting for a class powerpoint presentation that was basically Kanon saving the world from a gigantic alligator. I took actual pictures when Ily called...) Then I took pictures of him beating the Aligator down... His weapon of choice? The balloon! If I can find the presentation, I will post it. I have had good intentions of making it into a cartoon-strip in Illustrator; started it, but didn't finish... I am including my story-board. Fun Stuff ~ julie

more work...

This is a good way to get these into picassa, so I can start my portfolio slide show!

As you can see I like rounded corners, so much so that I find it hard to use "sharp" cornered boxes (bad design feng shui!) Speaking of feng shui, I had to confess to my supervisor (she is design obsessed like me) that even in my home I round the corners; I looked around one day and realized that I have furniture in every corner of my living room. I really think that the rounding the corners helps the energy flow:)

a little bit of my work...

This annual report was one of my biggest accomplishments; the first being the logo and identity resdesign that I did for the Alaska Pioneer Homes (I did the logo and then everything project I received got a similar treatment... it was really fun to put branding into action!).

(Back to the Annual that I was talking about...)
The biggest challenges of doing something really well designed for Government agencies is convincing them that well thought out and presented documents will get a better response, and keeping the cost low (this annual was done on a digital press and it came out beautifully; althought the ink will rub off on you if you're not careful).

my crazy resumé!

I have gone live with my site:) I am going to buy my business licence on Tuesday... and try to get my business cards ordered this weekend. I also need to put together a leave-behind portfolio (for real design jobs) and that can be my "promo" until I get my home computer up and running.

I am going to try to get some of my professional work together for an online portfolio; just a simple picassa slideshow, but it will be faster then doing it properly; my perfectionism will take over when it comes to doing the actual web pages and the process will get very complicated, I'm sure!

moving on...

I'm getting overloaded with job leads... I barely know where to focus my search! My supervisor is really helping me out and putting the word out there; she is feeling responsible which is ridiculous. Unfortunately I don't think how we feel about things or how it affects us has any effect on what comes from above. It has been really politically motivated and I'm still shocked that the bottom of the ladder are the only ones feeling it (me and two others; one other cut was actually shocking because of the seniority they had). I expect things might change direction once a new commissioner has been chosen. I am not holding out hope that they will change for me... but that sure would be nice. Any way it goes, I have moved on in many ways and will not be nearly as dedicated as I was last month; I will continue looking for something better, something that will actually pay me enough so that I can pay my student loans!

I found another great quote, and words to live by in my inbox the other day:


June 12, 2008

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

— Victor Frankl

horse on the mountain

I've been looking at this great shape in the snow and rocks on the top of Mt. Roberts... had to try my hand at it before more snow melts. I would like to do a vector illustration of it; it reminds me of tribal. It would at least make a great graphic!

new mind-set... new pastel

We'll, I'm still laid-off. Everyone is sad to see me go, but no-one seems concerned enough about it to DO anything. There are programs that I work for that have $35,000 (some have more) dollars that they HAVE to spend on outreach, but they can't save my job. I don't think anyone even tried, or at least not that hard.

So, I am still a little angry about it... but I am not enraged about it (anymore). I realize now that the "universe" or "higher power" or God, or whatever you believe (I believe it all...) is telling me what I need to do. I have been taking really small baby-steps to get there; now I have to charge ahead and get serious about it. I'm starting my own freelance business... I'm terrified. I really can't imagine relying on freelance to make a living! I will continue my job search, but if I can make money at it I won't have to take just any job out of desperation... I can actually wait until I find a creative job better then the one I had. That is my ultimate goal... my next job will be the next step. I will not go back and I don't really want to step to the side. There is a job that pays the same as my old one, and I would accept it because the experience is the "next level."

The wheels are in motion. I have paid for my url (when I upload my pages I will announce it); I have a friend who will help me to get a small business loan; I am going to get my business license with my next paycheck. Then I have tons of other things I need to do... business cards, promo cards, leave behind mini-portfolios, invoices, etc. It is a little overwhelming, but now that some of it is done I feel much more sure about it. The big thing was my web-site and now I am glad that I did it for my mid-term; I need to change some things and add some pages, but it is ready to make "really" live! Yay:)

I have also started trying to create "fine art" in my new space and it is doable. It's no studio, but if I work in the kitchen I can just mop up the pastel dust. If I had a large easel... I could do it out my front door! I'm just not committed enough to it to get it done.

Here is a small (4"x 4" canvas) pastel taken from my "Soar" ideas... I like it, but is isn't quite there yet. I did put it in a shadow box to see how it looked and it really popped out against the black. I'm kind of excited. I could make a ton of these and just hang them all together on one wall and then I could give them away for presents, one by one! We'll see about that, too.

inspiring quote... demoralizing situation

“If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.”
— Anonymous

I was laid-off from my job (that I love and I tell everybody that all the time...) yesterday. I am pretty upset, but that is just part of the healing process. The hard part is not to take it personally; it was definitely for budget reasons (they had to cut our budget by 25%). I was the last of the Publication staff hired, although I was hired at a higher class then another person. My immediate supervisor is really upset. The scary thing is that we have four people in our office, and two of us have been laid-off... They have only laid one person off from our Anchorage office and they seem to be keeping all the writers and hatcheting the designers. It seems that "capital creep" strikes again. So, to the the Alaska State Legislature... my son and I thank you for putting me out of a job! So much for all our wealth and oil money if you see a need to cut already marginal folks, like myself.

I love the Dr.

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
— Dr. Seuss