back in the day . . .

as many of you avid blogstalkers might have read, we've moved recently into a home that is a bit larger than our previous dwelling.  it's no mansion, that's for sure, but it is nearly double the shoebox we had and that means a lot more storage space.  now, my mom gave me some time to settle in and get house set up before i got the call - the call to "come get your crap!"

i've been trying to do just that.  slowly, load by load, i empty my stuff from the folks' basement.  i don't know why i was surprised to find that she still had all my high school art projects.  all.  of.  them.

it's got me all nostalgic.  i am determined to photograph them and post them up here for y'all to see, and then maybe get rid of some of it.  i'm sentimental and all, but there's only so much use i have for a bust of abraham lincoln.

anyhow, in leiu of my high school art, i'll indulge you in a bit of my college coursework . . .

for a while i was focusing my work on the idea of body image, and the unrealistic expectations of women to fit into a standard "shape".  i can get all sorts of into this, but let's keep things light, shall we?

first, a portion of a series of photographs that juxtaposed objects with human form:

this is a corset i made by ripping up old clothes, turning it into rope, and forming a corset.  it is completely functional, if anyone cares to take the time to undo all the knots and retie them again :)

 bound

(front view)

bound

(side view)

here i took a piece of wood, quite literally from the side of the road, and i carved it to give it a more flattering figure, then constructed a custom hot pink satin corset for it.  ain't she pretty?  what is truly odd about this piece is how much my mother likes it.  also, i have no idea how i made that corset happen on my limited sewing skills.

 in rare form

ahh, glass.  where i studied one was encouraged to cross medias and try to find ways to incorporate your emphasis into whatever studio classes you happened to enroll.  it took me some time to figure out how to bring textiles into glass without causing fire, but i think i got it.  hand pulled clear/aqua glass with (again) custom made corsets.  these corsets are quite tiny, and preceded the hot pink corset above.  still, no idea how i pulled it off.

squeeze

looking back at all this i realize how much time i was able to devote to my art, and how absolutely wonderful that time was for me.  as wiley approaches his first birthday i become more and more eager to get back to my work.  he's old enough for us both to benefit from another caregiver, for a portion of the time.  now, all i need do is find said amazing/awesome/loving/perfect person and find a way for me to pay him/her!

dreams.

jo

look what i did this weekend . . .

these days it seems like i only get to making lovliness when absolutely forced to.  my little fox is sly as ever, and he is fast and sneaky and strong and smart.  oh, and me - i am exhausted.

thing #1 had a birthday party on saturday, and birthday parties require gifts!  i always try to make gifts for these little people, especially when i know that their parents have the means (and often times far greater than my own) to buy their child whatever they desire.  i have one small advantage, and that is that i do what i do.  so, here's what i made for the birthday girl:

it has a wall hanging bracket on the back, and i do hope she likes it.  i think i would have liked it when i was 7 :)

 i could not attend the party because i was at work!  yes, tis the season when i don the neon yellow shirt and slave away at six flags every saturday in the airbrush t-shirt booth.  this was my 4th saturday out there, and business is hopping.  before the rush started i knocked out this shirt for my little guy:

i know - it's adorable.  i was going to post a pic of him wearing it (this size is a bit big so he looks all 'thug' with it down to his knees) but he decided to take a header into the table and i don't need any more pics of him injured.

i also finished my t-shirt scarf!  you might recall my previous post when i started this project.  if not, see it here.  i have learned a lot from this project, the most important thing being that one needs to cut the t-shirt very evenly throughout or the scarf might look a mess when you're done!  moral of the story is that it is done, but i might make some adjustments to this piece before it's "final".

so, blogstalkers, that's what i did this weekend somewhere between the meetings, the crowds at six flags, and the runny noses i found the time to do what makes me happy.  yay for me.

jo