Lens Baby + Dr. Sketchy's

One of my goals this summer is to work on my portfolio. Since I don't have a 'specialty' this has always been a challenge for me. I like a little bit of everything: photography, drawing, painting, clay, etc. When my friend Martha invited me to the Dr. Sketchy's anti-art school drawing class in Kansas City, I was completely thrilled.

I haven't done much serious drawing since college so most of my drawings of the model look a little amature-ish, but it was so fun to be surrounded by other artists and photographers. (Peregrine Honig even sat behind me for most of the class).

After riding up an old-school death-trap elevator, the atmosphere in the West Bottom's loft was relaxed and cool. I felt like I was stepping back through time to an artist's haven in the 60's. The windows were open and a soft breeze would waft through the sheer curtains bringing in the sound of slow moving locomotives on the tracks below.

The loft smelled of braised chicken and sauted peppers, only $5 a plate. Some people in the crowd were only there to socialize, some were there to draw or take photos. Everyone was friendly.

The loft was decorated with a very eccentric collection of found objects, old furniture and fine art. There were plenty of things to photograph and as the sun went down (and the eclipse came up), I had a very good time experimenting with my Lens Baby. 

A funny story about a flying hippo and some dog tags....

Okay so a while back I posted something about hippos and kids. I alluded to a student's drawing at my school of a flying hippo....well, here it is...In all its 'flesh' colored glory. (I couldn't get a great picture of it...so this will hopefully satisfy)


I do have some really great artists at my school. We are currently working on a drawing unit. I am having them draw vintage cameras...the goals is to create an image bank...a journal full of drawings that they can use to create paintings and other artwork from and it is also intended to teach them how to draw. I am forcing them to draw for a long period of time...and it helps them learn how to see things.

we are also using viewfinders....sort of cropping the image so that it isn't all in the frame....not bad for 3rd/4th grade students!

I also wanted to share a blog from my old MySpace blog...it is a pretty funny one from back in April 2008.

Gum, black hole and dog tags......

One day a few months ago one of my students had on a necklace. It was one of those key chain dog tags and it had been personalized with his name and football number on it. It was very shiny and new. I told him it was very cool. After that, he just HAD to give it to me. I knew his mom would probably be wondering where it was eventually, so I put it somewhere safe so that when he came to me later I would be able to give it back to him. My safe spot just happened to be a special zipper pouch that I tuck into my purse where I carry my lipstick.

Today my student came to me during class wondering where ’my’ necklace was that he gave me...I told him that it was safe, in my purse. Of course, being an inquisitive 10 year-old, he wanted to see it...to make sure that it was safe. I went to my purse and unzipped the lipstick pouch...but the necklace was missing. I knew that I hadn’t taken it out of my purse so I began searching for it. I looked in the side zipper part. No, it wasn’t there either. So I started to remove a few of the bigger things, my wallet, my address book, a bottle of lotion, my checkbook, some ink pens, my gianormous set of keys, a granola bar.....

Finally, I spotted the shiny silver dog tag at the bottom of my purse....That’s right...it was buried beneath the bottomless pit of bobby pins, paper clips, buttons, earrings, pennys, rocks, scraps of paper, gum wrappers, tiny chunks of trident that have wriggled free from the wrapper, rubber bands, reciepts ...there it was....luckily I had found his necklace...but....when I rescued it from the rubble I realized that it had been slimed with some of that yucky spearmint gum...chunks of the gum had somehow goo-ed up the chain and his once-shiny namesake was now minty fresh with rubbed on gum residue. He saw the gum immediately.

He looked up at me. ’What did you do to my necklace?’ All I could do was laugh. ’I am sorry’ ’your necklace got gummed’ was all I could giggle. I went straight to the sink and got some soap as he watched me frantically trying to clean off his precious un-shiny dog tag key chain. Other students started to gather around at this point and I tried to explain that I didn’t realize it had slipped from the safe spot into the bog of junk in the bottom of my purse. I scrubbed and scrubbed, but the gum was stuck...Lime green gum.....I vowed to take it home and use some special gum remover to clean it off. "My mom’s purse wouldn’t have had yucky gum in the bottom of it" he said...."I know, but this kind of thing happens to me, I’m so sorry" I laughed, embarrassed.....

Um, yeah...my purse is not going to be a safe spot for children’s treasures ever again!!

{Aw Snap} October is Upon us!

Oh wow, my October is looking very busy. I apologize in advance if a few days go by with no posts. :-( I may attempt to write short iphone entries a couple of times a week....just to stay active. I have several projects planned including a custom scrapbook for a friend with a Christmas deadline...and a custom guest book for my friend Danielle who is getting married at the end of October. I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance to work on those things!

Anyway, here are some lovely drawings I did a couple of weeks ago. I have a student teacher this semester...it is so nice because I have a helper with grades, art displays and clean up so we tend to get things done very quickly. This has given me time to prepare examples for future projects and do a bit of drawing for myself. I will admit that drawing does not come easily for me.





Let me explain. I can look at something and draw it. I can draw something fairly well, with practice. Sometimes I hate drawing. Drawing can be boring. It is mentally challenging and I have to force myself to sit and draw. I know that I can draw well if I practice, and I am too busy/lazy to practice very often.

Last spring, I got to participate in Art Lab with the Spiva art Gallery and the first session was a two-hour drawing experience. We spent 2 hours creating sketches and drawings for an image bank that we later used for installation art at the gallery. I really enjoyed the time we spent drawing, it changed my perception of drawing in general and I have been itching to set aside time to draw since then....

I brought in a bunch of old cameras (and my computer!) and did some blind contour drawings of each one. I am thinking of doing the same thing with an old beach cruiser, and other vintage things around my house.
Then I did some (not blind) contour line drawings with a black pen of the old cameras. I love all the lines and shapes...this was sooo fun. Drawing can be so theraputic. I will also admit that I was partially inspired by this etsy store.

A parade of old cameras: Brownie, Polaroid, Polaroid (2) Diana, and Holga. (Above, iZone polaroid!!)