Only 2?

So, "what the heck??", you may be asking. What have you been DOING while you are in school..you only posted 2 pieces? Well, I have spent the last 3 weeks learning how to make panels. It's really expensive to buy them, and art stores don't even make them as big as I want, so I've had the input of like 20 people and have been through some serious experimentation to figure this stuff out. I have done it about 4 or 5 different ways as of now, and I THINK that I've got it. I'm trying different surfaces (spatula-ed gesso, sprayed- on gesso, paper on the board, etc) and different supports, and have had some serious I-wanna-punch-the-wall moments, but all in all, I think that this is good for me as a student who, as an ARTIST, needs to be making her own stuff! Plus, it saves LOTS o' money :)

#2

Here is a different piece that I have been working on for a while now...it just hasn't been happening for me, so I am trying layering up a bunch of figures to confuse the positive/negative space and to get some of the darks from the different figures to blend together. It's still reaaalllly unfinished. I need to get much darker, and the far right figure is literally just started....she's lookin' like she had a little plastic surgery so I need to fix that face! There may even be another figure, or parts of, in the empty spaces too. (it's not that yellow either haha)

Thoughts???

jk!

So, the last posting didn't work so well...the picture would NOT turn right-side-up no matter what I did. So I retook it and am trying to repost it now.

Ok, so here is a piece that I guess is pretty much done....for now. :) I used water-soluble graphite on a panel. I'm happy with it - I experimented beyond my comfort zone, so that's good. The nice things happening in the hair/shoulder area would never have been done by me on purpose, so the use of water really helped me to take more risks and let things happen on their own.

Ugh...

It's been FOREVER since I posted on here...sorry. I've gotten a little 'in my head', if you will. I have so many new pictures to put on here, but for now, I'm going to list a few upcoming art thingies that you all should check out. Seems like a lot of galleries are on the same schedule - lots of openings on the same night!! Make a date night of it - go see them!
xo

SAN DIEGO AREA

Thumbprint Gallery, San Diego

Website: http://thumbprintgallerysd.weebly.com/index.html

Scott Saw and Nick McPherson

Nov 13 – Dec 5

Next: “Dreams and Dimensions” – Franky Agostino and Jimmy Ovadia

Opening: Sat, Dec 11 6-10pm runs Dec 11 – Jan 2

ProjectX Gallery, Solana Beach

Website: http://www.projectxart.com/shows/

L2:M2:S2 Tripletake

(Long Le + Mike Maas + Steve Saiz) Nov 13 – Dec 10

Next: “Defragmentation” - Michele Guieu

Opening: Sat, Dec 11, 6-10pm runs Dec 11 – Jan 14

Distinction Gallery, Escondido

Website: http://www.distinctionart.com/upcoming.html

Upcoming: Mike Maxwell, Daryll Peirce, Chris Murray.

Opening: Jan 8 6-10pm runs Jan 8 – Feb 2

Noel – Baza Fine Art, San Diego

Website: http://www.noel-bazafineart.com/Noel-Baza_Fine_Art___India_Street_Gallery/Bare,_Naked_%26_Nude.html

“Bare, Naked and Nude” –

Multiple artists, thru Dec 18

** Special: Hugo Croswaithe will be in the gallery on Dec 11 from 1 – 5pm drawing on his model’s body

ORANGE CNTY / L.A. AREA

Sarah Bain Gallery, Anaheim

Website: http://www.sarahbaingallery.com/

“Crestfallen” Pamela Wilson

Nov 2 – Nov 27

Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City

Website: http://www.coreyhelfordgallery.com/#/home/

“The Keepers of Creation”, Melissa Forman

Nov 13 – Dec 4

Upcoming: “Shapeshifter”, Sylvia Ji

Opening: Sat, Dec 11

Copro Gallery, Santa Monica

Website: http://www.copronason.com/

Chris Peters “Live and Let Die”

Mark Garro “Psychopomp and Circumstance”

Nov 13 – Dec 4

Upcoming: “Playboy Redux II” Contemp Artists reinterpret the bunny icon

Opening: Dec 18 8 – 11:30 runs thru Jan 6

Other artists: Kukula and Leila Ataya

Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City

Website: http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/2010/11/

5 Year Anniv Show, incl artists like Audrey Kawasaki & Natalia Fabia

Nov 6 – 27

Upcoming: “The New Realism” artists: Aaron Nagel, Linnea Strid, Nathan DeYoung, Jeff Ramirez, Jennifer Nehrbas, Pakayla Rae Biehn

Opening: Sat, Dec 11 7 – 10pm runs thru Dec 31

New piece....

This one is in the beginning stages...but excited about it!

New class project

Here is the new Pictorial Space class project - bird's eye view this time.

I was proud of myself...got a LOT more done in the first class period this time! Now I'm just refining as I go - I need to create some more space though. All the shadows are the same and it needs to go back into space more - I am going to lighten up the darks in her leg area more I think.

pics 1 & 2 - day 1 - check out my cross contours all you Conservatory-ers who had my class! :)
pic 3 - 2 class periods on it. Teacher made me add the shoe...I guess it balances out the composition a bit more.
pic 4 - 3 class periods on it (just need to finish the mirror and work on some depth)

gone too long

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything...I have NO idea where the time went. It flies. Seriously...it's MIDTERMS???? What?

Anyways...here are some experiments I did with plexiglass.

* The first one is an oil stick drawing in plexi
* 2nd - a color drawing underlay - with plexi on top (looks a little too comic booky to me)
* 3rd - a tonal drawing on brown paper with plexi over it (with minimal oil stick - just to lay in the dark tones for the drawing)

What do you think? My mentor said that I need to concentrate more on making a solid drawing and not playing around with the materials and surface as much. But I like where this is going.....I just need to really refine.

Off to LA...will post my new drawings for that class tomorrow. xo

Exciting News

This month, I am going to be featured in ThisGeneration.net's art-related October issue! One of my art pieces is on the front/home page! I wrote a short essay for them on being a 'working' artist and going back to graduate school. Another good friend of mine, Gavin Conner, and his music will be featured on Oct.4 on the site.

What is this website?? In their words:

"The Generationalists review the times through a lens of the bigger questions and implications we see. We share stories on what matters to our daily lives, including our comedy routines and observations from classrooms, boardrooms, supermarkets, day cares, the World Wide Web, traffic, farms, road trips, unemployment lines, and our developing or questioning of motives and thoughts. This space is best defined as an online journal and community for our times and our lens - proof that we can keep ourselves Tweet and Facebook free and still form full sentences and paragraphs. Maybe share a nugget or two of useful truth we find in this world."


Please go check out the article and website!

http://thisgeneration.net/5/post/2010/10/take-5-visual-artist-rachel-edwards.html

Pretty final version...

Here is the nearly-done version of my earlier posted worm's-eye-view Pictorial Space drawing...(if you click on it, it enlarge and you can see it better!)...it needs some final darkening in places and it's a little too uniform over the entire surface, but I'm pretty happy with it. [Ugh..I hate looking at things after you 'finish' them...her head looks WAY big now.]

New drawing starting on Thurs...bird's-eye-view!!!

"40 new emails???? Oh wait...they're all from me..."

It's only been one month in grad school, things haven't even started getting busy yet, and I'm struggling to keep myself organized. I got to see my girlfriends this weekend and my friend Julie Rais laughed out loud when I told her how I was keeping myself 'organized'...I just keep emailing myself from my phone so that whenever I think of ANYthing, I know that I will see it again as a reminder in my inbox! Crazy, I know. I have a planner, but rarely look at it. I just saw Julie's own blog post (click here to read) about 'finding balance' - something we all strive to do - and totally identified, although she looks like she is keeping track of things much better than I am!

Stay tuned....I will be posting the pretty-much-finished-version of the interior space project tonite/tomorrow! xoxo

Art Listings/Events!

Openings
Sat., Sept. 25 (TONITE) 7 - 9:30pm - "Mind, Body, Soul & Amorous Synergy: New Works by E. Manansala and Velvet De Oro - Thumbprint Gallery

Friday, Oct.1 - Khalid Alkaaby - Iraqi Impressionist showing at Alexander Salazar Fine Art, downtown http://www.alkaabyart.com/

Sat., Oct. 9 - Niji Yakuza + Aboretum at Project X: Art, Solana Beach

Sat., Oct. 9 - "Magnetism - The Power of Attraction" The Art of Mr. Maxx Moses/Pose 2 and Isaias Crow/Crol at Thumbprint Gallery

Sat., Oct. 9 - "Under the Influence": The Art of Scott Rohlfs at Distinction Gallery, Escondido - art, live music, and Stone beer

Already opened BUT go see: Sept 10 - Oct 10: "Damages" by N.C. Winters - Subtext Gallery

Fri., Oct. 29 - Dia De Tues Muertos Group Show: at Subtext Gallery

Events
The Uptown Social Club: Sundays at A/C Lounge, 8 pm - 12:30 -"Creative Exploration through Live Painting and Dee-Jaying"

Basic Tuesdays: at Basic Urban Kitchen and Bar, Oct. 12/26 7 pm - 12 - "art & Music"

On-going Shows
MCASD - July 18 - Jan 2: Graffiti/Street artists; work also on display throughout SD's streets - 3rd Thursdays are free from 5-7 pm

My "Aha!" moment...

All you ex-students of mine are going to love this...

This is what my teacher said to me after she looked at my way-detailed drawing that I had already spent 12 hours on and only had about 1/8 of it done, and it's due Thursday (as in 2 days!)...

"Rachel, make sure you adjust your technique and process to the specific assignment AND to how much time you are given to get it done in...don't do crazy detail if you don't have time to get it done!"

I looked at her, literally smacked my forehead, and recounted the gazillion times I have said those EXACT words to my AP art kiddos.....it's funny how something I KNOW and is ingrained in me, I didn't do!!!! I laughed.....had to.

Class Update

Figuration, Representation, and Modernism :
This class is um...confusing me. I just read an entire article on 'the body' (which makes sense give the title of the class) but it was about disease in the 18th and 19th century, and how doctor's never looked at symptoms as ways to tell what is wrong with a living person...they just dissected once someone died to figure out what was wrong with them. And HOW does this apply to art/art theory/art history - especially the idea of 'the body'????????????????????????? You see my dilemma...and I have to give a presentation on it on Thursday!

Studio - Pictorial Space:
Week 2 working on a worm's eye view of a girl standing on stairs. We did a neat process for composing which included using plexiglass to literally trace the composed view (requires a very stable arm to hold the plexi in the air) and then transferring this traced view from plexi onto tracing paper....

Pictures are above:
The view
My three planning sketches
Chosen composition
Beginning (VERY beginning stages) drawing

New MFA studio!!

There's not a whole lot IN my studio, but that will change soon :)

Full steam ahead

School has started rolling - full on into readings for art history (Figuration in Modern Art), preparing to start writing my thesis, and composing Pictorial Space (yes, this is fancy art talk for perspective - I am now on the receiving end of my own medicine for doling out these assignments).

It was an eventful week....a few things going on here. First, art history. I don't have a very extensive background here. I know enough to talk to kids about the past and help them use it to influence what they do now, and I research what is going on now in order to pass it on. But now, in this class taught by a guy (who looks the same age as me) with 2 Masters and a PhD, I am really struggling with the readings...he is giving us excerpts of articles by art theorists and philosophers that have jargon and lingo to the point that I'm looking up every 10th word. My peers and I have been wondering, who the heck is the audience for these articles? Not sure it's us.....but then again, I do like the challenge. I hope, in a semester's time, to be getting more into these articles, to appreciate what they have to say, and to take it in stride and use it to truly look more and understand the art (and the world) around me...and maybe even use it to help me figure out my own theory. But for now, it's HARD!

Then, on Thursday, I met for the 1st time with my new mentor, who is going to help me get on the road to starting my thesis body of work. I posted some of her things a few posts back - she is an amazing artist, draughtsman, and also, might I add, a spirited Spaniard who is honest with her words. I appreciate that. I spent an hour and a half showing her my work (most of which is OLD) and talking about contempoaray artists that I like. The first thing she asked me was, why aren't you showing me other artists who DRAW? Good question. Why, in all my research, have I never looked at other drawers? I guess I just look at what I like, and the majority of art out there is painted....so I have a new assignment to not do any more art before I really look at what's out there that is being DRAWN. I also need to do some searching for personality in my art...not just what constitutes a 'body of work', but what am I trying to SAY, why am I making art....lots of questions to answer. She basically told me to stop thinking so hard about it, take some time to just have fun with art, experiment, let things happen, and see where it leads me.

Other than that, I have my perspective class Thurs up in LA too - it's a 6 hour class, so all of you kiddos who groaned through 3 hours of Conservatory...haha! I'm doing a worm's eye view of a model standing on a stair case (kudos to her for STANDING there on the stairs for 6 hours!!)....and environment is definitely not my forte. But I think that it's going to help add some dimension to my repertoire!! I finally got to see the other people in the program with me draw - it was nice. And intimidating...there are some super strong artists in the group - with strong viewpoints and skills. Which makes it even more intimidating. We did learn a super cool technique for enlarging a small planning sketch - I'll have to post some 'how-to pics' on here soon.

All in all, I guess this is what I expected from the beginning of the program. I AM here to reconsider my art, to truly delve into it and figure out where I am with it - I guess it makes sense to start from the beginning. If I was already creating a strong body of work, why would the MFA program be enticing to me...I wouldn't really need it, so it makes sense to get this type of feedback right now as much as it's hard to hear.

What a ride it's going to be..............

Art Listings

I have decided that I am going to post local art openings, events and such on here: I need to (and want to) start going to these to get myself more ingratiated into the art world, and I figure there may be others out there, like my dear CCA art teachers (shout out!) who may want to go too.....

If you find others, PLEASE email me, let me know, and I'll add them in!

OPENINGS
Fri Sept 3 from 6-10 - Plastic Fantastic: group show of photography from plastic cameras at Subtext Gallery

Fri Sept 10 from 6-10 - Damages by N.C. Winters at Subtext Gallery (Sept 10 - Oct 10)

Sat Sept 11 from 6-10 - Edward Manansala + Velvet de Oro at Thumbprint Gallery (Sept 11 - Oct 3)

EVENTS
Sunday, Aug 29 - ArtWalk Leucadia 10 - 6

Sept 2 - 5: San Diego Art Fair http://www.artsandiego-fair.com/

Thurs Sept 2: Laguna Art Walk/Gallery Tour - 6-9 pm

Fri Sept 10: Kettner Nights

ONGOING SHOWS
Wonderbread Factory - July 15 - Sept 5: Survey Select Group Show; open Tues - Sun 11-6
http://murphydesign1.blogspot.com/2010/02/survey-select-exhibition-introduction.html

MCASD - July 18- Jan 2: Graffiti/Street artists - 3rd Thurs free from 5-7 pm

Day 2 Orientation

Whew, what a day! We all met up and went to LA to see Lola del Fresno's show at Launch LA (http://launchla.org/), which is right across the street from LACMA. Lola's show was great!!! So much texture and experimentation with materials, plus, she has a really unique way of mounting paper onto canvas.....I think I am going to learn a lot from her!

After that, we all met up in the LA classroom space to meet all of the faculty and other mentors. They set up a little reception for us, so we all got to mingle and talk. It was nice...it was really cool getting to meet the 'older' grad students..the ones who have already been in the program for a year or so. They gave us hints about classes, instructors, how to keep your sanity, etc :) I also got to briefly reconnect with Elizabeth Washburn (www.ewashburn.com), who I have worked with in conjunction at CCA and who will be a grad student at LCAD too!!! Very good to see her...and there are lots of other cool people in the program. Three other teachers (!) and some very creative, inspiring artists.

It was great day....I am SO looking forward to getting started. I moved some stuff into my studio up there already...now, to get to some drawing!

Here are my classes:
Monday nite - Thesis writing class
Tuesday nite - Figuration in Modernism (art history class)
Wednesday nite - group critique
Thurs nite - Pictorial Space studio class (in LA)
all days - work in studio

Day 1 Orientation

I've got one day under my belt! Not class, but I got to meet mostly everyone in the program.....seems like a pretty cool bunch of people!

We talked about what the Thesis Writing class was going to be like (a 15 page paper in 2 years...cool), tried to find me a ride (to no avail) to my Thurs nite class in L.A. (poooooo) and I met a lady whose job it is to find US job opportunities, projects, gallery representation and the like - amazing! I think I am going to be knocking on her door quite often! Also, the school library is like the art section of Barnes & Noble multiplied by like 15 - my new home, me thinks! ;)

I got my studio...a nice little place - we were joking though, it looks like there are bullet holes in the window - yikes. It IS Laguna Beach though, I think I'm safe. Anyways....time to go move into my studio, get set up and settled...

Today we are going to see my mentor's (Lola del Fresno) exhibit up in L.A. and do some other MFA orientation thingies.... on to Day 2!

My new mentor....

I just confirmed my new mentor at LCAD (Laguna College of Art + Design)....Lola del Fresno. Yes, odd - anyone that has seen my large recent piece of art also titled "Lola"!! She is a brand new faculty member this year, lives in L.A. (just my luck) and I am enamored with her art. Lola also is having a gallery opening this Saturday up in L.A. at a place called LAUNCH LA, right across from LACMA.

I am going to get to meet her this coming week when we have our new-grad-student orientation, and I am super excited...about ALL of it, but especially being guided by such an inspiring lady! When I signed up for classes, the dean of the grad school recommended Lola to me, especially since I am the only MFA Drawing person (as of now) and her work is very much about mark making and figure, just like mine. As soon as I saw her pieces, I knew I could learn a LOT from her.

Please check out her site: http://www.loladelfresno.com/

I cannot wait to get to school and get to making art!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A must see....

I told all of my students that they need to go see this, and now there's opportunity #2 for anyone that missed it when it premiered....GO SEE IT!!

Banksy, (http://swindlemagazine.com/issue08/banksy/) world reknown street artist and reclusive personality, turned the tables on a would-be documentary movie about him and made a movie about the guy that was filming it...well, you gotta see it to get it. It's called "Exit Through the Gift Shop".

It's playing at Encinitas' lovely La Paloma theater on the Coast Hwy only thru August 25 - hurry!!
http://www.lapalomatheatre.com/ - click on "show times"

Here is the link to the site with the movie trailer: you have to scroll to the right of the screen to see it.... http://www.banksyfilm.com/

More inspiration...

A few months ago, at Balboa Park's San Diego Museum of Art, there was a new and unique exhibit. An artist by the name of Hugo Crosthwaite had a small room to himself in which to show his large-scale drawings. And the best thing was, throughout the entire duration of the exhibit, he was there working on a piece live. People could stand there and watch him draw and create, and the museum purchased the end product.

I was fascinated by this when I walked in, not only for the museum showing DRAWINGS, which were wonderful, but by the fact that we, as the public, got to see a glimpse of an artist in action and his working process. I could see what utensils he used, HOW he used them, what type of surface he worked on, how be prepped it, how he fixed marks to the surface, etc etc......I had a hard time tearing myself away to go home.

In coming home, I looked him up online, and have recently gone back to his website. His work is a mixture of different drawing media - like charcoal and graphite - and he even can be seen in a time-lapse video of his working at the museum using a sprayed-on substance.......liquid graphite? Spray paint?? I SO want to know!!

I am just really inspired by him, his work, his use of combinations of drawing materials, and the size of his pieces. He has some great, informative links of his website, and I really urge you to at least go check out his work! He is showing at a local group show downtown:

http://murphydesign1.blogspot.com/2010/02/survey-select-exhibition-introduction.html

Hugo's website: http://www.hugocrosthwaite.com/index.html

A new week.....

Had a SUPER fun party for Peter and I's engagement this past weekend; it was so nice to have all the people I love surrounding me to celebrate!

So...my goal for this week is to research San Diego galleries, see which ones are being progressive and showing contemporary stuff, and to make a calendar with all of the opening dates of shows that I want to go to. I need to get out there...see what's going on...be part of the art world instead of closing myself up in it.

I've been working on the collaboration piece that I have going with Julie Rais, as well as an experimental piece - I have some photos that are, in essence, stop-motion of one of my models, and I'm going to try to capture each step of the 'pose' on a different piece of rice paper (REALLY thin) and then try to layer them all up so you can kinda see the 'motion' of the pose...we'll see how it goes. Will post photos soon....

Other than that, just getting a little nervous - I haven't heard anything from Laguna yet as to when I am allowed to move into my studio up there, when orientation is, etc.....trying to start prepping myself!

Obstacle Course

I've been perusing friends' blogs, and Amber George perfectly stated the biggest thing that I am running into right now - obstacles to creativity. Now, I'm not saying that there are things happening that are totally keeping me from being creative or making art; sometimes, these are self-imposed things, like when I just can't seem to get myself into the studio to work.

In just getting back from a long trip to Mexico, I have found that there are lots of little things right now that seem to NEED to get done, just for my peace of mind. I'm sure that these things can wait, but it sure doesn't feel that way! I do this allll the time, and am very respectful and admiring of other friends who seem to put themselves to work and use their time wisely. Now, what's my problem? Why can I seem to find a million other things to do BESIDES work on art?

The hardest thing for me is STARTING something. Once it's going, the excitement sets in and I am happy to get to it as much as I can. But right now, with a blank slate looking at me it's the most daunting thing ever. I make excuses, like "I'm just not inspired right now" but we all know that if I just started then I'd get into the groove of it, it would start to happen more often, and I'd be over this hump.
Frustrating. I think grad school is going to kick my arse.

Inspiration....

In looking around, one artist in particular that I really admire (Audrey Kawasaki) has a WONDERFUL website and blog. It's one that I especially have found helpful and inspiring...I really like that she posts her raw sketches. She also shows images of her pieces in progress, talks about her trials and hardships, and *amaizingly* sells small batch prints and other interesting artifacts.

Audrey Kawasaki
website: http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/
blog: http://i-seldom-do.livejournal.com/

I sure do like my dot dot dots....

Grad school hasn't started yet, so in the meantime, I'm going to comment on thoughts that I have prior to the whole experience - inspirations from other artists/websites/blogs, readings that have prompted me to reflect on my role as an artist or person, and thoughts on art that I am currently creating.

Right now, a friend and fellow artist - Julie Rais (www.julierais.com) - and I are working on a really exciting collaboration. I do pretty realistic pencil/figurative work and she does bright, happy, colorful organic abstract pieces....we are planning on swapping canvases and seeing what happens! We are in the midst of Try #1 - we each started a separate canvas. There are no 'guidelines' or things that we can/can't do, and we weren't supposed to create something with the other person in mind. Just start something, get as far as it felt like we had reached an ok stopping point, and then we trade. Now I am in the possession of the painting that she started, and vice versa.

We talked about how to proceed - we need to simply react to what is on the canvas - we can manipulate the image, work with it or change it, add to it, etc ....but it was important to say that we didn't need to work about 'hurting the other person's feelings' with whatever we did to the image. Then, once we get further along and have added our own personality to the piece, we trade AGAIN! Once the person who originally created the piece gets the chance to react again to what the other person did, and work with a little, the piece is done!

We've talked about creating other pieces that will have varying stages of each of our styles added to them - like ones with substantially more drawing than color/paint, and ones with small amounts of drawing/pencil added to the organic shapes and colors. The point is to try to create a body of work, between the two of us, that is almost like a giant circle - in the sense that it transforms from my work into a combination of both of our styles, into Julie's work, and then back into my own work again. We're both really excited about the prospect, and where it will take us with our individual art goals and art styles. It's helping me get more used to making art and not being 'protective' of it - knowing that I can always draw it again, and being ok with taking risks with it - like handing it over to someone else to do with it what they want!
:)

And the verdict is.....

All of this has finally brought me to a conclusion....

These three thoughts that I had the other day have led me all in one direction - they are things that I am going to be dealing with NOW and while I am in grad school - sooo....documenting the process that I go through as a person and an artist while I am in grad school, and hopefully how it leads to the future decisions about where my life will go, is the direction that this blog with take.

Whew.

I don't know if anyone is actually going to follow along, if it will help anyone besides myself; but if in the end, it DOES only help just me, if it does only allow me to make a little organized sense out of the next few open-slate years of my life, then I'm pretty happy with that.

3 thoughts....

So far, in thinking about may last posting's comments, I can think about three things that I may want to talk about on my blog....

1 - A friend took a class recently on how to 'recover' her inner creativity...I oddly have the same book that the class was structured around (good ol' Mom got it for me years ago) and so I started taking a look at it today. I am leafing through it, not necessarily doing all of the 'activities' and mental checklists that it asks me to, etc...but it makes some interesting points about us as creative individuals.... Am I truly letting my creativity come through? Am I allowing day to day things to become blockages and excuses for why I don't make art, for why I don't MAKE TIME to make art? Which leads into my 2nd thought....

2 - Am I actually using all of my potential as a creative person/artist? When I was teaching, I would have said NO - I tended to teach more than make art, but I guess that is creative too, just in a different way. But part of my unhappiness stemmed from the fact that I was NOT letting myself, or rather, MAKING the time to make art and be creative in a was that was fulfilling to me. I feel like I am finally trying to do that now, but am I my own worst skeptic? Am I sabotaging myself already? As I sit here, I always can think of a million other things that need to be done before I can let myself go make art. WHY? Again, this leads to my 3rd and last thought....

3 - The same friend who convinced me to work on this blog told me something else that was very important - I need to make art a PRIORITY in my life. Just like teaching was at one point (and may be again, who knows), just like it is to make dinner or make sure the errands get ran, just like it is to go to the gym, hang out with my fiance and friends, I need to decide what position ART has in my life. Is is going to take over the priority that teaching has held for the last 6 years? I think it should. I am starting grad school for my MFA in the fall and it is going to make a lot of changes to what I accept now as my artistic style, persona, and goals....if I DON'T give art the priority it deserves, then was the heck am I even doing this for? I'll never have really given this thing a healthy chance in that case. I need to put art first, even if it feels selfish (aaah, there's that word again). These types of opportunities don't come along that often. This is my new goal for the year. Whew.

PS - How long can I make these posts? HAHA! When do you get bored.....and not read.....

Hmmm........

I haven’t written on here in quite a while, and a good friend of mine has prompted me to relook at WHY I have a blog – and to make some USE of it! But I’ve been told I need to FOCUS and have a reason why I write and what people can expect to read and find here. So here I am, trying to figure that out….I’ve had a lot of time to myself the last few days to really look at where I am right now (so to speak, internally, not physically; but that, too, has bearing! I digress….) I am in Mexico, on a fishing/vacation trip with my boyfriend – strike that, with my fiancé – visiting with friends and reveling in some amazing turns that life has taken recently. I KNOW I don’t want to use my blog to simply talk about what’s going on with me…..but I think that what I have learned, discovered, and been through in this past year is really going to make an impact on whatever it is that I do end up writing. You can ask a few people around me, who have had to put up with me from day to day, and they will tell you I am not the same person I was last year. Yes, I am, outwardly, but due to the fact that one big physical thing happened to me and lots of really amazing, helpful, and supportive people happened to me after it, I think that inwardly I am a very different Rachel right now. I am surer of what I do and do NOT want; what ‘selfish’ really means; that guilt doesn’t have to factor into everything; that there are things I can and things that I cannot control, and the things that I cannot control need not rule my life; that there are people in my life who support me and people who don’t; that I truly know what unconditional love is on multiple fronts; that living in the present moment is one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do; and that, for the first time in my life, I am actually excited about the fact that I have NO IDEA what will happen in the next 2, 5, 10 years...I WANT to leave the path as open as possible so that whatever happens to come along will only be an open door and not a ‘distraction’ from what it is that I think I ‘want to do’. I don’t think I ever would have said that 5 years ago.

ArtWalk!

This year, I will be displaying art (some recent, some old) in San Diego's annual ArtWalk.

It's held in Little Italy on April 24 and 25, from 11 - 6 each day. My booth will be on Fir St between Kettner and India.

Come say hi; I'll be hanging out with two other wonderful artists and friends who are sharing the booth with me....

Julie Rais - www.julierais.com
Jessi Matthes - www.jessimatthes.com

Halloween

I totally forgot to post this back in October, but I thought it might be fun to still put up. This past Halloween, my colleagues (all art teachers) thought it'd be fun to dress up as Andy Warhol's "Marilyns". The photography teacher dressed up as Warhol himself. Here is our pic next to Warhol's original. Yes, we look a bit scary (but that's what happens when your makeup is watercolor paint!) but it was really fun. Each individual backdrop behind each of us is actually a painted cardboard cutout that we wore around most of the day! :)