Savanna Leigh

A little press

2011-09-21T19:35:00.003-04:00

For the upcoming show I helped curate:

http://www.bakerartistawards.org/blog/2011/09/goucher-college-september-baker-exhibitions/

OBSCURITIES

2011-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

At the start of July, I began working as Assistant Curator at the Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College. The curator, Laura Amussen, gave me a tremendous opportunity to organize and curate a satellite exhibition for the Baker Artists Awards this year. in three days with amazing support from two very talented MICA interns, Travis Levasseur and Sage Denver, we pulled it together.

This is OBSCURITIES, my first shot at true curatorial work. United by their passion for abstraction, this selection of Baker Artist Award nominees coalesce to create a show devoted to their departure from form, place, communication, and identity.

click on images to view larger

"Obscurities" will be presented in Goucher College’s Silber and Rosenberg Art Galleries from August 30th through October 16th, 2011. This exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed Tuesday through Sunday from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. An artist’s reception will be held Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Silber and Rosenberg Art Galleries. Please visit www.goucher.edu/silber

Participating Artists:
Alexander Heilner, Andrew Lauman, Joanna Kopczyk, Justin Kelly, Kyle Freeman, Lauren Brick, Leslie Furlong, Michael Farley, Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman, Christopher Attenborough, Stewart Watson, Mark Eisendrath, Kelly Shaw, Karl Connolly, Michael Northrup, and Eric Dyer.

WILDLAND

2011-06-30T22:07:00.000-04:00

Two of my pieces are in this show. It's definitely worth checking out... I want to buy a lot of the other work there. Very strong stuff.

click on the images for a larger version

Exhibit Dates

Wildland will be presented at Goucher College's Silber Art Gallery in the Athenaeum from June 28 to August 7, 2011. This exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Artist Reception

An artists' reception will be held in the Silber Gallery on Saturday, July 9, 2011 from 3 to 5 p.m. Please call 410-337-6477 for more information.

About the Exhibit

Wildland, a satellite exhibition in conjunction with Artscape, features the work of nine local artists: Ryan Browning, Travis Childers, Frank Day, Elizabeth Hoeckel, Savanna Leigh, Susan Main, Joshua Smith, Peter Stern, and Polly Townsend. While viewing submissions from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts and looking for an overall arching theme, I was struck by the large number of local artists whose work seemed to be derived from the landscape. Landscape, as a topic, has been around for centuries-Goucher College has even mounted a few shows around the theme. However, in this case I noticed a narrower or sub-theme of wilderness and outdoor recreation. Images of camper trailers nestled in the woods, wild animals, mountaineers, and people gathered together as if looking out over a scenic view mingled with more traditional nature imagery. Thus, each artist in Wildland draws inspiration from the great outdoors, inviting the viewer to explore the wilderness as seen through their eyes and experiences.

Laura Amussen, curator

Silber Art Gallery: Goucher College
1021 Dulaney Valley Road

Baltimore, MD 21204-2794

visual space

2011-06-12T20:25:00.001-04:00

Taken from NPR's blog 13.7:

"To localize an object means simply to represent the movements that would be necessary to reach it." These words of the great French mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré offer a bold statement of an idea that goes back to George Berkeley: the experience of space is grounded, finally, in our sense of our bodies, in our sense of our own degrees of freedom of movement.
Berkeley thought that touch was the spatial sense, for it was the movement sense. Vision without touch would deliver only flat pictures of the world around us.

In my work, I've been investigating the relationship people have to the places and space around them- this guy offers an interesting perspective. He proves that our connection with place does not rely on the visual landscape; place and space are much more tactile. Our sense of place develops not from the sight of a landscape, but from our physical interaction with that space.
This leads me to believe that my work needs to move toward installation and viewer participation.
The first piece of this series is a collaboration with fellow artist Jessica Scimpf, and will be shown at the City Arts Gallery for Artscape.

Lumber PartyCity Arts Gallery440 East Oliver StreetOpening July 9th
come lay on the lawn....

growing into sculptures

2011-06-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

I've graduated! It's been a long time since I've posted any sort of progress, so here's what I'm working on now. My work is shifting from sedimentary geology and into botany, still focused on the moveability of landscape and the impermanence of place. I believe that plants are an excellent way to communicate these concepts; Terrariums were first used to transport plants across the Atlantic to the New World. The plants are characteristics of place (ie flora and fauna), and the ability to make them transportable or wearable seems very surreal to me, much like tectonic plate movements. There are also undertones of sustainability and urban farming that are very intriguing to me.

These are rough ideas I'm just hashing out, stay tuned for more progress!

my window garden: watercress, basil, tomatoes, and succulents

I'm interested in the mediums plants can grow in, earth, air, and water. This species needs only a dish of water to thrive, and it's roots look like fish bones.

Inside my succulent terrarium, stonecrop and lithops

I'm collaborating with artist Jessica Schimpf with growing in glass vessels, both found and hand blown.

These are test orbs to determine how well different plants can grow in a non draining glass shape. They're planted with gravel and vermiculite to help regulate the soil moisture inside the vessel. Above are spider plants and standard lawn grass.

Above: Spoon Jade (E.T. Fingers) growing in soil.

Above: Spider Plant sprout growing directly in water. The roots will eventually fill the vessel.

I told myself I'd take a break from making things. Oops.

featured

2011-05-18T15:50:00.000-04:00

I've just been featured at Coroflot.com, a networking site for creative professionals. They choose a select few artworks from the thousands of images uploaded daily. Check it out!

view my portfolio:
coroflot.com/savannaleigh

planter

2011-05-16T02:12:00.000-04:00

I'm starting work on a new series of glass planters. Normal yard grass in topsoil with gravel and vermiculite. I plan to make multiples on an installation scale.

Orogenesis

2011-05-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

Geologically speaking, Orogenesis is the tectonic process which creates mountains.

This sculpture is made from reclaimed shipping pallet wood: oak, cedar, and pine. The circling pattern builds to the peaks, evoking topography and geologic superposition via strata.

It's about 7' long and 4' tall.

Process.

The structure was built modularly; it is designed to break down into three parts for transport and reassembly. The two halves push together like tectonic plates.

Completion.

It is set on wheels, allowing it to move freely around the gallery. It is a moving mountain, a transforming landscape.

...

And once the show was over, this is what it looks like in my car.

opening night

2011-04-10T19:02:00.000-04:00

21g Gallery, Baltimore

Eduardo Rodriguez, the gallery director

"Rift" alongside "You Are Here" 16mm film samples

"Orogenesis" 7'x4'

"M/Otherland"

Back to back monitors playing films "Tectonic" and "You Are Here"

Explaining concept and execution

My mom came all the way from Dallas <3

It was a great show. It'll be up till May 3rd, so if you haven't had a chance to see it,

stop by and check it out!

SOLO SHOW

2011-04-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

M/Otherland, my senior thesis BFA honors show,

opens TOMORROW NIGHT (Thursday the 7th) at 21g Gallery!!!!

6-10pm

782 Washington Blvd.

Baltimore, MD

Two semesters of research and work have developed into the sculptures, drawings, paintings, and films that are included in this show. It is now the eve of the opening, and I would like to say thank you to all the people who helped me make this possible. This wasn't a one-woman show, there were so many important people who made this into what it is.

Thank you to Jan Baum, my thesis advisor, for making me reach my potential. Rachel Timmins, for always being honest and encouraging. David Knopp and John Shea for thier generous in-kind donations, which allowed me to construct all my sculptures from reclaimed materials. Shelly Blake-Plock for the use of his song in my film, and for getting me into art in the first place. Kate Gilman and Jessica Schimpf for the wonderful poster design and for their unconditional support. My parents, for understanding my need to create. Eduardo Rodriguez for his promotion and for allowing me the space to make this event happen. Paul Harne and Drew Bassin for their help with installation. To everyone at my office for letting me work crazy hours so I could get everything done. Thanks to everyone else who ever gave me a critique, offered a hand or a shoulder, and inspired me.

Thank you.

tectonic

2011-03-19T09:07:00.004-04:00

Several weeks ago (long before March 11^th) I made this animation, “Tectonic,” by tracing landscape photographs my father took while we were living in Colorado. The simple black lines were animated at 60fps, blurring the landscapes into one morphing entity. I wanted to show the impermanent nature of landscape, and how memories of a specific place can be easily morphed and forgotten. The audio* is original geologic recording from the 2004 Indonesian Tsunami- You’re hearing the crust of the earth moving. This is a part of my moving landscape series for my upcoming show, “M/Otherland.”

I thought it was a pretty successful piece on its own- then the Tsunami hit Japan. Suddenly, the context of this film was altered; now the power of the Earth is very fresh in the collective memory, and we are suddenly very aware of the effect it has over first world countries. This expands the meaning of “Tectonic” beyond my personal experience and memory- it is now something we can all relate to when we read the news. The anxiety I tried to convey in this animation is now very real as the world watches Japan’s delicate nuclear status.

Tectonic from Savanna Leigh on Vimeo.

Please take a little of your time to donate to a Japanese Tsunami relief fund. Google has several easy to use donation widgets for the Japanese Red Cross, International Medical Corps, Unicef, and Save the Children. Please do what you can.

*Note: The audio is a very low frequency. If you're having trouble hearing it, please use headphones. If you have a subwoofer, crank it up till your windows shake!

love and risk

2011-03-11T17:59:00.000-05:00

This is my piece "MacGuffin" currently hanging in the City Arts Gallery as part of the show "Love and Risk." All these images can be rearranged to form a new narrative based on the Kuleshov Effect. When an image is juxtaposed with another, the meaning of both of them changes. The images on the wall change their context depending on what images are surrounding. The viewer is invited to change the narrative.

All the images are from Hitchcock films including North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, and Rear Window. A "MacGuffin" is a plot device constantly used by Hitchcock to catch his viewers off guard.

On view at City Arts

elsewhere

2011-03-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

my work has been recently featured in a few other spots. check em out!

kate gilman graphic design posted a nice little shout out for my upcoming show!

my short video documentary featured on glassblowing tv

ehow used my previous blog post on fiberglassing as its reference!

and here too!

Let me know if you find anything else on the internets!

postcard

2011-02-28T07:48:00.001-05:00

My solo show opening is coming up fast. I'm getting excited. I need to build a shit ton of pedestals.

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Excellent design by Kate Gilman. She gave me about 15 proofs to pick from! If you are interested in using her as well, contact me and I'll send along her info.

guts

2011-02-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

This is what the inside of a build looks like for rapid prototyping (3D printing). This is just a test piece with five moveable parts to find the clearences and tolerences of the material I'll be using for a later project.

sandy

2011-02-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Hand sanding this whole beast. Soon it will have a plume of blown glass coming out of the top, and hand carved wheels will be mounted in steel at its base.

I'm gonna need much more paper.

Here's a bit of process- The top half needs to be attached to the bottom, but the carving needs to be finished first. I draw on the wood to figure out what form it needs to take.

My landscape boxes are coming along nicely. They can all be rearranged according to their horizon lines, and they are all different depths, so the landscape constantly morphs as the viewer moves around the piece.

home sweet home.

FINGERBOMBS

2011-02-17T12:49:00.000-05:00

modeling for the lovely rachel timmins

sneak peak

2011-02-15T22:45:00.000-05:00

sculpture, "K-1"

laminated poplar

photography for my press kit by jessica schimpf

Plugged In

2011-02-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

Part of my Honors BFA project requires MAD social networking. I also promise to get back into a regular posting schedule on this blog, so please follow my progress!

Please add/follow/like/RSS me all over!
LinkedIn Twitter Sketchbook Portfolio Website And if you're still dying for more, join my mailing list! You'll recieve info about my shows, gigs, etc, and if you include your mailing address, I'll send you a postcard for my spring solo show at 21g! Please include your name, email, and mailing address (if you want that card) to

SavannaLeighArt@gmail.com

countdown

2010-12-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

Here's the trailer for a film I've just signed on to produce as Assistant Director. It's the pilot for a webseries called "Birthright." The pilot is "Countdown." We're shooting for a February release date, I hear the Charles is interested in screening the premier. Check it out!

A little behind the scenes special:

yer here, its here

2010-12-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

This is my final version of "You Are Here." Created entirely without a camera by scratching emulsion off 16mm film, then drawing on the frames.
process
version 1
raw footageWhere we are is who we are; then who are we as our location changes? This film is centered on the red dot commonly found on public maps, "You Are Here." The dot undulates nervously, constantly morphing. It does not mark a location at all, but rather describes the uncertain nature of place and our belonging to it. The dot is forgotten as the film turns into a vertical landscape, flowing down the frame. This horizon line is also constantly changing, then transforming into abstract colors and form. The sound featured is a recording of Shelly Blake-Plock's live performance
"From Here to There is Nothing if Not Difficult."
Two turntables and a microphone, a distortion pedal, and a lot of tin foil.

screening

2010-12-10T13:53:00.001-05:00

it's official. you should come.

Experimental Animation Show Trailer from Phil Davis on Vimeo.

cast off

2010-12-10T11:28:00.001-05:00

Here are some finished projects from my ceramics course in sculpture this past semester.

"Cast Off"

Two shards of faces, eyes from a vacant identity. They belong together but cannot be connected. The wheels on their backs allude to the shards' potential mobility, but prevent them from aligning. They cannot see each other, but they cannot move on their own.
process 1
process 2

...

"Reliquary for a Field"

Project assignment: create a ceremonial vessel using coils.

A reliquary is an object that houses holy relics, mostly used in medieval European cathedrals. They are used to remember and honor saints from the past (sometimes holding bits of their bones and hair). My reliquary houses a small grassy field. I haven't lived in a place with a lawn in over five years, and I've really been missing it. This reliquary allows me to keep that memory.

The grass was planted and grown within the vessel.
process

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Miscellany:

Jewelry grad student Rachel Timmins vs the weird ass TV cover in the sculp studio.

My films from this semester will be screened!!! Open invitation, all are invited. Grab a six pack and come watch some sweet animation from my class.

"You Are Here: 1"

2010-12-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

My final film, "You Are Here: 1"

16mm scratch film

Created entirely by hand without a camera.

Sound designed by scratching amplified steel strings.

Crank up that volume.

the making of

Glass Documentary

2010-11-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

My co-director Patrick Coursey just uploaded a much better quality video of our documentary project from last year. You can also find it in the video section of this website. Enjoy!!

"McFadden Glass Art"
Produced and Directed by: Patrick Coursey, Savanna Leigh
Edited by: Patrick Coursey, Savanna Leigh, Greg Hindman

Melting Vase

2010-11-15T09:48:00.001-05:00

A new project- blown glass into a wooden mold, then shaped as a vase.

Here's how it was made:

And how it turned out:

Also, here's a new bowl I made on Friday the 5th:

Walking Landscape 2 @ Gallery 788

2010-11-13T19:38:00.000-05:00

Some photos of my work from Gallery 788's November Show

788 Washington Blvd.

Baltimore, MD, 21230

Thurs: 5:00 pm - 9:00pm
Fri: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sat: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun:12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Holiday Sale

2010-11-12T12:59:00.001-05:00

Christmas is coming up fast, and people are asking me about glass presents. Here's the info!!

I'll be selling glass ornaments and bowls at the Towson Holiday Sale. This is your best chance to chose from a
wide selection of colors and styles.

Ornaments will be $15-$30, and bowls will be $80-$150

39TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY POTTERY SALE

Center of the Arts Ceramics Studio Room 3012

Friday, December 3 – Saturday, December 4, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Start your holiday shopping by attending this annual event! The ceramic students and faculty present functional and fine art ceramic works for sale. A vast selection of hand crafted items, including stoneware,
earthenware and fanciful objects will be available.

Admission is free.

...

I also do custom orders and commissions with a
two week advanced notice.

Send me an email!

SavannaLeighArt@gmail.com

Esty coming soon...

Clamp!

2010-11-05T01:24:00.000-04:00

LAMINATION ANIMATION

(as my fellows call it)

I decided to make a stop motion animation of my sculptural process. Here's just a peek.

PREVIEW

Rough Cut- it still needs audio and color correction

This will be continued through the entirety of this sculpture's process.

Shot on a Canon DSLR Eos. Edited in Final Cut Pro 7.

THE REAL PROCESS:

Leaning tower of geography.

Each set of glued wood is left overnight to set. Then those stacks are glued to one another, and then again, slowly gluing the entire tower together. The whole thing is about 4 feet tall so far. It's hard to do all this clamping alone, but here's a trick I figured out- Clamp down the clamps! Then you have a free hand to add more clamps. Also, don't get your skin caught in the slides. Blood blisters.

Clamp Round #1

Clamp Round #2

Clamp Round #3

There's probably 3-4 more rounds of clamping. Then I get to carve it all smooth.

DO WORK.

Horizons

2010-10-29T11:40:00.002-04:00

A bit of an update:

Bisque fired stoneware. I always forget how much I love working with the figure... I gotta get more into this. Anatomy is great.

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Walking Landscape #2 is finished. Blown glass atmospheres are epoxied into place. The wood is sanded to 400 and finished with an oil rub.

...

These landscapes are created from the waste emulsion from my recent scratch film. They will be mounted onto wooden frames that will all hang at different distances from the wall. The horizon line connects the small landscapes to one another, and the staggered distance alters their relationship as you walk around the piece. I'm gonna make like five more of them.

...

This is a photo collage I'm working on titled "M/Otherland"

These are all photos my father took during the time he fell in love with my mother in Colorado, where I was born. While I have no waking memory of these places, I'm incredibly drawn to them. I feel like these are photos of memories I've had and lost. They're samples of my sense of unknown belonging to the Rocky Mountains and the place I was born. The title at once describes my longing for my motherland, and the otherness I feel as a stranger to that land.

The photos are all aligned by their horizon line, connecting them to each other. Together, they create a surreal landscape of Colorado. Pictured above is my mother on a mountain slope, below is my father's truck we all used to camp in.

Scratch Animation

2010-10-27T18:04:00.000-04:00

Here is the digitized version of the animation I made a few weeks ago. The following is just a test, just a study for a longer version I'll be starting soon.

This was done completely by hand, completely without a camera, on 16mm film.

I've been working with the concept of migratory identity; where you are is who you are. So, I took the symbol of the red "You Are Here" dot commonly found on maps and allowed it to transform during animation. I used the scratch marks from removed emulsion on the film to signify fast movement. The second half in color looks like a landscape when laid out horizontally. The audio featured is created by mark making on the optical section of the film. The projector catches these anomalies and creates sound.

Grease in the Gears

2010-10-24T13:10:00.000-04:00

For the past few weeks I've been sort of treading water as far as my thesis work goes, but now I'm ready to kick it back into high gear. I feel like I'm finally really on the ball :) Alot happened this week that has really motivated me.

I received a grant for $500 to build my sculptures. I'll get an exhibit at the Research Fair this Spring as well. Now I can afford the right tools and materials I've been waiting for!

Sculptor David Knopp, who I met at the Tri-State Conference, was kind enough to let me raid his studio for scraps. I filled my car with as much as possible, and now I've got quite a bit of material to work with!

He even gave some beautiful laminated mahogany...

Check out David Knopp's work:

And last but not least, I landed an interview with City Arts Apartments, which is a brand new complex being built in Station North, Baltimore. It's government funded low-income housing that is designated for artists. The ground floor will be a gallery. There's even a bicycle parking garage!! This interview is the final stage of the application, and if accepted, I'll be moving in this May :)

...

Last weekend I went on a road trip to upstate New York and Vermont to uninstall some artwork at Salem Art Works. Very cool place- it's a non profit art center that hosts resident artists. They grow their own food, and people can live there for free in exchange for farm work. There's facilities for sculpting metal, wood, and ceramics. Plus, its beautiful out there!

Much of my thesis concept is based on landscape and its effects on personal identity; it was great to be back in the mountains, remembering how they feel.

I took a billion landscape shots I'll be using in my thesis.

Scrrrratch

2010-10-20T09:19:00.000-04:00

I've got some reels of exposed 16mm film. I've been getting the emulsion wet, then scratching it off. Then I draw on each frame of the film, so that when it's played through the projector, the drawings and scratch marks become animated.

This is camera-less film making.

The scratched off emulsion makes a great fibrous ink which dries hard, so I've been making some 6x6" landscapes with it that will be displayed triptych style.

This landscape will run through the projector and look like its wiggling.

A"moving landscape"

I'll post the digitized video of this animation soon!!

Craigslist

2010-10-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

I think it's important to mention how valuable Craigslist is to a working artist, especially in an industrial town like Baltimore. I've recently gotten in the habit of checking the listings every day, much like I check my inbox and Facebook. It's paid off- I got a GREAT deal on a vintage road bike that I now ride every day for my commute. The seller made all the adjustments for my fit and installed new bar tape for free. Nice guy, not as sketchy as I thought it would be.

I recently watched a documentary on Craigslist and the people behind the ads- it's pretty interesting, and you can watch it for free here.

Most of the time you'll only find crap, but every now and then something will come along that is PERFECT for the project you're working on. The diversity of things available is astounding, and its definitely worth a habitual gander.

Some interesting finds from my search today:

1500 plaster molds for ceramic casting

A cheap kiln for firing ceramics in your own basement

A whole pile of cut cedar lumber

A TIG welder for only $300

soooo many more tools...

Every now and then a contractor sells his extra tools and materials from a build, or a warehouse gets cleaned out and you can take all their storage units. Neat stuff.

If you check the housing ads, there's almost always some kind of spare room for rent to artists as a studio space. Sometimes a big warehouse gets bought, and you can purchase xft^2 for your own work space, which is an awesome deal. There's also ads placed for open call art shows, auctions, craft and festival booths, and art dealers.

As always, be careful who you talk to and what information you give. But if you're smart about it, Craigslist can be your most valued tool as an artist.

Helluva Weekend

2010-10-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

Jam packed weekend to be had. And its only Saturday.

On Thursday, Maryland Public Television stopped by to shoot a segment on Tim McFadden in the glass shop. You will see me on TV in about 4 weeks. The camera crew said that the segments are usually posted online as well, so you'll all get to see the footage here once its up!

Tiny camera, giant Timmy.

...

Later that night there were several art openings to go to.

First up is the "Space Invaders" installation by the Towson sculpture grad students in the Towson Commons Gallery.

This is a ball pit installation by Vincent Valerio

This is a room of motion activated inflating fabric forms by Rob Guevara, and me smooshed between them.

After that opening, I headed over to Goucher's Rosenberg Gallery to see the new show curated by my thesis committee member Laura Amussen. It's a baller show, I highly recommend seeing it!!

After that, I headed downtown to Pig Town's up and coming Gallery 788 on Washington Blvd, near Camden Yards. I had a piece featured in their first annual Erotic Arts show which is a celebration of sexuality in visual arts. It was a HUGE hit!! The whole gallery was packed shoulder to shoulder, and people were pouring into the streets waiting to get in. $5 got you a Gallery 788 cup, and $1 got you refills all night long. There was music, there were people wearing nothing but paint, there was slam poetry and burlesque.

Here is Roma Mafia opening the night's performances, popping balloons as she goes.

Packed. Awesome.

...

Friday began the three day Tri-State Sculpture Conference. There are lots of lectures from amazing artists, and demos on equipment and process.

Learning how to TIG weld cast bronze

Learning how to stack laminate plywood from David Knopp

Learning how to create 2 part resin bonded sand molds for casting iron and aluminum.

The conference continues all day today, then tomorrow moves to UMD for the annual iron pour. Check it out!!

Progress

2010-10-01T01:09:00.000-04:00

I've been mad busy with all my studio work, which I've been trying to document as best I can.

Biggest news, I got my own bench space thanks to the object design department. Unfortunately, sculpture at Towson doesn't have the space for advanced undergraduate studios, so I have no consistent place to work. It was very nice of the jewelry ladies to offer me this space :)

I like the way they think in here.

...

Here's a carved wooden body with holes for glass to fit. I'm in love with forstner bits.

The wood's been sanded super smooth and oiled up.

And the glass forms (from wooden molds) were epoxyed in.

Wooden molds for glass, you say? Why, yes. It's a process I'm still developing- lots of experiments to be had. There's alot of fire.

This is what it looks like once the glass has been annealed and cooled- it fits right back into its mold. The glass and the wood both become parts of the finished piece.

Only the top portion was for molding, the rest of the sculpture still needs to be laminated and carved. It'll eventually stand on three pointed legs as a tripod, glass and all.

...

Ceramics has me making a self portrait in stoneware,

which I decided to chop up.

Each portion of the face will be fired to cone 6, then mounted onto casters for gallery installation.

Somethin like this.

...

In other news, I have a piece showing at Gallery 788 in Baltimore next Thursday, Oct 10th.

Opening runs from 6-10 and the show is open till Oct 31st.

788 Washington Blvd, Baltimore MD, 21230

Goo

2010-09-17T13:18:00.000-04:00

Glassblowing last Friday, pictures by Brittany Winchester

TRIUMPH

Raw Forms

2010-09-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

concepts in process

Ceremonial Vessel/ Reliquary for a Field

Stoneware flower pot

Long grass will grow up through the holes

Another walking landscape

Dirty business.

Animation 101

2010-09-13T22:47:00.000-04:00

To Animate: To give life to; fill with life

1/ Aquire a lightbox.

2/ Equip lightbox with a three prong registration peg.

3/ Draw some lines.

4/ Draw more lines on top of those lines.

5/ Draw more lines.

6/ Draw lots and lots of lines.

7/ Spray all the lines with fixatif so they don't move on you.

8/ Wear a respirator so you don't get blazing high on fixatif.

9/ Align and light the paper

10/ Take a picture (or two) of every single drawing

And voila! Animation!

Horror Vacui: The Fear of Empty Spaces

Total Drawings: 122

Shot in 2's; 244 frames per cycle

30 fps

3:4

Mountain's Foot

2010-09-01T23:41:00.000-04:00

A week and a half into the semester, I've begun several new projects, which will maybe look something like this. Maybe. This is how many of my ideas start out, anyway.

Here's a sculpture I've just begun- It'll look something like my Walking Landscape, but it'll be more complex with two peaks and little blown glass atmospheres.

These slices are all labeled so they go together in the correct order- they'll be glued one on top the other, then sanded down smooth with an angle grinder and rotary tool.

I have a proposition; rename the Towson Metals Club to

The Rotary Club: Ladies Who Love Their Dremels.

These are all clamped down with glue, then they'll be glued to each other, then another few sets will be added to build up the mass of the piece. All the sharp edges will be knocked off, so it'll look like walking mountain. I haven't combined wood with glass before though, so that element is an experiment.

I'm trying to work green this semester. I've started over the summer with my new digital sketchbook, and I plan to continue by using sustainable materials and more efficient methods. This entire sculpture is made of reclaimed wood from the scrap pile, and the shapes are cut as close to one another as possible to eliminate as much waste material as possible. I'll see if I can donate the scraps to the Raku ceramics kids, maybe they can use it in their kilns.

...

Next week I'll have storyboards and some frames from my animation to share with you.

bethlehem

2010-08-26T18:07:00.001-04:00

I've had a deliciously unproductive summer. I didn't make much art, didn't do much traveling, didn't go to many bars and clubs. I spent the majority of my time in my room, catching up on reading, meditating, practicing yoga, and playing the occasional video game (was anyone else disappointed with Dragon Age's ending?) However, I did manage to write a new song.

Songwriting is a funny thing for me. I either sit down and finish one from scratch, or I spend months upon months forcing lyric into time. This song is a bit of both. I first heard it in a dream, which is not uncommon for me- I've woken up to write several songs from dreams- but the only bit I could remember was its opening line, "In Bethlehem, New York." I figured this place that I've never visited or even heard of must hold some significance for me. I spent all of July trying to figure out the meaning of this "Bethlehem,"distinct from its holy cousin, and finally settled on its metaphorical nature. To me, Bethlehem is a place of quiet peace and humility, a place I've been striving to reach all summer. The rhythm of the chord changes match the rhythm of my breath as I meditate.

I can't say much else about this piece except for that little bit which got me started, though its meaning runs much deeper than that. I'd like to leave the rest for your own interpretation. Thanks for listening.

In Bethlehem, New York I laid a stoneto canonize this old forgotten mindthat once was something more productive.
In the letterbox, there's something growing sweet,and you've hidden it from me for all these years.And with all my love, I'll give it to the air.
In Salem side by side we lift the sunto turn it into something more completewith both our hearts, we'll give it to the air.

Agenda:

2010-08-23T17:00:00.000-04:00

Classes start up again this Wednesday. This is my fifth fall semester at college. It doesn't really have that giddy first-day-of-school feeling; it's far more ominous than that. This fall I've decided to really push myself. Four 400 level classes, three of which are studios. A teaching assistantship. And a part time job.

Ceramic Sculpture

Advanced Independent Studio/Honors Thesis

Experimental Animation in Film

Media Production (budgeting, casting, schedules, pre-production)

Glassblowing (asst. teach)

Whew. Wish me luck.

Schools Kill Creativity

2010-08-12T11:41:00.000-04:00

"Every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects. Every one. Doesn't matter where you go. You'd think it would be otherwise, but it isn't. At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts. Everywhere on Earth. And in pretty much every system too, there's a hierarchy within the arts. Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance. There isn't an education system on the planet that teaches dance every day to children the way we teach them mathematics. Why? Why not? I think this is rather important. I think math is very important, but so is dance. Children dance all the time if they're allowed to, we all do. We all have bodies, don't we? Did I miss a meeting? Truthfully, what happens is, as children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side."

Rosie the Riveter

2010-08-06T11:08:00.001-04:00

It's August, which means that every store is flooded with back to school supplies. Notebooks, pencil boxes, and Solo Cups are on sale everywhere. People are saving their beer money to afford that new "Fundamentals of Business Communication" textbook (which I'm selling, if you do need it), or whatever they need. Even the art student is stocking up, buying gobs of fresh gesso and duck.

But what about us sculptors? And more specifically, what about us lady sculptors?

My back to school shopping list begins somewhat standard: wood glue, dremel bits, various grits of sandpaper, angle grinder disks, nails, screws, and Bondo. Lots and lots of Bondo.

But here’s where it gets tricky: I also need pants. Work pants. And steel toe boots. And leather gloves.

The pants I’ve been using were just standard jeans, which have totally worn through in the knees, are speckled with holes from welding burns, and are crispy in areas from spilled plastic and resin. My studio shoes are gaff-taped together. My leather gloves are clumsily too big for my little lady hands, hindering me more than protecting me. This is a dilemma; the clothes designed for people who work hard are almost exclusively male. We girls are stumbling around in work boots that are too big and hemming pants that are too long.

A few people have noticed (thank god):

Rosie's Workwear is "Designed by women, for women." Finally we can get coveralls that aren't baggy. In hot pink and floral prints!! The boys won't mistake you for a bro with your welding mask on anymore.

Ya Girl! is a line handmade in Vermont by a man who's really feeling for our plight. "I'm not putting on women's pants to do my chores, so why should we expect a woman to wear a man's pant?" They've got heavy duck work pants, work shorts, and even work skirts (with hammer loops!!)

Charm and Hammer is for the rest of the shopping list- safety gear sized smaller for women. There's so much stuff men take for granted, like the width of their safety glasses and the bulk of their respirators. Here are fitted knee pads, gloves, dust masks, and even hot pink tool belts and construction helmets.

AngelFire Welding Gear doesn't have much of a selection so far, but they offer an arc welding jacket and gloves designed specifically for a woman's comfort and safety. Men's welding gear is too big and tends to gap, allowing sparks and splatter to fly down your collar. With a fitted jacket, no more burns!

And a little off topic but worth mentioning,

Carmen Electrode is a blog for ladies who weld and fabricate metals.

And I feel like I should say something about that Satisfaction music video here. I think its constantly playing in our studios. Even though it's exploitive, we've all agreed that you can't just throw any girl on a power breaker and hope for the best, which means that these girls are very likely to be real construction ladies. So, yay!

Prophecy in All Its Branches

2010-08-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

A beautiful portrait of me by Katherine Nonemaker.

Girl has SKILLS.

Carnival In July

2010-08-02T11:54:00.001-04:00

It's August, and I'm already thinking about what I'll be wearing to Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year. I went four years ago and had a blast, but this time I'm in it for REAL. We are cordially invited to the exclusive Krewe Ball, which requires a lavish and unique costume. I've already got my royal purple shirt- I need a mask.

I plan to build my own mask from scratch, from an original design. There are several factors to consider; it needs to be lightweight and wearable, it needs to be strong enough to survive travel (and Bourbon Street), it needs to be breathable and drinkable (I don't want to remove it for every sip of sangria), and it needs to be as colorful as king cake.

Traditionally, masks are made from paper mache or paper pulp, but I'm thinking of a resin mix, maybe with fiberglass support. So... how do I figure out what to make?

Several years ago I spent a few weeks living in an apartment in Venice- I'd take the water taxi through the Grand Canal every day and wander through the streets surrounding St. Mark's, gazing at shop windows filled with artisan crafted Carnival masks. Carnival is the celebration of Fat Tuesday (your last day of freedom before Lent, if you're Catholic) so traditionally, it is a day of vice and pleasure, purging the body of temptation before the 40 day religious fast. The pre-Lent party was transported to the New World, where it took particularly strong root in New Orleans, and thus our modern Mardi Gras was born.

So, I’m gonna build a Carnival mask. I’ll post sketches when I have some good ones, till then, here are my references.

Volunteer's Collective

2010-07-28T11:22:00.001-04:00

I've spoken highly of the Red Room (which is now Klein Blue) in the past, and I'll continue to sing its praises. I've just heard from D.I.Y. Mummy that there is a new collective forming which I will certainly be participating in. I suspect that John Berndt must be behind this. Here's the info:

VOLUNTEERS' COLLECTIVE: NEW WORKSHOP SERIES AT RED ROOM: 6-8PM, 1ST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

After much preparation, The Red Room and High Zero Foundation are excitedly relaunching their monthly workshop for freely improvised experimental music (previously "The Crap Shoot") at a new time, with a new name, and a new attitude.

Now called VOLUNTEERS' COLLECTIVE, it will be running the first Sunday of each month, at 6PM at The Red Room (Normals Books and Records). Although the Crap Shoot workshop (which had approximately 140 sessions since it began in 1996) had been an integral part of the growth of the experimental improvised music scene in Baltimore, for some time we have been feeling it needed revitalization on a deep level.

Essentially, we want this event to be a more powerful tool for the community of improvisers in Baltimore to hone their art, network and form collaborations, and stretch themselves musically in unfamiliar and inspiring situations.

This means a new approach, and frankly, a more critical attitude.

First, the new VOLUNTEERS' COLLECTIVE workshop will be structured featuring well-known local improvisers who will attend sessions to provide a backbone of seasoned players to "seed" each workshop. This will create a more attractive and stimulating workshop situation for newcomers and seasoned players alike.

Second, the workshop will also involve more critical cross-discussion about the music actually played. Conversation, debate, and reflection are vital components on the way to honing skills in improvisation and the VOLUNTEERS' COLLECTIVE will provide that forum.

Third, the workshop will be open to anyone of any level of skill with a strong interest in getting into improvisation and experimentation in an open-ended but thoughtful and disciplined way. This is about reaching beyond and using improvisation collaboratively to guide us into new areas of music and thinking. We are particularly interested in players who want to develop new, unique, but flexible approaches to playing.

There is a catch.

In this new approach, we are asking that only those players who have a strong intention to develop their music and their free improvisation skills attend the workshop. We would like to focus on active musicians who are interested in pushing their playing to a higher level in a specifically experimental, non-idiomatic direction.

Although the workshop will be open to all, we will request that ongoing participation be paralleled by a serious interest in one's own artistic development.

We hope that folks will respect this, and that, as a result of these changes, the overall experience will be substantially more stimulating and thought-provoking than ever.

And, of course, if these changes don't suit some players, we encourage them to create their own collective contexts for improvised music that are more aligned with their interests.

The first VOLUNTEERS' COLLECTIVE will be Sunday, August 1st 6-8PM and will include "seed" improvisers John Berndt, John Dierker, Liz Meredith, and Will Redman. We hope to see you there!

My Life?

2010-07-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

So, I attempted to participate in "Life in a Day" (no really, I did!) but honestly the only thing it proved to me was that I am a person who is meant to be behind the camera and not in front of it. I filmed throughout the day, trying to capture the mundane and the exciting (everything from my nightly yoga routine to installing art at the inner harbor) but I couldn't capture anything the way I'd envisioned. Lack of pre-production, lack of an actual video camera (I used my digital point and shoot which features a simple video option), and my embarrassing tendency to stutter on camera all got together and wrecked my footage.

Under normal circumstances, I love shooting documentary, I just don't want to be the subject. But, maybe, this is a new challenge for me to face. I could feed off this massive video blog culture and attempt to document my life on a similar, grander scale. I haven't heard of anyone writing their memoirs to film- I could give it a go.

The trouble with film is that it simply cannot lie. When the Lumiere brothers invented the first film camera, it is said that they discovered the fountain of youth. For the first time a person could truly be immortalized; not just their smile in a photo, but every element of them that makes them familiar- their walk, their hands, their expressions, all captured for the public to study.

That is a microscope which I am not prepared to live under, though many people have embraced their immortalization via YouTube and reality shows and such (a quick digression- if you haven't seen We Live in Public yet, please, do. Currently on Netflix instant). I am realizing that much of my life is led in secret. I love spending time alone, sorting through ideas in my mind that end up as songs and sculptures and prose. I just don't feel comfortable confessing my thoughts, my loves, my fears, to an anonymous camera to be forever written into the memory banks of the internet. I'm not strong enough to be so vividly vulnerable.

Maybe that's why I should try.

But, in any case, here are some small samplings of the larger body of footage I captured over the course of the day, for your entertainment, for Kevin Macdonald's judgement, but mostly for my memories.

Life in a Day

2010-07-23T11:22:00.001-04:00

Here is a project that has incredible potential to be beautiful and moving. It is a collaborative effort involving every single person with access to a video camera and YouTube. Yeah, that means you. Ridley Scott is producing "Life in a Day" for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival in January, which will be completely user generated content.

According to the Director, Kevin Macdonald, "I want you to chronicle your world, your life, your neighborhood on a single day. You could shoot the journey you take to work, the visit you make to your son, your mother, your grandmother. My aim is to make a film that is a snapshot of life on Earth during one 24-hour period. I will have to find the links between your videos. Those links could be thematic (fears about the future, love for a baby), or temporal (breakfast time, the journey to work, a sunrise happens in Rio and London and Namibia). Ultimately, this is a unique experiment in social filmmaking, and a time capsule that will forever tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24th, 2010."

Tomorrow, July 24th, thousands of people around the world will be capturing their lives. All the mundane moments between here and Dubai, all the intimate moments shared across race and culture, all the thrilling events people will experience on this standard Saturday; if this film succeeds, it will be a display of unadulterated solidarity across the globe.

This is what is asked of you:
-Video record your day, whatever you find interesting or boring (it'll all be fascinating in 50 years anyway People brushed their teeth with TOOTHPASTE back then?? What the hell was that?).
-Use whatever is available to you at the highest quality possible. Cell phone, MacBook, digital camera, etc.
-If you do have access to a good camera, please use 1080p (or best available) with 24fps
-Do NOT edit the footage in ANY way. No captions, no time stamps, no dissolves and fades, no audio tweaking.
-Do as many videos as you want
-Try to keep them under 10mins; you'll need to upload them to YouTube for submission.

Answer these questions:
What do I fear the most?
What do I love?
What makes me laugh?
What is in my pockets?

Record these isolated sounds on video for the soundtrack (no editing!):
A hand clap
A sustained note (deep breath, hum a note as long as you can)
A deep breath in and out
Your favorite sound

On the filming day:

(click to view full size)

Do's and Don'ts

(click to view full size)

Please participate. This is a good idea, and I'm so excited to see how it turns out.
For more information, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday

Artscape 2010

2010-07-22T00:15:00.000-04:00

The Young Forgotten

2010-07-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

A quick bit of creative writing:

How is it that you have so thoroughly forgotten yourself? The convictions of your youth are obscured by adult preoccupations and sufferings. Lost is the peacefulness that once silenced your racing heart. Lost are the noble ideals of an imperfect childhood and the courageous ramblings of an over-educated adolescence. They were virgin sacrifices to an unruly God who spread naught but confusion and ignorance among the once wise. Your integrity has dissolved into opportunity and the fear of having missed some vital mistake in this past blur of delayed pubescence. Your chest, once swelled with honor, now churns beneath the pressure of an undisciplined life.

Remember the secret passions of your misplaced innocence. You were born among the snow dusted peaks of Denver in March. You once found solace in the rolling blue mountains of New England. You were at peace alone under the stars in the vast Texan prairie. Years ago, these green things were clear-cut to make way for the construction of the new you, a stranger to your past. Having peeled back your own history like snakeskin, you have destroyed the only foundation you were ever given. How ungratefully foolish of you.

And now, still a child, you stand in the shoes of an adult under a roof you've paid for yourself. You look at your street in the neighborhood you have selected for yourself and you wonder what home is. You catch yourself stumbling on the crumbled edge of a fathomless precipice as you are wrenched back by the collar of your shirt into the arms of a younger, wiser version of yourself. Remember her. Trust her. Hold yourself accountable to her. Make her proud of the woman you have grown into. And remember to be proud yourself.

Artscape 2010

2010-07-16T14:52:00.003-04:00

Ah yes, the biggest event of the year to strike the art scene in ~~Baltimore~~ ~~the East Coast~~ America. This is the nation's largest free arts festival, and it gathers crowds of over 300,000 annually. Sure, to the average Mount Vernon local, the festival is a massive headache of constant music, clogged streets, funnel cakes, and hipsters, but step back for a moment and examine what this means for Baltimore. We are on the cusp of national recognition for being the most productive incubator for musicians, artists, performers and film makers. Smalltimore is like a cultural organism; all genres feeding off one another, spurring others on to progress. Look at venues like the Wind Up Space and Joe Squared, typical watering holes that have become a venue for experimental, electronic, and jazz, and they also curate regular exhibitions. We have communal style art factories like the Copy Cat and the H&H. We've got one of the most recognized art institutes in the country. Artscape is our chance to share these gems with the outside world (who, incidentally, will be pouring their money into our economy as they gobble up $9 corn dogs. Think about it when you complain about opera house parking this weekend. 300,000 tourist dollars. Think of the potholes we could fill! Think of the subsidizing! The gift cards for the mayor!)

If you live within two hours of Baltimore, I HIGHLY suggest you go to this event. You might even run into John Waters! Or Joan Jett! Or me!

Oh, did I mention, it's TOTALLY FREE. Jump on the lightrail, and don't worry about parking.

Click the map to view larger. Print it out, mark it up.

There is a plethora of events and activities to experience this year- far too many to describe here. So, here’s the short list:

MUST SEE:
Art Cars -Charles Street
Exotic Hypnotic -Experimental Music BU Student Center
DIY Artscape -Crafters unite! Get every your every desire knitted, printed, and sewn!
Sondheim Semifinalist show -MICA Fox Building
Maryland Film Festival "Shorts" -The Charles Theatre
McFadden Art Glass -Booth 57!! Glassblowing!!! (shameless self plug)

Friday 7/16:
*2:00pm-9:00pm Exotic Hypnotic -University of Baltimore Student Center
*4:00pm Nana Projects Parade -Charles Street
*6:30pm Maysa -Wachovia Stage
*7:00pm-1:00am Open house at McFadden Art Glass -6802 Eastern Ave
*8:30pm Musiq Soulchild -Wachovia Stage
*9:00pm+ Go to Station North Arts. Anything at Joe2, Windup Space, Load of Fun, and Metro Gallery will be good. Many places are open till 4. (mostly 21+)

Saturday 7/17:
*2:00pm-9:00pm Exotic Hypnotic -University of Baltimore Student Center
*4:00pm Billie Holiday Tribute Concert -Meyerhoff Hall
*6:00pm Nana Projects Parade -Charles Street
*6:30pm Cold War Kids -Wachovia Stage
*7:30pm Fashion Design Competition -UB Plaza
*8:00pm Gov't Mule (Allman Brothers side project) -Wachovia Stage
*8:00pm LOL@Artscape -The LOF/t
*9:00pm Mambo Combo -Festival Stage
*9:00pm+ Station North!! Windup Space!! Joe2!! Metro!!

Sunday 7/18
This is the best day to bring kids. There are puppet shows, street theatre, magicians, and parades all day long! Check the official list for more

*A note for you out-of-towners:
If you order a "Boh," you will get a cheap, delicious, (kinda)local beer.
If you see an abandoned hula hoop, you're basically required to twirl it.
If you see men in pink beehive wigs, do not be alarmed. Take their picture!
If you see a large group of hipsters, you're probably very near to Dan Deacon.
You are much safer than you think you are, but...
If you end up in Druid Hill, RUN back the way you came.

HAVE FUN

Galactic Series: Andromeda

2010-07-15T08:37:00.000-04:00

more/better pictures coming soon

Artist Compound

2010-07-07T10:10:00.005-04:00

6804 Eastern AvenueBaltimore, MD 21224 This Saturday, I am a featured artist at the second Artist Compound. We're trying to bring artists and events into East Baltimore via The Glass Grill, and hopefully this will become a regular kinda thing. The glassblowing studio is still open and free this Friday to come and watch live demos.

$8 at the door, all ages

FREE DRINKS 7pm-9pm, meet the artists

2D artworks on display in the bar, 3D artworks in the garden and patio

Live glassblowing demonstrations all night

Make your own blown glass workshops (prices vary)

Specials on wings and Bohs

Live music and DJs playing 9pm-2am

Snowball/pit beef stand "Fire and Ice"

How could you resist?

Edible Glass

2010-07-01T21:52:00.001-04:00

Bring sugar and water and tartar to a boil, to 300*. Pour into a pan. Figure out the timing so it doesn't turn yellow. Voila, a pane of glass. It's much more brittle than I expected. I've got a few ideas for performances involving the breaking of this glass. A few more experiments left to do...

SCIENCE!!

Silence, Silence, Sound

2010-06-26T16:35:00.000-04:00

Tonight I'm performing in a quintet with Shelly Blake-Plock and friends at The Red Room, and experimental music venue built inside Normal's Books. This is my third show at the Red Room, and it's one of my favorite venues to play. It sits at the deep and hidden heart of Baltimore's experimental music scene, which is quickly becoming the center of experimental music nation-wide. I'm always honored to play here, and especially with such a tremendously talented group of players who are associated with the famous High Zero Foundation, an international festival for experimental music.

Red Room reopens tomorrow (new and improved and full of surprises), Sat. June 26, with a performance by READERS (Shelly Blake-Plock, John Berndt, Rose Burt, Tom Boram, and Savanna Leigh), a film by Rachel Younghans, and a mystery performance by a duo of French/German wandering free improvisers. 8:30PM; $6.
RED ROOM 425 E. 31ST STREET BALTIMORE, MD. 21218, USA

For those of you who have never been, I STRONGLY urge you to head down to 31st Street and check out Normal's Books. Best used books and records in town. I can't describe it as well as What Weekly:

"In the seldom traveled nooks and crannies of every city across the world, there exist enclaves of lesser-known phenomena that may only reach those few locals who have found themselves in the know.

It’s here, between the mass produced and the homegrown, that the soul of the city can be shaped. There is roughly eight hundred Barnes & Noble’s Booksellers in the United States and most of them are exactly like the next one. There’s only one Normals Bookstore and it’s right here in Waverly. There’s no bookstore quite like it in the world.

The strange medley of books and albums reflects the curiousness and clear determination of its owners whose vision for the store has been honed for twenty years. They’ve grown a reputation as the place to find the obscure and often rare.

The Red Room at Normals has served as a space where performances are free to be explored without preconception by the players or prejudice by the audience. This venue has had an immense influence on the experimental music scene in Baltimore.

It’s in these spaces that the backdrop for the city’s story is erected. You can’t recreate the circumstances that would lead a group of young artists to start a bookstore and you can’t expedite the twenty years that shapes the personality of it. This is part of why Normals is a treasured fixture of our city."

...

If you're not already devouring the articles in What Weekly, you should. It's your one-stop-shop for everything you love in Baltimore, and their calendar is a GREAT way to figure out what's going on where when you need something to do. From the performers at HonFest to the Balkan dance parties at H&H, What Weekly's got you covered. It's like City Paper, only more plugged in.

Plug Thyself!

See you tonight at the Red Room.

Shadows Through Glass

2010-06-14T00:17:00.000-04:00

Taken from my Galactic Glass series, shot with my little point and shoot Fuji. Despite the camera quality, I'm quite pleased with these. One key light, one fill, on black felt. I'll re-shoot this later on with an SLR. These are all unedited- I gotta figure out how to do that soon.

I'm really happy with the abstraction- maybe the grainy picture quality works in its favor. I'm starting to see glass as a means to an end. I'm thinking of blowing shapes specifically for their shadows, which can be photographed, filmed, or incorporated into another media. I'm also interested in experimenting with projecting light onto/through blown glass. We shall see.

The Pale Blue Dot

2010-06-07T13:20:00.001-04:00

"Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." ~Carl Sagan

Earth as seen from Voyager 1 while on the edge of our solar system (approximately 3,762,136,324 miles from home). The pale blue dot in the right-most band of color.

I am completely obsessed with space right now. I'm devouring every documentary I can find on quantum mechanics, space-time fabric, planetary life cycles, the LHC, dark matter, black holes, and everything in between. It's a shame that the lines between science and art cross so infrequently; I want to do something to change that. I'm not sure what yet, but hopefully my Galactic Glass series is a decent start. Maybe I'll turn my living room into a Tom Sachs set. Or maybe I'll just eat alot of freeze-dried food and stare at the stars.

I wonder if you're staring at them too

Printable Objects

2010-06-06T14:18:00.000-04:00

This is some pretty cool technology. Make something on the computer, and print it out. I'm sure you know how to print a document, but did you know you can also print an object?

I made this quick test cube in Rhino and had it printed out. The point of this little cube was to experiment with the printer's capacity for detail and to test the strength of the material.

My digital model in Rhino

The finished product, printed out in some special mixture of plaster.

3D printers create tangible objects from a digital .STL file by building the material up layer by layer, which is why my cube has that surface texture. This process is called "rapid prototyping," it's newly available to the public (more or less) and it's opening new frontiers in object design, production, and innovation. Check out Shapeways for printer outsourcing and information.

All my digital models and renderings can be seen in my portfolio, all built and rendered in Rhino.

To Swallow the Sun

2010-06-02T01:31:00.001-04:00

Several months ago, I stumbled upon a talk given by Elizabeth Gilbert, the acclaimed author of “Eat, Pray, Love.” I began listening to this talk casually, thinking it would be a nice way to spend eighteen minutes- However as Gilbert's talk progressed, I began to feel the gravity of her words. They pressed down upon me deliberately and fearfully- I shook, I wept, and then there was a sort of calm; a peace in knowing that my own anxieties are shared by so many other creative minds. A peace in knowing that I can cast off my own perceived insanity to stand in illuminated solidarity with my struggling comrades. For the past several months, the words of this talk have haunted the cobwebs of my mind. They have settled there, they've taken root, and they are beginning to shape the way I see and think more than I could have imagined.

I had no idea that eighteen minutes could change my life.

I don't want to imbue Elizabeth Gilbert with the sole responsibility of this metamorphosis; I do however credit her for so gracefully articulating the tempest of anxieties I've been battling through the entirety of my creative career. For the past several months I've been meditating on this talk- and now, out of necessity, I will feebly attempt to relate it to my own experience as a maker.

I am a maker.

I'm sure this identity is something unheard of to you, my loyal readers, who are not in the business of being creative. A quick definition: A maker is someone who creates out of the desperate need to create, be it art, music, dance, or otherwise. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all wrong with being a non-maker. In a recent interview, I stated that “I'd much rather be a rich lawyer- I am an artist simply because I have to be. I have no choice.” So, I am infinitely jealous of you who can enjoy a stable job doing math and science and business. I am jealous of your inevitable comfort. I am jealous of your fearlessness.

In the words of Mrs. Gilbert, “When I first started telling people -- when I was a teenager -- that I wanted to be a writer, I was met with this same kind of, sort of fear-based reaction. And people would say, 'Aren't you afraid you're never going to have any success? Aren't you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you? Aren't you afraid that you're going to work your whole life at this craft and nothing's ever going to come of it and you're going to die on a scrap heap of broken dreams with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?'...Yes... And I don't recall once in [my father's] 40 years of chemical engineering anybody asking him if he was afraid to be a chemical engineer.”

So what is it about creativity that we are so afraid of? Why do we stand alone before a room full of our peers to be voluntarily criticized for the work we have created? I'm sure you marketing majors have never cried after a failed pitch for an ad campaign. You see, the ad you have created may be filled with innovative brilliance, but it is not filled with your sweat and blood. It did not erupt from your core to take possession of your pen.

Makers are so personally tied to their work that there often ceases to be a distinction between the person and the piece. This is a historically deadly line to blur- makers have a dark history of violence and mental instability. The pressure placed on an artist by himself and by society is often unbearable, “like trying to swallow the sun,” and sometimes that artist simply breaks under the pressure. He goes on to cut off an ear or to reign a Third Reich. So, if we have no choice but to be an artist, what optimism is left in our profession?

Mrs. Gilbert offers a buffer:

“[In] ancient Greece and ancient Rome -- people did not happen to believe that creativity came from human beings back then...People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source, for distant and unknowable reasons. The Greeks famously called these divine attendant spirits of creativity "daemons." Socrates, famously, believed that he had a daemon who spoke wisdom to him from afar. The Romans had the same idea, but they called that sort of disembodied creative spirit a genius. Which is great, because the Romans did not actually think that a genius was a particularly clever individual. They believed that a genius was this, sort of magical divine entity, who was believed to literally live in the walls of an artist's studio”

There it is. That's the thing that has been unexplainable to me for years. This is exactly what I need to function; this is a loose theology that I have since chosen to accept and personify. This is something I have spoken to very few people about, because it makes me feel crazy, inarticulate, and helpless to describe. So, for the first time, here goes.

It started in high school, when I was first graced by this paranormal thing Mrs. Gilbert calls genius. I don't mean that my work was particularly good, or that I think it was a sort of transcendent masterpiece; I mean that this was when I was first possessed by something uncontrollable. Not demonic, but rather brilliantly optimistic. I had been working on a tedious painting in my parents' basement, crying over some forgotten teenage woe, when it struck me. It felt like something swept through me from behind and breathed into my heart, inflating me with passion and understanding. With my hands I smeared paint across the drawing I had been so careful about. I created something entirely new, entirely outside of myself. Ever since then I have often been graced by the same indescribable force, that cock-eyed genius in my walls. Sometimes he stays with me for days- I know my friends can sense the difference in me. And I can always feel him coming, and I am never without a pen and paper exactly because of that. My room is filled with blank canvases waiting for his touch.

I realize this sounds like madness. In my fear of being called crazy or worse, I have kept the details of my perpetual possessions private until I heard Gilbert's talk. Since then, I have timidly admitted this to a select few of my most trusted and respected creative associates- and they have admitted to similar if not identical feelings.

Mrs. Gilbert relates the words of American poet Ruth Stone, “When [Ruth] was growing up in rural Virginia, she would be out working in the fields, and she said she would feel and hear a poem coming at her from over the landscape. And she said it was like a thunderous train of air. And it would come barreling down at her over the landscape. And she felt it coming, because it would shake the earth under her feet. She knew that she had only one thing to do at that point, and that was to, in her words, 'run like hell.' And she would run like hell to the house and she would be getting chased by this poem, and the whole deal was that she had to get to a piece of paper and a pencil fast enough so that when it thundered through her, she could collect it and grab it on the page. And other times she wouldn't be fast enough, so she'd be running and running and running, and she wouldn't get to the house and the poem would barrel through her and she would miss it and she said it would continue on across the landscape, looking, as she put it 'for another poet.'”

That is my creative process to a tee. Later in the talk it is revealed that even Tom Waits shares a similar approach to creating. So, this possession, this uncontrollable need to create seems to both haunt and grace creative people across the spectrum. Call it talent, call it inspiration, call it daemon, call it God, call it genius. It has chosen us to be makers, and that is why we do what we do. We have no choice but to oblige.

My genius and I have grown to be quite familiar with each other. He tends to show up to work around 1am, which is rather inconvenient for me, but I manage to compromise. Some days, when I face an insurmountable wall of creative block, I call out to him. Sometimes he answers. Most times he won't bother. He loves to show up the night before something is due, light me on fire from within, and prevent me from sleeping while I create something spectacular and A+ worthy. Sometimes he won't show up at all and I am forced to submit some uninspired slop, “but I would please like the record to reflect today that I showed up for my part of the job.”

Yes, I realize the insanity of “basically fairies who follow people around rubbing fairy juice on their projects.” I don't believe in a specifically personified gnome who lives in the walls of my studio, but it is the best description I can give to something that I have been unable to put my finger on. I can simply laugh and shrug my shoulders, and accept the inspiration when it strikes me.

Old "Sparky"

2010-05-31T13:59:00.001-04:00

Due to popular demand, THIS is a plasma cutter.

Used here by the ultra-talented Ellen Durkan.

Just always remember, friends,

SAFETY.

safety.

Fire Breather

2010-05-30T16:50:00.002-04:00

As kids, we are all taught not to play with fire. We were all told that playing with matches is not only dangerous but bad. Firemen made visits to our elementary schools to preach the benefits of escape ladders and smoke detectors. Our little hands are whipped away from the stove before we are able to know that it burns. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not opposing child safety standards; I can only relate how they have affected me. You see, growing up, my biggest fear was of fire.

When I was eighteen, I stepped into the university’s sculpture studio eyes wide with inexperience. All I saw was a plethora of machines designed to hurt me in some way. There were saws with blades as big as my head, guns that spew nails powered by loud, scary compressed air, and all kinds of hazmat chemicals that threatened to eat through my clothing. And even worse, I glimpsed seniors on the loading dock tearing steel barrels to shreds with a plasma cutter. Plasma. Cutter. It looks like some sort of sci-fi weapon that hisses as it shoots lightning through steel and spews sparks from its nozzle like the foam of a rabid animal. I was terrified… and fascinated.

Everything I had been taught in the eighteen years leading up to that moment told me not to touch these tools. They’re dangerous! Yet my instructor told me to use these tools as a means to an end, and to do so without instruction. The only advice I was given was to “just mess around till you make something cool. Oh, try to keep all your fingers too.” That’s quite a task for a teenage girl who had only once constructed a birdhouse from popsicle sticks.

As I bent over the bandsaw, I could hear my father’s voice over the flying sawdust, “Don’t go near the power tools! Keep your hands away!” I wish he could have seen me assemble my joinery so precisely that it held together without glue. I wish he could have watched me tack my first weld. Or forge my first steel braid. These days, I’m the senior on the loading dock teaching underclassmen how to adjust the settings on the plasma cutter. I’m the girl giving fiberglassing demonstrations to the 3D design classes. I’m slicing through marble with a diamond blade angle grinder. Next semester I’ll be the Teacher’s Assistant for Glassblowing 1. And somehow I’m still the only person who can fix that damn jigsaw.

Photos by Jess Schimpf

Full Circle

2010-05-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

I'd just like to mention that this white oxford shirt was once my Catholic uniform shirt at John Carroll High.

Seen here at Sugar's annual red carpet event, the Black and Red Ball in Baltimore. Worn by the lovely Roma Mafia, and enthusiastically torn off by the fantastic Femme6.

To those of you who knew me in my youth, I guess you could say I've come a long way.

Burlesque is huge in Baltimore right now. It seems like every weekend affords the opportunity to laugh along to the amazing theatricality of these performers with their tantalizing tassels. While I am certainly no expert on the theatre arts, I understand that this home grown movement is about reclamation of body image through vaudeville-esque humor, circus acts, acrobatics, and classic pin-up style among a limitless myriad of other things. I love these shows. I have enormous respect for the men and women who strut across the stage in their carefully designed costumes (filled with secret snaps, magnets, and velcro for fast and easy removal).

There's not a dramatic bone in body... I'm no good on stage, but I'll happily support these performers with the occassional dollar bill and donation of old Catholic wear. It's for a good cause, afterall.

Interested? Head to Paco Fish's calendar or check out Baltimore's own Gilded Lilly Burlesque group.

See you there!

FACELIFT

2010-05-17T16:36:00.000-04:00

The website has an entirely fresh identity now!

(matching handmade business cards coming soon)

I added all kinds of new features! Last week I was running three(ish) separate websites; this blog, my digital sketchbook, and my various music sites. I've combined them all here, and they all interlink. Next week I'm buying the domain name, so you'll soon find me here at www.SavannaLeighArt.com

FRESH KICKS:

Works- Features all of my formally photographed pieces, soon to be updated with this semester's work.

Sketchbook- I'm tired of printing out stuff I like and pasting it in my paper sketchbooks. This is a green method of record keeping

Tunes- Music is my side project- more of a hobby really. This is an easier page to access that features some video tunes, and will soon feature MP3 streaming.

About- My contact and resume are up now. I'll soon be adding a short bio, artist statement, and list of skills.

Let's play with LAVA

2010-05-14T18:02:00.000-04:00

I was trying to find an open computer lab. Instead I found my friends pouring bronze on the loading dock.

Facebook readers, click HERE for the full post and video!

Bronze sculptures are created by building molds around your form; there's two ways to do this, ceramic shell (right) or sand (left). Ceramic shell is quite a process- First, make your sculpture out of clay, then mold that in plaster. Cast the mold in wax, add sprues for air ventilation, and cover the wax in shell. Then put the whole deal in a kiln that melts all the wax out, leaving a hollow structure suitable for casting. More info about the lost wax process can be found here.

Sand is a bit simpler- mix the sand up (I don't have the formula with me... I'll find it for you guys later), carve it out, pour bronze in. In this case, someone carved some pink insulation foam and packed that into the mold. When the bronze is poured in, the foam burns out.

This is the furnace. It is very very hot (about 1700*F...not as hot as glass). That is fire coming out of the top. We drop metal in there to melt it down for pouring.

This is a crucible. It's made of graphite and it is filled with molten bronze. LAVA.

The molds post-pour

SAFETY

Removing the shell from the cast pieces once they've returned to a solid state.

Just an average day in the life of Sculp.

Crawl back under your stone

2010-05-12T03:05:00.001-04:00

It's the end of the semester, and people seem to wonder what rock all the art majors disappear under. It's called the studio, and luckily I am finished with it till Fall. Most of my friends aren't so lucky... It's 3am on a Tuesday night and I know several people who are banging steel, throwing pots, and sleeping on couches they've pulled into quiet stairwells with drop-cloths and tarps thrown over the halogen lights. Next year I'm investing in a new pair of steel-toe boots, and more importantly, a hammock. I can hang it from our pulley I-beams. I've seen kids brushing their teeth in the art building bathrooms in the morning. Doesn't the dance department have showers? I need to figure that out.

Today in my early critique a classmate asked, "Is it raining today? It looks rainy. Is it cold? It's kinda chilly in here now..."

"Guess you didn't walk in to school today?"

"I've been on that couch since 6am."

Here are a few pictures of studio life

(mostly for my curious out-of-town relatives)

Sleep well friends, and dream not of finals.

Fargo

2010-05-07T00:46:00.002-04:00

This is a frame still from "Fargo." See that glass bowl on the coffee table? I'm gonna make me one of those. Maybe in blue/green instead. Pink is expensive. Before I do a new glass piece I always write the steps out and sketch the stages, so I know what to do on the spot.

I think it'll work like this:

1. Gather/Starter/Gather

2. Frit/Block

3. Heat/Mold

4. Jackline

5. Blow shoulders wide, thick bottom

6. Punty

7. Jack open mouth wide

8. Heat lip, pull with tweezers ~9 points

*Gotta pull the points on the crest of every mold line

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Glass Blowing Photos

2010-05-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

Pictures from McFadden Glass Art

All photos by Jess Schimpf

A sunny afternoon spent prepping Venetian style cane bases

and sculpting a seahorse.

Warning! This post contains nudity. (Kinda.)

2010-05-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

The Towson University Senior Thesis show opened this Thursday. There was alot of great work this year, especially from the 3D departments (go sculp!) I still have a few semesters left, so I didn't contribute to this show, though I did participate.

Tom Martin and I modeled for Alessandra Bianco's photography project which explored the human form in constriction. We had to climb into a tiny 3'x3' plywood box and pose for the camera.

America's Next Top Model, here we come!

Yes, that is my tattoo. No, it doesn't "say" anything... They are violin F-Holes, as seen on Man Ray's Le Violon d'Ingres

She nailed these shadows.

Tom got back into the box. This picture lends a good sense of scale, I think.

Alessandra Bianco

The senior thesis exhibition will be open in the Center for the Arts Gallery

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-4pm

April 30 - May 15

Just in case making art in real life isn't enough...

2010-04-26T23:15:00.002-04:00

Art gallery opening at the Towson Innovation Lab in Second Life. Collaborative project investigating "Hype," involving Towson University, Winthrop University, and The University of Dundee (Scotland)

My presentation board was quite a hit.

Project objectives posted inside the gallery

List of contributing artists who were selected by a jury to appear within the gallery (I'm on the right panel)

Outdoor critique of process presentations

Gallery critique of selected artworks (My Valor piece is on the left)

My installed work in the gallery

St. Mary

2010-04-25T12:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a most recent and more mature version of my song "St. Mary"I'm very fond of this practice recording, so I thought I'd share it with you :)

Green Valor

2010-04-22T18:31:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Earth Day, I finished my 3D project on "Hype." I figured that the green movement is getting boat loads of hype these days, so I'll do something with that. I was thinking about wartime propaganda, which brought me to WWII medals. So, I decided to design a brooch medal for green-minded commuting cyclists. To honor their valor in the face of traffic and distance. It will have an environmentally friendly green ribbon, and it features a bike gear in the center. Thanks, bikers!

(Facebook readers, click here to see the videos!)

This 3D digital object will be printed out (in 3D), through Shapeways.

This is how it works:

And my final product should look like:

Rendered using Flamingo in Rhino.

As an additional project stipulation, we were required to upload our product and process onto a slideshow in Second Life. I've never used the program before, and I can't say I'm its biggest fan, but it has some interesting features. We are collaborating with an arts college in England, and we will all meet for an international critique in Second Life. Its sort of like a visual chat room where we can host presentations. Towson University has its own island in the digital world, search "Towson Innovation Lab" to teleport there. If you're not entirely sure what Second Life is, watch this:

Well, if it's a school requirement, I guess I'll play along. It's pretty funny hearing teachers say "Ok well email me your information in first life and I'll send you the materials in Second Life." ...Sorry Jan!

In MY second life, I am batgirl.
"Savvy Rumble"

Gimmie your L$.

People keep telling me that Second Life is the new big thing- its the new form of marketing, e-commerce, communications, and distribution. They said the same thing about blogging.

Transmodern 2010

2010-04-22T02:26:00.002-04:00

Baltimore's 7th Annual Transmodern Festival. Impossible to describe. I can merely caption these photos I took, and hope that some other source will write something more formal on the topic.

Facebook readers, see the full post (with video!!)

CAUTION! May Cause:

Dizziness

Seizure

Nausea

Shortness of Breath

Heartbreak

Constipation

Who Cares

Blurry Vision

Fun

Death

NOT SUITABLE FOR:

Tiny kids, pregnant women, macho men, senior citizens, bros, and jerks.

Whack-a-mole

amBUSH

Funny thing is, I put this on in an attempt to fit in

Get it off your chest, pluck it from her breast. Story swapping.

You really just had to be there

Monster Edit

2010-04-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

I just inherited many many hours of raw footage of Tim McFadden's glassblowing and interviews. My task? 45min DVD on art glass.

ooooh boy

Lightbox

2010-04-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

How to build a lightbox for $2:

1.) Put a (low watt) light into a box!

2.) Find a cheap picture frame, remove picture.

3.) Insert image + paper

4.) Switch light on, et viola!

...

These Days

2010-04-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

A quick cover. I've been recording videos casually like this so I get a sense of what I sound like... lo-fi holla. I kinda like this one. (And somehow I manage to sing it lower than Nico)

Out of Order

2010-04-01T10:01:00.001-04:00

This is a show next weekend that I will definitely be participating in. I did Out of Order a few years ago, and my painting sold for $300 in silent auction. ANYONE can hang their art in the gallery, and you can make money doing it!! Plus, you get a free ticket to the gala on Friday night (a $40 value), which is totally worth the trouble. MAP (Maryland Art Place) is located between Ram's Head Live and PowerPlant Live in Baltimore. Great shows, great times.

...

The following is from Bmore Art:

Maryland Art Place's Annual Free-Hung Benefit Exhibition, Silent Auction and Party!

OUT OF ORDER is a signature fundraising event at Maryland Art Place (MAP). MAP welcomes Baltimore’s contemporary artists to participate in our annual Do-It-Yourself exhibition and party!

This year, there are several changes in how Out of Order will be presented. We hope the information provided (Link) will make it easy for you to join in the fun!

Each artist that wishes to participate in Out of Order 2010 will contribute $10 to MAP. And, each participating artist will receive one complimentary ticket to the Friday, April 9 event.

Tickets $40 each. All Artists are invited to participate.

During the 24-hour non-stop Do-It-Yourself installation, beginning at 9am on April 6 and ending at 9am April 7, each participating artist hangs one original piece in the MAP galleries.

Digital Sketchbook

2010-03-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

I'm going green. No more printed images glued into my working sketchbook, no sir.

I'm dumping all of my images on my new blog, here.

This will be a collection of artists and ideas that are currently informing my art. I'm publishing these images online in one place so that they may be accessed at any time from any computer (or phone).

This is mostly a better way for me to stay organized, but I hope you all enjoy it too. Cheers!

http://savannaleighsketch.blogspot.com/

Ear Monsters

2010-03-28T16:50:00.003-04:00

Last night I attended the debut performance of the fresh new band "Ear Monsters" (formerly Zig Zag Jazz) at the CD release party for their freshman album "No Fur On Your Goat." (not kidding.)
The Ear Monsters are two nine year old twin boys and their kid sister (led my their father Shelly Blake-Plock) playing free jazz of their own creation. Impressive little Monsters!

Shelly Blake-Plock is an affiliate of the High Zero Festival for experimental music and The Red Room. Shelly and I have known each other for some time now- Earlier this year we collaborated on "Musician Casserole" at the Red Room. In 2006 we collaborated on his album The Violencestring, which I illustrated.
These days, we are working on a new sound- I'm providing vocals and guitar (and maybe drums) and he's been slamming some groovy double bass. Add some jazz guitar and snare, and we've got ourselves a nice mix of olde-english-folk-jazz. Look out for us this summer.

While I Breathe, I Hope

2010-03-26T02:16:00.007-04:00

I recently heard a rather disturbing statistic:

The most victimized group of people are those of the transgender community.

I'm not sure if that's true, or even if it can be proved, but it still got me thinking. I did a little research. I learned that in 2009 alone, there were 147 transgender murders internationally. 18 of them were in DC/Baltimore. And that's only what has been reported. Excluding non-fatal violence and abuse. That is a huge number.

For Advanced Drawing 3, we were assigned to create a 2D work based on a statistic of our choosing. I remembered hearing those figures, and designed my project around it.

I mounted a canvas on hardboard and stenciled these Latin words:

"Dum Spiro, Spero."

"While I breathe, I hope"

I asked people to kiss the canvas with lipstick. 147 kisses, 147 murders. I asked straight men and women, queer men and women, people who identify outside of the gender normative, liberals, conservatives, people with disabilities, people from different races.

We're all in this together, after all.

I asked if I could take their pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

...

147

While we breathe, we hope.

...

This piece will be displayed on Friday, April 23rd at 7:00pm at Towson University Union 313 as part of the "Transform Your Mind" art show.

Wet Paint

2010-03-25T11:55:00.007-04:00

Finally, a new painting. Not for any class, not for any show, this is mine. For me.

Acrylic on hardboard 13"x13"

It's so refreshing to do work independently, free from deadlines and assignment stipulations. This is part of a series of abstracts in acrylic that I've been slowly working on over the last seven years. None of the compositions are planned, and they are all finished in under an hour. I think I am more and more informed by the pre-degenerate German and Austrian expressionists. I could stand in front of a Shiele or Kokoschka for hours.

See more of my 2D here.

Sculpture is a trade. Painting is sacred.

Digital Koons

2010-03-22T16:46:00.006-04:00

Digital Object Design project: Make an Animal

Balloon Dog a la Jeff Koons:

I saw this sculpture a few years ago in front of the Guggenheim in Venice, right off the Grand Canal.

Rhino, the 3D program we've been using, has some nice reflective renders, so I thought I'd copy Mr. Koons for this exercise.

And I also made a duck.

Glassblowing Documentary!!!

2010-03-11T18:36:00.004-05:00

Finally, the glass doc is posted! (My apologies for the quality, none of us could figure out the proper compression) This short documentary was produced, directed, shot, and edited by myself, Patrick Coursey, and Greg Hindman.

Special thanks to Tim McFadden of McFadden Glass Art for helping us out.
(Facebook readers, see the video here)...As for my own glassblowing:
I'm in love with this medium. Totally worth the scars.

(Oh, 100th post. Cheers!)

Life Hack, Part Deux

2010-03-06T13:23:00.009-05:00

After receiving several complimentary and encouraging emails from across the US regarding my previous post "Life Hack", I thought I'd take some time to elaborate on my own system of organizing creative thoughts and projects. As a full time student, full time dreamer, and part time employee, I constantly have at least six projects working simultaneously. How do I keep my sanity? Years of trial and error.

Everyone masters their own efficiency through a thousand different variables, and the most challenging element of organization is figuring out what system works best for you. Do you need to have everything labeled? Tabs? Post-its? Color coded pens? Graphs? Flow charts? Lists upon lists (or at times, lists OF other lists)- Luckily, we've got technology available to us to help.

There are lots of apps to help you keep your head on straight- I've been using the Astrid to-do list on my Droid, which links up with Remember The Milk. Great for micromanaging and remembering deadlines. The Droid also synchs with Gmail and Google Calendar, which is very helpful for appointments and such.

But what about project productivity?

When I was a freshman, I carried three books with me at all times: a planner, a sketchbook, and a journal. That was such a hassle. I needed to consolidate. I tried to merge the journal (mostly for songwriting, things to remember, ideas to explore later) and the sketchbook. I bought a book I liked (texture is IMMENSELY important to me for some reason. The pages have to feel good, or I'll never use it.) and sectioned it off: Music, Art, Write, Sing, Draw, Misc., and Index.

It worked, briefly. The biggest issue was that many of my ideas are overlapping- I could never figure out which tab I wrote something under. A little too organized for me. Index, however, was something I liked. I numbered the pages of the book and cataloged my subjects in the back. Great for finding lost ideas in old sketchbooks.

...

On to attempt #2: The handmade planner.

This is an attempt to combine the journal and planner books.

Step 1: Get a nice ruled pocket Moleskine. Sturdy enough to last a long time. Even features a pocket in the back for business cards and what not.

Step 2: Draw the planner portion in. I included margins on the right for footnotes, like the arrow symbol which indicates a reference page. "See Page 15"

Step 3: After the planner portion is filled, number the remaining pages for references. So, if I can't fit all the info I need in the planner's boxes, I can foreword that info to the back of the book. This includes phone numbers, addresses, lists (always date them), and things to remember like song names and artists to investigate later.

Step 4: Index! Be sure to include an index so you can easily find those odds and ends that go missing in your reference pages.

As for big projects, I've got a dry erase board above my workbench divided into squares. Each square features the title of the project, its deadline, the materials I still need to buy, and the next few steps of production. It's a great visual method to keep things in order.

...

Hopefully this info will help you figure out your own system of organization! Feel free to email me your questions and comments, ->SavannaLeighArt@gmail.com<-

Where Is My Mind?

2010-02-28T20:01:00.005-05:00

The American Craft Council show was held in Baltimore this last weekend. It was a great opportunity to speak with master craftsmen about their concepts and process. I learned quite a lot, and came away from the convention feeling inspired (and with an armful of free swag).

...

Art Trade:

Shin-Yeon Jeon, a prominent Baltimore ceramic artist, is trading me her "Where Is My Mind" reduction fired luster tumbler on the left for my metallic wrap blown glass tumbler on the right. AWESOME.

Some of my work is featured on her website under "Modeling: Concept and Process"

Is anyone else interested in trading art with me?

-> SavannaLeighArt@gmail.com <-

...

The current state of my studio-bedroom. The drawing on the easel is the half-finished "Vertigo"

madness.

...

Life Hack

2010-02-25T16:10:00.009-05:00

Upon examining my planner, I've just now realized how many projects I'm actually currently working on. (I nearly forgot my own birthday too, thank god it's in my planner as well) I need a better system of productivity. For a brief period of my summer, I became obsessed with productivity and this new indie movement of "life hacking," that is, tweaking the details of your daily life to maximize output. Most of this starts with the internet- There are thousands of little apps that will run your life for you (especially if you're a Mac user), but I'm a little too old fashioned. I need things in ink on paper. I have a calendar in my bag instead of in my phone.

The problem is, I've never found a planner that works well for me- so I made my own. It's a hacked Moleskine. I know they're super trendy, but honestly I keep using that brand because they don't catch on fire as easily as paper planners. Rouge sparks beware.

The problem I'm running into now is visual space. I think I need to see all of my thoughts laid out at once, so I can more easily delegate priorities and tasks. I'm gonna put them all on my wall. Each project will get its own page featuring its title, its deadline, and the steps and materials needed to complete it. Here's a start, if you're curious about all the ideas I've accumulated:

Teddy Bear- Rhino 3D Digital Model.
"Vertigo"- Single point perspective drawing in charcoal and graphite.
"Mercy Me"- Newest song in the works (think Man Man meets Andrew Bird)
Ponoko Sales- I need to get my Etsy shop off its feet, selling these.
"TransBat"- Fiberglass sculpture investigating masculinity and normative gender identity.
"Blind as a Bat"- Fiberglass sculpture investigating the blindness of Lady Justice.
Spiral Papers- Hundreds of little paper spirals being made for future site specific. installation art.
Transmodern Festival: Pedestrian Service Exquisite- Writing a proposal for my participation in April.
Steel Candle Holder- Still needs to be polished and waxed.
Business Cards- Need printing and customization. I'm running low.
"Lil' Dickies"- A multiples based installation project in clay.
3D Drawing- As investigated here.. needs to be finished.
5 Page Analysis on Hitchcock's "North by Northwest," "39 Steps," and "Saboteur."
Editing video for Tim McFadden in exchange for studio time.
Working with Shelly Blake-Plock on his upcoming album.

Oh, and laundry. Lots of that to do too.

Documentary

2010-02-21T14:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I was filmed for a short documentary about me and my art. We shot B-roll of me forging and welding steel and working with some clay. There are also some beautifully lit shots of my portfolio, and a short interview of me (awkwardly) answering questions. I've been promised a copy of the film on YouTube when it's finished in post-production, and it will be published here. Keep checking!

Fantasy Landscape

2010-02-19T12:53:00.004-05:00

My first big project in digital 3D, using a program for Mac in Beta called Rhino. This is super difficult. Not at all my cup of tea. Eventually though, I'll be using this technology to print my designs from the computer into a real 3D object. I'd like to combine this with Ponoko somehow.. We shall see.

A short video on Rapid Prototyping, 3D Printing:

Good Old Fashioned R&D

2010-02-16T00:56:00.003-05:00

Results: Inconclusive

A few (of the many) sketches and maquettes I built over the last week investigating how to crease and bend paper to create new layers and shadows.

Way too painstaking.

I'm not precise enough in my construction to create curves without wrinkles and lines without stray marks. Or maybe my bar for craftsmanship is way too high for my first go round with this concept. Either way.

...This would look sweet in steel...