i mingled with people

Last night at the reception for the 39th Annual Juried Show at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, SC "The One With The Chimney" won 3rd place in the sculpture category.

We celebrated with coffee and Deluxe Grahams dipped in Marshmallow Creme.  We know how to party.

country problems

Google tells me my problem is "no-seeums" or biting midges.  I'm trusting the Google because I don't have a better explanation yet.

We live out in the middle of nowhere.  It's awesome.  It's also awesome that I have a trail around the perimeter of the property where I can run every day without having to drive anywhere else.  My goal of running every day was pretty easy during the summer when I could just get up and run early before it was terribly hot and before the craziness of each day began.  Now that school is in full swing, running first thing is out of the question.  It's dark when I get up and we have some really dark dark here.  The kind of dark where every star is visible and you cant see your hand in front of your face.  This leaves me to run when I get in from school which tends to be toward the evening hours.  You know, about the time the bugs get really active.

The fire ants are nice enough to build those little mounds so I can avoid them.  The spiders keep moving around but even when I run through one of the big webs, when I stop flailing my arms and screaming like a little girl, the spider is terrified and he gets away from me fast.  The deer and the snakes flee from my path and the dogs only jog with me for a few seconds before getting bored.  Last year the only problem I had was accidentally ingesting a stray gnat from time to time. 

But a couple of weeks ago something started biting me.  It took us a long time to finally figure out that it was happening while I was running and it wasn't until last night that I had enough information to pass along to Google to get a good idea of what it was. 

I've tried dousing myself in deet flavored bug repellent.  I've tried keeping my shirt on.  But they're still getting me.  I apparently run through them and the gravitational pull of my sweat traps them against my skin.  And these bites are nasty ones.  They itch like the devil.  They do not reveal themselves for about 24 hours, but then they swell up and itch for several days.  These guys make mosquitoes look like little leaguers. 

I'm looking for suggestions.  G suggested that I stop running but I'm on track to meet my goal by the end of the year, so that's out of the question.  If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them.

faces and fashion of sculpture

Way back in high school chemistry no one ever wanted to wear the ginormous goggles because we were so concerned with how we looked.  My sculpture people here at the LU have embraced the safety couture.  Instead of being self conscious, they take pride in their protective wear...

 

 Shawny

 

 

 Ali joined a gang.  I think she's spelling out "sculpture"

 

 

 Jess with two layers of eye wear

 

 

 Erin

 

 

 Mia making her power tool dad very proud

 

 

 The feet are not overlooked.   

 

 

And my students never miss a chance to make fun of the bald guy trying to make everyone work harder.

Godspeed pal

It's important to remind yourself why you create art.  Do you make things just for you or do you make things to communicate with other people?  If at least some small part of your intent is to communicate with others you'll spend a lot of time entering and applying for shows to get your work out of the studio where people can actually see it. 

It's not so tough to ship one of your creations out as long as you know there's return postage.  In a month or so it will come back to you.  But when you send one out on a one way ticket.....you have that split second when you hear "Cat's in the Cradle" play in your head, wishing you'd spent more quality time with the artwork. 

Hopefully someone will give him a good home and he'll be happier this way.  And if I kept everything I made I'd eventually have to go on a bad TV show on TLC, right?  www.SRAM.com/partproject/

As a side note, Blue and Violet were amazed by the box of SRAM parts that came in the mail to help make this sculpture.  When Violet saw the finished sculpture she used her very excited voice to say, "Daddy!  You made them so pretty!  You put all the parts on it and you DID it!"

Then we made a list of words that we never use in a critique.  Joking.

great/awkward moments in sculpture #91

 If this looks odd, that's simply because it is.  Ashley is making a quick cast of her body so she can make a wood sculpture to fit it perfectly.  Sean was kind enough to help.

 

 

 Abby's cast of the top of her head

 

 

 Someone taped rabbit ears on Brandy's head cast

 

 

 Shawny has her dust mask ready

 

 

 Patro uses a chainsaw for the first time

 

 

 And Megan puts her pencil in her hat to show that she knows exactly what she's doing

 

 

And now we have public art on campus.  We've never had outdoor sculpture installations on campus so this is a big deal.  I'm very proud to showcase the work of my students and I'm thrilled to have these locations approved for temporary exhibits.  Congrats to Anne McKinney and Amy Walde for breaking these spots in for us.

 

 

 AnnieBob's sculpture outside the Art Studio

 

 

JAW's sculpture near the Jackson Library entrance

 



awkward moments in sculpture #1, blue wisdom

On the first day of class I explained that there would be no crying allowed in sculpture.  I also explained that there would be no hugging allowed in sculpture. 

On the second day of class someone hugged me and I cried. 

Thanks to Cessquatch for preserving this moment on film.

Friday we caught the opening reception of "Privacy Conundrums" featuring the work of Todd McDonald and Elizabeth Snipes at Riverworks Gallery in Greenville.  Beautiful work by both artists, though I may be a a little biased toward Elizabeth since she works with me at Lander.  It's a great gallery by the Reedy River and you should go see it.

As we parked downtown, out of nowhere, Blue proclaimed "The world is like a parking garage for people."  I think he may be a genius.

great moments in sculpture #9

This is what the first day of Sculpture 1 looks like.  I think some of those might be nervous smiles. 

Many of these students started Lander with me a couple of years ago and I've had them for one or two classes already.  It's a good group and it's going to be a great semester. 

Stick around for the "after" picture in December.  They'll be dirty and tired...but hopefully still smiling.