Cuckoo for Photographs
I haven’t done much in the clay studio this past week – but I have been engaged in other activities, some creative, others not so much.
Creative endeavors:
I’m taking a plants class this summer through the University of Colorado at Denver taught by an alumnus of the graduate landscape architecture program. While some might not think taking a class creative, this one is using both my right and left sides of the brain. In addition to the reading & lectures, I am able to fuel my amateur photography habit by visiting various green spaces including the Denver Botanic Gardens. Plants, plants and more plants – what’s not to love? I’m not saying I am any good at photography, but I do enjoy doing it so much so that I have decided to buy myself a new camera this year. I am going to upgrade my old Olympus C7070 Wide Zoom digital to a SLR – make and model to be determined. If you happen to own one over which you wax poetic, please share…. The class participants are also required to keep a visual/written journal which is a beneficial activity for me – I already keep this digital journal and going analog is a good exercise. There is a quality that pen to paper brings such as seeing the hand writing, cross outs and rendered drawings that is missing in the digital realm.
Iris & Grasses – from sketchbook – watercolor crayon, mylar, pen
A side benefit to this class is that the material, discussions and field trip will certainly inform my own humble landscape which I have yet to touch (other than a little weeding) since moving in last summer. I’m pretty sure my neighbors are more than a little skeptical when I tell them that I’m studying landscape architecture. ;D
Not so creative endeavors:
This past week, I have been whittling away at my pile-o-papers filed on the kitchen counter over the course of the past 10 months – a promise to my husband that the pile would be gone (or at least severely diminished) when he comes home today from his weeklong man adventure - Riding the Rockies. On Sunday, I finally filed my 1st Q taxes, albeit extremely late (good thing I didn’t have any sales), renewed my retail sales tax license, along with all the other necessary paperwork & fees to the City of Denver & State of Colorado in order to once again sell my work legally online and the occasional in person event. AND – my dogs are also “legal” again…unfortunately, I also missed some great art events happening around town thanks to my haphazard filing practices.
Feels good to feel like I am catching up to my life again.
A different kind of drawing…
For my Plants in Design class, we’re keeping a journal – the goal of the journal is to document different ways plants are used to enhance built environments which is ultimately what I’ll be doing upon graduation. Fingers crossed the financial recession will be behind us by 2012 when I start looking for a job!
I pulled 3 of my favorite pages out of my journal from last week’s assignment to share. The topic of the assignment was “enclosure” (in terms of plants) and it’s in evidence everywhere I look now. Some work, some don’t and I suppose that’s the benefit of keeping our eyes open – Being able to file away different ways plants work in the landscape for future reference.
For this assignment, we were asked to draw in “plan” (sort of like an aerial view) & section (literally a cross section) to scale. It’s a totally different type of drawing and the scale is really more an approximation since I was measuring the spaces by using my feet as a ruler. It’s a little more technical as far as drawing goes, but it is sort of fun for a geek like me. 
Meanwhile, I picked up 25 lbs of white stoneware clay this afternoon. The Colorado Potters Guild sale is less than 1 month from now and while I don’t have much to show for myself, we are allowing clay jewelry this time around. Guess what I’m making? I really don’t have much time to do much else.
Hey, what do you know? I managed more than 2 posts this week….
~Cynthia
P.S. Tonight we’re going to try a new hot dog stand just a few blocks from our house – Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs. It has something for everyone in the family – big old all beef dog for the hubby, vegetarian dog for Jasmine and Frito-Pie for me! Luckily, I don’t have class tomorrow ;D
Slip Casting and Mold Making
The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting by Andrew Martin
Want to know something I’ve realized about myself? I enjoy the design process more than the production of pottery. It’s one of the reasons that I’ve decided to return to graduate school to finish a degree in landscape architecture that I dropped out of when my daughter was younger. I enjoy doing the research, design charrettes, and then creating proto-types but not necessarily producing 100+ of said item. But, my mind might be able to be wrap itself around molds.
That might sound sacrilegious to those of you (myself included) who sometimes enjoy working with wet clay more than the finishing aspect. I borrowed The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting by Andrew Martin from the library and I’m truly impressed by its potential and all of the super delicious photographs of slip casted work that are included in the book.
It doesn’t hurt that I have a huge 50 lb. bag of pottery plaster sitting in my garagio right now – not to mention the minus 30 day deadline looming for the CPG show and sale. Tempting…
Meanwhile, today I had lunch with David Sprunt (a former classmate of mine from the graduate school of landscape architecture at University of Colorado at Denver) and met briefly with one of the faculty members. After visiting the school and seeing some current student’s work, I am really excited about returning to school this fall. In some ways August feels miles away, yet I also feel a sense of urgency to read for recreation and make some art before school begins again.
Later,
~Cynthia
I have the hiccups
As with so many things in my life, when I find a new interest (obsession), many other things fall by the way side until I get a grip on whatever it is I’m into. In this case, I havent’ posted in my blog for 5 days because I’ve been wrestling with ubuntu – a linux based OS. I have an earlier release fully installed on my daughter’s old Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop – but don’t have working wireless (a common challenge I’ve learned – there’s a whole thread dedicated to wireless networking on the ubuntu forums). She does have an internet connection via an ethernet cable though, and truth is I don’t think she’ll be taking her laptop to Starbucks looking for wifi anytime soon. 
I have a few years before that happens, don’t I? Compared to Windows XP – her computer is really fast now after completely erasing the system from her computer. Boots up in less than a minute.
I’ve also installed a dual boot system on my laptop (a 2005 Dell Latitude D810 running Window XP Pro) while I figure out the ins and outs of ubuntu and linux. My goal is to avoid buying a new computer when I return to school this fall. Originally, I thought I’d treat myself to a Mac Book, but after learning about linux, I’m wondering if it’s really necessary. I will be using a lot of software like Auto Cad, Photoshop and other memory sucking applications in school – I’m curious about the crossover or readability of various free open source programs and proprietary ones like the ones I just mentioned.
Speaking of school, it’s now official – I’ve received letters from CU that I have been re-admitted to the graduate in landscape architecture program at CU Denver. Now I’d better do all my recreational reading through summer ’cause there won’t be a whole lot of time for that sort of thing come fall.
I’m not sure where pottery fits in at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that my production levels (if you can call it that) will decrease even more. The Colorado Potters Guild Spring show is just around the corner – opening night is April 30th – eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk! That’s less than 2 months from now – I had better start cranking some work out.
My daughter also received some school news this weekend – she has been accepted into Denver Center for International Studies for middle school for Japanese - Woohoo! It’s a Denver Public School magnet program and my first choice for her (her second choice). We’re still waiting to hear back from Denver School of the Arts and whether she’s tested “highly gifted” vs. just “gifted” which would guarantee her a spot at a different school. Decisions, decisions…. I did promise to learn whatever language she is going to be learning – Japanese will be challenging.
I hope to catch up with everyone now that I have ubuntu and running,
~Cynthia
