Officially Done with my MFA in Fibers

I am officially done with my MFA in Fibers!  My thesis paper is signed, sealed, and delivered.  What is the next step you ask?  Well, first I will return to a normal life with a normal schedule and continue to work on my artwork while balancing other interests in my life.  I will continue to renovate my house, work in the garden, read novels, and spend time with my loved ones.  Life is GREAT!

MFA Graduate Show – All of the Above

We are organizing a show at Blank Space Gallery:

Checking in…

Hello, from the depths of thesis writing madness!  I’m sorry that I have not posted in a while.  It has been super crazy at work, and crazy at school.  I come home each evening pretty exhausted, and spend most of my evenings and weekends writing my thesis paper.  For a while there, I was having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m more optimistic now that I have the rough draft of my thesis paper written.  For the rest of the quarter I will be focusing on revisions and refining and then a formal presentation of the paper.  I can’t believe there are only 4 weeks left of the quarter! (Gulp!)

I have not had time to spend in the studio, so no visuals for this post.  I’ve been entirely inside my head, and I am looking forward to getting back to the MAKING again.  I hope to get something started next quarter, even though I won’t be taking a studio class.  My very LAST class this spring is Professional Practices, where I will be concentrating on the promotional side of being an artist.  (The side that we all dread, but HAVE to do if we want to put ourselves out there!)

In January, I had a piece in a juried show, Stitch Spectacular, that took place in Savannah.  I apologize for not mentioning it earlier, for those of you in Savannah.  You probably heard about it anyway, since the ladies who organized the event did such a great job getting the word out.  Even though the exhibit is over, you can see images of everyone’s work in the show here.  The correlating blog is a wonderful place to go and get lost with inspiration.  Enjoy!

MFA Fibers Thesis – “Trace of Memory”

Well, I’ve received the documentation of my thesis show and want to share it with you.  My friend, Geoff Johnson, took the photographs.  He doesn’t normally do this kind of photography, so I guess he did me a great favor.  (Thanks, Geoff!)  I’m on my break from school and a vacation from work.  I’ve been enjoying every minute of it so far.  I’ve been deep cleaning my house and have been rearranging a little bit.  Nesting is one of my favorite things to do.  It’s so important to me to be in an environment where I feel organized and comfortable.  Anyway, for those of you who couldn’t make it to my thesis show, enjoy the pictures.  Also, to my friend Tara, whom I’ve lost touch with recently, please give me a call soon.  You’ve been on my mind a lot.  I miss and love you!  Happy holidays everyone!

CLOSE UP IMAGES OF THESE CAN BE SEEN IN THE PORTFOLIO PAGE OF THIS WEBSITE. 

 

 

The big event

Yes, the thesis show reception is over!  I had a wonderful turnout considering it was after the quarter was over, and many people had already left town to go home for the break.  Thank you all who came to help me celebrate this mile stone in my life.  I meant a lot to me that you were there.  I will post pictures of the work in the show after I get it professionally documented.

I wish I were done with the MFA program, but ALAS, I still have to write the paper, and take two more classes. So, I will not really be done until June 2009.  I’m not sure how I will use this site.  It will probably be more research oriented rather than studio oriented. Stay tuned. 

Thesis announcement

Thesis Madness

I wanted to check in.  I’ve been computerless again and unable to upload pictures to post.  I’m in complete thesis mode.  My exhibition is at the end of November, and I’m down to the wire to complete an entire body of work. I’m literally stitching and working on my show every spare moment I have.  (and working full time, no less!)  I’ve been putting about 2-4 hours of studio time in each evening after work, and all day Sunday’s.  I’m trying to allow Saturday as my “no commitment” day, but I’m ending up spending most of this day stitching anyway.  The weather has been so awesome, all I want to do is sit on my back porch while stitching and listening to my ipod.  That is the perfect Saturday in my book! I’ll try to chime in every once in a while.  I will definately document the exhibition when the time comes and post the pictures.  Back to the grind!

Studio: My past with my family’s past

I’ve decided to imagine my own history by bring photos of me into the collage.  I’m not trying to rewrite to forget.  I have very fond memories.  I’m only trying to connect to a history that intrigues me, the past of my family.  Sewing myself into my family’s memories makes me feel closer to them and connects me further.

 

Checking In…

I wanted to let you all know that my internet connection was lost after a bad lightening storm that we had a few weeks ago. So, I’ve been unable to update you on my studio practice. My boyfriend has a computer, but he doesn’t have the photo editing software that I do, so it makes it very difficult for me to post pictures. My work/studio load finally lifted enough for me to spend an evening on his computer to try and figure this internet thing going on with my Mac. I’m slowly plugging through the troubleshooting tips from the apple web-site and talking to the cable guy, but it’s looking like a bad Ethernet port, which means that I need to start thinking about getting a new computer. (Bummer! BAD timing!) The repair would be too costly to justify on my 6-7 year old e-mac. I was planning on getting a laptop as a “graduation” present to myself anyway (next year). Perhaps it is time to buy my present early, and just call it a “thesis show” present instead!?? Which brings me to:

Good News!! I PASSED my Thesis Review! My Thesis show is planned for Fall quarter. EEK! (That’s SOON!)

Keep check in! I hope to get this internet issue solved soon!

Studio: Working Larger

I’ve decided to start printing larger. It was quite the challenge. I need a flat surface to work on, so the floor had to do. The only problem is, there are very few places in my house that are big enough to put large paper on the floor that gives me room to walk around it. However, I was able to squeeze it on my studio floor. (Barely!) I had to work on the surface from the top and bottom, and I had just enough room to stretch my arms to the middle with my paint brush. Whew! I’m happy with the results. Here is a picture of the blank paper before I started, to give you an idea of scale. The paper is 52″ x 65″. The first two are meant to be hung together as are the second two.

I would love to hear comments.