Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world! Despite waking up to realize I had forgotten to return the chocolate oreo balls to the fridge so I could eat them for breakfast, this is shaping up to be a great Christmas! We had great fun playing Monty Python Fluxx last night with my family, and are looking forward to seeing Tim's family today and the rest of the week. In true artist fashion, we are finishing our Christmas presents this morning. I think we'll make it. We always do. I did get our stockings done on time, and I think Tim's too-short shirts look much better in this form. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Guide to Nuno Felting

I wanted to make this book so that when people asked me how to make felt, I would have visual aids available. I thought I'd post it online because I know at least one person is interested in trying to nuno felt this holiday! Images of the book on display at my thesis show can be seen here. I'll post the other half of the book on papermaking soon. Happy Felting!

Baumhaus was a success!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Tim's and my joint show, honoring our respective graduations that took place over the weekend! We had a great time, and it was the perfect way to celebrate this milestone we've attained together. We are especially grateful to The 815 for letting us use their great space and being amazing hosts for the week.

It wasn't as difficult as I thought to cut down my trees. Having a venue for them to be shown again next fall made it easier to stuff them into their rubbermaid containers for the time being. I don't know when it will feel like I've graduated, but it sure hasn't hit yet. If I have my way, I won't have to feel like much has changed--for the past many months I've been focusing on making work and teaching. Hopefully a replica scenario will present itself to me soon!

View of Katie's gallery before the reception.

Relief prints on handmade paper and journals from feedingthelake.com

Art books of handmade paper, relief printing, journaling, and embedded natural material.

View of Katie's gallery.

Tim's newest paintings on birch.

View of Tim's gallery before the reception.

The handsome Tim conversing with guests.

MA Thesis Show is Over!

Well, my thesis show came and went. A month has already passed since the day I was trying to finish lighting while experiencing the same I-can't-make-any-more-decisions emotion that I felt the night before my wedding. But somehow I got everything finished, and it felt great to finally be able to show to people what I've been devoting the past year of my life to.

I was excited that people seemed to recognize being transported into a new environment and the personal nature of the forest. I had a great time at the opening reception and was so appreciative of friends and family and new friends who made it out to see my work! Check out more images and my thesis paper here.

Since I've taken the show down and haven't been talking to fourth-grade groups about my work (and subsequently stopped hearing comments like, "You're good at making trees," and "I would guess it took you about a century to make this forest") I've been preoccupied by trying to figure out where I can make work since in two weeks I will no longer be allowed to infiltrate the studios on campus! I'm trying to conceive of a way to make paper in my bath tub, but most logical option is to buy a house. So if any financial advisors out there want to let two unemployed artists in on how to purchase a house without any money, I'm all ears!

Trade Off

Yesterday's exchange went as follows:

Tim (voice echoing into the empty cupboards): "I wish we had a never-ending supply of Butterfingers and Reese's."

Katie: "I'll buy you candy tomorrow if you give me a back massage. Wait, would you prefer candy or a cheesecake?"

Tim (eyes wide with the delight of choosing between the two greatest things of all time): "Could there be Butterfingers pressed into the cheesecake?!?"

So above is a photo of the things I've made today. A Reese's-filled cheesecake, and a still-in-progress bound book of journal entries, locked up by the tree branch burrowed through the center. You'll be able to see the finished product at my show, opening Friday Nov. 5th! I won't have any Reese's with me that evening, but there will be other forms of cheesecake, if that's what you're coming to see.

How else can I procrastinate today?

I think I have chronic senioritis. I am less than a month away from being done with my coursework, and despite needing to finish artwork, prepare for a gallery show, make additions to my thesis paper, and organize an oral defense and project presentation, I’ve been doing a lot of other won’t-help-me-graduate tasks.

One of those tasks has been to screen print Tim and I a new shower curtain. I decided I was too lazy to clean our old curtain, but not too lazy to spend 6 hours making us a new one. Now I just have to figure out how to make a “blobbie”-shaped bath mat. Perhaps that can be my reward for crossing something off my legitimate to-do list. 

Beginnings

Welcome to my blog! This is my attempt to keep friends and family informed of how I fill the hours in my day, and to chronicle my soon-to-be-successful (fingers crossed) little business, Feeding The Lake. Not so sure that starting this documentation two weeks before setting up a show for my master’s thesis is the best of all plans, but we’ll see how it goes.