Harrell Fletcher and my Family photos

Alright so last week Harrell Fletcher came to WSU for a lecture and studio visits.  At first I wasn't sure how the studio visit would go because of the work he does in comparison to my work.  Harrell Fletcher uses a lot of found objects in his projects and  explores the full story of people or at least informs you of more than meets the eye.  I on the other hand have been primarily working on the Dollhouse which is far more abstracted.  He said he "liked it" but was far more interested by the contact sheets of family photos I had pinned to my "extra" wall.  Honestly for 40 mins we talked about the family photos and maybe 10 mins were dedicated to the dollhouse!  He is great though and helped me start thinking about pushing my comfort zone.

I came into Grad school thinking I was going to work with my family photos but didn't know how to make them my own.  I'm still not sure.  However Fletcher inspired me to take more time investigating the topic.

I have a lot of my grandpa because I got them from his storage but there are also photos of people I don't know, letters and report cards!

So I've been going through my own photos of my family and I'll go back through these and try to figure out how to arrange and display these images in a way that makes it insightful and uniquely my work rather than just a family album.

I am getting all kinds of crazy ideas but I am not ready to share them yet.

For now I'll share the things I'm thinking about for this project...

• Uncovering family history
• Having to pull out info that is not freely given (or just not talked about)
• My family is pretty private so what does it say to make our story public?
• These images would have all but disappeared if I hadn't uncovered them
• What does bringing the past to the present do?
• Speak about the mystery behind these photos
• Use objects too... some that appear in photos and we still have
• The photos were in storage along with many family heirlooms... what does that say that we wont part with them and yet don't put them on display?

Those are just a few things I've been thinking about for this project... issues to be addressed within the work.

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I am reminded to mention I will have a show up April 18-22 in Gallery 2 here at WSU in the Fine Arts Building.  I am showing with Brett Lysne who is a great printmaker.  I will let you know when we line up an opening for that but please keep it in mind so that you can make out here for the show!  Thank you!

Also I now manage the WSU Photography Blog so you can find some interesting things there, student work, visiting artists, resources ect.

Getting in the groove

Well being a brand new teacher is its own challenge but actually doing my own work has been an entirely different battle.
(plus I'll show you pics of my studio in the next post)

Doing my lesson plans ect is a day to day basis kind of thing but Im learning!

It's nice that the building always has interesting things going on wether it is someone being creative in their studio, being able to peek into classes or see a piece of art work (a destroyed cake) in the middle of the art building being sketched by a class!  The people are great!

So now I'm finally in the groove and starting my own work.  I am of course taking on another big project.  As we go along I will begin to describe to you why I'm doing this but for now... just know it's all about my revisiting my childhood via dollhouses.

So I bought a dollhouse that is in route to my house as I type.  Funny enough the name of the house is "Lancaster" which is a road I grew up off of.  So when that gets here I will assemble it.  I've read it takes about 60 hours to build... lets hope I survive!  Anyways that is just the construction of the house.  I also get to paint the interior and exterior however I like.  Here are a few screen shots of the house though.

I have also gone EBAY CRAZY with all this dollhouse stuff.  So here are some pics of a few things I got on ebay to start setting up scenes.

gotta love the japanese dollhouse stuff!

my dollhouse needs a view camera... duh

Part of my dish set

I am REALLY liking silly things like this that I don't think most people picture being in a dollhouse.  I have this spilt paint, rolls of toilet paper, modern food containers, a mouse trap, a cigarette ect. that I think are SO clever!

I also bought a doll for my dollhouse.  So far just the one lady "with and unusual face"... it's just painted different than most doll faces but I liked it!  I think it is the blank stare that I just LOVE.  I still have to track down some clothing for her though!

But of course all of this is still on its way in the mail so I am kind of twiddling my thumbs till it gets here!



Anyways after a long stint away from the blog I am BACK!  I will be posting at least once a week... maybe smaller ones occasionally as well.  You can also catch what I am up to on thegoodeyknot.blogspot.com ... that blog is all about my wedding plans and Nathan and I adventuring into the land of refurbished goods.  I am keeping this blog just about Grad school, art and other closely related topics!

If you have any inspiration ideas for me please comment!

The new Studio

Thus far the studio in its empty uninhabited state has no name... that shall change in time.

For now though let me show you my new lair.

Upon walking in you are greeted by... nothing.  However I should mention a board used for cutting was left behind on the desk... which should come in handy.  The big white squares attached to the walls are also great for putting up push pin idea boards!

To the right of the door we have the living area... or so it was.  I'm told that many grad students spend so much time in their studios many of them have mini fridges, kitchenette like setups and something to sleep on!  Who needs to pay rent right?

I have my own private little dark room with some shelving spaces.  Now I just need my own enlarger or light box (i'd prefer a light box).  This little dark room has been made light tight by previous tenants and there are also some safety lights ect left behind!

Speaking of goodies left behind...

I was left a huge old TV which I conveniently lugged out to the hall for someone else to pick up!  Also some screens for the windows I'm guessing, a box with wires and some chemicals for processing that might be too old to use... I'm not sure they are safe!

However the best left behind gift is the fruit loops box...

Priceless

Oh and I have a pretty good view which is a nice change from the basements they usually lock us photo kids up into!

On the downside being a grad student/TA gives me the responsibility of carrying 8 more keys for all the different labs ect.  So far they have given me six of them.  I may need to start carrying two different key chains because this isn't working so well.

I'm not a janitor and who else honestly carries 14 keys?

Packing Mania

Things have been a little crazy around here... and by a little I mean a lot!

Nathan and I have been getting in all our "lasts" such as our last trip into Easy Street Records and to Red Mill for burgers... yum!
We have two lasts left... my last Bacon Waffle for our anniversary breakfast and our last trip into Pike Place.   These of course are just our "lasts before we move" no way I could never do theses things again!

However the biggest time spender lately has been PACKING!!
So much so that I think it has driven Nathan and I a little crazy.

While I was cleaning out the infamous junk drawer Nathan was watching soccer so when I found a hidden gem I decided to give him a surprise!

I pretty much used the entire can on him :)

Then a few days later when we were kind of tired of packing we busted out this coloring thing that a friend gave me forever ago!  Can't let it go to waist!  We spent the evening coloring it in together!

So we are missing some marbles now... they've been packed away in various boxes but we are almost done.  Party on the 4th and then moving on the 5th!!!  I'm excited to have some time where I have NO responsibilities besides working out, creating, experimenting and building a syllabus!

WSU here I come!

DONE... and starting

I finally finished my BFA in photography last friday!

It was a great graduation at Benaroya Hall with a ton of family and friends.  Luckily it wasn't too long but they did have all the grads get there crazy early for no real reason.

Waiting till they opened the doors.

One of my Fav teachers and I after graduation! (my cheeks hurt so bad from smiling so much but it was a good day!)

So now I am packing to move in two weeks out to pullman.  I will settle in there for a month of solitude.  College towns like Pullman seem to empty out in the summer.  Finally in the middle of August people should start returning to WSU.  I'll have a good orientation week and then start classes and start TEACHING a class on the 23rd!