More Youtube Scritch and Weaving

Ok so I'm officially sick as a dog.  Not sure where that expression comes from or why a dog would be really sick but whatever.  So since I'm stuck indoors (when am I not) I figured I'd work on my weaving for the day.  It's not like I can do much else on the major projects so this is the next best thing.  The idea behind the weaving is to make cloth from bits and pieces of nothing (I've gone into more detail in other posts) and right now I'm got about 5 inches done.  Weaving is a rather slow process, I usually get about 1-2 inches done in a 24 hour period.  That's only if I'm not stopping to do things like vacuuming, dusting, eating and sleeping. 

It just keeps growing,
and growing,
and growing....

I'm mostly using a stitch called Soumak (sp?) which means I'm wrapping the yarn around each warp string and it gives a knitted effect.  I've already managed to get a shoelace in there.  See if you can find it.

Since I'm pretty much sitting on my floor and weaving, I figured I'd put on some youtube videos to keep me amused.  I got bored of the "top videos" so I went digging into the youtube musical archives and found artists with under 500,000 views.  
Mat Kearney- Ships in the Night
Not a terrible song, but not my favorite today.  This sounds like it would have a short life on Z100 or something like that.  I don't see this winning awards or reaching the top five on billboards but it's an okay song to listen to.  I think the director really wanted this to be a viral video with the way it's set up and how they made an exaggerated effort to point out the number of miles and locations. 

Pure Love- Bury my Bones
I can see this being popular with the younger generation.  It's kinda generic new age punk, but I would sing along to this in the car if it came down to this or Nicki Minaj.  I rather liked the kaleidoscope effect they used in the video it's fun and on the low budget side.  It shows they take themselves seriously, but not to an over-the-top point.
Edit Sept.8:  I love this song.  I'm constantly playing it when I pull up youtube. 

Zulu Winter- We Should Be Swimming
My indie pick.  This has a really great sound to it, that I happen to enjoy.  I doubt it will ever make the charts or mainstream radio, but if you're looking for something to impress your hipster girlfriend with, turn this song on.  The video is fairly simple if out there.  2 dancers in shredded costumes and the lead singer standing in a moor or Nordic shoreline of some sort.  Basic and simple.  Add in the blue color filter for the entire video and the hipsters will wet themselves in joy.  Ironically of course.

I guess for the time being I'm gonna log off and find some Oranges, or something containing huge amounts of vitamin C to try to beat this cold.

See Ya'll Later.

Music For The Soul... Not So Much.

Still waiting on my sewing machine to come back.  In the meantime, I love this song:

I don't even have a break-up experience anywhere near the meaning of this song, but I love singing along (poorly) to it in the car. I love the radio edit of this song, the original is too soft for me.  Singing in the car is how I amuse myself while driving to work.  Favorites include the above song, Photograph by Def Leppard, most classic rock songs and Renegade by Styx.  Love singing Incubus songs, but I don't have the range for that, I save those for drunken karaoke nights.
But enough on music, is anybody else excited about Free Comic Book Day?!  I didn't know that existed until Marina brought it up.  I'm so gonna grab a free comic book on said day.  Info can be found HERE.  Will definitely be running to the next town over to find a comic book store.  I'm kind of upset that Kevin Smith's comic book store will not be participating.  Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash will not be giving away free comic books I'm sad to say.  I still enjoy going there, I find all those "indie" comics and independent publishers.  Last time I was in I picked up Jesus Hates Zombies.  I had to read it.  I rather liked the idea behind the comic.  There's a plot where the Earth is having a zombie apocalypse and Jesus is sent to Earth to find a church full of people who he's supposed to save.  Shenanigans ensue.  The best part (for me anyway) was that it's done in a format similar to Gotham Knight and The Animatrix.  Each chapter is drawn by a different artist.  I love the diversity in the art and how each one depicts the characters and surroundings.  
There's not much else to report on..... the Steampunk Demeter costume is at a stand still until I get my sewing machine back and the Apoxie gets here.  I'm continuing work on the cable tie pieces at a snails pace and the Whale is on the back burner until after May. 
Hmm... I've started some deep spring cleaning but that's about it.  Really.  There's nothing else really going on.  So on that note I leave you with this, (I'm not really sure how to describe it) youtube video.

Don't question it just watch.
See Ya'll Later!

New Projects

Written April 10th, 2012.
Oh man, a real post, finally.  Life's been... interesting lately.  On a personal note, later today ie: when the sun's up, I'm going to finally cut my hair.  I was combing out my hair a few days ago, and I hit a mat in the under layers of my hair.  When I tugged it, the comb snapped.  I then proceeded to pick plastic out of my hair for the next 15 minutes.  So I'm gonna donate my hair and cut it short.  I'll post a picture later.

Full view

There's been progress on the Whale.  I've since put the project on hiatus for the oncoming convention season.  

Started beading in the background

The beading is super dense!

I'm about 1/3 of the way done with the initial grey colored beads and then I need to color match to 3 more shades of grey.  Right now I need to put this on hold until I finish some costume bits for Steampunk Worlds Fair.  I really want to go, even if it's only for Saturday which is highly likely considering the amount of work I need.  That and the circuit breaker for my room, studio room, and the living room has suddenly died and the overhead lights don't work and I'm not gonna ruin my eyes trying to work in the dark. 

My Sewing machine is finally in the repair shop.  I've been putting it off for far too long and if I want to have a costume for SPWF then I need it fixed.  I have fabric for 2 skirts and I have some store banners from a friend that I have cut into pieces for making tote bags.  I make these huge tote bags from store banners that would normally be thrown out.  I made one before I screwed up my sewing machine.  When I have some progress made on those I'll post it.

My loom without the warp.

I found that my weaving supplies has started to overflow out of the container, so to alleviate that I strung up my loom.  I know I know, why am I starting a new project?  Well this is an accumulation weaving.  I string up a warp and as I collect bits of fabric, scrap yarn, chopsticks, whatever I can find I add it to the weaving in the order I pick it up.  It's the idea of not letting anything go to waste, so making something from nothing.  Things we would throw out, bits of old ribbon, fabric strips, scrap yarns, shoelaces etc. I call 'Nothings'.  Little things that we as a culture think nothing of, I think are the best materials.  Part of the purpose of these weavings is to reducing my carbon footprint.  I knit a sweater, the larger scrap balls go into a scrap rug, and the smaller bits go into the weavings.  This way anything that does end up in the trash is so small I can't possibly use it, thus reducing my waste ( in regards to my supplies).  Mice could use it.  If I had a mouse, I'd give it the little bits of fluff that I can't use so it could build a nest.  I like to think that even my nothings are some other creature's building materials. 

I'm watching "Mama's Boys" on TLC cause, lets face it, at 1:15 am there's nothing else on.  I'm really disgusted by the behavior of these guys.  They're well into their 30s and living with their mothers.... and this is completely acceptable to them.  They don't do their own laundry they don't cook, they have no survival skills for living on their own except for plucking the hairs out of their nasal passages.  And they're proud of it.  That boggles my mind.  I can't wait to move out of my parent's house and have a place of my own.  I can do my own laundry, cook (as long as I have an egg timer and a recipe to follow) and I know how to clean.  How do these people get reality t.v. shows?  I guess incompetence is in vogue.  It frightens me that this is considered acceptable and even entertaining.  In some strange way I guess I can say I'm comfortable with my masculine side enough to admit I can take care of myself.... that doesn't seem to be worded right, what I mean is, I have bigger balls than them cause I can be a big kid and clean my own clothing.  Reality TV is truly the lowest form of entertainment.  Soap Operas at least have a plot and actors who attempt to act.  And yet I enjoy the reality t.v. shows from Animal Planet, I think that it's because I learn something from them.  I learn interesting facts about snakes, gators, cats, dogs, and birds when I watch animal planet and they're cute too.  It's a win- win situation.  Educational and adorable.

6:46pm
Ok so I have finally cut my hair short.  The long hair is gone and on it's way to one of those wigs for cancer kids foundations.  If I ever have the bright idea to donate my hair again, please shoot me.  I forgot how much I like having short hair.  It's like a literal pound of hair was taken off of my head.  My long hair, as pretty as it is, makes me look like I'm a 15 yr old high school student and it mats!  I hate combing out long hair.  It was like almost touching my butt that's how long it was.
I guess that's all I have to post for now.  Not much else is happening except for the exhibition I'm currently working on pieces for.  I'll post about that at a later date... like when I have photos taken.
So for now,
See Ya'll Later!

No Cat In This Hat

Hello my lovelies!  Steampunk Worlds Faire is right around the corner, and it's stalking my thoughts.  Since my sewing machine had been in the repair shop I decided to start work on my props for the Demeter costume.
Every year I want to have a hat, and every year I fail at making one.  Not this year!!  I've made a hat and in this post I'm gonna give you a run through of how I made it.  First, I started with a pre-made felt hat. 

Remember this?

That's Marina on the left, I'm on the right at NYCC 2010. That Hat. I hate it so much. It was an internet buy with the intent on making it look so much better. As you can see that failed spectacularly. It's basically a felt hat that you can pick up at any Party City store.  So I took off all the jazzies I put onto it, leaving just the brown felt and nothing else.  Then this happened:

There's a hole in the hat
dear Liza, dear Liza!

So once I had the hat stripped down, I wanted to make it lower than the original height cause, lets face it, that hat looked ridiculous on me.  Once I had the two pieces I trimmed them and then sank the solid top part into the hollow bottom and glued it into place (sorry no photo of that step).  This is where the first Facebook post about burning myself happened.  No there is no photo for that.
  

It's not easy being green.

After I had a pretty solid base, and the burning pain in my finger wore off, I moved onto the leaves.  I picked up 2 generic AC Moore/ Michaels ivy leaf garlands and began plucking the leaves off and sorting them by size.  Yes I sorted them by size but it worked for my process... so, in your face.  This is where the 2 other burns and subsequent Facebook posts took place.  This is also the longest step, gluing each individual leaf to the hat and covering it completely.  This took me days to finish and I was getting nervous that it would not get finished.  After the leaves were completely glued, I took one of the clock hair pieces I made and refurbished it.

Bye Bye Birdie.

I pulled the feathers off but kept the clock face the same... mainly because I was afraid that if I started yanking on the clock face it my damage the art on the face or bend it out of shape.  I put down new feathers, leaves, vines and I found wheat stalks.  Cause, ya' know, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and seasons.  I added pin backs and stuck it to the hat.

Look at my Hat!
My hat is a amazing!
Give it a Lick!

It tastes just like raisins!

It's super fun and it has a big feather!!  Barbossa would be proud of this feather and would want one for his hat too.
The next step is to take my sewing machine back to the repair shop.  I pulled it out of it's casing after getting it back from the repair shop tonight and sewed 2 inches and it jams.  I did nothing to it, I swear!!.  I was using scrap fabric to test it and a good thing too.  After 2 inches of stitch work, the machine seized up and jammed.  I kept the settings the same as when I took it out of the case.  I'm incredibly pissed off right now, cause I've got to now schlep the thing back to this guy and complain about how it doesn't work.  I'm running out of time to sew the skirt!!  Well, I guess I'll continue working on my props since there's not much else I can do without a sewing machine available.
Well I've got work in the morning so I'm gonna go sleep and pray I get my sewing machine in working order before May.
See Ya'll Later!

I'm So Tired, I Haven't Slept a Wink.

Well this is an update that's been put off for far too long.  It's been super busy on my end.  I was getting hours from the temp agency, was helping Dory prep for Castle Con which was earlier today, and I was attempting to finish a cable tie piece for a juried exhibition.  Well I've got the piece started, but I read more into the competition and found out it's an online only exhibition.  They issue an e-magazine to their subscribers with whatever digital photos you provide.  It's so not worth the $35 entry fee.  So I just busted my ass for nothing really.  On the upside, there's another exhibition that I will be applying to, THE 10TH A.I.R. GALLERY BIENNIAL A Juried Exhibition Open to All Women Artists.  Open to all mediums and has a real gallery as opposed to a virtual one.  What a novel concept.  Hmmm, what else has been happening... well I warped my loom.  Meaning I strung up my loom and am now weaving on it, the materials were starting to bust out of the jar I keep them in, so time to start a weaving.  Oh and I am now indebted to Leyna for giving me a copy of some website editing software.  I can now update my website!!  I'm also indebted to Steph for fixing the coding problems on the 'contacts' page.  It now works!
 The Whale is still coming along at its slower-than-molasses pace, but I have faith that it will look amazing in the end.... or at least look like a whale.  Unfortunately I have not been taking photos recently due to laziness.  After all I've been doing this week I think I'm entitled to be a little lazy with the photos.  Watched some TED Talk videos again, since there's not much else I enjoy watching on the internet.  Be glad I don't post cat videos.  Anyway one of the talks was this one:



Ayah Bdeir talks about building circuitry and making it as easy as snapping Legos together.  She started a website called Little Bits, an open source and storefront website where the parts she uses in the video are available.  This got me thinking about a lot of projects that I couldn't accomplish due to lack of knowledge of electronics and wiring.  I think these things are brilliant.

Well on a far creepier note I saw this video in a yahoo news article.  This girl is so incredibly doll-like it's frightening.  And the fan base is typical for the "cute, not legal, and trying to be Japanese, please-give-me-attention." genre.  You know, those creeper guys at anime conventions who ask for you picture and try their hardest to upskirt you in the pose, yeah, that kind of fan base.  What I find difficult to swallow is that the mother of this kid encourages it. There's just so much wrong with that.  I mean seriously, a mother is supposed to protect and raise their child right?  Just read the article and try to watch the video ( I got about 20 seconds in before I couldn't take it anymore.  Bad Harajuku accents need not apply.)

 And Just because I can, Cat Videos.



See Ya'll Later!

I'm so Sorry but I'm Addicted to TED

I'm seriously addicted to TED Talk videos.  I figured If I'm going to watch a video anyway while working on art, then I might as well watch something thought provoking and awesome.  It's either that or finding something on failblog.org to amuse myself with.  I was really impressed by 2 artists who gave talks about their work in the videos.

The first video is of contemporary artist Aparna Rao.  She works with technology to create amusing and sophisticated sculpture meant to provoke a reaction of some sort.  My favorite are the blank canvases with the little creatures who pop out from behind them when it's quiet. 

Ok that video should work, if not the link is here.

After that I continued to watch videos and work on the Whale.  I'm trying to fill in this 2 inch squared area and it's taking me a fairly long time.  So the next video is of an artist named Béatrice Coron.  She works with paper cutouts and creates these absolutely gorgeous and very elaborate scenes with nothing other than paper and an exacto knife. 




If the video doesn't work you can find it here.  Her work reminds me of Kara Walker's pieces.  Kara Walker is a well known artist for her paper cutout silhouettes and installations.  Where Béatrice's work is rather whimsical and fun, I feel Kara's pieces are more political and darker.  There's no pun there.  Kara Walker works with wall installations from what I've seen of her work.  I love it.  It's meticulously worked on and the themes are sort of like a sinister story time. 

From Artnews.org

She deals with stereotypes within the African American community in a style that is reminiscent of early American illustrations.  The graphic quality of the black shapes on the white background allows for far less distraction in the messages of her work.  I truly love the work and she exhibits all over the world, I'm sure the National Gallery and Metropolitan Museum of Art have her work in the permanent collections.  And if they don't they should cause it's incredible.   

Other than that it's been a quiet and pleasant day.  Except for my father's students.  It's always a challenge to listen to them.  I really wished I had gone outside and enjoyed the nice weather, but I really wanted to get more work done on the Whale.  Also the efforts to clean my room have been... slow.  I get distracted easily by shiny things.  And my room is full of them.  Something else I've been meaning to do is re purpose some canvases that I've taken the older paintings off of.  I don't really care for the paintings I previously made... they kind of sucked.  So I want to make more beaded pieces at some point so I need to stretch some fabric over them.  That way I'll have them ready to go when I need them.  It's not like I don't have plenty of fabric right? 
 
Well I guess that's it for today.  Not much else is happening recently, besides the day jobs coming up but that's not a topic for this blog.  So on that note:
See Ya'll Later!

P.S.- Yay for reaching over 200 page views!!!!!

Little Movies, Big Movies and Beatboxing to a Cockroach .

I had to get this typed up before I forgot to post this.  I've been working on the Whale this morning, and to keep the screeching of 9 year old beginner flute students out of my room I decided to watch some TED Talk videos.  I love TED videos.  I watched a few this morning and one of them was more of an educational video for students than an intellectual thought provoking statement of facts/ theories.   So the video is kind of awesome, this guy uses various instruments to record the neuron impulses from a cockroach leg and teach students about neurons and electronic impulses.

The title really caught my eye, The Cockroach Beatbox. Curiosity got the better of me and it turned out to be really interesting... and gross.  The link will take you to the TED Talks webpage should the video above not work.  I'm not sure if the guy on stage is trying too hard to connect to today's youth or if he genuinely wanted to use a beatbox guy to prove a point.  He probably could have used a big drum or another deep booming instrument to get the same effect.
Anyway I ran across another video of the accomplished and very awesome Aimee Mullins (link will take you to the video since I can't seem to get the embed code for it).  If anyone took a sculpture class at MICA or the Puppets and Prosthetics class you would have watched her in Matthew Barney's The Cremaster Cycle.  Cremaster Cycle was filmed in the Guggenheim Museum if I remember correctly and was a series of short stories that all fit together in some form or another.  A lot of repetitive movements, problem solving and wonderful prosthetic and costume work.  The concept was really way out there but I highly recommend finding a copy just for the experience.  Back on track, Aimee Mullins is an amputee, she's missing the bottom half of her legs just under the knee joint.  She's pioneered prosthetic limb construction and has provoked thought over what beauty is for a woman who's missing bits of herself.   I loved how she talked about how her legs could give her extra inches of height.  Who wouldn't want a few extra inches right?  Her conversation on the subject was really funny and the reactions of the people in her life are really interesting to hear.  I started wondering if, god forbid, I ever lost my legs, I'd want to be like her.  I wouldn't want to wallow in misery or try to get people to pity me, I'd want to do something awesome like her.

Keeping to the video trend for this post, I stumbled across this set of videos on music.  I don't particularly care about the music, although it's super helpful for finding new things to listen to, I love the people in them.  They're crazy!  This guy in the first video is just really likable and funny.  I'm eagerly waiting for the next video to come out cause I really like the attitudes and humor of these guys.

If I ever end up in London I want to see this shop. It looks like a chill place to go to for music.
Well it's about 2:30p and I need to go meet up with Marina to see John Carter.  This should be fun.

It's now 10:10pm, John Carter was ok.  It was fun and the guy who plays Gambit in X-Men was hot... and yeah.  I need to add the John Carter books to my ever growing reading list so that I can have a comparison, but overall I enjoyed the movie. 

Monster Strawberry!!

Oh man I had strawberries for breakfast today.  I took a photo.  It was huge!  I had to split it into 4 pieces in order to take civilized bites!  

Udon!

Yesterday I was at Mitsuwa Asian Market in Edgewater with Dory and Mae.  We had lunch there, I got chicken Udon noodle soup.  Next time I'm getting the ramen bowl cause it looked super tasty.   We spent some time wandering the book shop and did some food shopping.  I got pocky for the first time in a couple of years.  So tasty :3. 

It's finished, and there was much rejoicing.

So I guess I'll wrap this post up with the promised photo of the new cape.  I'm not gonna bother finishing it right now, cause frankly I'm not thrilled with it. It's just a little too puffy.  Commence with the re-patterning.

Good night and See ya'll later!