I am determined to make something. My scanner isn’t supported by mac (boo), so I had to take a picture of the new drawings. So that’s why the quality sucks. Pretend the background is white.

There’s a progression, I think.

This week I am going to send away for some test slides to be made by an internet slide-making company. That should be neat. I am also going to take some pictures of my work with a borrowed camera and light box.

My hair cut is … just bad. Really, really bad. Instead of sharing a picture of that with you, you get to see the back of Lilly’s cute little head.

Meanwhile, I have to go to the hair doctor and get it fixed. I am so annoyed, I am never getting a cheap haircut again, even though because I have short hair I have to get it cut every month. Ugh!

I know this isn’t an art post, and for that I am sorry. But part of the reason why it’s important for me to have nice hair is because in a month I will be visiting the New York schools I’m applying to, and since I won’t be able to do my interviews face-to-face (as I will be in Tejas), I want to make a really good impression. I don’t want to show up with schlumpy hair and bad make-up, etc. I kind of feel like, because it’s New York, it’s even more important for me to look good. If my hair doesn’t look good now, it will be impossible to fix it in a month. I have to do the preliminary operation now so that in 3 weeks, I’ll be able to go in and have good things done (like coloring and stuff).

Maybe I should just show them Lilly and then they won’t notice that giant curl sticking straight out of my head to the left.

No new art today… I have a plan - one day this week I am going to draw a new cartoon every hour depicting my life of that hour. Or else I’ll take a picture of my face every hour and then draw cartoons later, because I might not have time to do it all day.

Another part of my plan, I am going to join the Art League tomorrow and sit in their model sessions or Friday, to at least do something. I’m now down to about 2 weeks to finish my portfolio so I can send away for the first round of slides and get them in time to send to the school with the earliest deadline.

Re: the photo - if you haven’t noticed, we have a fantastic set of yiddish magnetic poetry, which our friend Laska gave to us after visiting his girlfriend in Illinois. I also have some great robot magnets that I’ll start taking pictures of later

Today I became officially employed at a paint-your-own-pottery place, where I’ll be painting custom pottery and making benches and tiles I am really excited, I think it will be super fun and meditative. I’m also hoping to get a job teaching art classes to little kids. AND, at the end of November, I should know about my volunteering position in a children’s hospital in their art program for cancer patients. So, hopefully soon I will know what next semester will look like, and that will make me feel good.

I can’t think of anything to do. I have to sit here and make things for a portfolio and I am feeling excessively frustrated. I’m just not interested in anything. And sitting down and trying to make something look beautiful feels like an exercise, just a lot of exercise, as I have no reason for it. Except that I have to get into grad school and I want to put pretty things in my portfolio.

Here’s something I came up with a little bit ago:

I mean, it looks cool, but what is it? Why did I draw it? I drew it because I had to, not because I was interested in roots and wanted to make it my own. Not because I had something to say about it. Is it a study about shadows, or the use of markers on bristol paper? Nope, it’s basically a doodle I made of a picture I saw online of some tree roots.

Yawn.

I’m not bored, being unemployed and sitting at home all day is actually not as boring as it sounds. It’s not exciting, but it’s not boring. I’ve watched less TV than I used to, actually, but I spend more time refreshing facebook. I have some books to read, too, and I do have to get started on my application essays. I’ve been visiting galleries, looking at art online, reading blogs, going grocery shopping, monitoring my caloric intake and output… So, I’m not bored. But I feel really anxious about my portfolio - I need some real things in it, and I can make a good portfolio of 15 things, but I need twenty! So when I’m not doing art things, I am thinking about how I’m not doing it, and how I should be doing it, and how thinking about it doesn’t actually make it happen.

I’m thinking of doing a series of cartoony faces, like my “WHY” up there, reflecting my moods of unemployment. What do you think?

This is a cool site: FreeRice. It’s free vocab practice for you and at the same time you raise money to donate rice to hungry people.  I have to admit my vocabulary isn’t as great as I’d like, but at least I don’t have to take the GREs for grad school (phew).  If only FreeRice did analogies, too; I’m good at those!

Here is what I have to do: I have to spend the next few weeks making new art to put in my portfolio for grad school. I need to write some essays for grad school. I need to schedule campus tours and book flights.

What have I done?

I’ve watched TV, reinvigorated spiffywafer, taken photos of random things around the house, gone shopping, etc. I have worked a little bit on a new painting, I have worked a little bit on a new 3d sculpture/painting thing, I have done some sketches, but in general I have sat around and done nothing.

Today is election day, so I have to vote. I get to vote for a constitution amendment that will abolish the constitutional power of the office of inspector of hides and animals. Go Texas!

It’s also Tuesday, so I want to post a print and keep up the long-forgotten New Print Tuesday. I think I am going to try a mono-print today. I think I’ll use one of my old printing blocks and paint on it, and then print from that. Wouldn’t that be neat? I just hope the paint would come off, that’s my one main fear, but I think it will (acrylics are water-based, right?).

Also, I am waiting to hear back from the manager at the paint-your-own-pottery place. I applied to be one of the people who fills custom-plate orders on a super part-time basis. Fun! (Um, and totally different from what I was doing before…)

Aaaaand it’s already closing in on lunch time, which means I need to get my ass moving if I want to actually get anything done today.

Wow! I am posting again. I have some new developments in my life. I have been bouncing around the internet to many different blogs but have decided to dust the spam off of this blog and start it up again.

After recapping some major events in my life since the last time I said anything, I’m going to start using this blog as an art update. I am currently working on my portfolio in an effort to get into grad school for art therapy, and I want to share my progress with people (as well as motivate myself to actually do work, since I’ve been sitting on my ass a lot).

So, here goes.