Blake Creative

Black Bean Soup

2012-01-05T13:23:00.004-06:00

I like to make a big pot of this and then freeze it in individual servings and bring for lunch with a salad or 1/2 sandwich. It's delicious and really one of my favorites! This recipe started out as one I used in Dr. Oz's You on a Diet Book. However, I vamped it up a little with extra Cilantro, a Whole Red Onion, and used Trappey's Spicy Black Beans.

1 tablespoon(s) olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 carrot, chopped

2 stalk(s) celery, chopped

2 quart(s) (8 cups) low salt vegetable stock (you can use chicken stock if looking for more protein)

2 can(s) (15 or 16 ounces each) of Trappey's black beans, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon(s) ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon(s) cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon(s) balsamic vinegar

1 bunch(es) cilantro leaves, chopped

1.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.Add garlic, carrot and celery; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

3.Add stock, beans, coriander and cayenne pepper; simmer uncovered 10 minutes.

4.Stir in vinegar.

5.Transfer to blender or food processor; add entire chopped cilantro bunch

6. Process to desired consistency, I prefer very smooth

Nutritional Information (per serving) Serves 8

Calories 91.74

Total Fat 1.81g
Saturated Fat 0.24g

Cholesterol --

Sodium --
Total Carbohydrate 46g
Dietary Fiber 5.8g
Sugars 3.78g

Protein 8g

Calcium 0.33g

Back and Better than Ever

2012-01-04T09:35:00.000-06:00

OK, so grad school got VERY overwhelming. I haven't posted since last year and that was very sketchy at best!

So a recap of 2011: I met the man of my dreams, fell in love, got engaged, still rocked the 4.0 at graduate school, spent the summer in Junction Texas creating pottery and great photos, planned a wedding, went to Atlanta not once but twice, met my new family, got a townhouse, and rang in 2012 with my wonderful fiancé.
New Year goals!

4.0 in graduate school
Stay healthy (this has been a struggle for me this past year)
Lose the 15 pounds I gained over 2+ years of endless major surgeries
Have an amazing wedding
Have an amazing honeymoon (location TBA)
Stay on top of my schedule
Keep things neat and clean
Keep up with my personal blog
Keep up with my teaching blog
Keep up with my new family blog and women's Bible study

So what can you look for in Blake Creative in 2012
Monday's - Crafts/Arts/Photography/Photoshop
Tuesday's - Shopping
Wednesday's - Cool Website of the Week
Thursday's - Health/Weight Loss/Cooking
Friday's - Random Thoughts from Blake

Social Justice in the Secondary Art Education Classroom

2011-05-09T19:35:00.027-05:00

Until I started the Masters of Art Education program at Texas Tech University, I never realized how many ways there were to influence my students to become not only designers of their own world but also better citizens in that world and in the global community. My professors opened my eyes, through my courses, to some societal issues that I had never given more than cursory thought to before. Like many teachers, I entered the education business with my own experiences as an artist, and I knew the concepts that needed to be taught because I had participated heavily in my own high school art program, including AP Studio. I was fortunate to be able to draw on those previous experiences. However, I realized quickly that knowing something is quite different from being able to teach it. My first and second years of teaching were primarily focused on technique-based art production. I was not creative enough yet as a teacher to give instruction on more than the proper shading techniques or the best way to make green from mixing blue and yellow. Needles to say, I certainly was not prepared to base lesson plans on societal concepts like those I have learned in my master’s coursework.

In the Master of Art Education program, I learned about a concept called social justice. Social justice usually applies to topics that are beyond the realm of the individual. They are usually global but can also be applied to communities. Such topics include but are not limited to: gender rights, LGBT prejudice, violence, racism, exploitation, and so many more.

The topic I am drawn most to is women’s rights. This is mostly because I come from a family tradition of strong southern women. I was raised to be independent, a free thinker, and to stand up for my rights and the rights of others. Injustice infuriates me. This is why when I learned about the concept of social justice, specifically, gender injustice, I was captivated by the facts and figures of gender inequality, hatred, female castration, and femicide that so many women experience under patriarchal regimes (Andrzejewski, Baltodono, & Symcox, 2009). This social justice concept was what led me to realize the unique position I am in as a teacher. I can make a difference in the future, so I began to alter my curriculum.

With social justice in mind I transitioned from technique-based projects to focusing my students on conceptual projects. I wanted them to produce larger, globally-focused artworks. I knew that if I wanted to make a difference in the world, then teaching the next generation of movers and shakers, decision makers, and achievers was the way to do it. If I can at least instill new concepts and thoughts of what is happening in the world beyond the small community of Katy, Texas, in the mind of a few of my students, then I know that, in turn, they can inspire others. This is sort of a “pay it forward” concept except it is using knowledge and education to change the world instead of good and charitable acts.

Studying social justice has helped me to understand that even though I am one person I can make an impact through my art and in the classroom. I think that all art should have meaning and that many artists have strayed from the exploration of issues to a commercialistic from of art. Unfortunately, now it seems that art and money, talent and celebrity have been confused (Haden-Guest, 1996). Art in the public celebrity mainstream is less about global issues and more about making the most profit from a gallery show.

This is why in my classroom I choose to only study artists who have something to say with their art. In Art in Action, Pat Steir’s (Dragon Tooth Waterfall) statement, “There are two kinds of art. One shows you things you’ve never seen before. The other makes you see things you’ve always seen, but with a different eye,” really defines how I want my students to create and perceive art (Natural World Museum, 2007, p. 63). As well as, Chester Arnold’s (Thy Will Be Done and Digger) statement of “A work of art should be more than just beautiful; it should ‘raise questions and raise the hairs on your back.’ That art must be used to explore issues that are more troubling than reassuring (Natural World Museum, 2007, p. 76).” These two artists exemplify what I think is important to stress to students, that art should be a form of expression, from simple to large issues.

I was ready to begin my journey into teaching conceptual-based art on social justice. I started with the list of “[9] root causes of war, violence, and hatred” from Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education (Andrzejewski, Baltodono, & Symcox, 2009, pp. 100-104).

1. Greed and Imperialism
2. Coercive Power of the State
3. Arms Industry and Military
4. Economics Racism and Inequality of Global Resources
5. Propaganda and Censorship
6. Overconsumption and Exploitation of Global Resources
7. Ideologies of Superiority and Self Centeredness
8. Patriarchy and Male Domination
9. Selling of Violent Culture, Militarism, and War

Even though I knew what I wanted my students to achieve visually and conceptually, I was not ready for the inherent problems and the successive failure that occurred from teaching such a broad-range conceptual topic with no restrictions, rules, or rubrics. The primary problem that occurred was, I did not know what media to choose for the project. The first year I did this project I left the materials and the media choice up to my students. Regrettably, the freedoms that the students had with media choice backfired, as a result, the projects were unsuccessfully produced.

I was not going to give up because teaching social justice in the classroom is an important goal, and I knew there was a way to achieve it. The second year I presented the same project again, but I was prepared with restrictions, rules, and a rubric to prevent the failure that occurred last year. I also chose my media. An altered book project became the canvas. In this altered book project, I discussed at length with my students the different causes of war, violence, and hatred. I gave a presentation on how other artists like Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock have dealt with large global topics like the Holocaust. Then students researched their assigned root causes of war, specifically, the concepts that they did not understand. As a last step to their research they presented a presentation on their topic in order for the whole class to understand what was going on globally in reference to their topic. I felt the research was warranted in order for everyone to understand the topics because the ultimate goal was the creation of an altered book that reflected this concept.

After the group presentations, they started their altered book. They had to create four sections with a front and back cover that visually expressed their topic or their feelings and reactions toward that topic. They had nine visual media rules to follow with each section:

1. Paint
2. Additional Color (Oil Pastel/Chalk Pastel/Crayon/Markers/Prismacolor, etc.)
3. Collaged items that are pictorial/images
4. Collaged items that have texture/textural
5. Text
6. Alteration of pages (niches, envelope, pockets, hidden pictures, folding, tearing, sewing)
7. Additions (watch faces, mirror frames, memorabilia, envelopes [physical], ticket stubs)
8. Stain (coffee or ink)
9. A Drawing (Outline, Gesture, Action, Contour, Blind Contour, Caricature, Cartoon, Manga)

Student #1, Altered Book, Topic: An Emotive Record of Thoughts

I loved the success of my second year in this project. However, I realized I could take social justice art a step further. I could go further in depth emotionally with the art in my classroom, from a globally conscious social justice art assignment to a more personal assignment that was meant to heal the students in my room. According to Teaching in the Middle and Secondary Schools, in order for my students, 14-19 year olds, to be able to abstract a global concept, developmentally they must first be able to expand their own personal thoughts, which is a part of Piaget’s three phase learning cycle (Callahan, Clark, & Kellough, 2002).

Therefore, my students require a record of personal mental and emotional growth in order to focus on the social justice in their own lives. I asked the question, “What needs to change immediately in my students’ emotional make up and mental growth to help them become stewards of the future and enable social justice on the global scale?” In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink draws a correlation to global problem solving to arts education, saying that arts education drives “R-Directed [Right Brain] Thinking [which] will increasingly determine who gets ahead as we move from the Technology age to the Conceptual Age (Pink, 2006, p. 30).”

I reformulated the idea of social justice and applied it to a personal level that I call internal justice. I define internal justice as becoming at peace with oneself and the events in one’s life. How to explain the concept of internal justice to my students became the next step. I found that Betty Edwards’s book, Drawing on the Artist Within was a great reference for teaching students to harness an emotional quality in their work. In her book, I read George Orwell’s essay “New Worlds.” Orwell suggested that “Each of us has an outer and an inner mental life: the former expressed in the ordinary language we use in everyday life and the latter in another form of thought that rarely surfaces because ordinary words cannot express its complexity (Edwards, 1986, p. 66).” Expressing this “inner mental life” visually was what I wanted to achieve with the concept of internal justice.

Orwell used the phrase “Making thought visible (Edwards, 1986, p.50).” This phrase is what I started with to teach the concept of internal justice in the classroom. I used my own emotional artwork. I disclosed to my students that sometimes my emotions are so strong I truly cannot express what I am feeling in words, but my art can express those emotions for me. This was before I learned the concept of Autoethnography and how, from this concept, remembering the emotions from a situation, reliving them, and writing those down as an emotive record of thought can be therapeutic and a teaching tool for others (Ellis, 2008).

In the past, I have used my own paintings and sculptures to express emotions that I am going through, as my own form of therapy. Unfortunately, my health and my love life are the two areas in my life in which I have had many traumas. In these areas, I used the concept of internal justice and started using art to help me work through the end of relationships, or the lack there of, and my fears of starting a new one. I explored loneliness and my isolation due to my health. Steven King said, “There’s no way to explain humor any more than there is a way to explain horror (King, 1992, p.5)”. I find that this is true. Some things in my life I cannot explain, but my art can speak for me.

****

Authoethnography surrounding Self Portrait #7, 2001

There is a hole in my chest. I can’t breathe and even if I could I wouldn’t want to. How can he leave? How can he just walk away so cavalierly like the past nine months meant nothing? I gave him everything: my love, my heart, and my soul. God, why does it hurt so bad? How am I not dead? I just want the pain to go away. Make it stop. Make me stop.

Authoethnography surrounding Retablo #4, 2008

I wish my friends and family would stop telling me to get out there and date. I can’t believe my father asked me this weekend if I was going to get married before he died. Really? I mean, really? I don’t want to meet anyone. I don’t care. I’m making enough money to live on my own. I don’t need a man. I don’t need the stress, the anxiety, the complication, the insecurity, the neuroses, the crazy person I turn into when I’m dating. I don’t care if I’m lonely. I’ll get a dog when I’m done with grad school. I just don’t think I can experience the absolute death that occurs in my soul once again when I am dropped like yesterday’s trash.

Authoethnography surrounding Retablo #5, 2011

Pinch me I’m dreaming. Is this guy for real???? Can I love again? Can I be giggly? Should I let him in? Is he serious? Can relationships really be this easy, this good? He said he loves me and wants a future. He turned down a promotion to Virginia to be with me, WITH ME! Is this what truly being loved is finally like?

****

I have found that sharing my experiences with loved ones, talking through it, and even empathizing with others has not given me the closure I need or seek. There are still some issues I will work toward and seek closure with my art. Finally I may lay to rest some of the horrific events I have experienced with my health.

****

I have to believe that if art helps me express things that cannot be expressed in words, then it can also help my students do the same. “The mind seems to long for conclusion, for termination, for closure – closure that most often consists of naming and categorizing, of identifying a stimulus (Edwards, 1986, p.166).” I explained to my students that even the process of creating the art can be cathartic in healing the wounds I have experienced, or on a more positive side, express love, tenderness, and caring, in non-verbal ways. I used my own personal experiences and the art I created from my emotions to achieve a level of comfort in my classroom. I wanted my students to feel reassured in order to explore issues that are emotional for them because I have done the same.

The initial problem that occurred in exploring internal justice was that my advanced students had a hard time switching off their analytical mind and changing over to a creative mind in order to express the many emotions running through them. In my modern adaptation of a Retablo project, I talked about expressionism and how it can correlate to a visual expression of internal justice. To explain expressionism to my students I refer to Art Speak which has a wonderful definition that they instantly understood, “Expressionism refers to art that puts a premium on expressing emotions. Painters and sculptors communicate emotion by distorting color or shape or surface or space in a highly personal fashion (Atkins, 1990, p.89).” Using internal justice and expressionism in their Retablo project helped them to work though those issues that they cannot express verbally in their lives.

Student #2, Retablo: El Odio Y Amor

I have a student this year that used her Retablo to express a period in her life where she was cutting herself. She has overcome that behavior, but, since it was such a big part of her life and her past she needed closure. Her internal justice was using her art to talk about and share her tragic past with others. This has created a great support system for her in my classroom.

Student #3, Retablo: Antonia Hilda Rodriguez Flores

This student used her Retablo to work on her feelings associated with her grandmother’s decent into Alzheimer’s. Corinne had her grandmother do several doodles and incorporated them into her Retablo. This is an extremely emotional event for her, and this piece of art has helped her work through these emotions, as well as gives her an artwork that will forever have a part of her grandmother’s legacy.

Social justice and internal justice spring from ideas that I read and studied in Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education. Unfortunately, I have had administrative critics question, not the validity of what I am teaching, but it’s relevance to the ability to win competitions. Like most public art teachers I have one inherent problem: how do I teach such a conceptual unit but also still enter the competitions we have to participate in. I decided that even with the competition-heavy programs my administrators and district hegemonies require me to participate in: I teach what I want to teach, and what I think will produce lasting good.

I want my legacy to my students to be understanding of issues in the world beyond the community of Katy, Texas. I will enter these projects into local Texas contests like Visual Arts Scholastic Event, Youth Art Month, and The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. If my students do well, great; if they don't, then that’s okay too because I have the satisfaction of knowing I made a difference in their perspectives of the world around them. I feel that as art teachers we should strive to challenge our students to create a piece of art that can be socially conscious and displayed at art competitions, because the best artwork comes from big ideas and from the emotional well within each of us.

References

Andrzejewski, J., Baltodano, M. P., & Symcox, L. (2009). Social justice, peace, and environmental education: Transformative standards. New York, NY: Routledge.

Atkins, R. A. (1990). Art speak: A guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1945 to the present (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Abbeville Press.

Callahan, J. F., Clark, L. H., & Kellough, R. D. (2002). Teaching in the middle and secondary schools (7th ed.). Columbus, OH: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Edwards, B. (1986). Drawing on the artist within. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Ellis, C. (2008). Revision: Autoethnographic reflections of life and work. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press

Haden-Guest, A. (1996). True colors: The real life of the art world. New York, NY: The Atlantic Monthly Press.

King, S. (1992). Introduction. In G. Larson, Far side gallery 2 (pp. 5-6). New York, NY: Andrews and McMeel.

Natural World Museum. (2007). Art in action: Nature, creativity and our collective future. San Rafael, CA: Earth Aware.

Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Shabby Apple.com

2011-04-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

I'm not shopping until next school year (I know, I'm such a kid, I LOVE back to school shopping even as a teacher!!)....

However if I was, I'd be shopping at Shabby Apple.

I love good design. fitting and quality clothing, a combination which is hard to find nowadays. This boutique clothing website is right up my alley. The clothes have a retro but modern twist. They are simply AMAZING! I fell in love instantaneously with the style, material, and the overall feel the Shabby Apple designers are trying to achieve with their clothing.

The prices are decent, but for me on my teacher's salary, I could only purchase one or two items. So I better pick wisely. They have free shipping with exchanges so I'm not worried about things not fitting. Hopefully their size charts are accurate!

Custom Cards, Invites, and More

2011-04-05T09:58:00.001-05:00

I usually do some graphic design stuff for my friends and family. However, with my busy schedule I haven't really had the time to sit down and create. Recently a friend of mine asked for me to do some 'Save a Dates' for her wedding. For the first time in my life I said "No."

I've got my own freelance clients that I'm designing book covers for, I'm in my second year of graduate school, I'm a full time teacher, and I have a boyfriend (whom I love spending time with). In my down time, (huh?) I try to hang with my family and my girls. Needless to say, my days of pro bono work is a thing of the past. In order to fill the very large gap in my friends' lives, I cruised the Internet and found: Red Stamp

Red Stamp is a great DIY invitations and such website. They have sleek designs from modern to classic. Their prices are decent. I haven't ordered anything from them so I can't speak to the quality. However, I'm recommending them on their design/art. To the right is an example of the 'Save the Date' card I sent to my friend. I find it tasteful and they have 20 different colors that the rings and text can be changed to. You can most likely find something that matches your color palette.

Sucker Punch

2011-03-28T14:06:00.005-05:00

This weekend my boyfriend and I took to the IMAX to see Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch is one of those stylistic movies in the vein of Sin City or 300.

The cinematography was amazing (or maybe I should say the graphic designers that created the cinematography were amazing).

The action and fight scenes were awesome. My boyfriend actually had to explain one of the fight scene genres of "Steampunk." I also looked up Steampunk on Wikipedia and this is what I got: Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history.

Back to Sucker Punch, you don't see this movie for the script, I would say it is more like seeing a work of art unfold than watching a movie. The storyline is not for kids. It involves child molestation, murder, rape (alluded to, not actual) and teenage girls dressed way beyond their maturity level (even though most of the girls in the movie are 22-28 years old). It was good, and to be honest, you do need to see it on the big screen.

Mid-Term Art 5363: Research Methods in the Visual Arts

2011-02-27T13:24:00.002-06:00

Fears

“Fear is Pain” (Uta Grosnick, 2005, p. 45) claims Louise Bourgeois, a French born, but American working artist. I’ve always been drawn to artists who explore their emotions in their artwork, especially when one of those emotions is fear. As a young teen, I chose Fear as my AP concentration. I was drawn to the topic conceptually because, as a seventeen year old girl, I had several fears: death, failure, the future, pain, ostracization, rejection, the unknown, and even living.

I used to repeat the following from my favorite book: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." (Frank Herbert, 1965/1984, p. 8)

I wish I had known about Louise Bourgeois when I was in high school. In her series “Personages and Destruction of the Father,” 1974, she created “cells.” They were based on actual prison cells, and she wanted: “Each cell [to tell] of fear. Fear is pain.” (Grosnick, 2005, p. 45) Unfortunately, my high school art classes and teachers did not branch out in the area of art history to include female and minority artists beyond the already famous ones. Art history books, Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition, which I had for Art History AP, did not cover currently-working female artists or even conceptual work. The focus was on technically superior art that had historically focused subject matter. I did not get to study Bourgeois until later when I was learning about the inequalities represented in art history. According to The Guerrilla Girls (1998), “[Janson’s] History of Western art reduced centuries of artistic output to a bunch of white male masterpieces and movements, a world of ‘seminal’ and ‘potent’ art where the few women you hear about are white, and even they are rarely mentioned and never accorded a status anywhere near the big boys,” (p. 7). During my studies of art in graduate school, I was challenged to “name 10 famous female artists” (Dennis Earl Fehr, 1994/2010, Section 2, Chapter 7, para 5). I met the challenge, but it required much thought.

I could have used the inspiration of Bourgeois’s work to convey the goals of my Fear concentration. My perception of high school art as a haven of learning and artistic expression turned into what felt like a prison sentence. I found out quickly that my technical artistic skills could not convey the depth and breadth of my imagination and conceptual mind. I felt lacking compared to the other students in my AP class.

I began to question my life decision to be an artist. This was where my passion was but, since my skills were so lacking compared to others, I changed my focus from studio to wanting to major in art history and be a gallery owner or museum curator. I loved the history of art and knowing the meaning behind the paintings, sculptures, and such. It wasn’t creation, but it was near enough to creation as to be acceptable in my mind if not my soul.

Reflection: Fish Camp and First Day of Class.

I walk from the student center toward the Fine Arts building. I double check my fish camp schedule. Yes, I am supposed to be meeting with my advisor to plan my first semester. I also get to tentatively declare my major. Do I want to do art history? Do I want to do studio art? What kind of living can I make as a painter? I’m not that good though, I can’t do realism, realistically.

Can there be any more stairs? It’s so hot I’m going to die. The blast of super cold air hits me and freezes my clothes to my overheated but rapidly cooling body. “Great, there are no directional signs.” Somehow I find my way to the room, and I sit with others from my fish camp group for BFA majors. A professor walks in and hands me a school catalog. I flip to Major: Art History. My blood freezes. My stomach drops and knots as I read: "Minor: (required) Foreign Language.

If there is anything I’m even worse at than being able to create realism in an art piece, it’s being able to speak and understand a foreign language. After four years of French classes, I can read it, but speaking and understanding it spoken to me? Totally different story. Why do I have to be a visual learner? I’ll never be able to do a foreign language minor. Oh, God, what am I going to do now?

The advisor walks in the door. I recognize him from Texas Portfolio Day. I didn’t like him. Mainly because he was not complimentary about my work, and he made it clear to me that I wasn’t up to snuff. He is the head of the department. Oh no, is he my advisor? He announces he is there to advise us today and that we will be assigned an advisor second semester. Wow. I dodged the bullet on that one.

I talked to my now temporary advisor and admit I know I want a BFA, but I’m not sure if I want to major in Art History or Studio Art. He suggests: Take one art history course and one studio art course." I write down Art History Survey 1 and Drawing 100 on my schedule card. Maybe I can improve my drawing skills? Maybe.

Feeling ambiguous about my choices for my semester, I fill out the cheat sheet for the phone registration. I start dialing. Most of my choices are already taken. In the midst of frantically searching through the class catalog for other classes to take, I realize this must be because I’m at the last fish camp. Everything is full. I re-scan the art classes, Design 110: 2D design, I wonder if that is already full. I dial. Enter the code. “You are registered for Design 110: 2D design. MWF 9:00”

I exhale in relief. The panic of having to rearrange my schedule is leaving my body, only to be replaced with fear of my new choices. Would the math class I picked randomly be too hard? I look around at the other BFA majors. There are only two left besides myself. I grab my tote bag and prepare to head back into the bright sun and steaming heat.

***

What do I wear to class? I have my last day of sorority rush tonight. Everyone keeps asking if I’m “going suicide.” I don’t know what that means. I’ve been able to play it off with most of the other girls I’ve met. I don’t want anyone to know about my inexperience or naivety. How do they know what it is? I throw on a pair of jeans and a college tee. I close my door and lock it. I have no idea where my roommate is. She’s weird. I press the elevator door. The ninth floor… I wait….Check my watch…Wait…Check my watch again. “Forget this.” I head to the stairs. “I am NOT going to be late to my first class.” I run down the stairs counting them as I go. Step out of the stair well. Great, now I’m all sweaty. I hope I don’t stink. God, what if I do stink? The people next to me will smell me. They’ll hate me.

I open the doors of the dorm and step out into the already sweltering morning. Never mind; everyone is going to be sweaty. I cross the walk and head toward the art building. Thank God it’s so close to my dorm. At least this time I know where I’m going since I took the time at fish camp to find all of the classes on my schedule.

I approach the art buildings and walk down the stairs. I see a bunch of students talking and laughing. They’re friends; they all know each other. I don’t know anyone. I head inside the classroom and sit up front as is my habit. I check my watch; it’s 8:45. My middle school band director’s quote echoes in my mind, “To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late.” Well, at least I'm on time.

Other people come in. I recognize one girl from Rush. She was at the Delta Zeta pref party with me. I turn around hopeful to make my first friend. Everyone gets quiet because the professor walks in with a bicycle and sets it up on the front desk. I turn back around to face him, slightly embarrassed.

“I want 3 designs based on this bike. Due Friday. Don’t draw the bike, design only.” He walks out.

Don’t draw the bike? How do you do that? Is he going to explain further? What do I do? Ok, don’t “draw” the bike. Can I draw parts of the bike?

I look around at the other students. Some look as lost as I do. Ok, that’s a good sign. I flip open my sketch pad. Grab a pencil. The professor walks back in. Someone to my left asks, “Can we draw parts of the bicycle to incorporate into our design?”

“Yes.”

Whew. I’m glad someone else asked that. I didn’t want to have to draw attention to myself on the first day. It’s bad enough I’m the only one sitting in the first row.

Meta-autoethnography:

One of my favorite inspirational authors Danny Gregory (2006), says, “Too many people seem to feel they are not, and cannot ever be, creative,” (p. 1). I found out in the next few classes that I could be a designer, and that was a part of creating art. That one class reaffirmed my faith in art, and I learned I had a natural eye for design. “By letting go of preconceived ideas about art-making and tapping into [a] unique reserve of creative energy, [I was able] to explore new horizons in [my] work,” (Dean Nimmer, 2008, p 11). Now, I just needed to strengthen my drawing skills.

Over the next few years in undergraduate, I took several drawing classes because one of the most basic creative skills is drawing. “It’s a skill that takes minutes to learn but a lifetime to master.” (Gregory, 2006, p. 20) I have yet to master that media, but I am more proficient now than I was when I was seventeen.

However, sometimes of the many old fears, only failure and rejection remain. I thought I had buried them all in high school and as a freshman in college. Yet they still surface when I have to demonstrate my skills to other art teachers or even my students. I still feel the stigma of not having the ability to do exact photo realism with my drawing.

I realize that my inner critic is the voice I need to silence the most. I am an artist. At the age of thirty one, I need to own that statement. I need to let go of my fears. I need to embrace my strengths and weaknesses. Expectations have been set by the generations of hard working female artists before me. They paved the way for me. “What would western art history be without Gentileschi, Bonheur, Lewis, Kahlo…? What would contemporary art be without all the great women artists of the last few decades? Let’s make sure that, generations from now, we never have to find out,” (The Guerrilla Girls, 1998, p 91). I feel I need to live up to their example. In the spirit of The Guerrilla Girls (1998), I will value my work, I will exhibit, and I will preserve mine and other female artists’ work (p. 91).

References:
Fehr, Dennis Earl. (2010). Dogs Playing Cards: Powerbrokers of Prejudice in Education, Art, and Culture (3rd ed.). New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. (Original work published 1994)
Gregory, Danny. (2006). The Creative License. New York: Hyperion.
Grosnick, Uta. (Ed.). (2005). Women Artists in the 20th and 21st Century. London: Taschen.
Herbert, Frank. (1984). Dune (35th ed.). New York: The Berkley Publishing Group. (Original work published 1965)
Nimmer, Dean. (2008). Art from Intuition: Overcoming your fears and obstacles to making art. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
The Guerrilla Girls. (1998). The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Middlesex, UK: Penguin Books.

Plasticland

2011-02-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

My favorite online store went out of business. I'm pretty upset, so I have been looking for another great place to get some clothes.

I stumbled upon Plasticland. I'm a sucker for great web design so when I cruised on over to this page I fell in love. They have some super cute stuff and the prices are not bad either. Their clothing is mostly mod and retro, think 1940's and 50's. However, they also have shoes, accessories, home decor, books, and even arts and crafts. The only drawback I can see is their flat rate shipping in $7.95. If it truly is flat rate then you would want to buy the most you can get. Purchasing one item for $7.95 shipping is not cool.

I haven't bought anything yet (frankly my personal appearance budget is going toward shoes this month) but I'm going to get some of their super cute tees or dresses as soon as I am able.

Smarthistory

2011-02-15T06:00:00.000-06:00

Smarthistory's tag line reads: Art. History. Conversation.

That is exactly what you get on this intriguing new website. My graduate class last semester was specifically studying the inequalities in art history. For example, those presented in the large format art history texts such as Gardner's and Janson.

What inequalities you ask? Simple. Take my test. Think of 10 famous artists.

Were the ones you just thought of all male and white?

Now think of 10 famous female artists. Now think of 10 famous minority artists.

Do you get the point I am trying to make? That is the problem with Gardner's and Janson. They focus mostly on white male artists. Too many images. Too many dates. Not enough content about the art works themselves.

Smarthistory is trying to make art more relevant, more interesting, and able to teach to different learners. They have videos, podcasts, and great full color images. You can search by artist, period, or genre. I've already learned more new female artists in 5 minutes of just browsing their site.

If you are an art student, check it out. If you are a teacher, check it out. If you are forced to take art appreciation in college, check it out. It's an amazing resource.

A Fish Called Wanda

2011-02-14T13:22:00.005-06:00

This weekend I got to go back and visit an old favorite movie of mine. My boyfriend had never seen A Fish Called Wanda, one of the 80's greatest movies. We were celebrating Valentine's Day during the past weekend and I put it on when we were looking for something to watch on Netflix for Wii.

A Fish Called Wanda has a headliner cast of John Cleese, Jaime Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. If the cast is not enough to go see this movie well, the story line is pretty good. It's about a jewel heist, cross and double cross, has a bit of romance thrown in, but is overall hilarious! Kevin Kline won the Oscar for this film, a comedic performance, which is unheard of. He plays a really stupid weapons man (don't call him stupid!)

There are some great lines in this movie...ones that my family likes to repeat over and over.

What was the middle one?

You have to see it to understand the references I'm making. And as for Valentine's Day, I'm happy to report that it was awesome! First one ever!

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercials

2011-02-07T08:06:00.004-06:00

I remember, when I was back in undergrad, one of my 400 level advertising design assignments was to watch the Super Bowl commercials and take notes for class the next day. It had to be one of my favorite homework assignments of all time. Since then I love the commercials during America's biggest night of sports.

Last night was a great night for commercials. I thought I'd share some of what I consider the best in Super Bowl advertising. I'm not going to comment on everything but some do deserve comments.

Groupon Timothy Hutton Spot. I love Timothy Hutton from Leverage (one of the smartest shows on TV) and this spot really shows the overindulgence of America in a satirical way.

The next is the 1984 Apple commercial. I show this so you can better understand last nights Motorola Xoom.

Motorola Xoom

I really am excited about the Motorola Xoom mainly because I think the iPad is too expensive. You can't USB with it and there isn't Flash so your web browsing is limited. I'm hoping the Motorola Xoom will be the replacement I'm looking for.

....and just because I feel like making fun of Mac a little more here is the first ad spot for the Mac Book Air:

Now here is how I feel about the iPad (Mac Book Air reference, so make sure you watch the previous ad)

Again, I'm not an expert but these are the ones I loved!

Anne Taintor

2011-02-02T09:03:00.005-06:00

Anne Taintor is one of my favorite designers.

If I have some extra cash, I love browsing her online shop.

Anne Taintor: Vintage Revisited

Her line of quirky, 50s/Vintage sayings and pictures are totally in line with my sense of humor. In fact some of my sayings in my Sweet but Sassy line at Cafe Press could be reminiscent of Anne Taintor.

I discovered her at Aaron Brothers about two years ago, where I got a coin purse (left) and a makeup bag. I use the coin purse every day, even though it jokes about being frugal, I do try to be frugal. The makeup bag has all of my knitting stuff in it. Yes, I knit. Try not to fall over from shock. Sexy people knit. I'm living proof.

Anyway. I'm thinking of purchasing a flask for my trip to Vegas, just to keep it fun! There I go being "frugal!" The hardest problem I will have will be picking out which saying is my favorite.

One of my favorite sayings is:

It's a shame it's not on a flask!

Definitely check out her site. You can search for specific items or you can go to the Favorite Captions link and find a saying that really speaks to you.

Hipstamatic: Digital Never Looked so Analog

2011-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hipstamatic App

Looking for an awesome camera app for your iPhone. I know, I was too. A lot of people talk about the Plastic Bullet App. That app is for amateurs. If you want to customize your lenses, flashes, and film like a professional photographer, you need Hipstamatic.

I can't really express how obsessed I am with this app. It reminds me of when I bought my Nikon D60 DSLR, I was a little kid with a shiny new toy. That's how this app is. I constantly take pictures with it and since there is a whole lot of lenses, gear, flashes, and film...there are endless possibilities. Some of my pictures I've put in this post.

The Big Hipstamatic Show

The Big Hipstamatic Show is a way for pros and amateurs or enthusiasts to get their photography out there and also win some cool prizes. Back in December I tried to get into the Dali show. My piece I titled Eiffel Deux (below). I did really well for my first entry ever getting ranked at 42, but since the voting takes place for only 5 days by the time the contest was over I dropped to 119. You needed to be in the top 100 to make the gallery opening at the new Salvador Dali museum.

The two new contests are Valentine's themed. For those of you who know me (I hate Valentine's with the fire of 10,000 suns or at least with the force of a gamma ray blast from Alpha Centauri). I wish I was kidding but I've never had a good Valentine's in my whole life...maybe that will change.

So traditionally if I was going to enter I'd do the following (copied direct from the Big Show):

Heart of Iron
THEME :: Because love isn't always pretty
From January 16, 2011 until February 14, 2011
F--- Valentine's Day. This is for all the non-lovers and dis-believers. Capture the world as it really exists - complicated and incomplete.

However, since I might actually have a good Valentine's this year (fingers crossed) I may opt to do this contest instead:

Hearts and Unicorns
THEME :: Irregular Affection
From January 16, 2011 until February 14, 2011
As Valentine's Day approaches and your eyes become cluttered with cotton candy hills and chocolate covered cherries, we encourage you to embrace this sweetness and capture the world and all you love from it.

Download the app and love it as I have!

Repo Men

2011-01-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

This weekend I spent two hours watching a movie I wanted to see in the theatre last year, Repo Men. This 2010 dark, future drama stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, both heavy hitters in the movie business.

What is Repo Men about? Well, they aren't repossessing your car, that's for sure. They repo body parts. Yep, this dark futuristic drama, befitting an Ann Rand novel, is part sci-fi, part action, part drama, and part fantastical.

Wow, that's a lot of parts. What wasn't I expecting? I would like to say that I wasn't expecting the irony of a repo man being forced to become one of the repossessed, but that story line was too apparent. (Talk about telegraphing the plot in.) I won't give spoilers away, but the foreshadowing of the end was expected but wasn't expected at the same time. I wish it had the twist ending that The Sixth Sense did and it strives to achieve that, but I feel it fell a little short for some reason. Maybe because the ending was too dark? I'm not sure.

Why see it? Well, the fight scenes, action, and dry humor should make it worth it. However, I've been told by someone close to me to check out Repo! The Genetic Opera, which came out two years prior, same plot but it's a rock opera and supposed to be better. It's on my list to check out.

Jellyka Wonderland Wine Font

2011-01-28T08:35:00.004-06:00

Fonts are some of my favorite things to work with in Photoshop. They can be expensive though. However, if you look you can find free fonts on the web that artists have designed for use. Some artists do request that you can credit them whenever possible.

One of the most recent fonts I have used is called Jellyka Wonderland Wine. I used it for an advertising poster for the musical that is currently playing at my work place. JWW is used in the title "Into the Woods." I love all of the Jellyka font line. They're really great if you are looking for a cool script/handwriting style of font. I also used Jellyka Cutty Cupcakes for the "Music and Lyrics" because the all the fonts work well together.

The artist's name is Jellyka Nerevan she lives and works in Quebec. All of her font styles are amazing. If you use her please donate as I have! Keep freelance artists in business!

...and if you are in the Katy/Houston area, come check out Into the Woods and support the Fine Arts Department!

Haley Hill Jewelry

2011-01-26T12:39:00.000-06:00

I'm not a bracelet person, or maybe I am.

For my birthday I had been holding onto a gift certificate to Hauerland's in Katy that one of my students gave me last year. I went the day of my party to spend it since it is right next to the day spa I go to. So, I went in and instantly found what I wanted (unusual). It was a gorgeous bracelet, like I said I'm not a bracelet person.

The helpful sales clerk told me that all of the designs by Haley Hill, the jeweler, are based on early 1900's shoe buckles. How awesome it that? I LOVE VINTAGE! Then I really had to have it. I think it must have started a trend because I received three additional bracelets for my birthday!

So if you are into sparkly jewelry like I am and love a unique piece that has vintage flare check out : Haley Hill Jewelry

Flickr

2011-01-25T12:38:00.001-06:00

I've been against photo sharing websites, until now I guess. My photography has really taken off lately and now I'm finding it necessary to have examples of my work on the Internet. I did a photo shoot for East Texas Search and Rescue last October and needed to have the pictures where they could download them and put them in the Madisonville Star. So, I turned to Flikr which is linked to my Yahoo account.

Why not Picasa or any other photo site? Well Flikr and Picnik are linked so it makes it extremely easy to edit your photos if you need to instantly and re-save them. This helps me out since I have Photoshop on my PC desktop and my PC laptop but my poor powerbook's Photoshop is exceedingly out of date.

I can also keep all of my meta data in case of copyright infringement or if I need to look at certain settings to recreate them in another photo. I opted to pay $25.00 for a professional account which gives me unlimited uploads. This helps me protect my files as well, in case my computer dies (which I had a big scare at the beginning of December).

Eliminating the Crazies

2011-01-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

For the last two years my life has been boring. I have been struggling with my various health problems, contending with work, and working hard to keep a 4.0 GPA in graduate school. Lately, my personal life has actually taken a turn for the better. So now I'm behind in all the other aspects in my life. I feel slightly overwhelmed with my current schedule and it doesn't help that I'm getting less sleep. This combination = crazies. I'm trying to play catch up and then play get ahead this week, as well as, start physical therapy for my foot. Should be interesting to see what wins out in my schedule, especially since I'm going to attempt to keep up with my blog. (I know, I know, I said this three weeks ago...this time I mean it!)

Contact Me for Book Covers

2011-01-04T16:15:00.001-06:00

If you have recently tried to contact me to do a book cover for you at my email address, hotmail experienced a glitch and sent all incoming emails to the trash bin.

Microsoft has said they have fixed the problem. Hopefully it is true.

Please re-send any emails during the time periods of 12/17 and 1/3. I will be more than happy to get on your project ASAP.

Lesson Plan Websites

2011-01-04T06:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, it has certainly been a loooong while since I have posted.

My fall semester of graduate school kicked my butt! However, I learned to survive and thrive on sleepless nights, high stress, and flying by the seat of my pants at work. So now that I've had an official rest break, where I got to see lots of old friends and even meet some great new ones: I'm back at the desk (literally). I'll be bringing you the best new websites, great lesson plans, some art and design, and my favorite, ~~shopping~~, I mean Photoshop tips.

Starting off with a bang, here are two websites that I had to design for grad school. I know I'm blowing my own horn but I do feel proud of my accomplishments. One was my midterm and the other is my final. They have to do with teaching of course! (And I got an A for the course!)

Raiders of the Lost Art

Traveling Teacher

If you are a teacher feel free to use my lesson plans in your classroom, however Raiders of the Lost Art is more suited for AP or Higher Education.

Chinese Art Films

2010-10-17T20:48:00.005-05:00

I spent the weekend watching In the Mood for Love and it's follow up 2046. Now I like to think of myself as the next average Josephina, who likes normal movies, but I think I am realizing I'm not. However, I've realized I only like foreign art films where you have to read subtitles, forget that crap in English! Ha!

Anyway, back to the movies. I enjoyed In the Mood for Love quite a bit more than 2046. IML was poignant and had a relevant story line for the times. Two people strike a friendship when their spouses start cheating on them with each other. It proves that you can have love without adultery or even in the face of adultery. I found the characterization mesmerizing and wouldn't mind seeing it again.

In 2046, the sequel, follows only the male lead and how he basically becomes a emotionally shut down man whore. It was interesting, visually stunning with the shot frames and color, but the story line was less than the original.

Kindle Covers

2010-10-15T07:07:00.004-05:00

Kindle books are the new rage....

However there are really no good instructions on how to create a Kindle cover for graphic designers out there. I've had to experiment with trial and error to produce covers for them. Here is the formula I have come up with:

525 pixels wide x 700 pixels tall

It's not a perfect formula I know, but it does work. Here is one of the covers I have designed for a client:

Lynda.com

2010-10-12T19:10:00.008-05:00

Ok, it's been a while I know. What the hell did I do, fall off the edge of the earth? Nope. It's called Grad School....

This semester my midterm and final projects are to create two fully functioning websites. Well, the last time I was doing web design was back in 2003-2005. I know things have changed a lot since then. (Insert understatement of the decade here). So after much debate and spending several thousand dollars for software and a new laptop, I have joined Lynda.com to get myself up to speed on web design with Dreamweaver and Flash.

Every time I say Dreamweaver one of my best friends starts singing Dreamweaver. Feel free to.

Anyway, Lynda.com has tutorials for just about everything. They have all of the Adobe products on there, Microsoft, Corel, and anything else you can think of. (They don't have Pinnacle, my movie software, on there so I'm going to suggest it to them). I went through all of the Flash tutorials two weekends ago and I actually used my templates for my website during the lessons. This killed two birds with one stone for me. I got my website done (mostly) and learned at the same time. The lessons are really flexible and easy to understand, so you don't have to use their design templates that come with the lesson.

They also have a iPhone app. That's actually what I ended up using. I'd have my iPhone next to my computer and watch a clip on the phone while creating on my laptop.

You do have to pay for this service but I think it is worth it. I can cancel when my class is over, but I may end up keeping it so I can keep learning.

Goodness, I am such a nerd! Happy Learning!

Wrecking [Photo]shop or That's so In [Design]

2010-09-04T15:48:00.012-05:00

I'm sitting across from my mother and I just asked her a loaded question. "What do you want to learn about Photoshop?" She is in the process of trying to put several of her books on Kindle and replies, "How to format a book."

Well, that is a whole other animal called In Design. A few years ago I helped my mom format my nanny's memories in In Design. A few years before that I was a graphic designer for the Chronicle and we used Quark. I used to be so up on both Quark and In Design, for years--until I got a PC. I used Quark on my MAC laptop to do all of my worksheets for teaching. Now all I use is Microsoft and the knowledge I used to have of Quark keyboard shortcuts, formatting, and such, has been put on hard disk storage somewhere in my brain.

So while I'm taking my journey of re-discovery I'm going to bring you along. First, opening the program....

You see this screen:

I'm going to click on "Getting Started." I normally do not like to use the pop up window that comes up when you open the program but since the last time I used In Design was version CS3, I have a feeling I need to get acquainted with CS5. When I click on "Getting Started" it took me to the Adobe website on a page entitled "Learn In Design."

Gee, I wish sites like these existed when I was back in college. Instead we had these foreign objects called, books. Even then in the small town of Nacogdoches, software books were not in the local Hastings (no B&N here).

I'm going to start with the Overview section and wade through that first. It is a video that explains all the amazing things that In Design can do. In fact, I'm thinking I can use it to help with my grad school midterm and final. It has whet my appetite for more. Look forward to next week when I can share the new things I have learned.

Did I mention I have to learn Dreamweaver for my grad school midterm and final? Come back for some posts on that monster of a program!

Don't have Photoshop or In Design or Dreamweaver? Find all current special offers on Adobe products.

Donna Lee Jewelry

2010-09-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Today I'm supporting another Texas Gal like me. Donna Lee Jewelry. I absolutely love her website and her pieces of jewelry. The first thing you see is a picture of a great necklace with the quote, "Your boobs will look better in Donna Lee Jewelry."

I laughed until I cried. Really I did. Her story is similar to mine. She made so much jewelry she started giving it to friends who eventually encouraged her to sell it. She started at local events and eventually moved to trunk shows and now has lines in boutiques in Austin. You go girl! Maybe I will get there one day when I'm done with all my health issues!!

Check out her site and if you like, definitely get something. You know I'm picky so her line is definitely Blake Creative Approved Designs!