WORK

I had a very good critique today with Linda and I am planning on making a wood and plexi glass box for my book. Also I have a lot of editing to do with my book, but the overall content is good to go and I am really happy with my progress. I can't wait for this semester to be over and to be able to set back and see all of my work and everything I have learned this year. More work,  No time.... Life still goes on.

Making progress on my book, I am working on photos now and hopefully it will all come together

In class today we went over to the Spencer Research Library and
learned about some wonderful handmade artist books. It was very
inspirations and I wish I had more time to just focus on the book project.
I am excited though to start creating. My experience is still a dandelion but 
I am taking the approach of how blowing a dandelion can be a symbol of
sending love to someone or hopes you have. (makes me think of sending love
back home to my family- love you dad)

FLOWERS

Hello World!!


The chairs are all finished and they look fantastic!!! I had a great experinece constructing the chair and am very excited for my ID classes next semester!

But as always its on to the next one and our next project is to make a book about an experience....


So naturally I picked......drum role.....badadadada "Picking a flower"

Today I am going to get my research on picking a flower so tomorrow I can bring it to class!

Minimalism Seat

I have done lots of work over the past three or four days, designed an entire chair, learned to use the shop tools and stain, glued and built a final product. It is not all the way finished but this photo gives you an idea of what my chair will look like! I am really happy with the design and I hope my instructors feel the same way

Today in class we are going to narrow our seat ideas down and then eventually pick one and reproduce it in cardboard. I am looking forward to using the actual material and getting inspired by it. Also I am nervous to get into the shop but am also excited to learn so I can use it whenever I need it.

Critics went very well yesterday! Tom does a great job at getting students to speak about the work and to see things in a new way. I am loving this project and am excited for the final work. The assigment now is to look up minimalism and research what it is. Then we will go into the shop and eventually make a seat that represents minimalism so I am excited to do some research. Also had an advising meeting today and that went really well!!

Had a critique in class today and it went pretty well, I think my chair did a really good job at portraying my relationship and it is also very sturdy! We also went down to the wood shop and learned about all the tools, can't wait to start building and I think it will be good to know all the ins and outs of the shop so I will know what I need to do for any project in the future!! Can't wait to find out what we are doing next!!!

Today is a beautiful day... one for creating also. With the cardboard chair project I think I have found my direction. Since the next path is to come up with a seat of cardboard that reflects some type of relationship, I am choosing the relationship with my best friend Emily. We met when we were just 4yrs. old and through it all are still best friends. When I think of elementary school I think of her by my side and all the adventures we had. We were always side by side Emma and Emily and we had a since of balance and equality. So for my design I thought of some how incorporating weaving of the cardboard because Emily and I have so many memories woven together throughout the years. With the woven material I want to make some type of shelter but at the top have it unfinished because we still have more memories to make. I want the shelter to be there because our friendship has helped me through life and made me feel secure. Those are just some ideas at the moment, I still have to figure out how it will all come together but I also want to play around with types of cardboard and see what inspirations that gives me. Today while researching I found an artist whose work inspired me her name is Ann Weber.

Had a critique today and that went really well, I will take a photo tomorrow of my first chair and post it. Also today we heard from and Interior Design and Photography Major who were both seniors. It was really good to hear their feedback because they are in the program and know what we will go through as students. They mentioned having your own website and just getting yourself out there. The most important thing was to take advantage of all that you have at the University and I totally agree. Today all my classes just made me feel even more at peace and home while being at KU, I feel like whatever direction I am going will turn out good for me as long as I work hard.

SEATING

Our new project is to make a chair out of a 4' by 4' sheet of cardboard and you have to be able to sit in it and while I was doing chair research I came across this terrific chair!!!

DONE.

Today I finally had the chance to read this wonderful book, It's called "Water Paper Paint" by the artist Heather Smith Jones. I went to a Final Friday a couple months ago at the Lawrence Art Center and saw a show by Heather Smith Jones and fell in love. Outside of the gallery there was a place to sign up for a drawing to win her book. So my friend and I signed up and a couple weeks later I got an email asking me to come pick up the book I had won!!! So I graciously accepted and am so glad I won the book because it has inspired me to delve deeper into the world of watercolors and make my own watercolors. Experiment with the different types of paper and ways to use watercolors. As I read the book one of my instructors kept coming to mind and to my surprise towards the end of the book Margie Kuhn was a featured artist and that was a nice little surprise. It was also great to find out that this amazing artist Heather Smith Jones once attended school at KU and now lives in Lawrence. I feel so blessed to be in such a creative environment!

So I had a really long blog that some how got miss placed but the gist of it was that all I have left to do is work on the final poster and it is coming along and I had a really fun day in my drawing class because we got to go sit outside and make a 3D sculpture of a hand tool out of wire, not only that but it had to be 3x as big. I had a lot of fun working with my hands out in the beautiful sun =)

Model

The tree house project is coming to an end and I am pretty satisfied with the tree house I came up with. I think it fits my persona and was executed well through my drawings and model. I learned a lot about process in this project and I really felt like the teachers wanted to see what we as students could do, since last semester we had a lot more guidance. The final things to do are to come up with poster layouts and get together my process notebook. At this point I'm ready for spring break and to be back home with family and friends. Enjoy the photos.....

Meet .........Trish

This is my persona her name is Trish, she is an artist who is looking for a quite space for her art studio where she can paint, draw and create. She needs a getaway from reality and also a place of refuge so she doesn't loose her childhood dreams. Trish is looking for a space that has enough room to move around and space for a desk/easel. Also storage for her art supplies and a place to rest after a long day of creating. Bringing the aspect of light into the space would be very beneficial and also some sort of porch or outdoor area would also be appealing.

So for me creating this persona gave me a direction and helped to focus on a certain idea or need.

Direction

These are some photos to give you an idea of my direction, I want simplicity and light. I have a photo of a middle aged women I found in a magazine and she is my subject. My goal is to make a getaway for her so she can still keep a playful  and free mind through all the chaos of the real world. In my design I want to work a lot with windows and light. Playing with the idea of what it will look like at night and day. So to get a better hold of all my ideas, I'm going to make a mood board with textures and colors so I can really get the feeling of my  tree house across. Also I'm going to make some more refined drawings of my interior and exterior.

TREE HOUSES...... taking me back to childhood, I seemed to forget about all those times trying to build a tree house and climbing large trees and sometimes getting stuck. The feeling of going far up above the ground and sitting on the cold rough branches is everlasting. And then to make a structure, a fort, a get away is one of the grandest things a you could do in your childhood. Tree house is such a broad concept to me at least and I feel like if I am to get anywhere  I need to focus on a theme or certain client, one of my first ideas was to ask the little boy I babysit to draw his dream tree house.

Tree houses is the next project and  I am super excited, I hope we get to some 3D work

Still chugging along on this project... I think what I have learned most is that every problem has a solution but you have to get out there to find it. You as a designer have to find your way...aka do some wayfinding. The project is kind of wrapping up and I think we are all ready for it. I think the project was a good lessons but the way it was introduced and explained to us was very frustrating for all students and I think some of the teachers. But that is life and you have to work around those complications!!

Its a blizzard out there!!!!!! And class has been canceled,I have to say I wouldn't really mind going to design classes they are my favorite but I'll take this time to relax and do some work in the time being.

New Semester New Projects New People

Wayfinding......

That is exactly what we are doing...finding our way through this project!!! It has been a little tough at the begining to figure out what path to take but with a wonderful group and some good old trial and error I think we are finding our way! The other day we went and did some research so here are some photos from our little adventure!!