I "finished" one of the Club Bart pieces last night. But I am completely unsatisfied. I feel the need to practice more self-control when I use my pen to define the shapes. I went slap happy & the piece was officially over after I sprayed the crystal clear acrylic. Ink began to bleed together and got even more dark. TOO DARK.



I want to experiment more with not relying on my pen to define the shapes & get more used to shaping with just the colors. So I'm going to do this piece all over again; Less pen, more watercolor, with more understanding of the light, the shades of pink and red....white.

BUT FIRST, going to put that piece aside and work on the comic. My goal is to finish in time for the Xeric Grant deadline on February 26th. I'm probably not going to make it since I'm teaching again and it tires me out. It's hard to get a second wind, BUT I will have it finished before summer. Been on this for almost seven years and it's near completion. That's a good thing.

Moving on...

Here's a little wrap up video for the We Are Here show last October:





(Note: Depending what browser you might be using, the video might be cut off on the screen. You might get a better view by clicking on the video and watching it on the youtube page.)

Here are some images and detailed scans I took of the piece I created as a custom award for the 2011 Short of The Year for The Movie Mitten Project. The film that won was Amendment. No one, including the director showed up for the January Movie Mitten Project screening. So I don't know what they thought of it. Anyway, I hope they like it. The film was amazing and deserved to have won.

I created the piece using a wooden box that I stained and finished. I created a paper butterfly since a butterfly is shown throughout the movie. Plays somewhat a symbolic and important role.

Most of the illustrations are based off of still shots I took from the film. The cinematography is gorgeous, so I had decided to draw some chosen shots in my own style.









I've enjoyed using a power drill, to drill the illustrations into the small wooden plaques. I also stained and finished these wooden plaques. I want to brainstorm more ways I can make use of my new found love to play with a power drill.



Detailed with text:



Detailed without text:

Death by Taradiddle

Death by Taradiddle, by Claire Halpine

"Your thumbs are aching. Your wrists are burning. But, you persevere. You hit send. You smile as you picture the delight on the face of the receiver who will open your clever little text." [CLICK TO READ ON...]

Instructor and alumni, Ian Schneller, from my alma mater in collaboration with Andrew Bird:

A Conversation with Ian Schneller (MFA 1986) from SAIC on Vimeo.

Note: I don't know him and never saw him around campus, but received this video from the SAIC Alumni newsletter. Loved it. And of course, I love Andrew Bird.


Here are more videos:

Cutting out a paper butterfly...

Working on the award for The Movie Mitten Project. On the work table: paper cut butterflies, blue tissue paper, white and blue watercolors and glitter glue.

I'm so excited about this. My friend who works as part of The Geek Squad for Best Buy cut me a super, super cheap deal. I've been needing something like this to do the handwritten text on the computer for my comic.

I'm submitting the comic for the last ever Xeric Grant. The deadline is February 28th. So I need to hustle.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TO DO LIST:

• Create award for Mitten Movie Project's Short of The Year (2011.) Due Tuesday, Jan. 17th.
• Finish "Geli Girl: Take Care To Fall" and submit to Xeric Grant. Postmark deadline February 28th.
• Finish formatting on artist resume and post on my website.
• Create "memoir portraits" section for website. Add onto "new artwork." Put artist statement in "memoir portraits" section.
• Overall: update website.

My Country is Full of Ghosts

Powerful and amazing.

More Inspiration: Baltimore Museum of Art

During my Baltimore trip I also jumped on the opportunity to visit the Baltimore Museum of Art with the two main goals of checking out the "Print by Print: Series from Durer to Lichtenstein" and, of course, the Matisse paintings.

I regret not taking down notes of who the artist is. But was drawn to these, because of the pen-line-work/cross-hatching/ illustration style I have been doing lately in my own pieces:



Close up shots:







Walking around looking for the Cone Collection, I bumped into this famous sculpture. I didn't even know that Rodin's "The Thinker" was in this museum. So it was a very pleasant surprise that made it all worth the trip.





Amazing to go up and take a close shot:







Now in the Cone Collection... Found some of Degas's sculptures of dancers. Was having many flashbacks in this collection. I was introduced to Degas from my favorite art teacher, Mr. Lemenu, in high school when we began to study oil and chalk pastels:





Behind this legendary Degas sculpture are paintings of Claude Monet. The color palette Monet uses remind me so much of my friend Marianne and her own palette and the way she chooses to paint her skies:











Matisse. I remember growing up and getting books on Matisse at the library. Xeroxing pics and taping it up on my bedroom wall:







I swear, being in the Cone Collection reminded me so much of my time being a student at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I kept seeing art students of Baltimore taking notes and sketching. I wondered to myself, how long will it be before they will be able to relax and enjoy the museum like I have been now. Wow! Such a difference, seeking and finding inspiration in a museum and enjoying myself now, instead of fretting and stressing out in art school. I kept laughing at myself every time I saw an art student "studying." Poor things. It is strange that I feel that I am learning/getting out more information willingly and with pleasure now that I am at a museum more as an "outsider" than I was when I was trying to remember things for a test or working on an assignment.

This piece, below, I do not know much about, except that it is by an artist named, William Lamb Picknell and that the work is titled "Paysage (A Winter Day In Brittany)". I tried to find a postcard of this piece, but couldn't.







UPDATE 04 January 12: I just found this among all the pics I took from my cell phone. I guess I did "take notes." Here's about the artist and these pieces:

More Inspiration at The Walters Art Museum

At The Walters Art Museum, I found myself in a small room that is used to educate museum goers about illuminated manuscripts and bookbinding. I spent at least a good 45 minutes to an hour in this room looking at the only two display cases. (You see why I enjoying exploring and going to places by myself?)

I am in love with looking at images from Book of Hours. I take great interest in the technique and the materials used. So of course I found myself in this room for so long. These traditional techniques are also used by contemporary artist, Makoto Fujimura. Mako is also my friend and my favorite artist. His teaching and writings of how he uses these pigments help me to understand a little about the minerals and made me fall in love these "gifts" from the earth. I'm also in love with bookbinding tools & materials and bookbinding. I could have stayed in here for at least another hour. (What would happen if I was able to get inside the display cases and use these materials? That would be a good dream to come true.)

Here are some pictures that I took: