So much to update!!

February 22, 2010

I am sorry I have been away for so long. Life is getting a little crazy. But today, I woke up to a snow day, and so I have 

some extra time for me! I am not even sure if it was actually a snow day for the college because the snow has almost washed away now, but this morning it was pretty crazy and I didn't want to have to drive all the way to our mall on this huge hill to drop Simon off, and then all the way back to school by myself. Im still not at all confident with driving in weather like this. Hopefully my teacher will understand and not drop me from the class or something. I think this is my 3rd time being absent. 

Well I have a lot to show you since it has been 5 days. There is 1 drawing, 1 collage, some more (the last of them) pictures of the Salton Sea, and some cards I put together of my old stuff. I still haven't done the piece for today. I think I am going to do another collage, or maybe a scratch board, but my mood for this sort of thing changes so quickly, who knows what I'll be doing. I do know that it will be an actual, physical, piece since the last couple days I have been doing things on the computer.

Well that is about it. I do want to thank Patty

 Sleger for purchasing "Don't forget the Elephant on my Back". I am so thankful for everyone's support, it really helps push me on those days where art is the last thing I want to do :) . I hope everyone had a great weekend as has a good rest of the week. Only 312 more days to go which means I have done 53 art pieces so far! See you soon. -Nikki

Back with some collage work

February 17, 2010

Things are busy! I have been able to keep up 

on art though, and the last couple days were full of ripped paper, glue, and india ink. My type of company! I got some inspiration from my "Drunk in Color" art piece that I have sitting next to my fish. I have three that I am presenting tonight. One is just a drawing, but still pretty cool. I love the other two though....I just have a thing for the style. I think it is because the glued paper gives the pieces such cool texture. Well I know this is ridiculously short, but I have to get going. SO MUCH TO DO!!! I'll make up for it by writing a novel next time. :) Thanks for reading and check out the gallery at helpshopgallery.com

Drawing #1 Winner!!!

I wanted to do a quick announcement about the winner for the drawing. Judy, a friend of my mom's from California, won the matted card-stock print of "Sock Monkey Portrait". She will have it sent to her completely free of charge. The next drawing is starting tonight at midnight, and will by going on until March 4th, 2010. That gives anyone who is not currently a "follower" of the blog 2 weeks to sign up. The names for the drawing comes from the names that are following my blog. Let your friends know! The prize this time is a single card-stock greeting card "stamp" with the envelopes.  I put the picture up with some information on the right if you need to take a look. Thank you everyone for all the support. Good luck!

Travel Inspiration

February 15, 2010

        I thought I would put in a quick post for the last couple days of art. Things have been so busy that I took the day off from school just to catch up. I still haven't done todays art piece either. I was able to get some color home work done which is good, but I have 2 logos to design, a tattoo to design, and a house to clean. Man, things are crazy. 

      On the 13th I just edited some more of my photos. I took SO many and I have quite a few that I still want to edit. On the 14th I did an acrylic painting on canvas with a palate knife. I also added some plaster to the paints to thicken it up. It was a lot of fun but took a really long time. My inspiration was our trip. Simon got me this book by a travel writer named Bill Bryson for Valentines Day. It is really funny and incredibly inspirational if you are wanting to take a trip. He has written a few books but this one is specifically about some travels of his in Europe. So, of course, I can't stop thinking of our trip and so did an art piece about it. This is a bull fight in Madrid, Spain, the first place we are going to explore in Europe. 

Well, I have a lot to do so I am going to head out. Thank you all for reading and if you are not a member, you only have about 4 hours and 20 minutes left to participate in the drawing. Tomorrow I will have a new prize up for the next drawing and announce this time's winner! Thanks for all the support! Buh bye.

Busy busy busy.... and a sea obsession.

February 11, 2010

The past couple days have been really busy with school and the Help!Shop. I finally got the website up and it looks great! I am really happy with it. If you want to check it out you can go to helpshopgallery.com . My classes have been going well, but the only one that doesn't seem especially slow is my mono-print class. I don't feel anywhere near ready to make a quilt yet and the photoshop class is only once a week, so we can't get much done. Our second project is due in photo though. I have the pictures I am going to use on the web site. They are called "Skull and Plant" and "Rust Car". The project was shape and shadow, so the photos had to have a shadow in them. The project kinda sucked for this week since it has been overcast most of the time. I think those will do alright.

I did edit some more of my Salton Sea pictures earlier today. I love how some of them are turning out. Simon and I are probably going to go to Sedona for Valentines Day and I am excited about taking photos together again. Simon is really enjoying it as well, so it has become a fun thing to do together. We just need another camera now. :)

The painting and drawing were done yesterday and Tuesday. I have been on a weird nautical kick lately so all my art has something to do with the sea. The painting could have been a little bigger, but as a starving artist/student, you get what you can afford. At least I got them done!

Well that is about it for this post. Like I said, the website is up and running so make sure to check it out! If you are interested in buying any art work, that would be the place to go. Everything is set up with pay pal now! Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! 

Black octopus and what's to come.

February 8, 2010

I got back from my mono-print class at about 4:30 and have been working on art stuff ever since. I have been able to get all of my new photos on facebook and my deviant art account, but I still need to get them on my foundmyself.com gallery. Sorry for the delay, things are hectic. 

I am loving my classes more and more, the longer I am in them. Today I tried the dry point method of mono-printing. It is where you scratch out your image onto some plexiglas, rub ink into the grooves, and then print it onto the paper. I only got as far as the test print, but I am using that as my art piece today because I think it turned out really well. I am really exited about what it will look like as a finished print. 

I also added the octopus drawing I did on Friday, Feb. 5th. I was only just now able to photograph him and put him up on the art sites. I like how he turned out too. He was done with charcoal on card-stock with a masked out border. I think I am going to do a little mini-series of charcoal creatures. Im not sure of the specifics yet, but I want to start drawing more and I think that would be a nice place to start out. Mr. octopus was fun enough.

Thanks, as always, to my readers and supporters! Make sure to take a look at the details of my new members drawings and invite your friends to join. Take a look at foundmyself.com/ gallery/nikkiandsimon for more art and purchasing instructions. I plan to get my personal web site up and running be the end of the week. Only 326 more pieces to go! Good night.

One of the weirdest places on earth....

February 7, 2010

Yesterday Simon and I went with a good friend of ours , Andrew Weiss, to the Sulton Sea in California. We Packed up and headed to his place on Friday night after Simon got off work at 9:30, and then headed out the following morning at 7:00 am. The morning was pretty cold for phoenix and the three of us were exhausted and uncomfortable. With Andrew driving, we headed out of town for the 4 hour drive.

The Sultan Sea is the largest lake in California and is saltier than sea water. It is also below sea level and has 3 rivers flowing unto it but no outflow, making it constantly changing. These things make for a very unique place. At first look you notice the thousands of shells that make up the ground, all from the same barnacle type animals, long dead. The next most common site would be birds or dead fish but their smell hits you first. At first glance a place of destitute and death with the pelicans as its vultures. However, even with the evident air of decay, there is a lot of life. Plants start growing a ways off from the sea and go on for miles. The birds feast on the many fish still surviving in the salty lake, and there is fungi on the sloppy shores. With so many new visions in front of us, we took up our cameras and started shooting. 

Andrew is the photographer of the bunch. It was his idea to go his second time for the sole purpose of taking photos. Since I am in Digital photography this semester, Simon and  I were able to tag along. He was even nice enough to let me use his old camera so Simon could use ours. Not too long after arriving, it started to rain on and off, but all three of us still got some amazing shots. Even with forgetting appropriate shoes, I slopped around in the mud to get the best angles. Im not sure my yellow flats will ever recover and I still have a little piece of shell stuck in my foot, but I got a picture of them so my teacher will appreciate it. :) 

All of us were covered in mud and sweat by the time we left for the long ride back. I am sure the car would have smelled horrific to anyone else, but to us, it was a haven from the fish rot. 

Once finally home we were able to look at our pictures and i even started to edit a few. I am presenting them as my art pieces for yesterday and today. I know I still owe you one for the 5th, but I don't have it photographed yet, so I'll post it with tomorrows. As for the sea, I do recommend for any one who likes the outdoors, unique experiences, and are not afraid of bad smells or getting dirty, to visit the Sulton Sea. The place is one of a kind and incredibly interesting. Thank you as always for reading and I hope you like the pictures! If you want to see more from the trip check out my gallery at foundmyself.com/gallery/nikkiandsimon .See you tomorrow!