I paint Cats!

I am alive.

Sat, 05 Feb 2005 02:05:28 GMT

Despite rumors otherwise...

I've had a bad past two months, sinus infection followed by a migrane...and topped off with tendonitis in my left hand.

I can't wheel-throw pottery right now, but I should be able to handbuild.

New artwork should be posted soon. I really need to update www.aprilparks.com with last year's work. I am behind. Joy.

On a darker note, Pippin, my ugly little gray male hamster, and the last of the litter I raised from birth, passed away earlier this week. He was 3 months shy of his 3rd birthday.

Wow.

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 02:22:03 GMT

http://www.mastersoffantasy.com/2004/artists.html

No clue which piece/pieces got in, but my name is on the list. Gah...along with a lot of people I admire.

Shoot...score!

Sat, 07 Aug 2004 03:24:11 GMT

Long time no post...

Tonight was the Artist's Reception for my Senior Exhibition at the university. I had a good turn out (over 50 people) and sold 3 paintings.

Cat of a Different Color #1 and #5 were sold as was Uninvited Guests. All went for their asking price. I'm floored that my Wizard Ham sold at what I priced him. I also have orders for some of my stoneware plates.

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 02:03:13 GMT

Some weekends I feel like I get nothing done. I have another portrait about 50% finished for PA...that is if I only put it up as finished pencils. I think it may be worth painting in acrylics as color works (paintings) seem to sell rather well there.

I made the mistake of going to the pet store today just to look at hamsters. Look...right... My new hamster is a cinnamon and white male teddy bear with red eyes. I haven't named him yet.

In 3 weeks, my BFA show goes up. That means I have 3 weeks to get my self-portrait painted, the last 3 feline distortion drawings frames, and frames on the remainder of my paintings. I'd love to have my 2 bronze cats cleaned and ready by then, but I doubt that will happen.

Also, that commission matter is finally over with. I received the finished piece, after 2 and a half years, last week. It's very nicely done, but man am I glad that's over with.

In short, no new art, 1 new hamster and...anxiety.

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 03:58:25 GMT

my computer is plotting against me...or it is sulking. Sorry for not capitalizing the 'm' in that first sentance, but about 1/4 of the keys on my keyboard won't work with the shift key right now. No capital z, x, c, v, and m, as well as other keys.

So now, Illustrator and Word consistently lock the machine up. Relying on Baulder's Gate to keep the computer functioning (don't ask...it works...it's weird as a bald porcupine, but it works), is getting real old (and doesn't work as well as it once did). If I see one more "blue screen," I will scream.

This is very much a problem as I have two website designs to work on this week. Time to drag out the back up computer (ug...not as good a machine as this one use to be) in order to keep working until the new beast gets here.

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 13:15:22 GMT

How to make a tigermouse

Ingredients:

1 part intelligence

1 part humour

1 part empathy

Method:
Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add a little caring if desired!

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Well isn't that fun.

And then there was one...

Sat, 12 Jun 2004 23:27:37 GMT

My lovely cinnamon hamster, Toby, passed away this evening. Like her mother and her sisters, she died from a tumor. She was the model for my wizard hamster paintings and numberous hamster drawings (most of which I've never uploaded). I won't lie...she was my favorite of my hamsters.

RIP Toby
April 11, 2002 - June 12, 2004

For once...Life is Good.

Sat, 12 Jun 2004 02:55:56 GMT

I love my job. I like the people I work with. I'm very happy with my pay.

Life is good.

I spent last week in a swamp making and serving hamburgers. No, really. I worked the concession stand at the Marengo Suicide Swamp Ride. All of the proceeds of the ride (gate admission, t-shirts, concession, etc) go to fund Wish I Could of NELA Foundation to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. We had a good ride this year...but getting up at 4am and not getting home until 11pm is murder.

My 5 year old computer is on its last legs. After an escalation of problems this week, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get a new computer. I've been dreading this, but I can't afford to not have a computer.

This weekend, I should be able to ART for a bit. I have a wizard hamster and a parrot cat to finish. Hopefully I can get around to doing a painted portrait for EMG PA. I need to work on humans/human-like figures and faces and that's the only motivation I can find right now.

Speaking of figures...I still have that self-portrait with cats to get going on.

Work and an old irritation

Tue, 25 May 2004 13:01:06 GMT

Work went great yesterday. I think the job will work out. My hours are from 9ish (or 930ish) to 4 with a 30 minute lunch (30 minuteish).

In other news...that 2 and a half-year-old commission still has not been shipped by she-who-will-not-be-named. I'm highly unamused. It's been finished for a little over a MONTH now. How hard is it to ship the bloody thing? You'd think after all this shit, she'd just want it out of her sight and to never have to deal with me again. The only thing keeping me from sending off another email is my severe dislike of the excuses I always get.

Of course, I should know after over 2 years that, tomorrow or the next day actually means "in 12 months after several progressively aggitated emails".

It's not that bloody hard to board, bag, and box a piece of art. Really...and in a month's time you'd think she'd find the time to mail the bloody thing. Business is business after all.

Then again, I have "friends" who don't understand that concept either. Business is business.

Sun, 23 May 2004 01:46:44 GMT

I'm officially a college graduate. Joy.

Sat, 22 May 2004 00:37:48 GMT

For some odd reason, I bought a Xyron sticker/magnet maker/laminator machine this week. The machine came with a roll of adhesive, a short roll of laminated magnet, and a short roll of double laminate. For some reason, the laminated sticker cartridges are on clearance ($9 as opposed to $19) so I snatched a couple of those too. The laminated stickers I've made so far look rather good, and seem quite durable. I even found a nice corner punch to round the corners. If these work out, I may offer stickers/bookmarks of some of my pieces.

At any rate, I'm having fun with it. Boy do I like expensive toys.

I think I'll like my job. It looks like it'll be repetative and mind-numbing after a few hours, but, as I'm only there from 9 to 4 with an hour lunch, I'll manage. Hopefully I'll be given the same perks as Britney had there...she could print stuff for free etc. There's a guillatine cutter in the production room as well as a shrinkwrapper which I would LOVE to be able to use on occassion. I'd like to be able to make up some greeting cards of certain pieces, and shrink wrap sets, for any of the festivals. I'd print them on my printer, but the guillatine cutter would be great to cut the paper to size before I print.

Grief...strange things amuse me/make me happy don't they?

In other news...I finally broke down and joined DeviantArt. Here's to hopeing it doesn't bite me in the ass later.

Graduation is tomorrow at 2pm. I forsee a lot of hurrying up to wait.

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:40:58 GMT

Well, I go to work tomorrow from noon to 4 just to get my feet wet. One of the other designers won't be there tomorrow, so Brit can show me the ropes on the free computer. I don't think I'll start regular hours until Monday.

Graduation is in 5 days. gah.

Sat, 15 May 2004 14:35:23 GMT

And the waiting game is over.

I got the job.

Sat, 15 May 2004 03:46:51 GMT

I think waiting is the worst thing in the world. At this point, I don't care if I have it or not, I just want to know so I can stop worrying about it! ARG!

I took digital photos of my pieces in ceramics for this semester. I'll be adding them to my site over the weekend along with a few new paintings. Today was the last day of finals, so I offically have nothing to do. Tomorrow I get to play the "wait for a phone call" game again...joy oh joy. Not.

A few of my pots:

Thu, 13 May 2004 03:32:31 GMT

Two days left in this semster and I'm surprisingly caught up on my work. I just have to have my work in ceramics reviewed, and my final painting critique is on Friday. To that end, I finished 2 new bird cats today. Both were accepted onto Epilogue:

http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/view.pl?id=64286

http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/view.pl?id=64285

I think my job interview went really well. They seemed impressed with my portfolio and the simple fact that I do my own illustrations. Hopefully I'll get the job.

10 days to graduation. Gah.

Right...so those photos...

Sun, 09 May 2004 00:14:22 GMT

Glazed some pots and rakued today. I'll be shooting slides next week, as well as digital photos, of my pots, so hopefully I'll be adding more to my website next weekend.

There's a third one, but he's too early to post yet.

Final finals.

Fri, 07 May 2004 17:25:21 GMT

I have one final between me and graduation. The painting critique and ceramics are moot. I just finished my final portfolio and must run it over to the university today.

That's it folks. I'm done.

DONE.

Wensday night goes down as one of the most bizzarre and memorable events in mine time at ULM. Mel and I helped Mr. Rattcliffe change out the elements in one of the electric kilns. We started at 9:30pm but everyone was more than a bit tired by midnight. That's when we discovered an armadillo under Melissa's car. Armadillo chasing ensued. That poor dillo probably won't forget having 3 students and a professor chasing it around the courtyard behind Bry Hall. I know I won't. I managed to take a nice photo of him running though. Shooting in the dark and blind isn't easy nor fun.

I must clean out my painting and ceramics lockers next week. Hopefully they'll let us stay in the Painter's House until fall term starts. I don't think Mr. Ward has anyone else he wants out there right now. If I can come up with the $400 for tuition, I can take the painting class again in the fall and he'll let me keep my studio for that semester. Now if I can just have $400 extra by the time fee statements are due.

I have photos of my paintings that are on the work bench right now, but as i have to run, I'll post them this evening.

Rain rain...ruined my day

Mon, 03 May 2004 02:05:46 GMT

The spring arts festival was essentially a bust. It rained most of the day, so rather than being outside under a tent as we'd planned on...they put us in various stores in the downtown area. We were put in a department store of all places - right between the sleep wear and women's dresses. Maybe a total of 20 to 30 people came through in the 8 hours we were set up. I did meet some people and get some encouraging feedback on my work. I get the impression that not many people do painting, illustration, and pottery as I do.

I did sell 6 pots and a print, which helps cut my losses down to half.

Jennifer worked on chasing and reposeing (probably the wrong spelling) a silver spoon all day. That was a very interesting process to watch. I am very much looking forward to building her jewelry website.

Sadly, I haven't been able to get another wizard hamster done by today. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

Absolutely must do this week:

Mail graduation announcements
Get wizard hamster 2 painted
Either start wizard hamster 3 OR the catolesque painting
Glaze all pots by Tuesday
Study for Archery test on Wensday
Finish portfolio and portfolio CD
Finish my last 2 graphic design assignments (for Wensday)

I'm doomed.

ramblings brought to you by no sleep

Sat, 01 May 2004 00:28:11 GMT

I've been printing all week. I managed to shrink wrap a few pieces, but, due to VERY wasteful students, I ran out of shrink wrap film.

So far I have:

8x10 prints bagged but not priced
5x7 prints bagged but not taped or priced
Court of Cats prints - bagged but not taped; sets are shrink wrapped
Matted photos - not bagged or priced
Ceramics - hahahahah...have to price 'em, wrap 'em and box 'em
My personal t-shirt - printed, pressed and ready to wear

I need to make up an order form for the Court of Cats posters. I probably won't get any orders, but, better safe than sorry.

Next time, if there is a next time, I'm getting my stuff printed by someone else. I've about driven myself crazy.

And no new wizard hamster. I want -real- art time dammit!

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 02:25:46 GMT

The problem with owning hamster of identical age is that they all tend to die around the same time.

My last white hamster, the good Boo, passed away this evening. That only leaves Pippin and Toby.

Sun, 25 Apr 2004 20:19:04 GMT

My neighbors have 2 golden lab "puppies." They are the size of small horses. After 5 minutes of the beasts barking under my window, I stalked outside to find them barking at my precious Shally. She was behind the hedges, they were barking from the end under my window. Shally was undisturbed...and the dog's owner is in our driveway working on his truck. "If your dogs do anything my cat, there will be trouble."

His answer...Just kick the dogs.

Kick the dogs?

They might be the size of small ponies and barking at my cat, but they are PUPPIES!

And my family wonders why I don't like the neighbors.

Kick the dogs.

I brought Shally inside for now. The over-sized pups will go back to their own home when the damned boy leaves.

Sat, 24 Apr 2004 18:09:21 GMT

The awards ceremony turned into a mixed event. SuperIdiotTeacher, who claimed he had the food covered, only have 4 trays of shrimp, 1 tray of lemon squares, and a tray of some other small cake. That was all the food for the reception. You could either have shrimp or shrimp. It's nice to have a shrimp tray or two at our reception, but...you have to have other things too! Ack...I feel sorry for those who are allergic to sea food.

For the People's Choice award, he didn't even -think- about getting pencils. Typical SuperIdiotTeacher...and the man has the gall to complain that Kappa Pi is disorganized and poorly run...it's only disorganized and poorly run when he (rudely and most likely against university policy) tries to run everything and cuts the officers out of what's going on. I did not lift a finger to help with this reception. Neither did Meme and a few others of us who -always- help out. I only feel bad about the department head having to pour 90% of the drinks. I'm a graduating senior...I've worked at the drinks table etc. at every reception since I've been in art. It was time I was allowed to be a GUEST at the STUDENT art show. Grief. Sometimes, the best way to make a point is to do nothing.

In other news, the judge insulted us. Aye...sorry...the phrase "it was easy, at a glance, to find the pieces that deserved awards" rankled those of us who fought SuperIdiotTeacher's piss-poor layout of the show. I do feel there are better pieces than the one he chose for Best in Show. I did get the Graphic Design award and I'm very happy about that.

Today I'm working on the packaging design for my Court of Cats card prints. I'm hoping to use the shrinkwrapping machine at school to package them up nicely.

Things to get done by May 1:

~~Get Court of Cats prints (and packaging cover) ordered and shipped 2-day~~
Finish the last 2 wizard hamster paintings
Print and package misc. prints
~~Print more business cards~~
Work up some 8x10 and 9x12 white on black cat paintings
Glaze all of my pots
work on my resume and portfolio to turn in for my degree
~~Fix Outlanda (good luck there)~~
Mail graduation announcements

No birthday is complete without...

Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:29:50 GMT

a problem of some sort. At least this year it's not a major disaster. Outlanda has a database error I can't fix right now. Lovely. Just another road-block in getting the downtimes sorted out.

Natalie bought me a sugar cookie sandwich when the group went to lunch today. It's not a cake, but hey, it works :)

I have about a week to get prints together for an arts festival where I'm sharing a table. Hopefully the Court of Cats individual prints will arrive in time. I can't justify spending the extra $15 to get them sent 2 day mail. Happily, I can print everything else myself if my printer holds up on me.

The student art show awards reception is tomorrow night. I doubt my Macat or my distorted cat painting will get an award, however, my Court of Cats poster has a very good shot at the Graphic Design award. Numbers alone, there's only a total of THREE pieces of graphic design in the show.

I have a week to get the last 2 wizard hamster paintings finished. On top of the printing I'm doing, this should be fun.

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 04:18:42 GMT

The return to school was not what I expected. Yes the student show is still hung in a piss-poor manner. However, SuperIdiotTeacher(aye, the same evil SuperIdiotTeacher) told me I have an A in analytical perspective, that he has nothing more to teach me in drawing, and that I do not have to return to the class for the rest of the semester. Joy! I do not have to deal with psychotics-R-us anymore!

I scored a 36 in archery. I was between 30 and 40 all but 2 times.

My sinus infection is much much better.

I've finished my graduation card design. Revel at the happy graduation hamster (larger version behind the cut):

Now to work on finishing the wizard-ham series :)

So right...my spring break list...

Mon, 19 Apr 2004 01:03:48 GMT

I managed one and half graphic design projects.

I washed my car.

I finished 2 and a half portraits for PA.

And since I've had a sinus infection from day 1 of spring break, that's all I've gotten done.

This fatigue problem had best lift when my infection is finally gone...constant unjustified exhaustion is not natural.

Classes start back tomorrow...joy oh joy.