“If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic.”

Hazel Henderson I am living in an area where there are not many jobs in the Graphic Design field. So I love what this woman says, because it is so true. I believe we as a species are going to come out of this period of turmoil and change stronger, smarter and more advanced. Will I see it.? No but I will see what leads up to peace and harmony.  One of the things I remember and it is a metaphor in this world wide situation when I am drawing is that it is the areas of change that define an object, shape or area. You can have a completely solid black shape and it is that part of the surface that changes from dark to light that tells you what it is. I think that is true of people too if you want to know who someone is watch how they change under pressure, or in a situation that challenges them. It will give them definition within that context, and from that you will know them more completely. Change is the best thing that can happen.  No artwork tonite. M

“Alice came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked.
'Where do you want to go?' responded the Cheshire Cat.
'I don't know,' Alice answered.
'Then,' said the Cat, 'it doesn't matter.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Well, I am finished with this round of school. Somewhat backwards, but a good way to upgrade my skill set. An expensive way to up grade my skill set. However I think it is a good combination, especially with my previous experience in prepress. I actually wish I had gone into Graphic Design. But such is life. I have never really had a clear idea of where I wanted to go, except do something with my hands and my talent. I really hate admitting that, but it is true. I have tried a lot of different ways to make a living, mostly art related ways. I am giving myself a week to recharge.

This is another image from school. One side of a tri-fold brochure

“How would your life be different if…You stopped allowing other people to dilute or poison your day with their words or opinions? Let today be the day…You stand strong in the truth of your beauty and journey through your day without attachment to the validation of others” 

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

I have finished another part of my journey. Another degree. In addition to working on this degree. I have been working to over come something that is addressed by that quote. People I have respected have told me conflicting things. One is that I am very talented, which I have come to believe is true. The other is at odds with the first which is that I don't think outside of the box much. But I think what happened is I listened to those voices when I did artwork because the closer it was to looking like the real thing, the more talented I was perceived to be. I thought I had sacrificed my creativity. But I have found it is still there. Each time I have created something without a care as to what the others would think, I created something that the others all love. Huh. I think all the pieces have come together. 

Three snakes is a photo collage, none of the images are my photos. Google images. The trick is high resolution. 

Oh-oh. Here we are again.

By the time we've made it, we've had it.
Malcolm Forbes

I had a flash that I had a blog. That I had not visit or posted anything to. Six months ago? NO way.

School has been interesting and obviously all consuming. Now we are in finals again. I am doing the push for portfolio and my AA ( this time ).  I have never been so tired.  My animals miss me, my yard needs me, there is dust in my house – well lets just say I didn't know it could be this thick.

And the blog has changed. So lets see if this is what I still like, and want to go forward with. And I need to post some sort of image.

ARGH, it's finals. What would Georgia say? The image is photoshop'd and actually filled with a couple of layers of typography. The original Photo is by Steigletz

I am still thinking ARGH! Finals.

Chewing me up and spitting me out.

Few people take objectives really seriously. They put average effort into too many things, rather than superior thought and effort into a few important things. People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined."

— Richard Koch: is a former management consultant,
entrepreneur, and writer 

I will post something with photos in a couple of days. Bed and then up for the second job in the morning. This too shall pass. 

ARGH! Finals

"Losers live in the past.
Winners learn from the past and enjoy
working in the present toward the future."

— Denis Waitley: is an American motivational speaker and writer

It is almost over. for my InDesign class I am working on a 24 page magazine called LEAF. I will have to post parts of it when I get through. I am also working on a small poster, 11x 17, because that is the biggest printer capacity we have for the majority of student work. That is for the Photoshop class. I feel like I have a handle on things in InDesign, but feel like I am all thumbs in Photoshop. I am doing monster insects that have bread near Fukushima Power Plant and are menacing the populace.

No new images.

From 1977, this Bota Bag was a popular way to carry wine at concerts, picnics, where ever. it had a plastic lining and a leather outside. I am embarrassed to say I wore it out. 

School and work are kicking my butt

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." — Dale Carnegie: was an American writer and lecturer  This is an old sketch book collage piece. As I look at it, even though the spine is on the left, I think the piece is upside down. Yeah, it is. That is how things feel right now. Work and school, work and school, work and school. I am learning about efficiency this term, not enough time to do the work I need to do, the way I usually do it, Normally I would work carefully, and meticulously, but I don't think things out as carefully first. This time I am spending the time to think about what I want to do and the steps involved to get it done well and on time. Challenging, and as you can tell I didn't think things through because I just posted an upside down image. That was the way it was scanned. Ooooooops.

Happy New Year!

"Nothing can add more power
to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets."

—Nido Qubein: is a businessman and motivational speaker 

My primary focus has always been art, This black and white drawing was done in 1977, in Modesto, at a coffee house named the Coffee Bean.  It had an out side seating area surrounded by a cinderblock wall. I would have been 23 years old and I remember the sketch pad went everywhere, and I would draw what ever was around me. I drew in black ink, so there was no erasing, and all of the drawings from this period have a funky, organic quality to them. They asked me to come back and do another sketch of the premises for them and they paid for my breakfast. I am not sure it was a fair trade, (looking back) I was there about 4 hours, but I jumped on it. I have boxes of sketch books that I am slowly scanning when I have time. 

Right now my limited set of targets are school and work. Because I am studying graphic design, I am spending most of my time on a computer. If I had a laptop, it would go everywhere with me much the same way as the sketchbook does. I still carry a sketch book in the car, in my purse, there is one in every room of the house, and in the survival backpack I carry in the car. I will still draw on a scrap of paper if that is all I have. Drawing is still at the heart of what I do. 

Anxiety

"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said."

—Peter Drucker: was an influential writer & management consultant 

This is the theme I used for my Midterm, however the midterm piece was not as good as this. We were givien a folder of pictures, some requirements to show that we had learned what we had been taught.  and two hours to work. This is what initiated the anxiety about whether I am doing the right thing or not by going back to school. I don't work well quickly. This took hours of noodling. 


I sometimes imagine I am being talked about behind my back. That I am not good enough, that I am doing a bad job, that I am not doing enough. That there is this list of things I was sposed to do. So I work hard and I try to do more and then I work even harder and try to do even more. This is the negative side of the above quote. I work myself into a state of anxiety. Completely internal from what I can tell, but so distracting. 


Happy New Year to All. 

The day after Christmas

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."

 —Lee Iacocca: Businessman, author, former CEO of Chrysler Corporation 

"Tranquility" December 2011. 

Not my images, but my manipulation of the images. That is what communication is. When I arrange words into ideas and present them in a certain way, that is communication. The same is true of images. Graphic design is using images, typography, design, color, composition to communicate an idea. What is and will be different for me is that I will eventually be using my own photographs, my own artwork to create a design that communicates an idea.