AH-HA!

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!  DONE DONE DONE done done done done!!!!!

After two (or was it three?) weeks of sitting in a computer time warp, being cranky and going cross-eyed I have finally finished my business plan/summary thesis/ mentorship report thingy!  Wahhooo!

Ok ok, so it's not ENTIRELY done, but essentially is.  I just have to print out my intro & cash flow report, burn my power point onto 6 cds, photocopy my press from this year, and then make six copies of everything, and hand it in to Craiger tomorrow morning.

Lessons learned?  Maybe I should be a little less confident in my leave-it-till-the-last-minute-and-do-it-the-night-before-it'd-due-and-still-do-a-good-job abilities (apparently that left with my early twenties).  Also, it's generally a good idea to go over an assignment and get clarification early on, rather than emailing my prof every 2 hours the week something's due and then claiming my brain's about to explode.  Who knew?

At any rate, it's almost done.  Mechanical shark thingy, consider yourself slayed! Or slain? Slew?  (That little comment right there was a tipping off of my hat to anyone who read YESTERDAY'S post.  If you haven't, now you have to cause you're curiuos, sucka!)

One more raging cloud rhinocerous (yep, yesterday's post) left to go!  I've got basically 2 days to finish my last grad piece, find a bed frame for installation, and then get 'er into the gallery Wednesday.  So, I'm off to salute myself with a beer (better not forget to burn cds though) and then put a couple more hours into my grad piece, then off to bed, and tomorrow's another day.  It is, isn't it?

I'm a Crafts Person, and so I drink Craft Beer.  Thank you Picaroons for making such wonderful drinks!

Mason jars: not just for tea.



This beer is Man's Best Friend. Yes, yes it is.



2010-2011 Advanced Diploma Summary

One of the things we need to do for end of school year is meet with outside assessors, show them our work, our progress, and our lifeplan and they can let us know if we have an idea of what's going on or if we're completely deluded. 

As prep, Cragio wants us to visually summarize what we did over the year and attach it to our blog...

So...... here goes! My challenge to myself: to not write a novel here! *deep breath* and GO!!

The semester started with me helping our AVA staff dequill a porcupine (unfortunately hit on the road, poor lil guy)

Next I worked on a submission for the Historica-Dominion Art From Memory Challenge, and created a piece inspired by the testimonials of this amazing gentleman, Fraser Muir, as well as the memory of my Great Uncle Dougal.

 


My submission, "Security Blanket". Photo credit to Jeff Crawford.

 

Detail shot (Jeff Crawford)

After that was all done I was experiencing a bit of a void: What should I do now? So I worked on sampling new techniques.  Featured here is dyeing with oatmeal resists.

 

Maritime Spinner's retreat in PEI.  Learned a valuable lesson on how important it is to take some time off!



100% NB fleece, washed & dyed with natural dyes, all ready to felt into a rug.

Experiment for possible made-to-order product, doubling as my sister's Xmas gift.

Detail shot of finished rug.

At about this time I decided my one of a kind work was getting shallow, I wasn't thinking things through, just making things for the sake of making.  I took a step back and spent a few weeks designing and really thinking out what I thought of as a show of 5 -6 major pieces that worked together.  (Realized later that was a lot to ask of myself, and they weren't as well resolved as I thought.  A LOT of learning happened this year!)

But also (to keep busy) I...

...took part in a bunch of craft shows, in late fall/ early winter with production lines.  Realized it wasn't my thing, and that I just wanted to concentrate on teaching & one of a kind, gallery work.

 In Nov I had work shown at the Owens Art Gallery in Sackville, as part of a reception for award winners from the NBFA.  I was fortunate to be granted a scholarship in memory of Nel Oudemans, a legendary local weaver, and got to meet her lovely husband Jack Oudemans.  He made my night.

More to come after the jump!

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