solo show

I was on a glitter fast for a while, but I got over it quick :) 

This work is very different than my last show: mediums vary from embroidery to GLITTER!  I'm both excited and confused about it, but I'm realizing how good that uncomfortable, contradicting feeling can be. Anyway, I'd love for you to come! It's at my good friends' home (their front room is a gallery, if that's not cool I don't know what is...)

-Claire

Things Fall Apart

I'm really bashful at art shows.  As soon as I showed up, I was ready to leave.  I don't know why that is, I'm usually not a bashful person.  Anyway, thanks to those of you who came!  My piece is small, and not very noticeable, which is fine with me.  It's part of a larger body of work that I hope I get the chance to exhibit sometime soon (I just need to be brave and apply for shows).  The show will be up until it's not.  What I mean is it's a durational show.  All the works are dealing with the concept of falling apart in some way or another.  Since mine consist of fall leaves, I wouldn't be surprised if it's already gone.

the communicator

there's one in every relationship.

making

I've been making a lot lately.

As much as I detest finals (I don't like being reminded that learning in academia means you get a little letter. as if that letter could accurately measure one's growth....that pathetic little letter that has been drilled into our minds to mean success or failure. that letter that we become overly concerned with and overly aware of that makes us forget about learning and focus on doing. and yes there is a difference. that measly little letter, how'd it get so big? it just doesn't add up....) anyway, as I was saying, as much as I detest finals, I love making. And I'm one lucky girl to be majoring in a school that is all about making and growing. I've never heard more encouragement to not worry about my grades than from my own professors. And I've never tried so hard to learn.

I'm always posting "makings" on my instagram.

find me @belleandwhistle

forgotten/found

pretty pretty becca.

I sorta forgot about these film photos I took back in september. they were waiting to be found on a day like today. today was nice. It was busy but not too busy: I got just the right amount of work done to feel proud of myself but not too much to completely consume my every minute. I wore my favorite shirt from my honeymoon in mexico, let my hair air dry (and it curled?!), worked really hard on "busy work" home work and rewarded myself with chocolate, attended some great art show openings (one of which I'm a part of!), and found these forgotten photos.

yes, today was nice.

you can see more from this shoot here and here

did you have a good valentines? Brandon and I worked all day, so we are celebrating tomorrow :) We promised each other no gifts and then both found things we might like: a new pair of pantaloons for me (I always want pants. never tops. it makes outfitting a little tricky.) and some Glenn Gould vinyls for him. I like breaking the "let's not do gifts" rule.

in other news the Body of Work show came down today. I feel so lucky and honored to have been a part of it. It really was a swell show and I learned a lot from it. Thank you to everyone who went to see it! Especially big thanks to those who made it for the opening! I loved being able to see my family and friends take it all in, and it meant so much to me that you would come. (I know this isn't the grammy's but stay with me, I feel the need to express more thanks) Thanks to Daniel, my teacher who curated the show (and will hopefully never find this blog,) he's brilliant and I don't think he knows it. He's helped me better understand my art. maybe not even better understand but just plain understand. it's a really good feeling. And thank you to my amazing fellow students who's work really inspires and motivates me. And of course thank you Brandon: for just about everything and more.

thats it

-claire

p.s. this show goes up tomorrow!! and as promised, here's proof of me working on it:

this is an edit from assignment #12 I didn't end up using but had to share somewhere, it's too funny.

to see more of my and others' projects check out Jessica's website:
LEARNING TO LOVE YOU MORE AND MORE

and participate! The show goes up tomorrow in gallery 303 of the Harris Fine Arts Center (Brigham Young University, Provo Ut.) but you can continue to submit your work through February 28th. If you have any questions about it let me know.

maps

I finally put my ever growing collection of maps to use this last semester and made these studies for an art class. I don't know what they mean, if they mean anything at all. But I like them alright, and Brandon is rather fond of them. He says someday, we'll hang all 30 of them (yes, I have 30 of these) in a grid on a wall.

p.s. this giveaway ends soon!

field trip

tomorrow I'm taking a field trip with some classmates to one of my favorite works of art: the spiral jetty.

The Spiral Jetty is a site specific installation made by Smithson in the 70's. It was a huge debate then and some may consider it even now to not be art. I, for one, think it's fantastic. (Though my love for it may be a bit bias: B and I took a trip there on one of our very first dates.)

If you live in Utah or ever visit Utah, I highly suggest checking it out.

I'll no doubt report tomorrow with an overwhelming amount of photos :)

Happy Thursday!

P.S. Brian Kershesnick and two other of my favorite artists have a show opening on BYU campus tomorrow (thursday 29th). I've met all three artists in person and they really are inspiring (and hilarious too!) It promises to be an amazing show. hope to see you there! (more info about the show here)

bright pink chevron & the queen

"of royalty and such"

dry point and aqua-tint print

intaglio final spring 2011

the idea behind printing is consistency in multiples. I hate that. I like the little differences that come up in printing, i like each work to have it's own personalty. I don't like following the rules. I like breaking out the magenta ink after a run of 25 prints, where each one the queen {elizabeth} slowly starts fading away to nothing. i like progression to be evident. I don't like getting a poor grade for breaking the rules. But I like walking away with something I appreciate. Something just for me: like bright pink chevron.

what I've been up to:

It's a myth that those who do art can draw. I was good at drawing once: in the first grade. My teacher would sit at the piano and play and my fellow pupils and I would draw "what the music makes you feel". No matter what music was playing I'd draw a landscape: three mountains in the background, two smallish hills in front, a tree to the right side with a path curving up and through the middle, and always ALWAYS grass blowing in the wind. The music always made me think of wind. I even got so good others would hire me to draw grass for them. (Lala, Kait, remember that?). Then I went through a stage of drawing irises (the flower), cartoon pigs, and bubble letters. Then I stopped drawing. stopped cause I realized I'm not all that good. Naturally I'm my worst critic and all but the truth of it is: relative to artists, drawing aint my thing. So you can imagine my hesitation for signing up for a figure drawing class....but I wanted the challenge. I wanted to be able to look at a person and portray them more accurately than my signature stick figure. And {i hope this doesn't come off braggy} I'm really proud of my improvement! wanna see?

*I've cleverly titled them for your enjoyment.

photo of a drawing of a blue girl by a silly girl with long toes.

old girl body with a little girl head

I hope this bum doesn't offend anyone. {FYI we don't have nude models at BYU, speedos and bikinis is how we roll thank you very much.} I promise you won't see any other bums on this blog or in my art, this particular work was to copy a masters work.

girl with outstanding body strength who can balance on one foot and look like she is sitting in an invisible chair.

okay but in all seriousness, my favorite exercise was doing blind contour drawings. I loved them so much in fact I filled an entire sketch book full of them (I'll share these later)! For those of you who don't know what blind contour means it's the act of drawing something without looking down at your paper AT ALL. I took the blind part very seriously and even taped a paper towel under my eyes so I couldn't cheat and see out of my peripheral. tricky yes, but the results are soo fun especially when coupled with all nighters.

(you might want to click to enlarge them to their full glory)

My teacher called me "the blind contour master" so I'm changing my future plans to become a full time blind contour portraiture artist (cause there is totally an industry out there for that profession). I charge $1 for commissions

hehe

2 finals down, 1 to go!!

home

the following was a final project for my 2D class a few semesters back. I originally had this huge super long and boring artist statement that explains the work in depth, but it might have been the wordiest post ever so I decided to not include it. Instead I've condensed it to a blog friendly size. It may be a little vague (I'm not good with using little words to describe things), but hopefully you'll get it. If you'd like to, go ahead and skip all the wordy stuff and scroll down to the good stuff! I promise I won't judge you one bit (nor will I know).

I don't consider my life to be picture perfect, though it is easy to portray ones life in that way when it is confined to just that: a photo. Rather than contrive a life I'd like to have, I'm learning to let go of that need for control and accept things as they are. I'm learning that life is a process of imperfections. a lesson of little control. an experiment of trial and error and a whole lot of trust. this work embodies a therapy of sorts for me. a challenge to embrace the unorganized chaos and reality that make up my life.

also! a super huge thanks to Trish for helping me crop sizes and for motivation!! you are awesome!!!

she really is all sorts of amazing: check out her awesomeness here!)

feathers & art

{copper plate I worked on last night in prep for prints! If the prints turn out successful, I just might maybe sell some....}

I keep talking about art projects I'm working on but never share them. I suppose it's because it's hard to find an end point with art. Even when I turn a project in, my mind is buzzing with "what ifs" what if I added more black paint, more glitter, less of this more of that. etc. Also, in the art world there is this idea that the less you share of your work the better. That your work has more value if it isn't overly abundant, that you have more control of how you are viewed by the select work you put out. And I suppose this is true, and at times has stopped me from sharing. But the truth is I, myself, am a work in progress. This struggle I have of trying to find "the artist in me" (sounds so cheesy) is a big trial for me. It involves me making lots of mistakes and {hopefully} learning from each one of them. But I like that process. I enjoy the process because it makes the small successes that much better. It's okay that my final project in ceramics exploded in the kiln. It's okay that my grisaille painting of glass jars looked like monochrome throw-up. It's a messy process, this art journey. But I'm grateful for it. And it's a big part of me, so I'm going to try to be better at sharing:

21 grams

art installation

*oh how I wish you could have been there to see this in person!

Installation art doesn't really translate in photograph...

the initial idea behind this work was a sort of therapy session i created for myself. ya see, someone had said something to me that hurt my feelings, like REALLY bad. and the more I thought about said comment, the more frustrated i got. after all, they were only words. why was i letting a combination of letters weigh me down so much? in a physical sense, they weigh nothing, but I let them be a burden. The work was to represent the unnecessary weight we give to things, things that don't need to and shouldn't burden us. it was mean to be a reality check of sorts, something everyone can relate to.

a single white feather weighing down a scale placed on a white fur rug in the middle of the room

I was much more fascinated with my classes' interpretation. Each person had a different take. the feathers were "people, waiting to be judged" the feeling was "slightly eery, though the content warm and soothing" and lots of "i wish there was a title!" My teachers noted the uncanny fact that the feather weighs 21 grams on the scale, and wondered if it had anything to do with Dr. Duncan MacDougall's ideas about the soul weighing 21 grams. After looking into that theory, a title was born.

this rusty old fan was the only noise, and hit the feathers that were suspended on fishing line,

so that they slightly quivered.

what do see/feel? what do the feathers, scale, layout mean for you? one of the most amazing parts about art is the subjective nature of it. I'd love to hear what YOU think.

that time I made a movie

For my new genre art final I did a video.

last minute.

the night before it was due.

procrastination and me?

yeah, we tight.

really the only reason I procrastinated is cause i'm plum out of ideas.

good ones that is.

{excuses excuses}

thats one of the tricky parts of taking all art classes.

it's sucks the creative right out of you.

and trying to be creative with stuff that involves....techy stuff, is like asking me to wear my bangs pulled back. I just can't do it. (but that's another story)

anyway, this video making brought back all sorts of memories from last semester when I procrastinated on a video project and had to call my super-hero of a sister to save the day. which she does a fantastic job of might I add)

she also saves my days from being boring.

check out her wit over here.

so here is that one project i talked about that one time that one semester, but never posted.

i call it "yarn tree" cause i wrapped some yarn around a tree.

it was my first experience with installation art.

since then I've done 2 more installations.

note: although i do consider wrapping a tree with red yarn "fine art", I don't consider this video to be. It was more just to document the process and show what I did. Now know a little more about video art I would approach the documentation in an entirely different way. One that wouldn't distract from the installation itself. But thats how you learn right?

thanks for cheering me on along the process :)

xo

kitty

hoorah!

looking back on the past week, I'm not quite sure how I did it...

2 midterms

3 essays

3 BIG final art projects

{my fingers still hurt from sanding that stone...}

& I think I only had maybe 2 mental breakdowns!

{progress people, progress}

to which B dutifully responded to with kisses, pep talks, and pints of Haagen Dazs icecream.

he knows me so well.

yesterday was his day off.

It's kinda treated like a holy holiday around here.

it involves him doing whatever he wants {since the rest of the week is spent doing whatever anyone else wants. boo bosses}

but instead, he spent his day helping me with all my last minute assignments! so sweet :)

for my photo final I was supposed to pick 3 songs and have them inspire 3 photos.

one of the songs I chose was "These Days" by Nico

{have you heard it?! love her...}

I hadn't originally wanted to do a self-portrait but I was short on time.

I wanted the photos to have a dream-like 60's feel to them so I used my Diana lens attachment for a bunch of them. I also used some different techniques that I may or may not have invented. it may be hard to believe but only two of the photos below have had any post-editing done to them.

here are some favorites from the shoot:

note: much of them were taken with self timer, but Brandon did take a bunch for me as well.

(w/out diana lens and post-edited)

(w/diana lens. cool look eh?)

(zero editing. weird right?)

this is the one i turned in

it was also post-edited

my favorite

b's favorite

thumbalina's favorite

which is your favorite?