This weekend a friend brought up his frustration about having creative energy at the most inopportune times. Being an artist, I could relate to his feelings. It's difficult to juggle work and everyday life with an art career, or creative urges. Art is work, and it demands a good deal of energy. After a long day, there is no time to start a project; when a free day comes around, I feel too exhausted to even reach for a pencil (or needle and thread, as of late). But I find that as soon as I have the pencil in hand, I am rejuvenated and eager to create. Just have to push through those mental barriers!

Tonight, my website is my project, and it is the current exhaustion of graduate applications that threatened to keep me from my long-overdue update. Thank goodness I am excited about sharing my latest pieces!

I made a special trip to Blacksburg on Saturday in order to document artwork that remains in my Newport studio. It was a tricky process without decent lighting and with 12 dead camera batteries, but I ended up with some nice photos. A few pieces didn't have a single worthwhile shot, so I'll have to return another day better equipped. With this documentation session, my website is now up to date. I have changed the "Fabrics" gallery to "Silhouette" because my latest direction with fabric is more whimsical and not addressing gender issues. Also, there is an entirely new SCULPTURE gallery, so check it out!!

I also drove to Kentucky on Tuesday to deliver my portrait, Cosmetic Appeal: Alluring to the Claypool-Young Art Gallery at Morehead State University. I love the gallery space and am excited about attending the closing reception on February 20. Busy busy ; )


Now for the art!

I fell in love with the patterns and textures of Japanese silk kimonos and obis while still at Tech. I contacted a woman in town whose daughter lives in Japan and periodically ships her bins and bins of these most GORGEOUS fabrics. Needless to say, I was excited when I received an invitation to sift through her endless selection, and ran over as soon as I had a class-free day. I found some incredible pieces, and it took a lot of willpower to withhold buying more (I suppose the fact that I don't have bottomless pockets helped a bit). The two pieces below include my first kimono and obi purchases.



Damned If You Don’t continues my exploration of gender socialization while bringing religion into play. I wanted to maintain the presence of the male gaze with the silhouettes to comment on the pressure women experience when approached by a man she refuses. Some guys are understanding gentleman, while others consider a woman's ability to assert her will to be a threat to their masculine power. Are we thus cursed and despised for having free will? Simultaneously, the piece addresses the Christian beliefs with which I grew up. There are guidelines and rules to follow in Christianity, boundaries that should never be crossed. Sins. While in college I experienced people and groups inspiringly fervent in their beliefs and adherence to these guidelines. I admired them for being so intensely zealous and committed to their beliefs. While I craved a place to belong, I knew it wasn't there. There was a simple phrase my friend Ben had said during one of our discussions about religion... something along the lines of "you're a grocery store Christian" (that's definitely not it, and he would make fun of me for being so close but so far yet again). In other words, I walk the aisles of Catholicism and take off the shelves what it is I like about the religion, but leave behind that which I don't care for. To me, life is a gift from God, not a Chinese finger trap that tempts with excitement, only to snare you the moment you play the game. A gift, to me, is something one gives with the expectation that it will be experienced and enjoyed. I don't believe the gift of life is intended to be squandered on worry and guilt; rather, I believe it is given to us to do with what we will, and the thanks/gift we give in return is our journey of self-discovery, desires, goals, ambitions, and ceaseless will to live the lives we are meant to live. Indeed, we are damned if we do not.



Whisper is the first project of many to come in my new direction. I have been so focused on thoughts pertaining to gender, sex, self-confidence, self-esteem...etc, that I have found it refreshing to listen to my mind when it's not in deep contemplation. This work is the result of listening to myself and connecting with my spirit/essence. It's an attempt to capture the intangible, and thus was an enjoyable challenge. It is also the most...honest? piece depicting who I am. Which sounds silly, considering that all the silhouettes in my work are of myself, and yes, my art reveals my thoughts and emotions honestly. But this piece shares something deeper and more personal - a place within myself to which only I go and rarely reveal to others. It's quiet and calm there. Peaceful. So still in silence. Yet on the breeze is the hint of a whisper.