five year plan.

In order to complete my current internship and receive three credits for the one hundred and twenty hours, I must first do stuff. What is that stuff? Really, you don't want to know. But, imma tell you anyway, if only to remind myself.

The list includes some legitimate stuff, you know, like submitting an updated resume and cover letter in order to prove you're professional and on the up and up. But, you also gotta complete some craziness, like three informational interviews with people that are in your desired career path, and, this one gets me, a five year plan. Not one, not two, but five. A FIVE YEAR PLAN! A FIVE YEAR PLAN? What is this craziness? I don't know what I'm going to do when I wake up, let alone what will go down in the next five years. Leave it to MICA to make me figure it all out.

So, without further ado, here is the first year. Tell me what you think though, is this craziness, or am I just crazy?:

As a rising sophomore I have left foundation year with the fresh realization that the time is now. While I can I need to make sure that I am doing everything. All the opportunities posted and thrown and whispered to me I need to make sure to grasp, grab, and kick in the face as to fully assert myself as a working artist. It sounds much easier to do such when casually typed onto eight-and-a-half by eleven paper, but that does not mean that what is said is truth.

I just have to do it. And by it, I mean everything.

With the return to Baltimore, to MICA, to art after a lazy summer I plan to hit the ground running, running for my life as the noise of the starting pistol cracks through my eardrums; I start these next five years with the goal to win.

Of course, of course, easier said than done. But, here’s the plan:

SOPHOMORE YEAR

Already I am enrolled to take eighteen credits, a balance of nine studio credits and nine academic credits. I know the year will be rigorous, and I know I will break down more than once, but I also know that I can set my mind to accomplish eighteen credits, and to accomplish those credits well. This first semester is as big as a circus spectacle as it starts it all; I am stepping up from foundation year into the beginnings of Illustration with Creative Writing and Book Arts, a track so highly concentrated and therefore such a departure from the breadth of study focused upon during the foundation year.

As well as eighteen credits, I plan on continuing to build my resume any way possible. That paper, I have come to realize, needs to exude all and everything about my working artist life. Currently, the thing does not read as much, and so that must change. My goal is to obtain something of an internship during the school year. When I say ‘something of an internship’ I mean that I really just want to volunteer my time and abilities to some arts force outside of MICA. This force can be anything; gallery or artsy boutique or crafting group or whatever one can really imagine that involves art and able bodies and strong minds. My primary desire to do such work is so that I can begin to network with the likes of the art community within Baltimore. I feel like I, personally, am a student lacking much knowledge in the working aspects of the art world, and so desire to obtain the knowledge of being there, in it all, and working.

If I am unable to find something close to the aforementioned, I plan on continuing to work with Community Arts Partnership.

Outside of definable work things, I plan to have an outstanding year in the way of being a MICA student. I want to sink my teeth into the student community and get involved. I love MICA. I. Love. MICA. I really do not know how to justify this fact other than, if there was a MICA mascot, I would wear the costume everyday. And if not the costume, I would at least sport the school’s colors at all times.

Being part of the community, getting involved, that means participating. More lectures! And more gallery visits! And more meeting and greeting! And, maybe even starting a club of my own.

Lastly, I of course have personal goals. Well, really, just one. And that is to begin an Etsy of my own. I want to craft some D.I.Y. goodness and unleash it upon the world. If, for anything, to be more like Martha Stewart.

oh, moms.

My mom just sent me this email. It's some interesting knowledge, albeit, serious and ridiculous sounding. But, you know, I like to share things:

Car Air-conditioning -

No wonder more folks are dying from cancer than ever before. We wonder
where this stuff comes from but here is an example that explains a lot
of the cancer causing incidents. Hmmm. Many people are in their cars
first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, 7 days a week.
As I read this, it makes me feel guilty and ill. Please pass this on to
as many people as possible. Guess its not too late to make some changes

Car A/C (Air Conditioning) MUST READ!!!
Please do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car.

Open the windows after you enter your car and turn ON the AC after a
couple of minutes.

Here's why: According to research, the car dashboard, sofa, air
freshener emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen - take time
to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car).

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia
and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia,
increasing the risk of cancer. Can also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50mg per sq.ft. A car parked indoors
with windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.

If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F,
the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable
level.

People who get into the car, keeping windows closed will inevitably
inhale, in quick succession, excessive amounts of the toxin.

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver.. What's worse, it
is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

So friends, please open the windows and door of your car - give time for
interior to air out -dispel the deadly stuff - before you enter.

Thought: 'When someone shares something of value with you and you
benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'

mantis.

For the summer I, personally, was unable to return to the 717 with nothing but employment at the Cocoa Perk to my name. So, I got an internship. Funny thing about internships in the Central Pennsylvania area; they really do not exist for Illustration majors. And so, especially in Harrisburg, my only chance for the desire three credits that come with onehundredandtwenty hours of work is to intern at one of the (unbeknown to me) many galleries in Harrisburg. Late in the game I googled 'galleries+harrisburg' and found that there is more than just the Art Association of Harrisburg, the Susquehanna Art Museum, and the Whitaker Center. There are also a slew of lovely little galleries across the city, splattered about midtown and downtown, and each have their personalized representation as to what it is to show and deal artwork.

I was fortunate enough to obtain an internship with the Mantis Collective a space not new to Harrisburg, but new to Third Street as of this past February. Mantis exhibits fine art of the contemporary genre, featuring lots of artsy abstracts and thought provoking pieces that always have great titles. Really. A more eloquent description of the Gallery's nature is found by way of the link, but, this is my blog, so I can give you my version of the low down, which really is, the Mantis is a beautiful space. In a, uh, colorful neighborhood, and features art by some current juggernauts in the contemporary art world.
Why am I telling this, you might ask? Well, last night, for some internship hours, I worked the opening of Mantis's newest show, 'Memory Not Mine' by Andrew Guth (who also is co-owner of the space). Not only did I work it, it was also my first art opening, ever. And, let me tell you, those who think art and stuff is not a big deal and stuff, it was a very intense evening! It was filled with wine, copious amounts of wine, which allowed me to catch up on some stellar wine opening skills, with fancy and mainly older art people who were very impressive in how naturally blaisse they were, with lots and lots of sales. Think mon-ay, as in, 'get mon-ay, get paid'. Out of Guth's thirty pieces, he sold twenty one of them, TWENTY ONE! This fact makes me seriously consider getting into painting. There's an obvious market for painting.

Although, personally, I wouldn't really place Guth's work into the painting spectrum. Yes, he did use brushes, and paint, but the handling of the materials, which also spanned into beeswax, graphite, charcoal, ephemera, and collage aspects of layered text pages, provokes a whimsy solidly grounded in haphazard mark making that evokes a certain un-edited-ness that comes with abstract work.

The crowd really was into it, obviously. So, I spent the night amidst louder voices over top loud electronica, retrieving specially etched wine glasses for Mantis members, and constantly screwing through some wine cork while knocking down people's hopes of owning their own Guth piece by placing little red stickers next to sold pieces. At one point a couple asked to purchase piece number twenty-seven. I said surely and took them to the back to wait in line for the checkout. Ridiculous enough, the woman right before them had purchased the piece. I was mortified as I had to turn to the couple (who own their own gallery in Harrisburg) and apologize profusely for the mishap. The look of incredulity was one I could hardly define, was it mock shock or was she really disappointed? And let me tell you, some people were becoming expressively upset when they learned the piece they wanted was bought by another, or worse, that all three of the pieces they were considering were snatched by the same buyer.

All in all, a glorious experience. I cannot wait for next month's opening (one that I will be assisting in curating. oh, you know).An now, I am again at the gallery; a five hour shift consumed with three viewers (as of 5:47), this rambling blog post, and my new found love (as of 3:15 this afternoon), GLASS ETCHING!

i want it bad.

On the 1st of June I posted how I accomplished lots and lots of things. I wished I could have kept up the accomplishment feelings, but alas, tonight I am not feeling like I made much stride in the distance of summer accomplishment. Probably because for the last two days all I've done is go to work and than come home and crash. And when I say crash I mean lay down wherever I can, without showering the stink of kitchen staff stench from my body, and half sleep half watch television for two hours before prodding myself from my laying position for the sole reason of eating ice cream. Really, I accomplished being a fat ass.But, on June 1st I felt great. And that's because I made this:The local radio station 99.3 KissFM hosted a 'Gaga Look Alike Contest'. And let me tell you, I told myself I was winning that contest!. So, I took the unlimited amount of summer time ahead of me and assembled the creation above. It's based on Gaga's song 'Paper Gangsta' and so, is entirely made of paper torn from old and poorly written just starting off childrens' stories. It includes: 1. Literary Stunner Shades complete with the Gaga Bolt in Gold Glitter, 2. a Neck Collar and two Wrist Cuffs of the layered and shredded variety, 3. a Shrug of a jacket with some Killer Shoulders, 4. Fine Leather Belt Modge-podged with some literature, 5. Knuckle Rings bedazzled with gold glitter with the term 'Paper Gangster', 6. Fake Nails spray painted with gold spray paint, 7. Fish Nets
But, the greatest thing about this outfit was:THE HAIR! Holy moley I think I should go into business. This chick's hair was so intense, and let me tell you how I accomplished this feat of beauty: 1. I vigorously teased her hair out to ridiculous proportions because she has a head of glorious Italian hair, 2. I parted her hair in the middle as if getting ready to have a bird nest in the middle of it, 3. placed a cone shaped piece of styrofoam in the nest of hair, 4. and wrapped the remainder of the hair around the shape while, 5. adding a book that was half supported by the top of her head, half supported by her bangs, and just barely holding on with some pins.Needlesstosay, she got the most professional do of her hair gettin' did life. Oh, and to finish, I added copious amounts of gel and hairspray to her bangs and than poured craft glitter into the sticky mess. Just, you know, tell me if you have an upcoming event and would like your hair all done and stuff. I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty good. Obviously.

The final resulted in a photo shoot of simple proportions:
I think I should invest my time in becoming a stylist. Just sayin'.

But, the greatest thing about this whole ordeal I put Allison through: WE GOT A CALLBACK! On this coming Tuesday I have to put Alli through this ordeal once more to compete against four other little monsters for four tickets and hotel accommodations for a Lady Gaga concert in Atlantic City. And, let me tell you, we are going to win those tickets!
More to this story, though; I submitted as well. We had twenty four minutes to make a costume, put me in it, and photo shoot before the submission deadline was over. We came up with:
THE MONSTER! The costume, or, moreorless, the performance coincides with the song 'Monster', which features the lyrics, "He ate my heart / the boy's a monster". The best part of this shoot: I'm kneeling with a dripping cake in my hands and freshly spray painted feathers on my shoulders and in my hair, gorging on a cake while Allison is figuring out how to work the camera. Between mouthfuls I'm shouting, "Just hold down the button! Hold it down!"

All the while, my dad is holding the dog back, and laughing.

i.

am responsible for my own entertainment.

and for my own enjoyment.

what i like.

I'm currently wasting my time watching the rerun of MTV's Movie Awards. It's mindless entertainment that is keeping me hip with the knowledge of what's hott and stuff. You know. And now, so do I.

During the show Katy Perry performed her latest single 'California Gurls'. Great, I know. Not really. The song truly is some of the dumbest noise I've heard in a long while. Well, actually, not so much. It's pretty much equal to all the noise on the radio, and on MTV, and VH1, and FratMusic.com. But, what is outstandingly dissimilar about 'California Gurls' is Katy Perry. She knows how to perform. She got up on stage with blue hair, a spray on tan, and boobs pushed up to her throat while her backup dancers were choreographed as stunner barbies on speed. Now, this could all be just a coincidence, or, it could be that Katy knows how to make fun of herself while making fun of everyone else.

I mean, really, she gots some blue hair, a Bettie Paige doo, and some big ol' boobies. Yep, she knows.

Also, they aired an exclusive preview of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I cannot stop my excitement. It just comes from this deep part inside of me that hid away after seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the place that had so many hopeful expectations and dreams of a truly glorious movie that matched how embracing the trailer was. It has to be music. I hear it, that 'Do da da dooo, da dooo, doooo...', and get this fuzzy-all over feeling that smells like fresh carved pumpkins, tastes like toast and fogs my vision with train's smoke-stack steam.

I am excited. I cannot help it. Nor can I contain it.
Now, what will I dress as for the midnight showing?

woo!.

accomplished lots and lots of things!

more on this after i accomplish some much deserved sleep.