taking a break

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a little bit. I attended a class on blogging about a week ago, and I want to consider some of the things I learned from the class to make this blog better. I'm not even sure how many people are reading it at this point, and I feel like if I've lost interest (which I kind of have the past few months) then my readers probably have to.

So I'm going to rethink, re-format, and come back with a stronger blog that hopefully you the reader will enjoy. Till then, thanks for keeping up with me, and check back in a few weeks for the all new and improved girly girl art blog.

finished projects

Here are my little canvases lined up in a row in my bedroom. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I may embellish that wall a bit more. I think I have to live with it for a bit, ruminate on it. Tomorrow I'll post a photo of my finished shower curtain.

the start of something small

Here's the start of a series of small paintings that are meant to hang together. The canvases are about 5 x 5. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to go in an abstract direction or do something figurative. Probably figurative, a series of birds. I'll post the finished results.

Tomorrow night I'm going to a blog class to learn how to improve your blogging, etc. I'll let you know how that goes.

Also tomorrow I'm heading down to the Oregon DMV to take their written test (Bah!) and get my license, so I can be official. In Arizona, I just had to show up and hand in my old license for the new one. I liked that a lot better.

The search for work is progressing nicely, and I'm hopeful I'll have a job by the beginning of September, mid-September at the latest. So far sales jobs are what I'm able to get interviews for, so I guess it's back to sales for awhile.

shower curtain

My creative endeavor today has been to work on my shower curtain; finally! I have it pieced. Now I have to add the top panel, put buttonholes in the top, hem the entire thing, then add the trim (the little pink ball trim you see here). It's much straighter in person; I had to lay it out in a bit of floor space, hence the crooked lines. I'll post another photo of the finished project. I'm hoping to get it done tomorrow, though I've never done buttonholes. I'm a little nervous!

I also went on a job interview today at Portland Monthly, a glossy, high-end magazine here in Portland. I have two more interviews coming up and am still applying to others, so things are starting to happen. Hopefully I'll have a j0b by the end of the month.

anti art school Portland

They do it differently in Portland, that's for sure. I attended the Anti Art School session this past Wednesday night. It was in a bar called Dante's Sinferno (yes, it's true) on 3rd Ave and Burnside. Almost next to the homeless mission and a very sketchy (no pun intended) part of town. I found a parking lot right next to Dante's, so that was a great relief. It was not the kind of neighborhood I wanted to be walking around in by myself.

I entered the bar and found a spot to sit. The lighting at that point was terrible; it was bar lighting, dim and dark. Not the kind of light you want to be drawing in. That got fixed after about the first 20 minutes of drawing, thankfully. Until then it was like drawing in braille. I looked around me and seemed to be the oldest person there. It had much more of a party atmosphere than the one in Phoenix. In Phoenix folks are quiet and very focused on their drawing. Not so here. To give you an idea, they were going to give out prizes for the most inebriated drawing. Yeah, it was like that. People were talking and yelling up at the models and to each other. A little distracting. Also, the poses were no more than 15 minutes long. The one above is a 10 minute drawing.

On to the models. Our first model was a young man, dressed in an interesting mix of clothes (that's a pair of little fur bear ears on his head). He was fun to draw and a good model; the poses could have been a bit more challenging, but he did just fine. Our second model was a young woman dressed as an East Indian, sari wrap, kohl around the eyes, dots on her forehead. She was a striking girl, and an extremely good model pose wise. She did some great poses that I would've loved to have seen be an hour or more. But when she got up on the stage, they changed the music. They started playing something that seemed to be just reverberation from the base of the speakers, like when you're passing someone in one of those tricked out car and the base is booming, you can feel the vibration in your own body. It was intense. Then as she's posing, she begins to do this sort of humming, squealing, screeching kind of noise to go with the "music" (I use the term loosely). This went on for about a half hour. Thankfully, it finally stopped. And we went back to normal music.

By then, I had a bit of a headache, and it was past 9pm, so I decided to call it quits. I'll go again, because it was so good to draw and practice. Even though they were short poses, I still got a workout, and got my mind and fingers warmed up. I'm going to look for some other open session figure drawing opportunities here. Something a bit quieter.

my afternoon in the park

This past Saturday I went to Laurelhurst park not too far from my home. It was a glorious day and lots of people were out, walking their dogs, having picnics, and just generally enjoying each other and the day. I sat on a bench parallel to this little dog and his owners, a group of elderly, jovial folks. He was just so cute I had to draw him. Most of the drawing I had to construct on my own; dogs don't stay still all that well sometimes. But I managed to capture the spirit of him.

I admit to feeling a bit melancholy and lonely out there that day. Everyone around me was with others, having picnics and laughing, tight family groups and groups of friends, of co-workers. And there I was, knowing not a soul, in this city that I'm growing to love but isn't home yet.

I've been traveling back and forth between being very happy to be here, to feeling lost and lonely. Really enjoying my own company, and feeling an emptiness, a hollow lonely feeling. All part and parcel of making a new life in a new place.

The employment search is turning out to be a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated as well. So far I've sent out dozens of resumes, answered countless employment ads, and have yet to get even an response, let alone an interview. Yesterday I broke down and started applying for sales jobs. Not what I want, but I have to get some work.

I am working on networking here with some business organizations, so hoping something will come of that.

my new neighborhood

This is my street, as I was walking towards my apt complex...

This is the street around the corner...

This was in someone's window on 21st Ave; don't know what it's about, but it's pretty cool.

I love this neo
And the little robot on the sign!

Some graffiti I spied on an earlier walk; I love the shapes

more of the same...

They call this the city of roses and I know why; they're absolutely everywhere!

I took a walk this morning around my neighborhood looking for some interesting shots. Most of these are on a main drag (21st Ave), but a couple are the street around the corner from me and my own street. The weather has been flawless and I'm taking as much advantage of it as I can.

Part of every day is spent inside on the computer looking for work. I've responded to a ton off Craigslist, and some of the online job sites, but so far no calls or emails to interview. Kinda bummed about that. Hopefully soon some things will start to happen. I've been sending out feelers in all directions. Yesterday I attended PABA (Portland Area Business Association) an LGBT business organization in town. I'm hoping some leads will come from that. And in a couple of weeks the AIGA chapter is meeting as well, so more contacts will come from that. So I just have to keep "stuffing the pipe" as we used to say in sales, and work will come.

I started a new painting the other day, and hope to get some work on it done this afternoon. I also am working on a mail piece to send out to prospective employers. And I STILL have to start on my shower curtain!

I've been reading the last Harry Potter book, and tonight I'm finishing it. I only have about 45 pages to go. I'm excited to finish, but also a little sad as once it's done, that's it. There are no more. But, wow, what a story!