Inter-NOT

Today was pretty long and frustrating.

I stayed up late last night working on a photo file for Collaborator #1, trying to figure out how the heck was I supposed to make it into a print. We met at 10am and things were a little tense. After all my work trying to figure out how to piece the thing together, she reveals that what she really wanted was a print that looked exactly like the photograph. Now as far as prints go, I'd say that's not very exciting. There are lots of easier and cheaper ways to get that end result (digital printout, color copy, photo enlargement, etc.). But in the end, I agreed that if that's what she really wanted, I'd just do a giant CMYK print. It's still going to be challenging for me to print. It's just not as adventurous as most of the other collaborations going on.

At lunchtime I walked my rent check down to the bank to deposit in my landlord's clearing account (because apparently he's too busy to deposit the checks himself and this is supposedly more convenient for me somehow). Afterward, I went back to Tamarind and wandered around in circles for an hour or so... until the UPS guy brought my new shoes.

I don't buy shoes very frequently. I'd say I usually get at least two or three years of regular wear out of a pair of shoes before I find a new favorite. Anyway, Carrie and I are going to spend my Spring Break galavanting all over the Southwest (hitting each of the four corners: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona). We're going to do a little bit of hiking around and I figured that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wear my flat-footed-polka-dotted Vans slip-ons. So I ordered the cheapest, least ugly hiking shoes I could find on SierraTradingPost:



It's always strange wearing shoes that actually have support and some traction. I don't really see these working their way into the everyday wear category, but it'll be good to have them for that rare occasion when I do go outside.

After trying on my shoes and scaling my bar stool and breakfast bar in a climbing simulation, I worked on a new print. It's been a while since I made some art for myself. I've been getting so annoyed with not being able to work my collaborations, but I'm not really using all of this free time to get anything done. I had plates ready to go for my winter break but I never got around to using them, so I broke one out and started drawing on it. It was a self portrait... because I love myself. It's going to be a three run print with waxing and maybe a little embossing thrown in at the end. If it turns out good I'll post a picture.

I was so upbeat after finishing my drawing. It was nice to actually accomplish something. I was supposed to meet up with Collaborator #2 this evening, so I hurried to check my email before I left and was disappointed outraged to find that my internet stopped working AGAIN. Arghghghghghghghghhhghrrrghghrrggh. So annoying. I wasn't able to fix it before I left, but when I returned home I fiddled with the settings and got it to come back on.

Things at the studio went good. I got my artist going on her stone finally with some tusche washes. She is pretty mellow and understands that we're taking a gamble with these tusche washes. After a few quick test runs we pulled out her stone and she got to work on her landscape painting. It's kind of a depressing black and white fuzzy sort of thing. The tusche that she put down tonight looked good and I think she's hoping to finish it by the weekend. Meanwhile, Collaborator #1 will be bringing me the CMYK films for her print on Friday, so I'll be able to get busy next week after my return from Denver. Oh... I guess I didn't tell you about my trip yet. Maybe another time....