A Fancy Weekend

Sorry folks. My wireless has been slooooooow this past week. I was lucky to just check email and celebrity gossip... updating this blog with pictures was pushing it.

Less than one week to go until our final critique. I'm not quite in panic mode yet, but I'm also not nearly finished with this last project (so maybe I should be). It's been pretty strange at Tamarind. I've been struggling with senioritis. I'm so ready to get out of here, but I have nowhere to go yet.

All Fresh and Organic
Thanks mostly to Valpuri, we have a lovely show up in the Tamarind Gallery. Usually the student exhibit showcases the work of the collaborative artists, but our show is just the work of the printers. I had two sad-faced prints in the show. (3 Color Litho with Beeswax.)



Here we are showing our good sides at the opening on Friday (Mick somehow escaped this shot):


And here are our bad sides, with Rodney:



Albuquerque BioPark
On Sunday, Yuli, Ana and I went to the Botanical Gardens and Aquarium. The aquarium was small but nice. Our favorite part was the jellyfish section, although it made Ana a little motion sick.



They also had a big shark/ray tank.



We got there at feeding time and got to see the giant rays completely surround the diver. It was crazy.



After that, it was on to the botanical gardens. Alex and I had been speculating about what a botanical garden in New Mexico would be like. We imagined it being brown and full of succulents, but it was actually kind of nice. It was like stepping into another world. I wish I'd visited the place earlier on during my stay here in ABQ.

The first stop was the enchanted children's garden, where Ana felt right at home among very large things:



Sometimes Ana felt out of place under very short things:



The green-ness made Yuli miss Colombia:



And it made me excited to go back to Missouri:



La La La... so many plants and trees:



Somebody got overly-excited about the prospect of entering a humid greenhouse:



Amanda next to flowers with incredibly large hair (FYI: I got it cut today):



There was this weird part of the botanical gardens that had a farm and animals and vegetable gardens:





Overall, a very fancy weekend.

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Second Year Results

It has been more than a week now since we learned who the lucky ONE was that would get to stay for the second year. Here's how the day went down:

We started our day with an 8:15 breakfast business meeting at Frontier. Since pretty much everybody was feeling like throwing up from stress, I was a little surprised that this decision was made. But sometimes the urge for pancakes is stronger than the urge to puke. These people seem to be having an okay time:



Celina was convinced that Rodney had actually used a half a bottle of syrup:



Here's the proof (everyone had their own syrup, and they supposedly started out full):



Rodney asked everyone if they wanted their letters right then and seemed surprised when the majority said "YES!!! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!!!" There were a few others who had artists coming in, so Rodney stuck to the 11:45am time that had been previously decided upon.

I was stuck sponging all morning and couldn't help but look at the clock every two seconds. There was lots of craziness going on in the student area and I felt a little left out. Thankfully, Mick came running through every 15 minutes with a countdown... "Only 55 more minutes until we open letters!!!"

When the time finally came, Brandon let me join the others in the library.



Marge came in briefly to apologize again for only being able to take one and reminded everyone that she would do whatever she could to help the losers find jobs. Then she ran out before she started crying.



Rodney slowly passed out the letters. I got a letter, but knew it was just a "Thanks for your hard work..." so I took the opportunity to take pictures of people's reactions.



And the next thing I know Mick starts screaming. And then Celina starts screaming. And Valpuri is confused because she thinks Mick and Celina have both made it into the second year. But then she opens her letter and makes this face.



And says, "Filip is going to KILL ME!!!"



Of course, everyone was very happy for Valpuri:



And if gave us all excuses to give her kisses:



Congratulations Valpuri!

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Go Cards!

The Cardinals face the Brewers 5 times in 8 games and you can imagine how rowdy this makes me and Patrick. St. Louis took the first game last night, 6-1. I love this picture from the game (taken by Chris Lee of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch):

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Interwebs

I've been without internet since Monday night which is quite unsettling.

Also unsettling is the roach that visited me on my pillow while I was sleeping Monday night.

I'm ready to come home.

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You're My Popsicle!!!

Okay... who's going with me to the New Kids on the Block reunion show? I am so excited!

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Hoo-Reyes

Seriously, am I the only one who thinks Anthony Reyes is hot?
I just hope he doesn't get traded before I get back to Saint Louis.



[CHUCK-E-CHEESE UPDATE: Cardinals 2-1, Brewers 2-1]

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No News is Good News

Baseball



It's baseball time again and things are getting heated here at Tamarind. As you might recall, Patrick is a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm not usually the bettin' type, but challenging Patrick is one of my favorite pastimes. We decided that the better team's fan after the first 10 games would be treated to Chuck-E-Cheese (including game tokens) by the lesser team's fan. So far the Cardinals are 1-1 and the Brewers are 2-0. If it weren't for that stinking Opening Day Rain-Out for the Cardinals, the teams might be tied. Peh! (At least the Brewers are beating the stupid Cubs.)

Printing

After Spring Break, we discovered that we had only TWO weeks to finish our next projects. Somehow when setting the critique calendar Rodney neglected to figure in the week we had off for the break. It hasn't been too big of a deal for me because I have only one artist and it's an easy print. But I feel bad for some of the other printers.

Here's the first proof of Ben's print (the green one on the right). It's the third print in a triptych (the first two were printed by Pat and Alex):



I've also been trying to work some on Kathy and Nikki's prints from Dallas. Here's a proof of Nikki's print:



And... I'm trying to do a few things for myself as well. We're having a show of our own work at the end of April and everyone is scrambling to get something done for it.

After this project, we will have a good month for the last one. I'm looking forward to being done.

Second Year Stress

Meanwhile everyone is freaking out about the second year. Everyone except me, that is. You see, I've decided NOT to apply for the second year. That's right! There! I said it out loud to everyone and I'm NOT changing my mind. (I think.)

As a reminder, each year they take 1 or 2 people for a paid position at Tamarind, working with Bill Lagatutta on the REAL Tamarind prints. At the end of the second year, they are certified as Tamarind Master Printers.

Up until a few weeks ago, I'd had every intention of applying for the second year and felt confident about my odds of making it. But as the application deadline drew near, I started to have doubts. I gave a lot of thought to the pros and cons of staying in Albuquerque versus the pros and cons of returning to Saint Louis. In the end, I realized that the only reason I was applying for the second year was for a title that I didn't necessarily need. Also, there's something alluring about being "the one" picked. But I have so many more reasons to come home.

Plus, we recently were informed that they are only taking ONE this year. More reason to get out while I still can. Being "the one" is going to be a hard hard job.

Big Muddy Editions

My purpose in going to Tamarind in the first place was to better prepare myself for opening a print shop. I went from having no clue what I was doing to feeling confident that I could actually open a print shop in Saint Louis and really make it work. Although having no money and massive school debt doesn't really help, I think I'm still in a position to get it done (eventually).

So the plan is to come home, find temporary work (most likely Six Flags drawing caricatures), look for buildings with commercial space below and apartment above, remodel the building and get in before the end of the year. Carrie's landlord has agreed to month-to-month leasing so we won't be bound to the apartment unnecessarily.

I'm trying not to rush the business side of things but it's hard not to get excited about it. I'm working toward a new website and have a brand new press name...



It says "Saint Louis" to me a little more than "Porkchop Press". What do you think?

Chop

In preparation for my new venture and as a celebration of my year at Tamarind, I've finally gotten around to ordering my new chop. A printer's chop is a stamp that is used to emboss the bottom corner of the paper after printing. Traditionally, it's used to identify either the printer and/or the shop it was printed at. At Tamarind, they use the Tamarind chop and then the printer's chop. At Tandem Press, they just use the Tandem chop. So the chop will be ready tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited and will probably chop everything I can find. Here's what it looks like:



It's obviously the Saint Louis Arch with a heart in it. But if you really reach for it, you can see that it kind of makes an "A" with a "M" at the bottom (my initials).

Night Terrors

I've been so excited about my return to STL and the opening of Big Muddy Editions that I've been staying up late and not sleeping well. I've been having more night terrors lately. Due to the influx of giant cockroaches in my apartment, I often wake up thinking there are bugs in my bed. Look at the size of this guy! That's enough to give ANYONE night terrors!



But last night I thought someone was trying to attack me... so I jump out of bed and run all the way to my front door, quickly undo three locks and jump outside my house. I stood there for a few seconds in my bare feet and pajamas before I realized that I should probably go back to bed.

Oprah did a show on Night Terrors on Tuesday but I missed it. It's probably for the best. I find that the more I think about it, the more likely they are to happen.

Another reason to go back to Saint Louis! Not that I don't have night terrors there. But it's a lot harder for me to go outside!

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