And the hits just keep on coming

I've been extremely productive this weekend. I took a break from homework this afternoon to put these things that I wrote about yesterday:

I glued them to cardboard backings (thank you Amazon.ca!), glued on picture-hanging things, and put them up above my dining table, where there were already three nails. I have a couple more of these things that I might do something with later.

I just need to find something poster-sized for my poster frame and paint the second canvas and my walls will be interesting again! I wanted to put up some chalk and charcoal nudes that I did in my art class, but they're way too small for the poster frame and the one that I really liked is almost ruined anyway. Plus it was done on crappy newsprint. Anyway, I'm thinking maybe a Rasputina poster for the other frame.

On a roll of some kind

I actually got those photo print things cropped this evening and thought I'd post some pictures of them so my mom could admire them (hi Mom!).

These are done by placing various objects (the Love thing is an earring) on photo paper on an enlarger in a darkroom, then exposing the paper so the images of the objects is left behind. We developed them with chemicals and everything, they still kind of smell. Plus something spilled on them, so there are little brownish patches. Luckily it's not too noticeable. 

I wish I had permanent darkroom access, these were a lot of fun to make and I can only imagine how often I would do it if I could!

Lots of crazy crap on the walls

I recently found myself with nearly bare walls in my living room. I hate painting rooms, and I'm reluctant to do it when I'll just be moving in less than a year. So I figured I'd better buy, make, or steal something to make my place look less I just moved in and more like I've been living here for two years (which I have).

I stopped by an art store and bought two medium-sized canvases. I painted one today with some acrylics I had from my studio art class a few semesters ago. I really enjoy painting, but I'm not that skilled and I'm hopeless at painting anything realistic (everything tends to look cartoonish), so I thought I'd go with something very simple.

First, it has to be said that simple design does not equal easy. I didn't realize how difficult it is to get a good sharp line or do small details. As a result the edge of the red portion is not quite straight. Also, the big fields of colour show brushstrokes really clearly, and it was hard to get the colour opaque and an even shade. Looking at the photo I can still see some streaks, which I may touch up later.

It was a lot of fun to do though. Painting, for me, takes so much careful planning and preparation, from coming up with the design to mixing colours to choosing brushes, that it's not quite a spontaneous expression like drawing or writing can be. It's more like doing a craft, like making jewelry or knitting. In any case, at least I have something decent to break up the white expanse above my TV.

I also wanted to add that I did something with some of the neon yarn I posted already. I made a scarf out of the neon yellow, neon green, and a navy blue. I knitted 3 strands together in a big giant garter stitch with orange pony beads. It took me about two hours, it's bright, and it's long.

Good way to do a project when you don't want to put in too much time or effort. I think I did this while watching a couple of episodes of the X-Files.

Still to do: get my digital camera back so I can stop using Photo Booth to show off my stuff, and frame some photo-lab-black-and-white-objects-type photos I did ages ago in my art class. Results to follow, I hope.