sweet zeitgeist
I enjoyed a sweet return to the House of Ninja this week, otherwise known as the Illustration department at Maine College of Art. The Illustration and the Graphic Design departments now share studio space, allowing for an energetic cross-pollination of disciplines. For the first time, both departments hosted an Open Studio. I’m not really sure how much mixing goes on, but it was a full house of curious and curiouser. Megan Walker and Mary Blaxland stood at the door exercising their considerable satiric skills in caricature, probably drawing me as the Faculty Beasty. I spied a new face,...
Read Morebugs and birds over and over
Funny how my radar seems to pick up coincidental stuff. As I wrap up my project for Charlesbridge, I keep coming across parallels to my assignment. Just as I was drawing the egg for the jacket, Elena brought us fresh ones from her backyard chickens. I had to revise a beehive for one of the interior spreads. I made this one by inverting a single drawing, distorting it and repeating it. Then I went to the Gem Gallery exhibit, Think Pink, Give Love, and saw this assemblage by Carol Cartier. I also love this contraption by Tim Nihoff, a collector of broken tail-lights and consummate recycler....
Read Moremeca lekka high
meca hiny ho! Does anybody remember Giambi, from Pee Wee’s playhouse? Whenever I get raving (often ranting) about Maine College of Art, my significant other chimes in with that catchy spell from that blue-faced, turbaned genie. Classes are over, whew. What a whirlwind semester it was. I had the largest class I’ve ever had, and was hustling to get to everybody. Some really great work came out of it, although there were classes that left me feeling completely defeated and ready to crawl into the nearest hole. You’d think that being in art school would be a fabulous picnic,...
Read Morelucky leafy
I began working on a new project for Charlesbridge a few weeks ago. I broke the ice by drawing a pine cone found in the Presidio two summers ago, during a trip to San Franscisco. I can still smell the eucalyptus….. Then I worked it into a leafy sorta self-portrait. My favorite month may be over, but I love the melancholy nature of November. Even getting soaked in yesterday’s rain couldn’t bring me down. And there’s always something at MECA that makes my day. Here is a cheerful installation in the Joanne Waxman Library. Gotta find out who did this. There were masses of...
Read Morelet freedom ring
It felt like the day would never come. The AIGA poster display at MECA kept rotating and offering visual and mental prompts of the meaning of this vote. Everyone distracted themselves with Halloween. I carved this good grief pumpkin in honor of the Charles Schulz bio I am reading now, and an ode to belief in the Great Pumpkin. And the Nashes staged another inimitable performance on Halloween night. A few students in my class posed with bits of costume; we drew from life while inventing an animal persona. My three: This bit of frivolity was followed by a visit to the Portland Museum of...
Read MoreSudden serendipity
Yay, Sudden Fiction class has begun again. Award-winning writer, Eleanor Morse, deftly leads a group of 12 writers with a seemingly simple premise: take a prompt, write for one hour, and read aloud. Sounds easy, but it’s in fact a complex and heart-thumping experience. The undeliberated act of writing in the midst of others has proven invigorating. I found out: I got me a well of material inside. Eleanor asks us to let it out, unedited, unfettered. Comments upon reading must be positive only. Eleanor says, “So, what’s the rigor in that? Well, it waters the strong parts...
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