How do you fill all that free time at the end of the year? With creative awesomeness!

This coming week there are only two days on which I ABSOLUTELY have to be at school. But on those other days I'll probably end up at the college anyway.

Monday: My last Photoshop class for the year. :-( That day we finished our pages for the magazine and handed them in. We also chose dates and times for assessments with Drew (mine's on Thursday afternoon).

In the morning I asked him to cut another mat for me, and after class my classmates and I hung our show at City Hall.

Tuesday: I didn't have class in the morning. And Photo History wasn't so much about the history of photography as it was about getting ready for the show--everything from Karen handing out stickers with our artist statements and bios on them (they went next to our non-tableaux vivant), to Chelsea curling Karen's hair with a straightening iron.

That afternoon we also found out that two of the photos from the show had been censored by City Hall. One of them depicted a dark version of the Last Supper. The other, an S&M scene. Both photos were removed from the show after the opening.

CENSORED: The Last Parody, by Anne-Marie Rolf and Roger Flanagan

CENSORED: Because Whips and Chains Excite Me, by Emily Jackson

Snow White's Sister (Snow White 2)--my tableau

Rusted Ripples--my non-tableau. The guy on the left is Peter, by the way.

This was my first opening where I was one of the artists, and not just a viewer. Because of that, I found it a little awkward (what do I do?), but it was still a really good opening. It wasn't too crazy, either, which I liked (some openings can be really crowded and loud).

Wednesday: That morning I had my assessment with Peter, which went well. We talked about my independent project and he critiqued the portfolio that I'd produced after all that hard work (a couple of pieces could've been taken out, which would've strengthened said portfolio), as well as asking me what my plans are for the foreseeable future (I'm still figuring that out).

Late that afternoon I met with Anne-Marie and Hannah Nissen (Surface Design major) to finish our cardboard chairs for Design. Let's just say that our chair is never going to behave the way we want it to... Oh, well: we tried.

Thursday: That day, all I had were two assessments (Karen's in the morning, Rod's in the afternoon)--and one heck of a cleaning job. Both assessments went well, and after my assessment with Rod, I dove in and started cleaning out my shelf in the studio--while listening to Tchaikovsky (Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor). After dumping a whole lot of stuff (mostly foamcore), I still had a large Bean bag that was so heavy that I only made it as far as the Kings Place Mall before calling a cab.

Rod told me that he'd come across my blog--and he liked it. Like Peter and Karen, he said that there was a definite voice behind my writing. So Rod, if you're reading this, hi!

In the evening, I got a note via Facebook from Peter (he sent it to all the members of the photo studio's Facebook group): he's having a potluck/party this Tuesday (which happens to be his birthday). Right away, I decided that I'll bring vegetarian burgers (preferably homemade--here's the recipe I'm going to use. I plan on doubling it.). I might bring something to drink, and I'll definitely bring my violin. From Peter's message: "Bring friends, intoxicants, food, instruments and good cheer."

Friday: Although I didn't have class yesterday, I still managed to be fairly busy. Yes, I took my sweet time that morning (though I got started on whipping my violin--which hasn't been played much in the last eight months--into shape for Tuesday's potluck: I don't want to have to tune it every couple minutes. I'm going to tune and play it every day between now and Tuesday: welcome to violin tuning boot camp.), but once the afternoon hit, I didn't stop. Most importantly, I paid my first-ever visit to WhiteFeather's studio. I'd been wanting to visit since FVA year, but couldn't due to the workload and life getting in the way (the usual). But it was worth the wait. WhiteFeather spent most of my visit scrubbing her worktable (today's lesson: the edge of a playing card makes a good scrubbing tool). I had a blast exploring the room that is StudioASAP (formerly Studio 4ward), chatting with WhiteFeather as well as asking questions about the art that I discovered, some of which was made during her time at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and much of which I recognized from her blog (either because she'd posted a photo or because she'd written about the piece in question).

If I'm into a topic, I'm fairly good at retaining information. However, I often don't realize how much I've remembered until I'm using that information in conversation. My visit to StudioASAP was one of those times: I recognized several pieces because I'd read about them in WhiteFeather's blog (hot ticket), and I commented on them. She told me about the pieces in question, the successes and failures, and how she's thinking of using the failed creations in the future.

Afterwards, I went to the college (which is literally a hop, skip and a jump from StudioASAP) and started work on my own project. I won't say much (or anything at all) due to the fact that because this is a public blog, anyone could read this, and I don't want the people that this project is intended for to read about it before they've seen said project. However, I will say that it's a thank-you present.

WhiteFeather scrubbing away in her studio.

Some of the awesome stuff I discovered in WhiteFeather's studio, including a piece of plexiglass that she etched by machine (she made the design in Adobe Illustrator).

Some more awesome stuff.

Wouldn't you love to have a floor like this?! The floor of StudioASAP (and my feet).

 Today I plan to shop for ingredients for the burgers (I need black beans, walnuts, a red onion and canned corn--not the creamy kind), and will make them some point between today and Monday (I have a feeling that the flavour will be better if they sit for a day or so).