Finally Sketching Again

It's been a crazy week here in Columbia, SC.  The flooding that occurred was insane and because of it my work was closed 4 out of 5 days this week. In my area we are still under a water boil advisory.  I can't say I've done a ton with my time off other than finally relax and enjoy my new apartment and catch up on sleep.  I did go through some boxes my storage area and bring some more stuff to Goodwill. I also caught up on 6 months of filing. Yuck! And I started working on gathering the information I will need to apply for my LPC and the equivalent of the CASAC in SC.  In addition, I tried to work out most days and I helped my sister out 3 of the days watching my niece and nephew because daycare and schools were closed all week.

I read a few books and watched a few movies. Got caught up on my blog. And last but not least I finally opened my pocket art journal and started creating again.  I will admit, it's been almost 2.5 months since I last created and I was a little intimidated at first. I just had to break into creating not worrying or judging myself for what I created.  Below are 4 images that I created over the past few days.

Other South Carolina Adventures

So here is a quick overview of what I've been doing over the past couple of months in the art and running scene here.

1. Checked out First Thursday here. It was a bit different from Rochester's but is supposedly up and coming monthly event.  I was able to meet many artist in the area and fun projects and events going on. I met some peeps similar to me and even heard of an art therapist in the area.

2.  I've continued to go to Soda City Market when I can get there and join the yoga on Saturday morning outdoors. I've had fun looking through the art stalls and being inspired.

3. I went to The Comedy House and had a blast there. Will definitely go back there!

4.  I found a soul sister at The Lipstick on a Pig store in Newberry, SC. She doesn't have a Facebook page or a webpage at all and is only open the first weekend of the month. I discovered her through craigslist where she post some of her work toward the end of each month under furniture for sale. She get's all of her business through craigslist advertising and word of mouth.  She is just like me but more amazing in her creations. She is so creative! She takes old worn down pieces of anything and either refinishes them or breaks them apart and puts pieces onto other pieces creating something totally new. Check out the pics below to get a feel for her work. My dining room table, ladder for quilts, skies for shelving and tv stand/buffet came from her and only cost $500 total. Her prices are way to cheap for the material and time she lovingly puts into each creation.

5. Joined a book club and made a couple of neat connections with a USC counselor and a woman on the board of GOTR. I've also read some great books. So far I've read:
Everything I Never Said by Celeste Ng 
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
Now I'm on to Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald 

6.  I've also joined a couple of races. I've joined the Southern Spartan group and have been training for the Spartan Sprint mid-November and Girls On the Run 5k a week after that.  I've joined the GOTR volunteer team to do the run with a girl who is running her first 5k. I'm also helping out the morning of the race under the Celebration Tent and hope to be on the subcommittee for fundraising in the future.  I'm also working on getting the courage to sign up for the Myrtle Beach half marathon in March 2016. I think this would be a good thing to work towards over this winter.

The Art Academy Jewelry Bowl Making Class

I found a Groupon in Aug. that I jumped on for a place near my new apartment that offered pottery classes. It was a two for one deal and thought because the project I chose to do would interest my sister that she would want to go with me. BUT she didn't. She didn't want to actually make the piece just decorated. So not having made any friends here yet I asked one of my sister's friends who is creative if she would like to join me and she said YES.  

We went a couple of weeks ago to The Art Academy to make jewelry bowls from scratch.  It was interesting from the beginning. We walked in on time but many others were there and had started already. The young man gave us very short not helpful or detailed instructions on what to do and didn't even give us a pottery lesson. I ended up answering many of the questions my table had.  There was about 15 people in all at this class.  

We got a sheet of rolled out clay, used paper bowls to cut and lay the clay out in and molded the clay to the bowl. We could then use tools and cut outs to add to the mold (though the options were very limited).  You then used the ONE blow dryer they had to dry your piece to a place where you could peel it out of the mold and it would keep shape.  Then supposedly the clay could be glazed right away which I had never heard of. So we glazed our pieces and left them to be kiln fired.  

It turned out the pieces technically aren't waterproof because the bottoms weren't able to be glazed. Many people made regular bowls but I wanted one for my earrings so I made a jewelry one. Well, it turned out to be a flop!!! The glaze made it look better but the flower I tried to make in the center ended up looking like a Georgia O'keefe if you get my drift. And the holes weren't close enough to the edge so most of my earrings couldn't fit right on it.  Needless to say this adventure was fun but the product was a flap. The bowl is now in the goodwill bin!!!

It turns out the guy teaching the class was in his first week of work. Very nice but has some work to do on actually teaching a class. He's an artist but not a teacher yet.  The other cool thing that happened is at one point I looked at the woman next to me and did a double take...I recognized her from my plane trip from Columbia to Rochester in July after my round of interviews. She recognized me to. What a small world we live in!!

This is the unfired piece of my sister's friends piece. Her's turned out really well.

My unfired piece.

Pics of finished piece.

The Madd Platter

I was excited to find a cool pottery painting place soon upon my arrival in my new city.  Since pretty much none of my belongings were here and I needed to create I asked around and was told of the Madd Platter; http://www.mymadplatter.com. I went after work one day and checked it out.

I fell in love almost immediately. There was only a few people there which made for nice 1on 1 assistance. There was a ton of pieces to choose from to create and a lot more techniques then I was shown in the pottery place in Rochester. I was taught this new technique of silk screen printing on the piece which I loved! It was pretty easy and made for a professional looking piece.

I focused on making a traveling mug for my friend (now boyfriend) who was coming to visit. He is a pilot so I created a piece that was all about traveling and flying and gave it a vintage feel.  If you silk print with a darker color you can then water down a glazes and paint over the print giving it a water color/vintage look to it.  Below you will see the rough draft of the piece. I swear I took finished project pics but can't find them!!! Trust me it turned out awesome and he loved it!

The pen burns off and wasn't seen in the final product.

I ended up signing up to go back for my birthday which was this past week. They were having a breast cancer fundraiser. I showed my sister pics and how easy it was to create and she agreed to come with me and try something new.  At the fundraiser there was food and drinks and raffle prizes. My sister won some SC hot sauce.  I think she had a good time and it was a great night out for me.  I created another travel mug and used the silk prints again. I think I could make a mug for everyone I know I have so many ideas!  I may have to make this a monthly place to go!

Here's the finished products:

The Art Bar experience

About a week ago it was a cloudy Sunday afternoon. I've been staying with my sister and her family for the past 5 weeks until I could move into my apartment. I had gotten hollered at yet again and needed to get out of the house.  I researched art places in Columbia, SC and came across Studio Cellar; http://www.studio-cellar.com.   It's one of those places where you can go to a paint class and paint something specific that is instructor led OR they have an Art Bar where you can go and pick a canvas and use their paints and just create.  You can order some finger foods and some wine and create what you want.  

I loved this place. It was just what I needed on that rainy afternoon.  It's a beautiful brick building with hard wood floors, exposed brick walls and exposed wooden beams. It's decorated great with artwork all around including their bathrooms and there are the clear strands of light all around.

I got a small 6x6 canvas, saw an image I liked, ordered a mimosa and went to town painting for a couple of hours. I had great conversation with one of the college students who worked there who is an art major and learned about the art scene in the area.  I ended up creating my own image where I used the Palmetto logo for SC on my painting.  This was a great time and reasonably priced. The drink was a bit expensive but I decided to splurge on it. I'll definitely be going back!

So here's my story...

The past year has been an insane one for me.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster to say the least. I'll try to give you the brief version...

I decided a while ago that I was reaching a point in my life where I needed and wanted a change.  I enjoyed my job, all of the perks that came along with it and many of the people I worked with.  However, there were some administrative changes that I didn't agree with and didn't care for the way I was being treated by my direct management.  I think sometimes we can stay in a negative environment or we can do the brave thing which is say we deserve better, take a leap of faith and search out something different.

So that is what I did.  There was a lot of difficult decisions for me to make. I loved my home, my neighborhood, my neighbors, my friends and having my family not to far away. I loved Rochester and all of the art connection I had made. I loved the running groups and lots of race choices I had.  However; I strongly disliked the cold, winter and grey that lasted 6 months a year. That kept me inside, freezing and miserable. I disliked not being closer to my niece and nephew and being  part of watching them grow up on a more regular basis. I resented being a single homeowner and having to spend my free time and money fixing things left and right.  I wanted warm weather, to be a good Aunt, and to try something new.

This wasn't a decision that I made overnight. It took a couple of years and was a big process. This past year was all of the major steps though.  I finished up my 2nd Master's while doing an internship while working full time. I taught two classes on top of working. I didn't get to workout as much as I wanted to but I did do some fun races with great friends.  Most of all I spent every second I could scrape up spending time with family, friends and neighbors. I had a lot of fun and much support along the way.

I put my house on the market early March and sold it in a week. While finishing my Master's and working I also packed up my house, gave belongings away, and sold 83% of my belongings/furniture on craigslist.  I closed on my house right after graduating and ending work for the academic year and then spent the next 4 months traveling and interviewing.

I went to Thailand, New Mexico, SC, and presented at the national AATA conference in Minnesota. I interviewed, sent out resumes and interviewed some more. I got a couple of offers, neither perfect but one was a positive start and good change.  I loaded up my car and drove the 13 hours to Columbia, SC and started my new job.

Finding a place to live proved a little more difficult than I thought and there ended up being a bit of a wait. In 5 days after 5 month so staying on generous family and friends sofas, floors, and spare beds I will finally be in my own place again. I've downsized but am happy about it. Most people know I like my home to feel like home but I also believe in getting out of your home and living life. I'm excited to put all of my new home purchases together but am also excited to continue to get out and explore Columbia and the surrounding cities.

The new job has been a change the weather has been a change but most of I miss my family and friends. I have such amazing family and friends it will take time to find and build new relationships. In the coming blog entries you will get to experience Columbia through my eyes and what it's like to move to a new city and start all over again. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you all.

T-shirt Quilt

Also created within a couple of days at the end of July was this t-shirt quilt.  I had a bag full of 

t-shirts that I had received well working at the college.  Most I wore to events but then never again cause even if they were smalls they were huge. I was spending some time with my grandma and while we caught up on life I worked on creating a quilt out of the t-shirts.  

I always hate working with t-shirts because they are very stretchy and make sewing a pain. I did my best cutting out the designs and then sewing them together.  If I was making a true Naz quilt I would have waited and purchased purple fabric with yellow in it or did a purple and yellow striped back but I wanted something I could finish now so I used some fabric I had purchased a long time ago at Craft Bits and Pieces and completed the quilt. Not to shabby for a couple of days worth of work.