October 1

Happy October!! Today is the first of October which means that we have been in school for almost a month. Midterms are rapidly approaching and the end of the semester will be here before we know it(or are ready for it). I feel like the first month just flew by as I was keeping my schedule full, between school work, admissions and working as a waitress at a restaurant near my house. At times it's a bit overwhelming to squeeze everything in, but I feel better knowing I am busy and making time for things rather than having so much free time I don't know what to do with myself.

This semester I am taking a senior studio elective in which I was able to choose what kind of studio I wanted. Most people in my field, Interior Design, chose electives that were related to their field, however I decided to choose something that would allow me to have a little bit more freedom and expressive ability. The class is a printmaking class where we experiment with all different types of printing processes. The first two weeks we worked on linoleum cut prints, where we carved designs into pieces of linoleum and then rolled them with ink and printed them. I really enjoyed experimenting with different cutting and printing techniques. The next technique that we learned is called a gum arabic transfer. This process is really cool and so simple but sounds complicated. The interesting part about this technique is that you can use any image imaginable, a photo from your travels, a torn page from an old book, memorabilia, a self portrait...the sky's the limit. You take any image and make a photo copy of it and then cover it with a solution of gum arabic then roll it with ink, put it through the press and you've transfer your copied image onto your paper with ink. It's pretty amazing. I think the best part of the class is the professor. His teaching style works really well with my learning style because he teaches us the formal and traditional printing methods and then allows and encourages us to experiment and take it in our own direction. That process of collaborative learning allows me to come up with new ideas and methods that compliment my working style.

I will take some pictures of my work and post them as soon as I can get around to it. Leave me a note if you want to know more about printing or the processes I discussed.

Blog ya later
-j