oils.

i made an oil painting. you may know that i'm not much of a painter, generally. i think i prefer oils to acrylics, because the colours look nicer and they don't dry before even touching the painting surface like acrylics do. my favourite part is the actual visible brushstrokes that i've tried so hard to get with acrylics, and failed miserably. though that part didn't scan well.

self-portrait, obviously. i liked it better before i added the glasses. i might be risky and try to take them off.

i return!

i kind of forgot about having a blog again.

i've decided, this year, to start applying to the national theatre school's costume and set design program (or rather, my mother has decided for me). i'm starting now because they accept a grand total of eight people each year, so maybe they'll eventually notice me if i start early. applications aren't until next february, but i'm starting to work on my fashion sketching skills.

















(they're small because there's so many, click to go to flickr to see what's going on!)

i went out and bought a fountain pen and tubes of watercolours and a huge-ass black spiral-bound sketchbook, which i'm going to paste these into. it makes me feel like a real fashion designer. it seems like they would carry huge-ass black spiral-bound sketchbooks. maybe.

these are the women i want to be.

these are my favourite three females.

1. ellen greene.

the leading lady in my favourite movie/musical, little shop of horrors. she played the role of audrey in both the original off-broadway production and the film adaptation. her voice is something you either love or hate, and while most hate, i love. it's just so faint and ditzy and annoying untikl she starts singing, then it gets so deep and soulful as she belts it out. my love of her and this musical is the sole reason i was able to get the part of audrey in out production of little shop. she didn't really do much other than little shop, until recently she played aunt vivian in pushing daisies, the only tv show i've ever really loved, which is now sadly deceased.

2. liza minnelli
miss liza is, of course, loved by many. she's now almost 65 and still going strong. well, maybe not quite strong, but she's fucking liza minnelli so it doesn't matter if she's past her prime. just think of her as she was back around 1975. i think that her status as one of the greatest broadway performers ever and the fact that she's adored by gay men and drag queens everywhere says it all. i basically have a crush on her, and that's all there is to say.

3. clara bow
it's interesting that the previous two ladies, one of the primary factors in my love for them is voice. clara, on the other hand, was a silent film star. but she didn't need a voice to get the message across, her movements and expressions were enough. she was pretty much the iconic face of the '20s flapper era, as well as the original "it" girl (the term originating from her movie of the same name). my love for her is only accentuated by the fact that she, too, had curly red hair. her red was henna, but still.

some vintage finds.

a few days ago, i went into a store in town that seems kind of like a gifts/crafts store. i've been in there a few times in the past because their back room is full of yarn- local alpaca and huge cones of undyed yarns from "henry's attic". i went in looking for some wool roving for felting, and i realized how much cool stuff they had, and really cheap.

i got a pair of gloves, i'm guessing from the '60s, in a light dusty pink colour that i love recently, for only $2.

i also picked up a magazine from 1943 and a knitting pattern book from 1945.
i love these two dresses, but i totally don't have the patience to knit them. they're fingering weight and stockinette all the way, plus they're in sizes 32-34-36. i'm sure i could fit in the 36, but i wouldn't want to take the chance of it not fitting. maybe i'll play with the guage and knit the 32 in a thicker yarn.

then, today, i went to this weird shop that sells antiques and chainsaws. the antiques were the part i was interested in, of course. when i hear "antiques stores", i always think of furniture, which is something i don't really have much use for at this point in my life. but this store has all kinds of little trinkets and things. the upper floor is like a bedroom packed full with stuff right out of the 1930s. i was tempted by a pair of silk stockings, but they didn't have a price on them so i figured i'd be better off not knowing. instead, i went with a nice pair of novelty salt and pepper shakers.

i think i'll be getting a smaller meal plan next year, so these will work nicely to smuggle salt and pepper from meal hall to season my baked potatoes or other cheap and bland foods.

they also had quite a few old cameras in the 20-30 dollar range. there were a few 35mm point-and-shoot types, but also some medium-format types. they all seemed to take 620 film, but i believe i've heard it's essentially the same as 120 but on a different size spool. i'm going to do a little research to see if they're worth it, but if i switch back into photo for next year (which i'm now fairly sure i will do), i'll probably get one.

an interesting realization.

i was thinking about the people i found attractive. i thought of something they all have in common.

(yeah, i watched brokeback mountain a few days ago)

so, have you noticed anything that these three beautiful people have in common?

no?

here's a hint.
the only one of my favourite people i can think of right now who does not fit here is the wonderful lee pace. here he is:
pretty goodlooking, yes?

but what if he looked like this?
OMGLOVE.


in conclusion: facial moles are teh sexy.

life drawings. warning: naked.

these are from drawing class second semester, which was mostly drawing from nude models. if you don't like the naked, look away now.

as always, click for full view, which is way better.

we were supposed to convey an emotion, sad and moody.

a blind contour with proportions gone wrong. his stance just begged for the caption, no?

and this was, obviously, not drawn from life. 'tis my little sister, and perhaps one of my favourite drawings i've done, ever.

look, some art.

i have not yet posted anything from semester number two at mount allison. so, here are some paintings. i only have a couple, because i am no painter and i threw most of them out.

click for full-size. i recommend it.

a still life. i didn't completely hate this.


a "narrative" painting, based on the song "a day in the graveyard II" by, of course, sunset rubdown.
i chose it because i feel like if i were to make a movie about my life, this song would be in the trailer. i don't know why, that was just my reaction from the first time i heard it.

this is the song, ignore the video, which is just some guy filming veteran memorials. unless you like it, then that's cool too.


and that's all i have for paintings right now.

my new favourite: sunset rubdown- dragonslayer.

i believe in growing old with grace.
i believe she only loved my face.
i believe i acted like a child, making faces at acquired taste.

spencer krug.
god, i love that man.

seeing this band live is probably one of the top things on my list of things to do in my lifetime. things like this are why i hate living in this corner of the country.



in other news, the library gave my job away before i got to them. that's kind of sucky. but on the bright side, there's a job making yarn that seems fairly promising. except it's 20 minutes out of town. but making yarn? as a job? awesome.

it's may now.

school is done, i don't have a job yet, and i have several weeks until i will if the library hires me again. so these next few weeks will be filled with lots of spare time in which i can release all that creative energy bubbling up inside me. or at least try to do something productive.

cool thing: today, i got my pictures from my trip to new york and prom developed. new york was the start of march, prom was last year. i love me some film photography, it just takes me forever to get around to developing it.

i love how colour photos turn out with my camera, a pentax spotmatic (which, according to my research, is from around 1964). they look so soft and dreamy. of course, that also has to do with my always having the aperture set to 1.4, due to both my love of a shallow depth of field and need for a fast shutter speed due to my shaky hands.

plans for the summer:
-shoot film. around town, at animaland, swimming in waterford.
-dye some yarn, possibly open an etsy shop with recycled yarn and things.
-perhaps also include vintage/modified vintage clothing in that etsy shop.
-yard sale it up, bigtime.
-find a bicycle. spray-paint it bright blue.
-make sure to not stop making art.

lately.

it's been stressful.

last week, i was struggling to finish all my work and hand in my last few projects, including a few all-night painting and sculpture sprees. then, it was time to study for art history, which i had my exam for saturday morning. i have a take-home exam for my religion class that's due monday and i was going to start it saturday, but my plans got derailed when i got a call form my dad, saying my grandfather was really sick, and the family had been called together. he was diagnosed with lung cancer only two weeks or so ago. he died early this morning. thankfully, my prof is giving me an extension on my exam until friday, then i'll be all done. i wish i could skip the rest of this week. or have someone come and take my place while i sleep through it.

so tomorrow i have to go back up to sackville and move all my stuff out of my room and check out. that'll be interesting. but at least i'll never have to sleep in that crowded little room and put up with a roommate ever again.