Winter Break

It's a few days after xmas, and I've been enjoying winter break and taking some time to create artwork for loved ones for the holidays, as well as taking much-needed downtime. I've been getting back in the habit of doing my arm exercises for physical therapy and am already feeling better because of them. 

About a week and a half ago I moved out of the house I have rented a room in for the past three-and-a-half years, which made me very sad as I loved my Sellwood neighborhood, but my housemates needed the space for the arrival of their new baby, Charlie, who will be born any day now. I am gifting them some gouache pieces on wood for Charlie's room, which will be circus/animal-themed:

I have found a new apartment to live in with a roommate, and hopefully we will move in within the next few weeks. It's in SE Portland and I'm so so so glad we found an accessible place in the area of town we both wanted. And it's along two major bus lines and near two grocery stores.

Until then I am thankfully able to crash at my parents' house for a few weeks, until the apartment is ready (they are completely refurbishing it so when we move in it will be a completely brand-new interior).  It's a ways out which is frustrating as I am not near a bus and therefore dependent on others for transportation, but I also needed the downtime.


School starts back up the 17th, and I will have four classes: thesis and thesis writing, then two small independent studies that I was granted special permission to do (usually the limit is one per student per semester).

Healthwise I seem to be pretty stable and have successfully tapered completely off of Prednisone, so my body can function somewhat normally again. Although it saved my life, Prednisone is a terrible drug and not only does it have lots of icky side effects, it's really wreaks havoc on the body. I feel much better knowing I am putting one less chemical into my body on a daily basis. 

I take down my show at Palio on the 31st, and I have sold eight paintings in all so far. I received notice that someone bought all four of my Day of the Dead paintings, and I couldn't be happier about it. I've been saving up some money and plan to purchase a Wacom tablet within the next few days. I can do so many things with my art with a tablet and I'm totally excited to start experimenting more with one.


Until next time,
Amanda

Finals, finally.

My show opening at Palio (at 1996 SE Ladd, a lovely little dessert and espresso shop) went amazingly well, and the show will hang until the end of December if anybody wants to go check it out but didn't make the opening night.

One more meeting of each class, and I am finished for the semester.
My thesis book project was approved for next semester, and I will begin crafting it when I go back to classes in mid-January. My last semester of college, finally. I've had a few setbacks, but I'm going to graduate.
For my painting class I've completed four 9x15 ink and gouache pieces from reference photos I took at Occupy Portland:
 

For my advanced drawing class, I've been exploring ways to visually depict the body, particularly in a state of illness, without literally drawing the human figure:

(Both are gouache and ink on arches coldpress paper)

Last but not least, the most realized piece I have come up with so far in preparation for my thesis book project. A self-portrait, hand-lettering, gouache layers, and cut up pieces of one of my MRI reports from back in December of 2010:

I plan to put more of my thesis progress on this blog. Stay tuned for more, and thanks for reading!