Dia:Beacon has one of the world’s most distinguished collections of contemporary art and an absolutely huge and naturally lit gallery space. The building alone took my breath away…expansive. Wow. Each artist gets their own room, so you can really sit and study the work. I really enjoyed the Sol LeWitt wall drawings, the Robert Smithson pieces, and Louis Bourgeois works.

In fact, today reawakened a need to know about Bourgeois, because for some unknown reason I don’t know much about her or her work. And, the more information I run across about her, the more I think I really need to spend some time studying her! I think I might be in luck, however, as the Guggenheim is having a retrospective of her work until 9-12. And, rumor has it that our first day of class will be in NYC….and one of the museums on the list to visit is, indeed, the Guggenheim.

My only thing is that I feel like I’m hemorrhaging money these days. Tolls, admission fees, etc…. I bought a chai at the museum…yeah, this is what a $4.05 chai looks like.

I could have also gotten an $8.00 hot dog.

I will say that the student admission fee is quite reasonable. Just get your coffee and eat before you go!

I’ve been in NY since Wednesday night…still unpacking, but here are the new digs:

It is small and I brought waaaaay too many clothes. I’ll manage.

We went hiking today, which was great (other than the one spot on my arm that didn’t get enough sunscreen!)

Minnewaska State Park is great and about a 15 minute drive from my house.

Bill flies back to Indiana tomorrow
so, if I’m up for it, I’ll go to Dia: Beacon.

I worked all weekend packing my Relocube, which is currently on its way to NY. Saturday, Robin had a party for me, which was so much fun! I received some fantastic Purdue themed gifts (as jokes) and got to see a lot of people I wanted to make sure and catch before I left. The food was amazing, of course….ribs, chicken, bbq, bread pudding, fruit, cake, hummus….mmmm. Thanks everyone!

I still have a few things to wrap up here in Lafayette before heading out early tomorrow morning. I spent all morning running around to several places trying to get my immunization records and forms signed only to end up having to get a tetanus shot. Ow. But, with a little more packing and a few more errands, I should be good to go.

See you in NY.

The caterer was also incredible. Not only was the food absolutely scrumptious but it was organic and local. If you ever need a caterer, call the Juniper Spoon. You will not be disappointed! Just look at this:

These were heirloom tomatoes. So amazing.

Cupcakes with lemon frosting, topped with fresh flowers.

The entire wedding was really fun and touching. I was really excited to be there and with the fact that I thought the images I shot turned out really well. I feel like this is the best I’ve ever done photographing a wedding. Here are a couple of shots:

On a side note, my Relocube will be here this Friday! Then pack, pack, pack, and leave for NY Early Tuesday morning. We are going to spend the night at the Terra Nova House in Grove City, PA on our way out. Making it into a two day trip is just more sane, and this b and b should provide a nice relaxing break from driving.

My first happy find was the website and blog of Hilary Pfeifer. She is currently working on a number of pieces for a show at Ogle Gallery in Portland. I highly recommend checking out her blog, her treasure trove of found images, and her work.

The next find was an artist named Lindsey Adelman who has a studio in NYC. I was reading along and learning all about her work on her Bubble Series chandeliers when I saw, ” But over teh last two years, her work has taken an interesting double detour, shifting between her successful Bubble series chandelier and her pain stakingly assembled art made from human hair.” What? Human hair? Great!
Lindsey’s blog is also very engaging, but, I am specifically interested in the hair drawings. These beauties apparently came about during her work on another project when she kept finding hair stuck on her tape (this happens to me all of the time!) These are the two materials she uses to create her hair drawings, almost like stickers if I understand it correctly. The pieces themselves resemble wallpaper patterns…I’d really like to see them in person.

In the meantime, watch this choreographed video that details the making of the hair drawings:

I love the ending

I love the melodramatic acting intro for the song….Ritchie plays a drama teacher who has it bad for a blind student in the school…and he repeatedly asks, “Is it me you’re looking for?”
You must watch it to its amazing conclusion to get the full effect. I just find it so amusing.

Today, I stumbled across this website for The Hello Experiment.
I lmao. Beautiful!

I admittedly don’t watch many music videos these days, but why can’t the days of the theatrical music video come back? Not only a song, but an amazing back story to match.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to sort through all my little bits to create some semblance of order. I really want to be organized when school starts, so I’ve been making a great effort to get all related items together in 1 box. I’ve also spent a fair amount of time packing old work (as if for shipment), some of which will go with me to NY and some of which will be placed in tubs for storage.

It is really shear chaos:

I’m getting there though.
I have to move 2x total, with the first move happening within the next few days. AH! I’ll be packing hardcore all day tomorrow, that’s for sure.

It was interesting for me that while I was trying to sort and pack, I kept coming across old samples, projects, and writings that made me start to reminisce. I started to think, you know, I really did some good work when I did my M.A. at Purdue.

We all did.

This makes me happy.

Materials: Sterling silver, gold filled wire, stainless steel, acupuncture needles, tooth, hair, velvet, muslin, cotton, pearls

Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

so happy together:

I haven’t done the crochet for the collar yet, but that is next on the list.
I’m VERY open to some opinions….:-)