For breakfast, we grind

A building in tallahassee that I drew whilst waiting for my sister's concert

"Moon Drawing" the first precollege event that the kids got to go to, where they had to draw each other in almost complete darkness. It proved to be a challenge for us too, but it was fun to draw such a huge group of people



I am incredibly happy to be back here. It is great to go from having to force myself to pick up a pen and draw, to being in an environment where drawing feels like breathing, something I have to be doing instead of sitting still. I think I am addicted to certain kinds of work, work that I enjoy. And thusfar, I have really enjoyed being a precollege TA. I like the students, the classes, getting to see friends a lot, I like the long hours, the feeling of not getting quite enough sleep. Somehow it feels like my time is more worthwhile, more meaningful and raw than just time wasted at home. The past week has been very good for me, I hope the next 3 weeks don't fly by too quickly.
I think even as students here, we take Ringling for granted. It's great to see a group of kids who are grateful for an environment that supports what they love to do. Even if they're unsure of themselves or haven't quite figured things out yet, it is still nice to see them appreciate being here. I think we kind of forget what it's like to desperately want to be a student here. Maybe not, maybe we do keep it in the front of our minds. I hope so, really.

Palimpsest

Tomorrow I move in for Precollege. It snuck up quite quickly, as many things do, just after I had found a kind of peace here. Precollege, like most Ringling events, does not seem too well organized at this point, being as I don't know where I'm living, if I'm living in an apartment or what. I'm trying to not freak out, but we McGuires, we like to know in advance, to put our minds at ease.

Also, I think everyone college aged should read this article, and think about a time when your parents couldn't reach you 5 times a day, when you were young and on your own and ran your own life. I love my mom, I love her more for not being one of those parents who fights my battles for me-
Mommy, Tell my Professor he's not nice!

I am not taking my computer to school, not that this is updated regularly, nor viewed by more than 4 people, but nonetheless, updates will be sporadic. I'm really looking forward to getting to work at precollege. I know I have a great interest in teaching in the future, and I hope this gives me an indication of if I gots what it takes. Or... if a bunch of high schoolers are better artists than I am.

Strange Changes in Imagery

I don't know what happens to my aesthetic when I'm away from school. It's like I forget there is a whole world of art out there. Being away from influence can be a good thing, but it also means being away from inspiration. Imagery gets tired and trite, and I find myself forgetting all sorts of things that used to be taken for granted. I start forgetting that I used to find more things to be beautiful. I miss my library.
Nonetheless, if not to make something that looks good, than to at least make something... I've still been trying to keep up in my sketchbook. Mostly I'm either thinking really hard about what I'm going to draw before I draw it, or I'm not thinking enough, and things end up looking screwy or overworked.




drawn mostly from photos in the paper after the Haditha story (scandal?) broke.





I leave in a week for Precollege. In the meantime, I've been reading a lot. That is always the best part of being home for summer, finally having the time to read. I finished White Teeth by Zadie Smith, which was alright, maybe a bit overhyped. I'm reading You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers, a slight disappointment in comparison to the Heartbreaking blahblahblah. Strangely, both of them are good writers, I just feel the fluff in both of their writing styles. They have nice passages, beautifully written, but too often, they weigh themselves down.
Up next to read are The Devil Wears Prada since the movie's coming out, and I'd like a short, fast, kind of nothing read, and then Adverbs, by Daniel Handler (better known as Lemony Snickets). Adverbs is not written for kids though. I've read the first two chapters, as far as I can tell, it's a series of short stories, all centered around different kinds of love, each chapter is described as a different adverb (Obviously, Immediately, etc). I am trying to save it and enjoy it a little bit at a time.
I hope I can keep reading and finding things to read when school is back in session. It's important to not let art completely take over, and to have a healthy amount of my other interests to keep me sane.

I Am Not a Graphic Designer

Well, I'm not a graphic designer, but when I come home, I always seemed to get roped into doing graphic design for people. T-shirts, posters, concert programs, just miscellaneous things. All of it gives me a greater appreciation for people who actually know what they're doing when it comes to layouts, typography, logos and the like, since it is always a bit difficult for me. But I get paid (usuaully) so I can't complain. Here's recent stuff


>Shirt for local music camp that runs during the summer. This is the 3rd camp shirt I've done, not to mention an extra 6 or so shirts for other school band camps. My designs are predictable


>My sister's senior clarinet recital is this weekend, and I agreed to make her a poster. She wanted something that looked like a page of an Urban Outfitters catalog, that whole distressed vintage like look. This was actually pretty fun, I wish my graphics (the clarinet, the pattern in the back) had been higher resolution, but it got the job done.

Having your wisdom teeth out is not fun. I miss chewing real food, and sleeping through a whole night. Lately I've been waking up between 4 and 6 AM with some splitting pains in my jaw. But I think the worst is over, so it's just a matter of patience now. I have puffy cheeks and small grass green bruises, making me look like a face out of a Jenny Saville painting.

Summer has been a bit frustrating, but a lot of stuff is coming up soon. I'm working at the music camp I did that shirt for, then working 4 weeks at Ringling, and then going to Pennsylvania to see Jamie. Hopefully it will motivate me to do everything I had planned to do. One thing at a time.

-Erin