I made it through the semester!

Here are a couple pictures of my final wire project. It turned a bit more towards mixed media as you'll see.

The semester is wrapping up!

It's been a hard one with all the gen eds. I much prefer my art classes. With two more pieces due I currently have an A in 3D art. I think I've finished with a B in math. I'm hoping if I do well on my last paper to get a B in my writing class. And french, well, miracles can happen! Let's just hope for a C. I'm doing my best is all I can say with that class.

"Family Time" by, well, ME!

Update

I really should post more here. I've just been busy with school. Later this week when I take quality pictures of it I'll post my box art from school. I gutted my dad's old broken grandmother clock and filled it with momentos ala Joseph Cornell. I like that a lot. I think it's one of the better peices I've done.

School is off to a good start!

The hardest course by far is French I. I'm just not very good at languages. But, it's fun in that I like the teacher and fine him quite interesting and funny. The class rolls along quite quickly. I just wish I was more skilled at it!

So far the math 110 is going well. I'm actually understanding most of it. And again, it's not a strong subject for me so I'm pleased. And again, I really like this teacher. In fact, I really like all my teachers!

I was a little nervous this morning in W290 (Writing). I thought I completely took the wrong approach for my research paper as I was led by the authors (artists) motivations versus just their works, but I think the Professor helped me find a good foundation for the paper. I believe, at least starting out, that I'm going to research Emily Dickinson's 'miraculous year' and take a look at it from the angle of what was going on historically, personally for her and where it appears to have led her works (themes). I can take examples from that period to work with. She wrote over 360 poems that year!

As for 3D Art I'm really liking that too! I'm making 3D toilet paper food and my food is a crab soup in 18th century bowls and kettles. My box art will be generational in nature with a 'private' feel to it. I'm setting it up that you have to look in a 'window' to see what's in it. :)

I'm a traveling....

We're at a little hotel in DeKalb, IL right now.  I'm going to a wedding tomorrow.  :)  The kids are at the pool and we're going to have Chicago pizza in a bit.  YUMMMM!  Nothing like it.

I'm ready for the next semester at school.  I have a full schedule with 3D art, writing, french I and a math course.  I'm a bit nervous because two of those subjects are not easy for me.  Wish me luck!

It's been a busy semester again.

I think I'll do OK. I'm going to finish up my series a bit more today and tomorrow and go for my individual critique on Monday. Then we submit the final version on Tuesday. I wish we had more time inbetween!

Honestly, if I had my druthers, I wouldn't take a drawing class again in the summer. I just really wish they were LONGER! The class itself has been great, but, I feel like I just found my voice artisitically and now it's over.

Art history as usual is going well. Tonight we all go out to the Queen of Sheba which is an Ethiopian restaurant for extra credit. So far I have a B+ in the class. It should be fun. My kids are going with me.

I only have Drawing class for the next week and a half!

I'm really going to get to focus on my series this weekend and next week. Woo hoo!

I was approved!

Woo hoo! I received a Pell Grant and an O'Bannon Award for school next year. I'm so excited. I won't owe anything now.

If Brian says it will work I think I have my series.

I 'thought' I had it before but I'm having a hard time wrapping myself around it. But, I'm thinking maybe, if he gives the OK of doing drawings of encampments at various times of the day. Different tents and styles and accessories. It could be interesting.

Yawn!

Really, really tired today.

I think I'm going to need to push myself this semester.

I can feel that summer, although intensive in classes is very laid back with the low attendance at school. I'm off today and it would be very easy just to not do anything, but, I'll make myself keep my focus and keep up on my reading for Art History and get some sketching done for my project in class.

So far...

I have two A's in my 3 credit hour classes. As for the P380 1 credit hour classes I know I got a B+ and an A+ and I'm waiting to hear still on the rest of my grades. Wish me luck! I worked my butt off this semester and with 5 classes that was no easy feat.

They tell me finals won't kill me.

But, I'm not so sure! LOL Actually, my first one went pretty well. If they all go this well I should have anywhere from an A to a B in every class.

OMG!

This next week will be NUTS with school.  All my final projects are coming due and I'm so far behind with being sick the past couple weeks.

I was able to sneak in a few practice sketches.

My husband said my dogs don't look right.  :(  But, I'm still going to keep trying because I really want to draw them for the final project.  

I'm tired today.

I shouldn't have taken the night time cold medicine.  :(  Maybe coffee will help.

Happy Easter!

May the Bunny bless your basket.  ;)

I just started following Sketching in Nature.

It will be interesting to review this blog as it progresses with starting a bit of nature in class.  I believe Brian said we might go outside on Monday if the weather is nice.  :)

I'm one sick pup...

My head is going to blow out through my ears.... I can't stop sneezing.... I'm running a fever. I'm praying I hear from my teacher before morning. I'm far to sick for the test tomorrow.

We were at friends yesterday.

We went out with them and their kids for the day.  We're in Corydon and they're in Lafayette.  We were a good hour + into our drive home late last night and found we had one of their car seats in our car!  Can we say "hotel stay".  LOL

Back to school tomorrow.

4 a.m.

And the beagles ear gets itchy. The husband nudges, OK, pushes me out of bed to take care of it so he can sleep. Now I can't go back to sleep till he gets up or if all 5 of the pups that sleep with me come in we'll wake him again.

Dang! I'm tired!

I'm on a high going into spring break. :)

I just took my test for Dreamweaver I and I think I might have gotten an A.  At least a B.  There were 4 questions I wasn't positive about and I asked him if I got the one right.  I did.  Of the remaining 3 there were 2 that were true or false, so, obviously, I have a 50% chance of getting those right.  And the 4th one I *think* I got the right answer on.  :)  Thus, I'm almost positive I got an A if not, at the worst a B.  And that's the ONLY grade for this section of the class.  It's a 5 week, 1 credit hour class.  I could use an A this semester.  So far I'm at a B to B+ average and I like to do better than that.

Yesterday wasn't as planned.

First, I had my Dreamweaver class and that was as planned.  Then we went to the Locust Grove book sale.  That was pretty cool.  I'll have to take pictures of it, but, I found a cook book from 1890 something.  I can't even read the title on the cover it's been so 'gently used'.  LOL  And the cover is off which reduces it's value, but, I have the cover.  Basically, I didn't get it for the cover.  I got it for the content and I think it's really cool.

Then we went out to lunch at Charlestown Pizza.  You got it!  It's in Charlestown, IN.  We can't get Chicago style pizza here in Indiana we've found, but this is the closest thing and it's pretty good.  Plus, they have all kinds of exotic beers.  A lot are made right here in Indiana.  I always try one or two went we go there.  The one I had yesterday was called Pride and Joy and it was made in Indiana.

Then, I was supposed to go to the Skurvy Wench party yesterday for the Skurvy Dog ladies.  I just wasn't up to it since I was up at 4:30 in the morning with the dogs.  But, I was REALLY glad I didn't go.  At about 6 pm my poor husband had gone to bed with a migraine and he became violently ill!  I was so glad I was here to help him.  He just wanted the lights low and quiet.

Once he went to sleep I settled in with a movie.  I don't know if you've seen the movie W. by Oliver Stone.  I thought it was really good.  I went into it thinking Stone would be rather biased against Bush and I don't think he was.  I felt he really captured the essence of the man.  Obviously, we all know he had a rather wild youth and it did show those times.  But, it also captured how he made his decisions as president from a spiritual foundation and that he really did what he believed was best for the country.  If those turn out to be best in the long haul only time will tell.  But, it showed that was his intent I felt.  Anyway, I enjoyed it and I think it's worth the money to rent it if you're in the mood for a good movie.

My Sociology test.

I was really sweating that test!  Thank God she grades on a curve.  She seemed to really ask a lot of questions that we didn't even remotely discuss in class this test.  But, with the curve I did get 67/74, so, it was an A-.  So far I've been carrying a B in that class.  I think that will level me off so far with a B+.  I can take a B or better in anything with having 5 classes this semester.  Obviously, the higher the grade the better, but, I won't beat myself up.

Art History test.

I was really excited today to find out that I got 235 out of 250 on the Art History exam. 100 points on my instructors test is always devoted to an essay. This is only the 2nd time in two semesters that I've gotten FULL POINTS for the essay.

Way to go me!

I'm feeling like I'm getting a cold Margaret had.

All I want to do is go home and go to sleep but I have Sociology still and when I do get home I have to cook dinner and work on my drawing for class.  I think maybe I'll just block it in today because I don't know how motivated I'll be with a bit of a bug.

No school tomorrow! Yeah!

This is a great semester and I'm having a ball with my classes.  But, 5 classes is a lot and I'm kind of tired right now.  It will be nice to have the day off with no where I have to be.  Well, I do have a couple errands but I can get up and go whenever I want.  I think I'll play with my Photoshop project and maybe start sketching and blocking in my drawing.  :)

Museums need help during these hard economic times too.

But, this effects all Fine Arts students and artists. To lump museums with casinos is assine in my opinion!

===================================

Got this in an email from Myers Brown at the Tennessee State Museum:Amendment Excluding Museums Passes Senate, 73-24Tell Congress About Your Museum's Economic Impact!During Senate consideration of the economic recovery legislation today, an amendment was passed prohibiting funds from going to museums, zoos, and aquariums. The amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (S.Amdt. No. 309), states, "None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establisment, aquariums, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center and highway beautification project." The amendment was adopted on a 73-24 vote. You can see how your Senators voted HEREDifferences between the House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus legislation will have to be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee before the bill is submitted to the President. "Congress needs to be reminded that museums are a vital part of our economy," said AAM President Ford W. Bell. "It's time for us to make our case and I am calling on all museums to send their Members of Congress an Economic Impact Statement showing the ways in which their museum contributes to the economy." You can do this today by answering a few questions about your museum HEREThe information you provide will be automatically entered into letters that you can send to your Members of Congress. Most Members of Congress do not realize that museums employ more than a quarter-million Americans, spend an estimated $14.5 billion annually, and rank among the top three family vacation destinations. Let them know about the local impact your museum has by contacting your U.S. Senators and Representative today!Visit www.speakupformuseums.org for more information about AAM's advocacy for museums.

4 tests this week after the snow break.

OMG! I'm determined to have a life still. lol Went to E-town trade fair yesterday and that wiped me out. The today will be study, study, study till tonight.

Tree limbs are just snapping off!

I've never seen anything like it. You walk outside and you can hear them cracking in the distance. We have part of a tree that cracked into the street and it looks like others are resting on our roof due to the ice. I'm really praying we don't have a problem.

My husband made it out of the alley and is trying to get to work. I'm praying he makes it there safely. This is damn scary!

Snow day.

Am I the only one bummed about this? I love my computer class and really wanted to play more in Illustrator. :(

Constitutional Convention-This would be horrible!

We aren't even close to having equal representation to keep something like this in check right now. Our constitution as we know it would go right out the window and I think that's frightening.

http://www.newswithviews.com/DeWeese/tom128.htm

THE BATTLE TO STOP THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION


By Tom DeWeeseJanuary 24, 2009NewsWithViews.com
The phone call came to my home late on Tuesday night telling me that the next morning the Ohio House of Representatives would be holding hearings on a resolution to call for a Constitutional Convention. We knew this was not good news. But the news was even worse. To our shock, records indicated that if Ohio were to pass such a resolution, it would be state number thirty-three. Only thirty-four states are needed to officially kick the convention apparatus into gear. We were only two states away! And we had only 18 hours to prepare for battle.
Now, sponsors of the resolution were not wild-eyed Leftists who sought to purge the Constitution. Rather, they were patriotic Republican conservatives who were vitally concerned about the massive spending spree and bailouts taking place in Washington, D.C. The issue, said the sponsors, was to add a balanced budget amendment to the U.S Constitution.
So why were we so concerned about the idea of a "Con Con?" Why were we ready to fight to stop it, especially if it could lead to controlling the outrageous waste of tax dollars in Washington? The reason is simple. These legislators were operating on very bad advice.
The fact is, once 34 states petition Congress to convene a Constitutional Convention, the matter is completely out of the States' hands. There is absolutely no ability to control what the delegates do in the convention. Attempting to instruct delegates to only discuss a balance budget is absolutely impossible. Instead, once the convention starts the delegates become super delegates which can take any action they desire concerning the Constitution. In short, at the convention the Constitution can be literally put on an operating table at each delegate can take a scalpel (pen) to it and change any section or even the entire document if they desire.
Section V of the Constitution, which covers the issue of Constitutional Conventions and Amendments, gives absolutely no guidelines as to how it will be run, how delegates can be selected and who can do the selecting. Once the 34 states make the request, the entire matter is in the hands of Congress to decide.
The current Congress could control the entire delegate selection. States may not even be represented. If the states are allowed to choose delegates then what would be the method? Will the governor or the state legislature appoint delegates? Or could it be a bicameral panel or blue ribbon commission?
Or could it be a plebiscite - a vote of the people? If so, then who would be eligible to vote? Would it be all eligible voters? Or taxpayers only? Or would we possibly, in the interest of "enfranchisement" allow all citizens and potentially foreign nationals to vote for this "special election?" There are no guidelines and anything is possible.
And what would be the qualifications to be a delegate? Would it be exclusively lawyers? A mix of professionals? So-called "proportional representation" of all special interest groups - NGOs. Will some be excluded because of "extreme" convictions? What will the criteria be? All of these choices would be made by Congress - that same one now controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Now some have argued that no matter what such a convention does, it still must be ratified by two thirds of the states, making it very difficult to do bad things against the will of the people. A history lesson is in order.
There has been only one Constitutional Convention in the history of the nation - that was in 1787. At the time, the nation was held together by the Articles of Confederation. The states were having a difficult time with commerce among themselves. So it was decided to hold a Constitutional Convention to simply discuss how interstate commerce might be better organized. As the delegates were selected, some were given specific orders by their states to discuss nothing else beyond the commerce issue.
However, as soon as the delegates arrived at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, they closed and locked the door, pulled down the shades and met in secret for a month. When they were finished, they had created an entirely new nation. We were very lucky that the convention was attended by men like Ben Franklin and James Madison. They produced the most magnificent document ever devised for the governance of man.
Advertisement
Today, we have Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Do you trust them to produce a document of such magnitude? Or would they at least take care of the present one? We live in an era when the Supreme Court looks to foreign laws to assure our own are worthy. We live in an era when many believe that the Constitution is out of date for our times. They are itching to get their hands on the old parchment. And as history has shown, they can do anything they want to it, including writing a completely new document.
And there is more. Concerning the argument that whatever they do, the states must ratify it - thus serving as a safeguard to tomfoolery, consider this fact. The Articles of Confederation required that any changes be ratified by 100% of the states. That was the document that was the law of the land - until something else was put into place. But, when the new Constitution was put to the states for a vote of ratification, they needed only two thirds to approve it. Why? The fact is, Article V of the new Constitution was literally in power - even before the Constitution which contained it was approved. Now, what do you think Reid and Pelosi and company would do with that precedent? What if the new document said ratification only required a vote of Congress - or some special commission? The precedent of 1787 says that could happen. So much for protection in the states.
These are the reasons why my colleagues and I looked at the Ohio resolution with such horror. There has never been a worse time in the nation's history to consider changing this grand document. The Con Con delegates could literally put the Constitution on an operating table and use their scalpels to slice it up, creating an entirely new form of government. Do Americans really want to risk that in these uncertain times?
Also, the actual number of states said to already have ratified the Con Con varies with each inquiry. Most records indicate that thirty-two states have already passed resolutions to call for a Con Con. But they did so in the mid 1970s. Those resolutions had remained dormant for thirty years. How long is a resolution good for? Does it last forever? Or does it expire with the legislature that passed it? Most sources also indicate that three of those states have actually passed resolutions to rescind their petitions. Other sources say 37 states have passed Con Con resolutions on a balanced budged issue and that 10 states have passed resolutions to rescind. Regardless of the numbers, proponents said they found no provision in Article V for states to rescind a call for a Con Con after it was made. They say it's like trying to "unring a bell." Instead they intend to push for resolutions from a full 34 states and then challenge those rescinded in court. That is not a fight any of us want to take on. The bottom line is, the situation is very confused and only these points are clear - there are no rules, no one can control what is debated and therefore the effort to press for a Con Con is very dangerous.
So there we were, the night before the hearings in the Ohio House. Already on the legislative calendar was a scheduled vote on the resolution, waiting until they could get these pesky hearings out of the way. Only they hadn't counted on the power of our grassroots network.
My associate in Ohio, Chuck Michaelis, working with a network of organizations, was able to get 10 people to converge on the hearing room in the Ohio State House to testify against the resolution. No one was there to testify on its behalf. Meanwhile, as the hearing was underway, my American Policy Center issued a nationwide "Sledgehammer Alert" urging activists to call and e-mail Ohio legislators. As the hearing went on, hundreds of calls and e-mails began to pour in. By the time the hearing was over, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Lou Blessing, announced that a terrible mistake had been made and no vote would be taken on the resolution.
Undaunted, a defiant Senate, the next day filed the resolution there. But within a few days it was clear the battle was over. In the first week of January, the Ohio Legislature announced that the issue was dead, at least in Ohio.
However, on the same day the Ohio legislature was issuing that statement, we received word that Senator Emmett Hanger of Virginia intends to introduce the very same resolution into the Virginia legislature soon. The battle begins anew.
Update (Full News Release from American Policy Center): On January 11, 2009, I received a threatening e-mail from a man named Bill Walker. He is co-founder of a group called "Friends of the Article V Convention," and one of the proponents of the Con Con. Walker said he had "irrefutable" evidence that at least one of the documents we were using for our anti-Con Con arguments was a fraud. He was refereeing to a famous letter to Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
The Burger letter is a major and damming piece of evidence against a call for a Con Con because is verifies our fears that states could not control the subject matter discussed at the convention. In the letter, Burger stated, "The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda." This is damning evidence to those who continually assure legislators that they can control the subject of a Con Con.

Walker obviously needed to discredit the letter for his own purposes, and chose to threaten me in hopes of scarring me into stopping use of it. In his e-mail to me he said, "Unless I have heard from you that you are publicly refuting the letter and thus the assertions in it, I intend to state you knew the letter was a fake all along." He also threatened to "destroy..." my public credibility.
My first act was to verify with Phyllis Schlafly that she indeed had the letter and that it was from Burger. She did and it was. She has now posted it on the Eagle Forum web site.

APC's position is clear. We oppose a Con Con because the subject matter cannot be controlled and we have no guarantee that we can win state ratification fights if changes to the Constitution are offered. We fear, instead that in today's climate of radical socialism and American ignorance about the Constitution that this is the worst possible time in our nation's history to start to mess with the greatest governing document of all time. We will continue to oppose any and all attempts to do that, no matter how noble the reason for the call. Our intention is to protect the Constitution, not, as I've been accused, to destroy it.
© 2009 Tom DeWeese - All Rights Reserved

I'm playing in Photoshop after class. :)

http://www.visualxtreme.com/tutorial1.html

I found this site and I'm building a 'flame' for my class project for P380. This is a blast! Did everyone here know that you can download the whole CS4 program for free while you're a student here? I didn't till this class and I'm really having fun and learning a lot.

It's a video on acrylic painting.

http://vimeo.com/2888830

This is CLASSIC!

"But he will begin his new administration without a Treasury secretary. His nominee for the job, Tim Geithner, will face questions from a Senate panel about his past failure to pay some taxes.
Geithner has said the tax problem stemmed from an error and several senators have said they thought the issue would not prevent his confirmation." From Yahoo news.

==================================================

Obama's TREASURY SECRETARY doesn't pay taxes?

Here PBO is kissing patootie!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090120/pl_nm/us_obama_muslims

Pray for the Jewish people. We know who's butt Obama will be kissing. I knew there was a reason I didn't vote for him.

Vecor Art

http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/daughter_liberty/vector%20art%20by%20other%20artists/

I needed to find vector art for my P273 Computer class. I found these on Photobucket. The only thing that's a real bummer is that when you click to have it sent to your album it doesn't tag who the artist was and I didn't realize that.

But, anyway, these aren't by me and they're all ones that I thought were cool.

Opinions?

OMG! Obama is changing his mind!

Already? Why doesn't that surprise me?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5520116.ece

I mean, he only killed thousands of American's and started a war of terror that has cost how much? But, it's he's not a priority.

So tired!

This week has been so much fun getting back to school, but, I was exhausted earlier. After school and chasing with the kids I took a two hour nap. :) Now it's cook dinner and hit the homework!

We are in trouble ...

The population of this country is 300 million. 160 million are retired. That leaves 140 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school. Which leaves 55 million to do the work. Of this there are 35 million employed by the federal government. Leaving 15 million to do the work. 2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama Bin-Laden. Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work. Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city Governments. And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals. Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And there you are, Sitting on your ass, At your computer, reading jokes. Nice. Real nice.

Adolf Hitler Campbell removed from his home.

What are your thoughts on this?

I'm going to try to link it the right way, but, here's the link just in case.

http://www.newser.com/story/47864/adolf-hitler-3-removed-from-home.html

(Newser) – Authorities have removed Adolf Hitler Campbell and his siblings from their parents' New Jersey home, the Express-Times reports. Adolf, 3, and his baby sisters— JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie—were taken by social services. It wasn't immediately clear why they were removed. There were no reports of neglect or abuse, police said. A hearing will be held tomorrow. The family first made headlines when a supermarket refused to write Adolf's name on a birthday cake.

President Bush

Hopefully I did that right. It's the video of President Bush's final speech to the nation.

I can't say I've always agreed with him, but, I do respect him as our president and I truly believe he did what he believed was best in all situations.

Master of the Square!

I put that at the top of my sketch book and my husband is laughing. So far I've 'mastered' one square! LOL

I don't remember where I found the picture of the tree I put here.

But, doesn't it just capture the feel of the day with the cold out there? My sister is in Illinois and I saw they were at -11 degrees without the wind chill this morning. Ugh! Glad I moved!

My goals for the week.

To stay current on homework for all my classes and to perfect a 'box' for Brian's class. :)

What goals do you have?

Reenacting

Along with school, the web and of course my kids and husband keeping me busy I'm very active in reenacting the 18th century.

Has anyone else participated in this type of hobby? If so, what time period?

I thought I might as well start one here. :)

Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have some of the pictures from the sketchbook to post.

I'm not the best since I'm new to this, but, these are a couple of the paintings I did in Deb Clem's class. And I do have one that I'll post when I finish it. I actually drew the last one that I'm referring to myself. It's something that I did for my husband for Christmas but I don't like the way her eyes turned out. It's of his dog, Delila.

Anyway, these are two I finished.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/daughter_liberty/art/042.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/daughter_liberty/art/seurat_style.jpg