Hello all,

I apologize for taking so long to post on here.

Our group show went really well, we had a a ton of people come through to look at our work. I’m extremely proud of the work I made while at the NYSRP and I will be showing it at YES Gallery on Main St. in downtown Cincinnati Ohio for January Final Friday (January 27th) http://yescincinnati.com

The NYSRP has been without a doubt the most important experience of my life. It allowed me to open new ways of thinking and problem solving. It pushed my art practice to a whole new level and I hope to bring back that energy to the Art Academy. I made some incredible friends that I know I will have for a long time. We are actually planning a road trip from Cincinnati to Alberta Canada this summer so that we can all see each other again.

I’ve been back in Cincinnati for about 2 weeks now and I am still adjusting to life back here. I really miss the big city; just being able to walk or take the subway where ever you want to go was great. When I first moved in with my brother in Greenpoint Brooklyn I wasnt sure how I felt about living around so many hipster, but it really grew on me and I consider Brooklyn a second home. I really miss having a studio to myself as well, and having amazing studio mates to go to class with, then talk about art all day with. Especially the days where we would sit in each others studios sipping wine and discussing issues of esotericism, the failure of language, and the meaning of image and why we feel compelled to make them. However, I am glad to be home with my family friends. One of the most important things Ive taken away from this experience is that I learned that I enjoy the process of making art (the conception of the piece, getting wrapped up in the making of art objects, etc) and if I had my choice I would do it for the rest of my life.

I would like to thank my professor Paige Williams for encouraging me to apply for the program, my brother Caleb and his roommate Jeremiah for letting me sleep on their couch for 4 months and showing me around the most amazing city, the director of the NYSRP John Tomlinson for being an art-grandfather and for starting this amazing program 20 years ago, all of my studio mates for being amazing artists/people and challenging me to grow in my art practice, intellectually, and emotionally.

Im getting excited to start school in about 2 weeks (which is scary) and share my experience with everyone at the AAC .

Yesterday some studio-mates and I went to the New Museum to check out Carsten Holler’s  new show “Experience.” Its a totally interactive exhibition with a carousel, giant 3 story spiral slide, and the psycho-tank which is giant sensory deprivation tank full of salt water. We waited in line for two hours to try the tank and it was absolutely worth it.

Once you get past the fact that you are naked in a public place it’s really an incredible experience. Because there is so much salt in the water you just float on top in silence. As soon as I relaxed completely I started floating a circle around in the warm water just staring at the ceiling.

I decided not to rinse after after which was definitely a bad idea. There is so much salt on the water that as soon as the water dried it left salt all over my body. So all around it was a great “experience,” though we didnt get to try everything because we waited so long for the tank. I’m sure I’ll be heading back there soon to check everything out

Well, I woke up to this this morning:

New York decided to skip fall today and go straight to winter. I definitely wasn’t prepared for it but I’m sure not complaining.

Thursday night was a very long night. I was at the studio until around 1:30am getting ready for mid semester critiques that were yesterday morning and I didnt end up getting home until 3. It was one of the longest and best crits Ive ever had. We talked about all 14 people’s work and it took about 5 hours. My crit went really well, all of the professors really like my work and it seemed that everyone really understood what I was trying to do in my work. Im really excited for the rest of the semester I feel like my work is changing and I’m excited to see what happens next.

And by scoop, I just mean a news update.

After that close call with my iPod, you may recall that I tore off to go find a job so that I could afford another. Fortunately, the resumes I handed out were not as whimsical as the iPod, and they, unlike the iPod, fulfilled my expectations. Unfortunately, I had to make a choice, something I’ve never been particularly skilled at.

While some may feel that the restaurant industry is one big mass of transitory, college student drudgery, I’m disagree.  I like to make the most of wherever I’m employed, and in that vain, I caught my self torn between three potential jobs: 1) bar-tending at a small bar on Main street, 2) serving dinner at the Belgian Bistro (which is literally below my apartment), and 3) hostessing at Jean Robert’s table.

1) Here’s a secret dream of mine: bar-tending.  It’s SO true. I just love the…ahem…uninhibited atmosphere, and that’s likely because when at the bar, people are in the “jovial” or “tipsy” stage.  It’s the loose cannons that start flying after they leave the bar that I’m wary about. But yes, bar-tending seems casual, laid-back, fast paced, and chipper, so I’ve adopted it as a life goal.  My older brother told me that I shouldn’t feel pressured to hold off on graduate school if there were other things I’d like to accomplish in life before committing to a career.  Perfect opportunity.

2) Taste of Belgium is literally within spitting distance, and after hassling the owner for so long, I feel like it should be an obligation if nothing else.  Not to mention the fact that having additional serving experience would help me find a side-job after graduating. In ADDITION, servers are paid in tips, where performance means everything, and the harder you work, the more your pockets reflect it.  I enjoy that concept.

3) the Table is fine dining, and as a hostess, I’d have the opportunity to become familiar with some of the business people in Cincinnati who know how the game is played.

I took the hostessing job since they were the first one’s to have an opening.  That’s not to say, however, that I’m not scrambling around to see how I can be in three places at once.  Why can’t school just be done with? But not too, quickly.  There’s still so much I want to do.

Phew!  Since I know everyone else was just as worried about my iPod breaking as I was (joke) I wanted to calm the crowds and let you know that it was a false alarm!!  Yippee!  In a last ditch effort to save it, I stuck it in some oatmeal overnight (I don’t have rice) and tried it again today.  I plugged it in and it turned on!!!!!!  I’d just been google-mapping pawn shops, too!  There is a god

Umm. So, my iPod definitely broke.  Yes, the new one.  This sucks   I am starting to hate Apple.  If they couldn’t foresee that people might want to listen to their music even when it’s raining…I’m sorry, DRIZZLING, then I don’t know that they’re on the right track.

Okay.  Rage-rant over.  I love(d) my iPod, so I’ll get another.  After I plant another money tree, that is. I started planting that seed earlier today when I went job hunting.  I put in applications at Nada, Main Event (that’s a bar), and Taste of Belgium.  The last two seem the most promising.

So, as for how to make money and provide for one’s self in the year 2011, getting a job is the way to go.  Or at least looking for one.

Well, I’m about to start a 2 by 8 foot painting on wood panel. I’m really excited to start such a big piece, it’s been a long time coming and I actually have an idea of what I want it to look like which is rare for me. Hopefully I won’t mess it up! Im also about to start a series of nine smaller watercolors. It’s kind of an assignment I gave myself, I’m trying to exhaust an idea until I feel like I’ve explored every possible variation of this particular layering style I’ve been working in. Things are definitely cooking in here even though it’s getting nippy outside (which is awesome), and apparently NYC actually has a season known as Fall, I think Cincinnati only gets to experience it for a few days so I don’t think many people know what it is.

Today has proven to be much more productive than yesterday. Which is really great because I spent about 4 hours making easel shelves and drilling them into the wall. Trying to make them level is a whole other story. But they are on the wall now functioning properly, which has allowed me to work on a LOT of paintings simultaneously… It’s like a painting sweetshop in here and I’m lovin’ it. Ill probably head to Home Depot to get some bracing for my large boards today. I’m really excited to start those since I havn’t really done an 8 foot panoramic landscape painting before.

On a side note, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rage Against the Machine today… Must be feelin angsty.