In May, I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Since then, my life has been busy and unpredictable- a trip to Dublin, a quarter life crisis, a best friend’s wedding, and the prospect of a new job. Although my life is still in a constant state of change, I am ready to settle down a bit and get back to writing. I’ve chosen four poems that will hopefully allow you to see different sides of my writing style and a range of my interests. As a writer, I have a few obsessions that I continually return to-- the idea of home in all its physical and emotional forms, the body and all the fantastic words that belong to it, and the journey between “growing and grown” with all of its memories and misgivings. I am grateful for the opportunity to post my work beside such talented artists. Thank you.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Poems:By Colby Davis
Girls on beach blankets
pelvic ridges raised,
calcium knobs
covered by thin skin.
Slice through
the space between
growing and grown.
Like a wishbone pulled wide,
hips keep time
centimeters spread.
Vacant space collects,
tissue clings
cotton candy
spun around stick,
pillow soft and pink.
Cradle of bone expecting.
Science
We picked artifacts of bone
from the owl pellet’s dry web
from the owl pellet’s dry web
of mouse fur and flaking waste
of mouse fur and flaking waste
broke open with metal tools
we picked artifacts of bone.
Mouse bones piled on brown paper
start with the skull and sift through
start with the skull and sift through
we made new mice from old bone
we made new mice from old bone
pieced together with white glue
mouse bones piled on brown paper.
How to Be the Youngest Child
Stay an extra month inside your mother, cause her lots of lower back pain.
Thumb through your sister’s baby book and wonder why yours is empty.
Remember that you were too much for your mother to accomplish anything.
Grow quiet; competing with the noise will only strain your throat.
Make up an imaginary friend.
Beg for a kitten and get your way while your sister is at band camp.
Earn As so that you have something to say at the dinner table.
Fall into fetal position instead of learning to fight.
Be bossed around by your big sister.
Try acting so that your family will fall in love with you pretending to be someone else.
Contagion
I want to crawl
under your sternum,
slip between blood and bone.
Pry open a small space
to rest, a new kind of fish
breathing blood.
Pinned by the weight
of your ribs, packed against
heartbeat and breath.
Climb your cage and
sleep on the slender
crest of your clavicle.
Series finale
I really enjoyed making these little drawings and hope to make it an ongoing project for myself. The last one is one of my favorites, I loved the composition and the different patterns-dots and checkerboards, stripes and the leaves on the tablecloth. I also like working in pencil, sometimes I wish it had the same command as paint. Pencil can look like the rough draft, but I love the control of making lines, shading small areas and disregarding color to get to the point of the picture. Looking forward to a fresh new series this week!
Changes
Fall Time
Tomorrow is the first of October!Where has the time gone?No complaints from me since autumn is my favorite season, but still, time seems to have sprinted into october.
I start the new job tomorrow.Keep repeating....posititve attitude, positive attitude.
I think I have to start a list of things that are posititive and happy to keep me focused....
Fall time is awesome.
I love cold weather.
Jeans and sweatshirts.
Halloween.
Our awesome featured artist/poet, Colby Davis!
Yeah, stuff like that.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
New post, new job
This was one of my favorite pictures of my great Aunt Ruth, love the outfit and the pose. I'm still finishing it up, working on the background and a little more on the skirt and sleeves. I wanted to post it so at least I had something worth showing and it was at a point that I was comfortable with. This week my parents helped me frame and hang all these pieces that are still up for sale, they look fantastic on the wall. Now I will have a constantly changing collage of art in my living as pieces come and go.
On a seperate note, I started another part-time job this week (still at Starbucks too). I'm working with a lady who has her own dog walking and pet care business. I've started with two clients this week and hopefully it will continue to grow. It's so easy and fun that it doesn't feel like I should be paid for it, but it's definitely going to help. I guess in January at 7am I might feel differently. :)
Monday, September 24, 2007
Last Week
So this is my last week of fun times before I start the new job on monday.Bummer. I just got back from visiting my brother in the Navy last night. I hate coming home from a vacation.Sometimes it's a great escape from reality.It's always nice to be home, don't get me wrong, but you don't have a job or realy responsibilities when you're on a trip.
Glad Rachel is back up on the site and back up running in real life. Gotta keep all the artists right side up!Keep up the good work Rach and Abbey.
Moving Forward
Life is all about perception and perspective, unfortunately it's easy to get both out of focus very easily. I currently have my thoughts inline and my goals are becoming organized. Sometimes it's just a matter of taking that step back and seeing the forest as a whole instead of being lost in the individual trees.
I can't thank Kristen enough for her help. She came and rescued me from myself when I was still trying to tell myself I was okay. (In case you hadn't figured it out, I wasn't) But she helped me get myself back upright, and now this week we have a group meeting which will help even more.
I posted two fish this week, one for last week and one for this. I like "Betta Fish No. 2" best so far. I may try to go back and rework "No. 1" to have a similar look. I don't feel done with "No. 3" just yet, and will repost once I've had more time with her.
Thank you all for all your support and encouragement of this site, and of each of us.
-Rachel
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Crisis Mode
It's not that everything's wrong, it's just that nothing's quite right either.
Kristen is here today helping me get my feet back under me. Please excuse me for not having a fish for you just yet but I do promise by the end of the 4 weeks you will all have seen 4 betta fish. And they will be worth the wait! :)
xoxo
thank you all!!
Rach
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
arrrghhhh
What a week.
My painting post might delete itself since I tried to edit it but then realized that I could simply fix the issue...so if all you see is this blog and not my painting then I'll have to repost..
I'm starting a new job on Oct. 1st. I hate starting new jobs. I hate being the new person.
I guess I'll just keep making new happy floral paintings.This one is much larger than you perceive it online. I really like this one...I wasn't sure that I wanted to sell it actually. That's the scoop.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Documenting
I've found my family's stash of old photo albums, mostly all black and white pictures tucked into photo corners stuck to fragile paper pages. I've spent a lot of time looking through tons of these beautiful, random, funny pictures. They aren't just family group shots in front of the Grand Canyon or at birthday parties, but of my grandparents and long lost aunts and uncles and friends standing on the porch, posing in bathing suits, looking at new cars, etc.
So I got to thinking a lot about documenting and leaving something behind. If no one was there to take all these random pictures, those people and their relationships and beauty would be lost. All these people are still alive because they took the time to leave themselves behind. It's scary to think about enough time passing where after you are gone, no one will know about you and your life. Memories can only be carried so far before they fade. Anyway, I hope that I can do something for future people to find and keep and hold that says I was here and had a fun life and made connections with others.
My series will be a collection of little doodley drawings of some of these snapshots I've found. Eventually it would be neat to put them all together on a wall in a sort of homage collage. I don't think you necessarily need to know the people to have a connection to them so I hope you enjoy.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
It's about time!
Allergy season is here and apparently in my "old age" I have become susceptible to the pollen etc floating in the air. I apologize for this post being a day late, but I was under the weather and doped up on antihistamines, which put me to sleep. I've never really looked forward to winter, but a nice coat of snow to cover all the dust would be welcome right now!
As for the painting... I had a few different ideas for what to paint for this series, but I have been promising my little sister to do a "housewarming" painting for her since she moved in to her new place. That was before Christmas! So this series of four is going to bring the completion of her housewarming gift. Hopefully it will also serve as an apology for my cat knocking her last betta fish (bowl and all) out of the window!
More bright colors ahead!
Florals
For the next few weeks I'll be working on semi-abstract floral paintings.I think I'll be trying a few different size canvases as well. So if you see wide variations in prices that's why.
I'd like to just say thanks to Jen Kay for participating as our featured artist.Awesome purses!
Thanks Jen.Also, looking forward to seeing what Abbey and Rachel are putting up this week.I love my fellow quarter life artists!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Featured Artist:Jen Kay
I have my BFA in Art, Art Education from Adrian College and recently acquired my Masters from the University of Detroit Mercy. I work as a high school Art Teacher, who also teaches French and directs the school play on the side. On my "summer vaction" I have been on a crocheting frenzy, making square & rectangular items that turn into purses. I don't like using patterns or having too many rules, so I make up my own variations without all the hassle. These items are made with wool that is felted- in the washing machine in hot water- to make the great texture and shrinks the fibers close together. I like making custom artwork so that my work has a paricular purpose for someone. In addition to crocheting I do a bunch of other crafty, artsy stuff like quilting, embroidery, bookmaking, needle punch and jewlery to name a few.
Crochet Purses and Wallets
Prices & Dimensions:
Green, Orange, Tan Purse $55, 8"x12"x4"
Green Clutch, w/snap closure $20, 5.5"x10"
Green Coin Purse, w/snap closure $5, 3"x3.5"
Sherbert Purse $35, 6"x9"x3
Sherbert Wallet, w/snap closure SOLD, 5"x4"
*Please contact jennifermkay@yahoo.com for buyer information.
Looking Forward
We have been doing this blog for two months now. We have tried doing a unified theme between the three of us, we've tried each taking on our own theme. We have tried running one theme per week and one theme for multiple weeks.
We are going to continue with each choosing our own theme but doing it for four weeks at a time. This will allow us to create mini bodies of work, small series to build our portfolios. Hopefully with that will come the ability to pick out a common thread in our artwork and we can each develop ourselves and create a larger more cohesive body of work.
This week was hard, with the holiday and a theme that was a little harder to render. But I'm looking forward to starting a new theme, and watching my artwork develop into a solid sense of what a "Rachel Sherwood" looks like.
Retrospective
What a long summer. Is it just me or was that a really long summer, that went by fast?Does that make sense? Iam defenitly looking forward to colder weather, fall leaves, and jeans with sweatshirts. This week I felt like slowing it down a bit and making a little sketch instead of a painting. Voila, you get little mister hippo.Anyway, let's let our featured artist really take the stage...
Keep checking in with our site!
Coming Right Up
Due to the Holiday Weekend expect to see posts up starting around late Monday. We appologize for any inconvenience, but we are all away from our computers. Some with friends and family. Some working long painful hours in retail. Either way, give us a day or two to catch back up!
-Rachel, Abbey, and Kristen
