Thank you I Heart Art / Etsy and DWR!!

Had a lovely time last night at the I heart art mixer match!  Thank you to everyone who made it awesome!!!
Here's some info about it! 

http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2011/08/i_heart_art_the_portland_mixer.html
http://iheartartpdx.com/mixer-match/

The Slow Boat to China?

Yes, I'm a bit slow posting my photos from Crafty Wonderland, but here they are!  I'm constantly struggling with people who don't understand that these are NOT digital copies, but each one a hand printed original.  I've removed the word "print" from most my documentation and replaced it with Linocut & Etchings.

New Booth!  Lovely fabric and "Original Art" banner thinger!

Redoing the booth set up was really fun, but took tons of time!  My living room was a disaster for a month!  I still need to come up with a better display that holds more and uses more height rather then table space.  This is a 10' wide by 5' deep booth size.

I had about 40 different designs to display, and between 2 - 6 of each edition.  

Magazine rack I found at Portland Fixtures and my little peg board shelf

!

Close up!

Spoon Fed

I made mention in a previous blog "Generosity Created the Cat" of the SPOON Foundation's upcoming event.  But wanted to share it again!  For those of you here in Ptown this is a great opportunity to support the cause and have a wonderful time trying many different cart foods!  For those of you out of town, you may not know this but Portland is now know for it's food cart pods! They are everywhere!  Think of any food you could ever want, and wowza!, there's a cart serving it up!  It's true!!  Please read below for more info on the SPOON Foundation and the event!

Cart Night at the Ballroom: A Food Cart Fundraising Event to Benefit Orphan Nutrition.

SPOON Foundation, a Portland based non-profit focused on international orphan nutrition,
announces Cart Night @ the Ballroom, a unique food cart tasting event to benefit the
health and hope of our world’s orphaned and adopted children.

On Thursday April 7, 2011, from 6:00-9:00 PM, over 10 Portland food carts will set up tastings
of their best cart fare inside the Village Ballroom, located at 700 NE Dekum in Portland.
Attendees will get the opportunity to sample the unique food offerings from such local food
carts as Namu Killer BBQ, Nuevo Mexico, Mum’s Kitchen, Pepper Box, Robb’s Really Good
Food and Hungry Heart Cupcake. To wash down all the food, beer will be donated by the
Village Ballroom’s neighbor, Breakside Brewery.

In addition to unique food, the event includes live music from Jesse Lee Young Trio, door
prizes from KEEN, and a silent auction, with such items as VIP backstage passes to the film-
ing of Leverage and VIP tickets to the DEW Tour. Portland author Kelley Roy will also be in
attendance, signing donated copies of her book CARTOPIA.

Tickets are $45 in advance, $55 at the door on the day of the event. Ticket price include
the cost of food.

To purchase tickets and to learn more about orphan nutrition, please visit the SPOON
Foundation website, www.spoonfoundation.org. For a complete list of participating food
carts, updates on silent auction items, and deals on tickets visit the SPOON Foundation
Facebook page (facebook.com/SPOONfoundation). All proceeds from this Cart Night will
benefit the SPOON foundation, a non-profit working to improve the nutrition of orphaned,
fostered and adopted children.

About SPOON Foundation

The SPOON Foundation is a Portland based non-profit whose mission is to improve the nutrition of orphaned, fostered and adopted children so they can grow and thrive. SPOON’ s Orphan Nutrition Project is the first worldwide effort to uncover and prevent nutritional deficiencies that impede the development of orphaned children. The project was piloted in Kazakhstan in 2009 and has made great strides in changing the way governments nourish young orphans around the world.

Rejection.

How do you handle rejection?  Is personal rejection different than professional rejection? If so do you react differently?
In my case it's artistic rejection, and I do not like it. Today I received my very nicely written rejection email from The American Academy in Rome.  It went something like this:
Dear Serena Van Vranken,

Thank you for your application for a Rome Prize fellowship. When the jury met recently, they carefully considered your application materials. I am writing to inform you, on behalf of the American Academy in Rome, that the jury did not recommend you for a fellowship in Visual Arts.

Academy juries change every year, and a previous application in no way compromises your chances of winning a future fellowship. We hope that you will consider applying again, as many Rome Prize Fellows have applied more than once before being selected.


I guess I was more delusional than I imagined, as I am really disappointed. And was secretly putting off making some decisions until I heard from them. Now what? 


The AAR gets hundreds of applicants each year.  most of the winners are professors or are pretty far along in their careers but I was still hoping. It was a sort of tough application - you must have all the usual stuff plus an essay outlining your project.  Basically my project was painting the modern Roman in ancient Rome.  I'm intrigued by how old the city is and how modern man functions with in it.  I was excited to paint ancient architecture with the everyday modern men and woman interacting with it. Guess I'll start thinking about a stronger concept for a project!  


I haven't talked too much about my oil painting on this blog. Some of you may not even know I'm an oil painter.  Here are the photos I sent for the application process.  http://serena-van-vranken.artistwebsites.com/
I hope you'll take a moment to check them out!  I apologize that I'm not able to post any photos from the computer I'm working on at this time.

Thanks for listening to me whine.  Sweet dreams.

ps. It occurs to me, now that I am posting this publicly, that for me embarrassment follows rejection. But I'm sharing it anyway.  As this is what I've promised this blog is about.  Trials and tribulations.

Leftovers!

Amy at Wingtip Press came up with a great idea last year for all her leftover paper! A print exchange called Leftovers!  I heard about it from Anniepod Press. 

It's pretty simple.  I make 14 prints from my leftover paper, mail them to Amy and she sends me back a random mix of 12 prints. One set will be used to raise money for a charity and the other will be used for shows.  Pretty dang exciting if you ask me!

So today I rounded up my leftover paper.  Sketched out my design, redrew on to my linoleum and started carving!  

I cut out my original design to trace - Is this cheating? :)

I usually draw on a scrap piece of paper and then decide which way the design will look best. The way I drew it or flipped.  It still happens once in a while that I forget my design will be a mirror image once I print it!

Thanks for the press Nancy!

This is my first time using unbacked lino.  I wanted to get a more even ink transference by using the press I'm borrowing from my dear and fabulous artist friend Nancy.  I can't use a backed block in this mini press.  It is much easier for me to carve a backed piece, but I'm sure I'll get use to the unruly unbacked lino! 

Leftovers 2011

I'm pretty happy with the results and I'm really excited to see what I get back!  I'd love to be able to see the entire collection at a show too.  The deadline is March 15th and the cost is $12.  Please see Leftovers for more information!

Happy Tuesday and Happy Printing!

The Idealist and the Snare

I woke up this morning wondering, I'm an idealist?  I looked it up.  "Idealism sometimes refers to a tradition in thought that represents things of a perfect form, as in the fields of ethics, morality, aesthetics, and value. In this way, it represents a human perfect being or circumstance." Thanks Wikipedia!  (Side Note:  I can't remember what it was like before the ablitliy to look up anything you'd ever want to know in seconds!)

Work friends took me to lunch, even when I was out of town!

Maybe I have become an Idealist along the way.  Yesterday in my interview the question was posed "What does your perfect work day look like?"  "In a perfect world" I said, "I'd be making art all day.  In the real world I'd work for a company that I like with people I like, feeling that said company was making some difference in the world."  Reasonable answer.  And true. 

I love beets!

Where is this post going?  Good question.  I think my point is, that maybe due to this idealism, I've been missing the obvious solution to my financial woes.  A part time job at a company I like!  Duhhhh, as I would have said in this 80's photo of me.  I think I was sooooo fixated about not working at a job I hated again, that I forgot the obvious.  There are companies I would like to work for.  For instance, when I was loaned to SERA Architects, I worked a bazillion hours but loved every second of it! I will spare the details of why I really liked it, and why they really liked me.  Just know it's true.

Why didn't I think of this as an viable option sooner?  Idealism? The current economic crisis? The lack of jobs in my field? Blinded by art?  But, aren't I still an artist even with a day job?  And as an up and coming artist, in my humble opinion, wouldn't it be nice to pay the bills and eat!  Starving artist really isn't a misnomer.

So, to whose the benefit did I write this?  The aforementioned potential employer who may or may not be reading this? The kitties? My Mom? Nah, I think for myself.  Though I'm sure the kitties will be happy that I'm looking for ways to put food in their bowls!  

Some times work friends are the best friends!

Happy weekend everyone! Now get outside if there's sun!  If not, make something!  Even if it's just a happy mess!  :)

The Cold Hard Facts don't come with a Side of Sugar Coating?

Which words don't need caps in a title?  I forget.  I'll Add that to the list of things to do/ look up later. 

Day 3 week 9!  Crap, I have to keep counting the weeks.  There's got to be an app for that.

Yesterday was frustrating.  Well, just the convo with my mortgage company.  {Note to reader:  Short on time? Skip this lengthy paragraph!}  After being on hold for about 30 mins and a few transfers, I eventually got through to a "customer service" rep who sounded bored out of his skull.  He proceeded to ask me EVERY security question known to man. Finally he wanted to know if my address was a street or avenue.  Hell if I knew!  I never list it as anything other than the numbers and the street name.  He couldn't help me. Ugh. I located a piece of mail, and lo and behold it was listed as a street.  I live on a street!  Now that he's sure who he's talking to, I proceed to tell him why I've called.  I'd like to talk about my options and how my monthly unemployment doesn't cover my living expenses.  His first question was "is your intention to stay in the house?"  WTH? Would I be calling if it wasn't?  I'd like to, that's why I'm calling, i said with blatant irritation at this point.  After another 10 mins of financial questioning he informed me that I couldn't afford my house payment with my current income. I know, that's why I called, this time laughing out of ridiculousness of how this call was going.  He then said "I can offer you a pre-qualification for modification temporary workout due to missing valuation."  Huh?  "Do you agree to this?" Uhm, agree to what? I ask.  What are the terms? Will it hurt my credit?  How long will it take? How long will it last? The lovely call center worker couldn't answer any of my questions but did tell me that the process can take between 3 - 9 months, with no guarantees. WHAT? How can I agree to something that may or may not actually be anything? Really?  I finally told him to forget I called. He'll note my account as such, he said.  I sure my account is now red flagged and they'll be harassing me if I'm a second late in paying. 

The good news: For now I'm able to make my payment as long as NOTHING else changes. No sickness, or accidents, no pet disasters and the roommate keeps paying etc. I won't list all the other cost saving measures already in place. At least not today. 

The bad news: The house I love is feeling like a burden.  When I really think about how much it's costing me, and I consider my living off social security  in 20 years, i can't afford it.  I can't afford it now.  I can't afford it later.  I can't sell it.  I can't refinance it.  At some point this cute little house that I've worked so hard for, so hard on, just isn't worth it. But how do I know when that point is?  AND how do I convince my perfect credit score ego that it's ok to walk away? Is it ok?  I break out in hives if I even think I might be late for anything, even paying a bill.

So now what?  Do I just keep making art and having a good time?  I'm not willing to work for another company I don't like just to pay the bills.  It makes me feel like a hypocrite.  Not to mention the lack actual jobs available that I qualify for.

I ask again, now what?  My conclusion for today?  Put my hope in art! Live simply. Live day to day. Love the people that matter to me and work hard at what I love. Try to stay focused on the goal.  The goal? To make a living by creating.  To make a simple, happy, creative, hopeful living.  So here's to Art!  Prost!

Where the Streets Have No Names

Chief Collaborator and kitty friend - Thai!

I know all the neighboorhood kitties by name.  They use my garden path aka the Kitty Cat Highway.  They go to and fro, sometimes acknowledging me, sometimes not.  I often threaten them with a toll.  But, as they have pointed out, kitties don't have pockets for change.

I've set up shop in my kitchen next to the large window that looks directly out at the Kitty Cat Highway, my driveway and front door.  I love my kitchen with it's robin egg blue cabinets and red accent pieces.  It's cozy and comforting.  But it's not a studio and it's small.  I need to relocate to the guest room, which is were I am keeping everything i'm not currently working on or using.  But it seems so far away from the action of the neighborhood.  I also really like having the sink near by as I'm a bit messy!

Disaster area? Guest Room? Printmaking Studio?

One of the things I loved about my loaned-out time to SERA was the business of the office, the street life, and the MAX line, and of course, the collaboration.  It made me feel like I was part of something bigger, part of the action of the city!   So I'm afraid moving to the back of the house will make me feel isolated and alone.  Even though it really isn't any different.  I'll still have my computer and the internet is enough interaction for me most of the time.  The house cats are mobile and the chickens are pretty lively in the back yard.  I'd probably get more actual work done back there and spend less time moving things from room to room!  Certainly something I need to work out soon!

In the mean time i'm designing a new linocut.  E is for Escher!  It's a commissioned piece too!  Though the details are a bit fuzzy.  That's ok, i'm having fun making it! and really if it's not fun what's the point?  Life is too short to spend it doing hours of things that you don't like!  Of course that's easy to say when you are newly unemployed!  hehe