AAR Dogs

This is my fifth week in Chicago. In some ways being here seems so normal, in some ways it seems extremely surreal. There is so much here that I want to do and explore, but in reality I've done very little actual exploring. Exploring who I am though, yeah a lot of that is still happening, always happening. I work full time, have an hour commute, and am in my third week of summer training for cross country--so more than anything else I am tired. Being in a city is very different for me--and for Panic. They say that city life moves at a faster pace, but overall I've found myself slowing down a lot, thinking a lot. I don't drive anywhere here which gives me a lot of time to walk and think, wait for the bus and think, sit on the bus and think. I am always busy, but I'm also always moving at a surprisingly leasurely pace.  That isn't to say that things are really leasurely, I've actually been experiencing a tremendous amount of stress and exhaustion. As typically happens when I'm stressed out, I cut my hair. But this time I took a buzzer to it all...goodbye to my remaining five inches or so.



In the mornings before I leave Panic and I often go to the dog beach. Love it there, especially early when it's mostly empty and there is a mist over the lake. My internship is fantastic. I can't believe how much I'm learning. I love working with Liz and Gabe, the owners. I love the community they are a part of. I love their mentality. I love the work--even though it is often extremely tedious and exhausting. I'm getting to work on some of my own things, so once I have completed those prints I'll be sure to share them. I just finished carving a woodcut and I'm going to start an etching this week. Mostly I get to work with other artists on their pieces, and that has been a fantastic and inspiring experience. I'm currently helping addition a piece by Kyla Zoe Rafert, a 7-layer print that uses lithography, woodcut, and screenprinting all together. Last week I assisted with a lithograph by Raeleen Kao. Raeleen helps out at the studio quite often and is extremely talented.



Liz and Gabe from Hoofprint Workshop

My junior Independent Study project in studio art was the most work I've ever put into a single concept. It was the source of a lot of my stress this semester, but it absorbed me in a way that stirred up even more passion for art making. I used to be afraid of sharing the things I'm passionate about. Well, in many ways I still am. I have a lot of passions and a lot of strong opinions and I'm learning how to exist with them. I could go on and on and on about what drove me to create this series and how it has impacted me in other ways, (although some of that is probably self explanatory) but instead I really just want to post a few in-progress shots, my artist statement as well as a photo of the installed work taken by my classmate Zoe Madden. Unfortunately because of the way I installed my pieces (in a stairwell by some windows) they were very hard to photograph in a way that I felt adequately captured them. In the fall I hope to get photos of them in a more controlled setting. There are four of them, made of found wood and plastic bags.


Habits that are ubiquitous often fall completely out of the realm of conscious consideration. One of the most useless and yet widely used disposable items—the plastic bag—exists as a staple of our daily lives without deliberate thought. Our use of plastic bags is unnecessary at best and completely catastrophic on the environment at worst.

This series is an invitation to think about the plastic bag as it exists in our lives as well as how it spends its life after our short consumption of it. Instead of giving plastic bags little to no thought, I am spending a large amount of time with this single-use item; living with it, attempting to transform it, and giving it a new permanent purpose outside of its original fate in the form of feathers.

These birds, modeled off of the European Herring Gull, perch between worlds. They exist somewhere between life and death, between organic and inorganic, and serve to demonstrate the disastrous effects that our habits have on the natural world.

Two more drawings that went out a few days ago. I did not get a chance to go scan these in before I sent them, so I took photos instead, making them look a bit odd. I've been enjoying the opportunity to draw different breeds and different types of coats. This was my first attempt at brindle, and the first time drawing any of these breeds!

Ginger and Echo, a cute duo.




And the Brews Brothers, Stout and the famous 2014 4" PNAC Porter

Wood bending is a REALLY HARD process, but that (and woodworking in general) is turning out to be the most enjoyable sculpture process I've encountered so far. I have a feeling that I'm getting closer to the type of thing I really want to be doing. In the meantime, more dinosaurs of course!

About a month ago I got an email from a listserv on campus asking for someone to help a small diversified farm out with their upcoming kickstarter campaign to start a microdairy. Because I get so many random emails about things on campus, I almost overlooked it. But of course, knowing me, the dairy aspect caught my eye immediately and I emailed the owners of the farm.

30 minutes later I got a phone call, and that's how I met Courtland and Jenny Rocco of BlueLoon Farm. Since then I have become very invested in their project and the overall mission that these two share. They are two of the coolest, nicest people I have ever met and I feel extremely privileged to have gotten to know them so well. Their plan is to start an organic micro creamery after the acquisition of 5-8 cows from a dairy that Courtland has worked at for the past two years.

But you can read all about it on their kickstarter, which is up and running now. My part in all of this is the creation of their kickstarter video. I'm pretty happy with the result. My good friend and radio cohost Brendan allowed me to use his song "Falconer" for the video and it fits just perfectly. I'm very lucky to be in the company of such talented people.



The passion that these two have for what they are doing is extremely inspiring. I really hope people will take the time to learn about their project and spread the word. Because seriously, how cute are these cows?