Finally! An Update...

I haven't updated for family reasons. I took a personal mental break. I needed it and now I am back. Although I haven't been updating my blog I have been working in my studio. After my first paper I have been thinking about identity politics. I first started with institutional critique but I keep coming back to identity politics so I guess that is what my second paper will tackle.

I had my second mentor meeting yesterday. We discussed where my work was going and what it was trying to say. We discussed gender politics in our society as well as other examples and it got me thinking about what is really lying underneath in my work. I also have been doing some stream of consciousness writing which I think is helping to clear some things up for me.

Anyway, here is what I have been working on. I'm working on a project of military flag boxes. Each box will have a flag of the national defense ribbon modeled from various feminine crafts. It is a very slow process. I've been struggling with visualization so my mentor suggested I do a life-sized drawing of the completed project. So I'm doing that and I will post it here when complete. For now here are the bits and pieces:

Woven piece finally sewn together.

Ink transfers that will probably be removed in the long run.

 This is the first box in progress. It will ultimately have three ceramic bars in the front that emulate rebar. It has been rainy and too damp for me to pour my plaster outside so I am waiting for a break in the weather.

Poured ceramic beads for the beaded flag box.

I started pouring beads from my first mold and soon realized it would take too long to get enough beads. So I made two more plaster molds holding 25 beads each. It will take me 13 days of 3 perfect molds a day to get enough beads. Since I never get 3 perfect molds in a day I am going to be doubling the number of days. Plus the molds need time to rest to prevent deterioration.

There are also the ribbons cast as well. I started those for a different idea that I may work on during this semester. It has to do with the adornment aspect of my work. However, the flag box project is my first priority and it is taking way longer than I thought it would.

First star granny square. This square will be multipled until I have enough to make a flag.

Ceramic insert for my ceramic flag box.

There is something lovely about the cast ranks. I may decide to do something with them by themselves in the future.

I made some rope using the colors of the national defense ribbon. It isn't translating very well right now though so I will need to work this out further. This is in an attempt to work a side project for my chocks and cleats idea. Eventually I will make a second strand to wrap with this strand to make marline line.

Last, I am working on a batch of color studies of an apple. They are in the under painting stage. Since they are more of an exercise for me and not really part of my project I am not posting them at this time.