Class Take Away - Week 2

I really enjoyed the presentations of the Egg-speriaments.  I was especially taken by the egg that was surrounded by family.  The presenter had stated that her family encircled her and kept her safe. That her family is the reason why she hadn't left home until recently to visit the Philippines.

The reason this touched me so strongly was that I could relate to her but in a strange way.  My family is also very protective of each other and is the reason I have a hard time imagining moving to another state without them.  We would bend over backwards to make sure none of our family is struggling.  That being said, we were encouraged to explore our world. I was allowed to participate in a spring break tour of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria when I was a senior in high school.

When a former teacher from Butler announced she was setting up a study abroad in Russia I was really excited about the prospects, though I just knew my family wouldn't let me go (This was in 1999 and it wasn't so safe to visit. In fact the subway we used most of the time was bombed just a week after we left for home, killing twelve and wounding many more.)  But instead of the no I expected to hear, my dad asked, "When are you leaving?" I was flabbergasted! But I shouldn't have been. My parents encouraged us to see new things so we could develop our own thoughts, ideals, and beliefs.  The only family member who was against me going was my Grandpa. He was afraid for my safety and said I would go over his dead body.  Ironically, I used my inheritance from him to pay for my plane ticket. (I miss you Grandpa and I know you would have found the humor in that...well after you ranted about my being a fool for putting myself in danger.)

I wish I could say that was the only time I put myself in danger to travel abroad.  My mom and I went to Israel in 2009 for a tour of the Holy Land ( I'm Catholic... please don't hold that against me.) Our tour had to be rearranged because the hotel we were staying in in Tel Aviv was in a red alert for bombings. And to top it off I was with a Catholic tour, wearing a crucifix, with a Muslim bus driver. We were daring fate I think.

So I guess what I'm saying is that our families are very different in that we can protect each other even though we allow each other to do daring things. Life isn't guaranteed but you can't live your life isolating yourself from danger or you'll never be able to experience what makes life the grand adventure it is.

Egg-stra Ordinary

The Trials and Tribulations of Egg Manipulations

If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.  In my drive to be "creative" I tend to make things way too difficult.  But the only way to succeed is to fail... multiple times.

The Beginning

The plan of action for my "evil egg" was to create some type of light.  As soon as the assignment was given, light was grabbing my brain and not letting go.  I had thought about learning how to extract the yolk leaving the shell intact and then making cut outs to allow light to shine through.  And that was a great idea in theory but it just didn't drive me to create.  So I researched other ways to let an egg emit light. And the plan was born.

The Concept

The concept that developed was a simple one.  Create a light that does might alter but doesn't destroy the egg.  That is what creativity is, don't you think? To re-imagine what you see everyday to a new purpose or to be seen in a new "light".

The Plan

 Place the egg in a jar of distilled vinegar and let the shell dissolve. Then I was going to use paint or markers to create a stained glass look to the membrane. Using a flashlight, the light would shine through the membrane and emit a colorful subtle glow.

The cool thing about this concept was that everything I needed was in my home. The bell jar was a remnant from a previous craft. The vinegar is something every kitchen needs, not only to make deviled eggs but it is an amazing cleaning solution. I had food coloring to "paint" left over from a colorful Pintrest fail. Markers are a staple in a "creative's" arsenal.  And finally the flashlight is something everyone should have in their emergency supplies.

The EGGs-ecution

Because I know that failure is inevitable, I decided to use a test egg. If all went well I could recreate it with the given egg. It takes two days for the shell to dissolve so Tuesday evening the egg was submerged.  Two days later, the egg emerged from its confines and to my amazement IT WORKED.  I patted it dry and admired the egg with the flashlight shining through.  Now it was time to create the stained glass.

Here's a hint to you if you want to try this project.  DON'T USE SHARPIE OR MARKERS.  The first few passes of the markers went okay.  The color was more muted than I wanted so I took another couple of swipes.  What I didn't know was that the felt tips were systematically removing layers of membrane. One pass to many and POP! the egg is on the floor. You might think that I would have the forethought to do this over the sink or a bowl just in case of some such occurrence.  But I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch.

So attempt number two commenced just five minutes after the first egg was wiped from the floor tiles.  Food coloring is the next.  The egg came out of the vinegar just as expected, and the coloring was painted on to give the illusion of a sunset (my favorite time of day).  I was super egg-cited.  This was the one. As I was testing the light passing through, butterfingers strikes again. I drop this egg and it too splatters on the floor.  (I had learned my lesson and was working over the sink, but I hadn't realized that an egg could bounce so high.  Lesson two learned)

So I have now dissolved the class egg. I lost my paint brushes so I put the food coloring in the jar and swirl it around. It looks pretty interesting if I do say so myself. I pray I don't break this one as today it is due and there is no way I could dissolve another egg in time.

As I pull into the parking lot at school I realize I have forgotten the flashlight, I forgot to take a picture of the final product, and I have only one image to place in this blog.  So I will have to add it later. My bad.

Color Your World

So the assignment was to color a page from our coloring book to reflect how we wish the world to be. Being me, I have to think deeply about how I want the world to be before I can even look in my coloring book to pick a page.  My first thought is COLOR! I want to surround myself with vibrant colors, like jewel tones: Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, etc. My second thought was how I wish I lived in nature and not in a city.  And finally I thought about how much I crave a simple and loving life.

With that in mind I found a page in my book that was perfect! A page of trees.

The background is a sunset as that is one of my favorite times of day.  I could watch sunsets forever.  I love the way the water color pencils created a texture. The final product reminds me of a dream I once had where I was hiking at sunset through the mountains.  I can remember the feeling of peace and utter contentment. The trees were shimmery and incandescent, emitting a colorful glow leading me to my cabin.  I could never manage to recreate the beauty of the dream but I tried to capture the colors.

The First Class Take Away

Class Take Away 1

13. Jan, 2015 Posted under Blog

I have to admit that I had a mix of anticipation and anxiety about this class… and I still do.  I’m not an outgoing person.  I’m more of an introvert, though I’m working on being more comfortable in both groups and in one-on-one interactions.  I think this class just might aid me on my road to recovery so to speak.  That being said, I really enjoy being in a creative class. I was one of those weird people who enjoyed critics… not presenting my own projects but rather giving input about other’s works.  So this should be fun.  

My biggest take away from this first meeting is the idea of “fishbowling”.  I had never heard of fishbowling before but it sounds like a fantastic way to keep myself from being overwhelmed with the task of being “creative.”  I have a competitive personality in that I want my project to be better than my classmate’s.  In my quest to have the most original, most witty, or most creative, I tend to get overwhelmed by the possibilities.  I like the idea of creating my own fishbowl to help limit the distractions.  If I set my own limitations I can then focus on the details instead of adding more conditions.  I feel like I’m rambling.  It reminds me a little of a creative brief.  To best serve the client’s needs, one must figure out what the product is, who the audience is, their demographics, and the purpose.  Only by knowing these criteria can one design the proper…whatever you are designing. This is a form of fishbowling I think.