What Zoe's doing

So, Blake and I moved to Glasgow this fall. He's started at the Glasgow School of art for and MFA and I've started preparing for my grad school application by working on my portfolio more. Here's what I've been up to: The top is a drawing, the 2nd is a comic I'm working on about a silly story with blake, and the 3rd is a drawing of smiley, the man I sculpted below as part of my Iowa City action figures series.

CAMPY LOBSTER

So - what's new?

Zoe got her induction into the Glasgow Print Studio... strangely enough, she's going to be able to start printing before me! I won't be able to Just a little frustrating, as the Glasgow School of Art seems to be moving soooo slowly. I just want to print and do work. Instead, I just sit in lecture rooms finding out how to use the library, etc etc

At least I have some preliminary drawings, templates, and random other stuff ready, so I'll be able to start printing right away. Although, some things may not be made in print...

I'm debating going back into my "electronic media" phase again. On my floor at the studio, there is a great resource for video editing, sound design, and recording...

Also - I mean - not EVERYTHING has to be a "print"

I also have a few potential titles / phrases, that I'm going to use (but I'm not sure in what fashion)

Silent Runner

Happy Shopper

Campy Lobster

Soft Obsession

although - I feel like I've heard the last one somewhere else...

Trongate 103 and the Glasgow Print Studio

Zoe and I stopped at Trongate 103 yesterday. It's a new building that's a collection of different galleries, and the great Glasgow Print Studio.

At the studio, you basically pay for a membership (like at a gym) and you have free reign to print. They don't have lithography set up (apparently - the machinery is "all in pieces" in the basement), but they have a large area for Relief Printing, another for Etching, and GIGANTIC Screen Printing Tables. One of them was over five feet.

The facilities were super nice, and the people who worked there seemed friendly (although most of them were men in their late 50's). So it looks like Zoe will make some interesting friends!

Living in Glasgow

Moved into the new place in Glasgow, and figuring out the city. What's funny, is that my new apartment used to be a Synagogue, and my old place used to be a hospital... Kinda makes you wonder what my next new place will have previously been (ha)

We still haven't gotten our tv, telephone, or internet set up... we're using pay-as-you-go internet.

But I was still able to check out facebook today. It was odd to see how popular the Huntsville Rapist remains popular (it even charted on the Billboard Top 100 last month)... and made me think about an earlier (and better) autotune youtube video

With Carl Sagan and Steven Hawking

Also of note - Steven Hawking recently stated that God doesn't exist. If I understand correctly, he said that the big bang was "an inevitability" b/c of the law of gravity... but that just makes me think - that that does prove the existence of god... seeing as there's a LAW, but whatever....

How is this closet supposed to work?

Ok - hopefully, even with the insanely low-resolution... you'll still be able to see what's going on here.

This was the ONLY closet in one of the places I looked at today. It was for two people. The closet, if you'll notice, is as deep as an individual clothes-hanger.

Yes, yes yes I realize - you don't put your stuff in so you can sort through your things from left to right (like a normal closet).

But I mean if you look closely, the hanger that is sitting on the shelf. The bottom of it is completely flush with the wall, and the top of it is actually over the edge.

The distance between the base of a hanger and its top is only like, what ... 4-5 inches? So that means the closet itself is only 5 inches deep maximum.

So how are TWO PEOPLE supposed to share a closet that could only hold maybe one pair of pants and maybe 2-3 shirts (certainly no space for a coat or even a jacket)?

Crazy. I know.

I promise the next post I do will be somewhat art related.

...seriously

Greetings from Glasgow

Hanging out at the hotel... after long day looking at too many apartments, and speaking with too many different leasing agents.

But - things are looking up and Glasgow is GREAT. My father came out here with me, to help with the apartment hunting, which looks like it was a good decision, as I'd pretty much get screwed over if I didn't have an "adult" with me (I mean, someone over 50)

Hopefully, I will have a place "held" for me by Monday... although I may not be able to move in until like... the 7th or something.

Zoe will move out here soon... I think like the 4th(?) but I forget her actual move-in date. Before she arrives in Glasgow, she's spending four days in Iceland. Basically just hanging out and taking spa treatments at the Blue Lagoon

The hotel we're staying at now is incredible, and has a nice garden in the back. Only problem is, when people smoke - it drifts back into the room.

Unfortunately - no new drawings or prints yet... but here's another one of my images from when we were up at Madeline Island in Northern Wisconsin. I actually really like it... even though Zoe's cheeks are still waaaaayyyy puffy from her wisdom teeth being taken out. The only way she'd let me keep it was if I promised not to use it for a shirt/print/profitable whatever

Oh wow... Now that I look at the image again... I feel like I should add a disclaimer. The hotel's wifi is obnoxiously slow. Like 1 hour 46 minutes to download a single mp3. So - in order to get the picture up, I had to really lower the resolution, which turned all the nice gradients in the background into a bit of a mess...

Hoopla

And here we are again... things have gotten a bit hectic to say the least, and I am again apologizing for not posting.

So -> what has been infringing on my blog posts?

Well, I am was accepted into the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland to get my MFA in art. The process of getting my student visa sorted pretty much destroyed my August. Seriously folks... I've never dealt with that much double talk ever in my life. It all ended this past Monday when I had to go to the Uk Consulate in Chicago, and slam my diploma from GW onto the security window so the agent could see it.

And Zoe is going to come with me. Right now - she's still in Iowa, minding the business and preparing to move out to Glasgow.

Which reminds me - YES THE BUSINESS WILL CONTINUE, YES WE WILL BE STILL DOING ETSY...

we just have to figure out how we're going to do shipping the easiest and cheapest way possible. We'll still have updated images of small pieces and stuff like drawings & paintings shortly.

The only thing that won't be updated on the shop for a short while are the fabric pieces and the prints... as I won't have access to a studio until... probably October

Also of note - we were featured in the "Hoopla" feature in Cedar Rapids -> click here

You know... I gave them the above photo - and the didn't use it... I wonder why?

ha