Production

The view of the nuclear power plant outside of my apartment.

The last couple of days have been odd to say the least. First I found out that the writer's strike is done with and that many shows will be returning in a couple of months. That was good. Then I get a call from Maddi about the horror at NIU. Fortunately, my father is all right, but it was really scary, especially when I found out that the shooting happened in a geology lecture. And then there is the fact that the gunman was a grad student at here, at UIUC. It's horrifying. I thought then, well I guess I'm safer because I'm not and won't be taking any more huge lecture courses. But I shouldn't have to think about that. Something needs to change.

Then I found out my brother is getting married! Obviously I'm happy, but it's really weird, too. I mean, he's only three years older than me and I haven't even met his girlfriend, Laura, yet because 99% of their relationship has taken place in foreign countries. I think I started hyperventilating a little when I found out. Evidently it's going to happen this summer. I've started an engagement present for them:

It's Nick's favorite mythological character, Bacchus, drinking and pissing at the same time. It obviously isn't finished yet, but I'll probably get it done today. They can have a nice decoration for their foyer and Laura can see what her future will be like at the same time.

Also being worked on:



An imagined architectural space for Ros' advanced painting class. First layer. Hopefully it will dry by Sunday so I can do another layer in time for it to dry by Tuesday so I can get at least three layers in. We didn't get nearly enough time to work on it. I think part of the problem is that Ros works with Galkyd which dries sometimes in the same die. I have discovered a real distaste for Galkyd because it's too thick and it often dries into a gross gloop in the bottle once you've opened it so I work with Eco-House Citrus Cleaner (a turpentine substitute), refined linseed oil, and stand oil. These all take a lot more time to dry. Oh well. It doesn't matter too much.

Also, Friday morning we went to visit another artist studio. It was Steve Hudson. I really liked his use of color and technique. He used a lot of impasto and it was very old master-y. It reminded me a lot of Rembrandt and Odd Nerdrum, but with more saturated colors. He was really funny, too. Quite dorky in an adorable sort of way. He said he used Winton for underpainting, Windsor & Newton's student brand that Ros spent about ten years telling us not to use the class before. I thought a vein was going to pop in her head. It was funny because he just seemed really unaware of what materials he used though it was really obvious that he knew how to use them. Unfortunately, he hasn't got a website. The three paintings on his Parkland aren't what I saw in his studio, but I couldn't find any other images. It's really frustrating when you want to look up an artist but can't find any of their work online. Artists, get good websites! That's what I'm going to do this summer. I'm pretty sure no one else has claimed SophieLoubere.com.

listening to: Belle & Sebastian--The Boy with the Arab Strap