The Calm after Midterms

The first layer of my newest project, Yellow Mountain, China. Its 5' x 2'. I painted the background butter yellow with a mixture of gesso and ink and then, in a technique that my lovely studio mate Christine invented, thinned some oil paint down with turpentine until it had the consistency of milk and squirted it on the canvas on the floor with a turkey baster. I then blotted it with some brown paper, waited for it to be almost dry, and turned it on the side so parts of it dripped down a nd created highlights. I won't be working this way the whole time, just initially to get my shapes. Its a piece about my perceptions of China, a piece about romanticization through distance, a piece about stereotypes and my inability to truly understand the culture of a foreign place. Hell, I barely understand American culture sometimes. Anyway, I have this whole thing I wrote about my idea that goes pretty in depth, but I left it at the studio so I'll do that with the next layer post.

I had my conference on my short story (My God) today. The good news is that my prof thinks I've got a really good start and that my use of language is really working. I just need to make things clear about the character and such that weren't before, which I can do through more interaction with her parents and school mates. I'm actually really excited about this story. It's definitely the best thing I've ever written. My prof is really helpful and understanding, too. The class got off to a shaky start, but I'm really enjoying it now. We watched a movie based on a short story the other day--Away From Her which is based on The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro. It was really amazing. It was about this couple dealing with the woman's Alzheimer's and how they ended up putting her in a home and she all but forgot her husband and fell in love with another resident. It was so unsentimental and cutting but beautiful at the same time. I highly recommend it and the short story.

I've started on a tea cozy because it's getting ruddy cold now and I want tea every minute of every day. I'm knitting it like a hat only I've added an extra 24 stitches so it'll fit a bit better around the pot.


Listening to: Band of Horses--Everything All the Time