Photographs from March and April

Well it’s been some time since I’ve updated my blog. The spring was a very busy time as I had to write my PhD qualifying exam which was a very challenging. Here are some photographs from Champaign-Urbana, IL and Chicago, IL.

March 2012 in Urbana, IL

My street in the Historic East Urbana neighborhood.

A student draws at the UIUC Saturday Art School.

Artwork from the Saturday Art School student exhibit.

Dr. Kevin Tavin lectures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Images from Dr. Tavin’s presentation.

Jarling’s Custard Cup, Champaign IL

With Eugene at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, Chicago, IL.

 

Writing With Video Reflection

Over the past several days I have been reflecting on my progress in Joseph Squier’s Writing with Video course. The class is one of my favorites at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as it promotes daily engagement with creativity alongside the video-making research process.

This semester re-engaging with photography and art/video-making has been a transformative pleasure. By taking a closer look at my daily life through photography I feel more aware of both research and personal processes/happenings.

For our next project I would like to examine the context of the artist-teacher at UIUC by interviewing art education Professor Jorge Lucero and PhD student Jeff Horwat. This project was inspired by my previous video of PhD candidate and artist-teacher Susan Livingston. This time around I would like to focus more on developing technical finesse with sound and learn to loop sound over images. I will also be more careful about the environment subjects are interviewed in, as the art education graduate student office is not the most aesthetically desirable environment for video. (Ha!)

Here’s an idea. How about allowing art education graduate students to take studio classes for credit? Aren’t we supposed to be artists after all? I feel like we are just scratching the creative surface with the Writing with Video course and more time/curriculum is needed.

Transformation charcoal drawing series

In this activity students at the University of Illinois Saturday Art School, metamorphosed two objects in charcoal over a series of four drawings.

Transformation iMovie activity

In this lesson students at the University of Illinois Saturday Art School created an iMovie by using photographs of a series of charcoal drawings.

Recent images from spring break

Eugene took me to Washington DC for spring break. Afterwards we went to Millennium Park in Chicago

Musings on the conception of home

The notion of home is very important to me. For the past year and a half my life has been in transition between the move to Illinois, start of my Phd, subsequent divorce, and home renovations. More than anything else I want a home to share and call my own. The house is slowly getting there….

iMovie of artist/teacher Susan Livingston