New Opportunies #2

After a few weeks of working with Rita Smith. She had brought up to me about a friend of hers that was interested in iPhone photography. Her name is Joyce and she recently took a trip to Bolivia to see the salt flats and explore the landscape of the desert. She took these beautiful photos of the salt flats and the landscapes with her iphone. So the problem with that is, is that the quality of the photo was not as good as it could have been because it wasn't taken with a DSLR. Needless to say there was a decent amount of grain and noise throughout the photos, not to mention the fact that she took these photos while driving through the salt flats and the desert. She never got out to shoot, at least with this series. Joyce had asked Rita if she knew anyone that might know a thing or two about photoshop. Rita ran it by me and we went and paid Joyce a visit to see the images and what she actually needed done. Before we even looked at the photos, I was in love with her canvases that she produces. she takes her canvas and cuts it all up and weaves it back together then paints it and adds a lot more 3-dimensional aspects to it. I was so intrigued and then she showed me her photography. She takes really amazing photos but she knew we could put them through photoshop and make them really pop. So I met with her the following week with my laptop and it went great. I was able to achieve visually what she couldn't because she didn't have the knowledge on the tools and the program. She asked if I could continue coming to edit more photos in the future. We only edited 9 photos the first day but I'm sure she has a lot more photos.

A week later I got an email from Rita asking me if I could meet them to pick up new laptops. They wanted me to help them pick out the right laptop for them and of course I was going to help them. So i brought them over to Springboard Media and we picked out Macbook Pro's for both of them. After that we went back to Joyce's studio and set up both of their laptops and tried connecting all of the icloud accounts and emails and etc etc etc. it was a long day but they were very satisfied with the day. we got a lot done and I felt really great to be a part of it.

Below are some of the images me and Joyce edited together.

I am very, very, very, very thankful to have been able to be a part of this Summer Fellows program because if I hadn't I wouldn't be meeting two cute old ladies and teaching them but in return learning knowledge from them because they've been through their whole lives as working artists.

Thanks Michele. :)

New opportunities

After the Summer Fellows program had ended I was able to continue with working with an artist that I had met from a Studio visit Michele had brought me to. Rita Smith is a painter that has been in numerous galleries and has produced a ton of artwork over the years. Rita Smith asked me to meet with her weekly to help her with technology related questions and actions that she is trying to achieve. She had recently got herself an iPad Pro and I am helping her with getting used to using that machine. Her only prior knowledge with anything with that kind of power is her iphone so she needed some guidance to figure out how to get around and get the most out of her machine. I introduced some apps to her like the Procreate app, where you can draw and design almost anything you want, with a wide array of tools. So I am helping her with getting used to tools on that program a long with others. A few weeks ago we designed her business card on an app called "Assembly". Assembly is an app that allows you to take pre made shapes and drop them on a canvas and edit the shapes accordingly in order to create a vector image. There is also a text tool on that app that lets you type your information and edit the size and spacing of the words and letters. It was the perfect app to design a business card and we were able to get the whole design finished within a couple of hours. The reason why Rita has asked me to help her with all of these things is because when she asks her sons about anything they just do it for her and dont teach her anything. She is trying to understand how to use all this stuff and I'm honored to be able to help her.

Final Post

These last past months working with Marisha have been amazing! There is so many things I feel I have reconsidered and thought about that will definitely impact my future and time at Uarts.

My main goal initially, was to learn about running a design studio and brand specializing in clothing, luckily I have learned so much more that has shaped my ideas about my business a lot clearer. Before I had the idea that a business is about production and making but it goes so much deeper than that. After working with my mentor, who also pushed me to take an entrepreneurship class at the Corzo center, I've learned that I need to have a clear concept and plan in order to make things work efficiently. If anyone is looking to learn more about what is takes to run a business, I definitely recommend looking into the Corzo Center's Basic Entrepreneurship class as a first step. The class is about 2 weeks and you can qualify for free scholarship, its a great resource.

All in all,I'm happy with my experiences this summer because they allowed me to open myself to other mediums and ideas. Not only have I opened myself creatively, I'm also learning how to be more social and how to network myself as an artist. I'm also learning from my mentor's DIY attitude and her ability to transform everyday things such as scarves and tea towels into beautiful designs which

inspired me to want to work more with fabric. I then decided the next step was to take more classes in the fibers department this upcoming semester to get more experience.

As an illustrator, I am always willing to to experiment and push the boundary on what I create outside of just digital work or in a sketchbook. I enjoyed the feeling of creating a physical print and going through the trial and error process of coating a screen with emulsion or burning my positive images to my screen. The frustration sometimes can be therapeutic and I definitely can see myself using screen printing in my future work.

Working with Marisha helped me to think a lot about how my present day choices will affect my long term goals and opportunities and how to make use of my resources. I hope to continue to work with her after our internship ends in the next two weeks.

Final Post

How do you plan to take what you are learning and observing back to UArts, or into your post-undergraduate life? 

Previously, I have discussed my goals of working for a nonprofit. What I haven't done is explain the relationship between my internship with my work at Uarts. My major is Print which is a part of the Fine Arts department. Unlike my original major (illustration), a lot of the work I currently do is hands on. I find a sort of glee creating prints in the lab. Being surrounded by materials such as ink, rollers, and presses makes me feel as though I am a "true" artist. Not saying the illustration process isn't a wonderful one. 

It's easy to get lost in the process and think less of the importance of promoting your art. I had created an art twitter, ig and tumblr long ago. But the effort to keep up these sites dwindles far faster than I had expected. I love social media and can easily be seen on either ig or tumblr at any given moment. Once I have to be on social media for anything self promotion wise the fun diminishes. 

While working at Smith, I was reminded about the huge difference posting your art makes.  When it came time to contact artists, the ones with a large online presence were the easiest to contact. The process to contact those who weren't as present proved difficult. Not everyone trying to get in touch with an artist will work until they are successful. This fact proved to be disconcerting to me. Because think of future opportunities that may be missed out of laziness? 

I also want to really talk more with my professors. I try to make a point of asking them any important questions that come to mind. Interviewing my bosses really helped open my eyes to how easily life can change for someone. How they got to where they are today was really about exploring different avenues. I don't want to be so afraid of change and opportunity. It can lead to some amazing things.

A Great Experience (Post #8)

I just finished my fellowship with Neal last week. He is off to another competition in the Rockies in Colorado where he’ll be painting for the next two weeks. This entire summer has truly been an honor to work alongside Neal. I gained much insight into the plein air community while also learning how to be a self-sufficient and functioning artist.  I also learned how important it was to be on top of everything. I know that sounds like a pretty obvious statement but I haven’t totally grasped that concept until now. Working in a real life setting, I began to think more about my own professional goals and where I want to go with my art. I now begin to focus on where I want to be rather than what I don’ want right now. This fellowship has helped shape my ideas while allowing me to work in a current field that I wouldn’t have understood prior.

This will be an experience that I will not only take back with me to school, but also as an opportunity for growth in all aspects of my life. This fellowship has helped me understand greater how I can achieve my goals as a painter, helped me narrow down and specify my goals, but I have also gained a beautiful relationship with Neal as a mentor and friend. I wrote this in my overall review, but I want to share how impacting this fellowship with Neal was for me. I have never had many positive relationships with male figures in my life, and when I found out who I would be working with, I just expected this type of experience to be like those I’ve have in my past.  Working with Neal, I got to see how sweet, caring, and loving a person could be. And from of all the panels I made, frames I put together, and painting demos I watched, I believe that out of all my experiences in this fellowship, this was the biggest gift I could have received. I am very thankful for having this opportunity and I cannot wait to get back to school and start to apply what I have learned.

Meeting with a Ceramicist

What's interesting about the crafts world is the fact that there is so many cool handmade styles and products within the community and the artists seem to be very close-knit.

My mentor, who participates in various craft shows often to showcase and sell her designs, gave me a load of details about the different artists she has met, which has been crucial to networking and she also talked about the selling process and how these craft shows are very beneficial to getting your name out into the world as a handmade crafts-person.

She also wanted to give me a deeper outlook into what it means to be an artist entrepreneur by meeting other artist who could also give me great insight. We met with her longtime friend and fellow artist, Stefani Threet, who is a ceramicist that specializes in hand-built goods and jewelry.

Immediately upon meeting her, we went right into conversation and I asked a lot of questions varying from whats her inspiration and her process in building her forms, which almost looks machine-like because of her perfected craftsmanship. Stefani gave me a lot advice about consistency and how to market myself as an artist.

It was very important to me to meet someone I could relate closely to and also to see her be successful in a field I hope to one day. One thing that stuck with me was her grind and her ability to create and work in her studio weekly to have inventory to sell often. Her hard work and passion for what she does is extremely inspiring to me.

What I enjoyed about Smith

Looking back on my experience at Smith has proved helpful for what I may be looking for in a future work environment. I can now clearly funnel what I want and don't want in a job down to a list.

• Taking photographs of the families at Kidchella: Connecting with others through art made me feel proud of what I was accomplishing. I was giddy to show the adorable photographs of the kids to my boss. I am no professional photographer, but it felt good to be working in the real world just doing some I liked. 
• Conversing with the performers: After the show ended, I got the chance to discuss life in general with Shawana Kemp of Shine and the Moonbeams. She explained what life is like the older you get and how your perception changes through age. I found our conversation incredibly entertaining and funny. I walked away feeling like I had truly connected with someone in a tiny little moment. It's a moment that I can't recreate, for that I am even more indebted to Smith. 
• Creating interview questions for the e-newsletter: If there's one good thing I am good at, it's asking insightful questions. I pride myself in being able to create the foundations for a meaningful conversation. I created questions for the Kidchella performers to answer for the e-newsletter. The questions were used to promote Kidchella and help Smith members understand more about who will be performing. 
• Working with people from different backgrounds: I really think a diverse work force is a strong one. Smith had many people from all sorts of different backgrounds working for them. 
• Being on camera: I love taking selfies just as much as the next person. But as soon as I was to make a promo video to put on a segment for Fox News, I refused to  be seen on camera. I may just be someone to be behind the scenes. Which is something that still surprises me given my personality. 

I honestly only have one more area of my internship that weren't enjoyable. That was the heat of a Philadelphian summer beating down on us as the performers sang. That...I would do without for awhile.