first semester at art school: CHECK!

Well, it’s official! My very first semester at private art school in Portland is completely done. Tuition paid, grades submitted, and winter break has been in full affect for about two weeks now. But before I can tell you how fabulous it is to have a break from creating art constantly, let me tell you about the two weeks prior to this vacation. 14 days filled with absolute madness. Basically all 600 students at PNCA joined together in complete and utter chaos. Everyone was running off of little to NO SLEEP. The last two weeks of school were hell. Every single class had a huge project due, in which the instructor assumes that you have no other projects in any other class and all the time in the world, of course.

For my finals, this is what it looked like:
In 2D Design, we had to create a 10 page artist book. I chose to sew the entire thing. The concept of this book was touching on the literal act of reading and getting comfort from that. Also, the comfort you gain from being completely involved in the plot of a book you’re reading. So much so that when you talk about the characters you refer to them as your “friend” and then realize, shoot– they’re fictional.The instructor for this class was one with extremely high standards and relentless to give an A. I GOT AN A!

Next, I had to create a personal logo AND an 8 page ‘zine for my Digital Tools Class.  Both of these assignments were relatively fun. We had to utilize Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. In an art school that LOVES conceptual work, I feel like everything I learned in my Digital Tools class was completely practical and nonconceptual– which is a nice break from the norm. I got an A in this class as well. I also had a huge crush on this teacher and am a little bit sad to not be in his class anymore, haha, I’ll get over it.

In my Basic Drawing class, we had a self-portrait due. Self-portraits are ALWAYS frustrating. We had to choose a figurative artist and attempt to work at our own self-portrait in their style. I chose Egon Schiele, who is an amazing artist worth checking out. His work isn’t always exactly realistic so that gave me a little bit of leeway in my drawing. I got an A in this class, too!

Next for my Time Arts class I proposed that I was going to build an installation. My concept for the entire semester that I had been working with was Human Interaction, dealing with underlying sexual themes. Since space at PNCA is limited, and I didn’t want to deal with only getting a 2 hour slot for my installation, I had to think of another way to approach it. I made 4 dioramas with 5 photographs. The photographs were 8×10 black and white and sewn on to brown paper. They hung underneath the 4 dioramas. I mainly used white yarn and white fabric within the dioramas. The concept for the piece revolved around these 5 pictures that were close-ups of some of my favorite, most intimate parts of the body. The dioramas were the thoughts, or sensory experience of interacting with these places on the body. The piece was supposed to give the feel of an installation, even though it only took up about 5 feet on the wall. It was the project that I am most happy with. I worked really hard on it, I problem-solved, and I worked my ass of to get the final  product that I did. I ended up getting a B+ in this class because I missed some performance exercise in class that my teacher thought was CRUCIAL, even though it was just a bunch of students bull-shitting around “learning” about performance art. wah wah wah.

MY LAST and MOST STRESSFUL final was for Art History. Our grade in this class was made up of 3 exams and 3 papers. On the first exam I received a D, and the teacher assured me this was normal and that all of her students see better results quickly. I got As on the papers and continued to do terribly on her tests. This class was absolute hell! It was a Monday morning class at 8am and the teacher had a monotonous voice and she only recited exactly what the text said. It was pointless to attend her class. It’s frustrating because I LOVE art history, and this teacher ruined it. I managed a C in this class, THANKS GOD. I will receive the credits and move on from this teacher. By the end of this class, there were about 5 students attending it– apparently everyone else got the memo that this instructor was impossible. So in those last weeks of school, I was scrambling around trying to create 4 fabulous works of art AND trying to cram in a paper on architecture for my art history class AND study enough to pass the class.

For the first time in my life, there literally wasn’t enough hours in the day to sleep and I  just had to accept that. By the end of it all, I wanted to rip out my hair and gauge out my eyeballs. My body has never been put under so much stress! I think the reason it’s all so stressful is because, I’m paying so much money for it. I can’t just brush it off and turn in crappy art. I want to do my best, I want to create the best that I can, I want to push myself harder every time. I think in a lot of ways I achieved all of these things. I was sleep-deprived for the best of reasons and I came out with a lot of good work because of it. I had some fabulous, and some awful teachers but either way– the tools I was being given, were what helped me excel. I am so happy I made the decision to go to this school, even if sometimes I feel like I am digging my own grave in the practical job world.

Oh! That brings me to mention my new job!
I got an AWESOME job at a little German cafe about 2 seconds away from my apartment. It’s called Fehrenbacher Hof and if y’all are ever in the SW neighborhood, you should stop in! Everyone I work with and all the customers are amazing. I meet about a billion new people a day and I love it. Also, I get to drink coffee and espresso all day– which I love.

Winter break is treating me SO WELL. I went home to California for about a week for Christmas. I got to spend only a little bit of time with my family that I love so so so much. Also, for 4 days the guy that I have/had been dating for about a month came down. He was at our house for Christmas and it was a big deal! A little bit bigger of a deal then I initially planned for but it went well; he was a great guest and I enjoyed it, even though it was definitely too soon in the relationship to bring him home. A woman told me the other day to never bring a man home to the family unless there’s a ring on your finger, that’s the only time you need to do it. Ha! The advice I receive on a daily basis being a barista will surely keep me out of therapy…. Even if it is coming from the 80 year-old bag lady.