I Sometimes Think I Do My Best Work Under Pressure.

If you follow my Facebook Fan Page, Ann-Monique, you know this already. I'm finally adding it here.

Exciting Winter Break this past December/January. Went to my parents for 2 weeks, got to see my brother when he came over from N.Y.C., and got a commission for 3 pieces for an Off-Broadway Production called A Woman in Progress, being done by the company my brother is involved in, Mind the Art Entertainment, that needed to be completed in less than a month.

Yep, 3 pieces in about 4 weeks. They needed a drawing, a painting and an original sculpture (and no, I don't have any real experience in sculpting).

We caught a break with the drawing, I had one available in my portfolio that was the kind of look they were wanting. There was another mixed media piece as well I had done for fun ages ago that also had the look they wanted only it was 8.5"x11". I did a larger similar version in acrylic on a 24"x36" canvas. Since I already had a composition to go by, the painting when quickly.

The big project of course was the sculpture. Considering the time element and my lack of experience with most materials, I chose clay. (Imagine that)

I briefly considered using non-fire clay so I could just send it back on the plane with my brother and his girlfriend, but I quickly put that idea aside. By the time I had spent the money on enough for the size they needed, I realized I might as well just buy a low fire clay and pay to have it fired and then shipped. I knew it wouldn't be dry enough to fire before the end of the Winter Break. I also knew that being a stage prop, it needed more durability than non-fire clay can provide. So I "bit the bullet" and spent the money to do it right. The process when much easier than I had even dreamed to hope, the hardest part was actually doing all of this at my parents house, with no real convenient place to work and all of my tools locked up in my locker on campus! But I was successful and had a blast getting it all done.

Here are the 3 pieces we ended up with. I especially had a great time doing the sculpture since it was a new experience for me. It looks whiter in the photo that it does in reality. Must be the flash. Its more of a buff color. Eventually it might end up glazed, we'll see.




I should mention here. These pieces were not being purchased by the company. The plan is to hopefully in the future auction them off to raise more money for the charity that the Show's proceeds were being donated to. The people involved were not receiving financial compensation for their work, but volunteering their time for a good cause. This is a group of very talented individuals. Check out their website: www.mindtheartentertainment.com

Lowel Art Works - "Breasts of the Northwest"

I finally got around to participating in another show here in the area. Its been over a year since I've submitted anything for consideration to one of L.A.W.'s multi artist shows. I'm happy to say I delivered three pieces to the Gallery today that will be included in the upcoming show, "Breasts of the Northwest" that opens next Saturday, November 20. A portion of sales from this show will be going directly to Gateway for Cancer Research. Here are the three that I had accepted.

Am I Ever Going to Paint Again?

Full time school, part time job, mommy, wife and no real studio space. I admit going back to school may have been biting off more than I could chew, especially this quarter. But, only 2 more weeks left of the term and then I'll have a bit more breathing room. I don't regret taking this road (yes, I'm a Robert Frost fan). I've definately learned some very valuable things in this program which will continue to benefit me in many aspects of my career whether I go full time web design or not. Yeah, the jury's still out on that one. I'm leaning more toward Illustration, it really appeals to me, and doing web design on the side instead of the other way around.

Since I never would have thought of that if I hadn't gone back to school I'm winning either way. Speaking of the Cert program, I guess its a good thing I've thought of alternatives because if I can't get one mandatory class scheduled, I'm not going to be able to complete it anyway. It never occurred to me that some classes would ONLY be given in the evening and NEVER during the day. Being a Navy wife and Mom, evening classes just aren't possible without spending a ridiculous amount of money on after hours childcare on top of the full time daycare I'm already paying for, plus leaving my child with yet another person and making him be away from me even more than all day. All of this while his other parent is at sea a whole lot. Nope, not going to do that, I'll just have to consider a different program or something.

Am I ever going to paint again? I really don't have time right now to dive into a piece and be able to concentrate on it-its not that I don't have pieces in mind, the opposite in fact-I just don't like having unfinished work staring at me. I'm definitely one of those "if I don't have time to do it right, I don't do it at all" nice excuse. Lack of proper studio space doesn't help either. Its difficult to concentrate on being creative in a spare bedroom of a rental unit with carpeted floors. One false move and we'll end of paying to re-carpet the whole place because they won't want to try to "match" the existing carpet. I'm being cynical, and making excuses. OK, enough whining. Crossing my fingers I'll have new stuff to post very soon.