Before I go any further, here is a more recent photo of my final project from Spring quarter. This photo taken by me on a Canon G9 camera provided by OSU's tech department (offically called OIT I believe).


& so here begins the new quarter -- Summer, 2009 -- of Photo Shop.
Welcome to my new life.
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Proposal for Project #1
Choosing a Future

Bringing our cities, our buildings, & our homes into ecological balance while maintaining a high level of technology & technological advancement has become one of the major social issues of our times. Within the context of this extremely vast & complex topic I would like to create a series of images addressing one aspect & one perspective on the theme of envisioning & establishing human community environments that are both future-oriented & beautiful. In order to do this I propose to approach the topic in three stages:

1. Education & Training: The first work will constitute an image or collection of images drawn from Internet sources having to do with the learning & training environment required to prepare people with the necessary educational, technical, & creative skills with which to approach the task. The images selected will probably be those of a University environment. My thoughts at this time include images of the soon to be reopened Thompson Library at OSU.

2. Choice: Since education & training must be directed by informed & wise decision making, the second work will have to do with perceiving various possibilities & outcomes for the future, indicating the importance of making healthy long-range choices. The images presented will include Internet sources & consist largely of images of current events & situations as well as of possible solutions, both realized & proposed (this may also include images from sources such as Science Fiction).

3. Vision: The third & final work in the series will be visionary, presenting one possible &, in my opinion, desirable future. At this point I am thinking of drawing upon images from science fiction series such as Star Trek or SG-1, both of them being replete with visions of the future.

Along with these images addressing current environmental concerns as they are manifested in the human community composed of buildings, green spaces, transportation & communication grids, etc., I intend to introduce a small flock (literally) of witnesses & participants, namely, sheep. This constitutes a continuation of a series begun last quarter, thus establishing a unity of presence & design in my work. My digital avatars, drawn from Internet sources, will serve to represent students, workers, designers, observers & participants in the drama of ecological training, choosing, & living. Sheep are curious, generally co-operative, & social to the point of being gregarious & communal. They will serve as an unlikely presence in the environments into which I will place them, thus introducing an element of surprise or shifted perspective, even some humor or comic relief in the midst of serious social & environmental issues. Thus I hope to alter the viewer's perception of the works, hopefully drawing attention to the issues presented, the questions raised, & the possibilities suggested. My overall intent is to awaken & encourage.

Above is the essence of the final Project, the "Creative Event:" a Flow of color & light. It brings with it a sense of closure as well as ideas for new works -- an end & a beginning.

I'm taking Art 350 again this summer, this time w/ instructor Joshua. It promises to be an equally productive & enjoyable class. I look forward to it, in fact, am already in the process of reading suggested essays on Postmodernism & other, readings which have gotten me to thinking about some material (like T.S.Eliot's Tradition & the Individual Talent) which has been in my mind but not actively thought about -- the relationship of the past w/ the present, how it infuses, informs, shapes, inspires the present, how this present also infuses & modifies the past, or at least the way we see it. Actually, I have been thinking about these things, they are a part of me, but this is the first time I've started writing about them, putting thoughts to paper -- or to electrons, as it were.

Also, I had thought about starting a new Blog for the new class, but no. Not only is this a continuation of the other, a furtherance, but also the 2 classes constitute a unit, not just of subject matter, but of experience, possibly even of theme. The projects from last quarter may carry over into this one. I hadn't intended to do a "series," but last quarter's work actually turned into that, so will this quarter see the creation of a new series? or a further exploration & development of the series already begun? Guess I'll wait & see where inspiration leads me. Anon.

Here is my final project, Mapping a Creative Event. Amazingly, it was selected for the Art & Technology Show held at the end of the quarter. I didn't expect that. In fact, just before the submission date, I was seriously considering not submitting it, but my husband, Bill, said, "You've got to try." So I did, & there it was, up on the wall -- a collage of Photo Shop elements from my third project, rearranged, mounted on a dark blue background, & washed over w/ a flow of acrylic interference paint. Needless to say, I was thrilled & grateful. The photo was taken by friend, Desi.

So what am I going to do now? Well, after 2 weeks of catching up w/ myself, burning some CD's to document class work, & hopefully getting some rest -- oh yes, & pulling some weeds out of my overgrown garden -- I plan to do this all over again. Summer quarter begins next week & I'm going to revisit Photo Shop. I want to really know this stuff before moving on (good advise from Jessica, the T.A. in my very first Computer Art class taken long ago at Palomar College in California). Until then ... thanks to all who cheered & coached me on: Adam, Sarah, instructor Ryan, Ken, Desi, Beth (for the use of her computer & printer), my husband, Bill (for endless amounts of love & encouragement), & more ... you know who you are. Thank you. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. It's more of a miracle than you could ever know. Thanks for being a part of it.