Sketchbook Project

Back in August of this year I signed up for the Sketchbook Project. For those of you who do not know what this is. It is a project designed by the Art House Co-op group and every year they distribute sketch books at the cost of $25 dollars each and you need to return your finished product by the Post marked deadline of Jan 15th, 2011.....but this is the fun part....then it goes on tour!

I haven't had much time or much of an urge to draw in the past few months, so I need to do a ton of drawings in a very short period of time.....phew.....but I will get it done.

Here is a link to Art House Co-op website,

http://www.arthousecoop.com/

Art House Co-op organizes interesting projects like the sketchbook project, a photo project and an empty pockets project....but this only really names a few things that they do.

Here is my profile on art House co-op

http://www.arthousecoop.com/users/shanell

Thanks for reading

Shanell

I'm back

Yeesh! It has been a long time since I've posted on this blog. I plan on posting frequently and regularly from now on. To provide an excuse for my lack of blogging, I have been away at Graduate school for the past two years. It was a hectic time and blogging was sadly a low priority.

I would like to start with posting two things I find interesting.

1) comics (this is a link to an older article on classic comic books and great rummage sale finds)

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/10/23/in-praise-of-university-book-sales/

2) Is a great article on art writing from fuse magazine ( on the topic of art writing and how it has become more important than the actual work, perhaps?)

http://fusemagazine.org/2011/01/04/rhetorical-maneuvers-in-contemporary-art-part-1

Thanks for reading!

I will post again soon

Shanell

It has be awhile

It has been awhile since I posted....in fact I don't think I posted much in the first place. I'm going to clean up my act.

Sweater & hat

This is a sweater I made last year during the summer. I got the pattern from Sweater Babe (here) Though I made it on larger needles than it called for, so it is a bit baggy on me. I also used some buttons from an old sweater I had that was falling apart.

























With the left over yarn I made the toque, as you can see. I made this pattern up, I wanted it to be ribbed so it would stay on my head better. I also made a back peice to fuction as an earflap. I didn't want to put strings on it, since strings tend to get in the way. I also added a point to the top for a bit of elfish flair.

last years toque

Last year around this time I completed this toque for the upcoming winter. I wanted to make it out of chunky yarn tightly knitted so it would be extra warm for a extra cold Canadian winter. I made a bow for the top which is far better than a pom pom or a tassel in my humble opinion.

Upside down it kind of looks like a green acorn, luckily we don't have and hungry squirrels, actually we don't have any squirrels at all. If we did they would feast on my head...... hummmmm. ZOMBIE SQUIRRLES? This toque could make squirrels into zombies. Just imagine the power of controlling the zombie squirrels, I should give this as a present to my arch enemy. BAHAHHA. Who gets the last laugh this time, that teaches you for borrowing my stationary and not returning them you mutant of coprophagia.

my replica

In the spring of 2005 I finished work on my replica.

My idea for this project came from wanting to dissect identities. Rather than pick apart someone else, I decided to dissect my own identity. To dissect my identity I decided I would build a replica of myself.

The replicas frame work is wood connected by threads then covered in pantyhose stuffed with sawdust. The flesh is made to off two layers of spandex and the face and hands are made from plaster life casts from my own body. Then finally I dressed the replica similar to myself.

It was interesting cloning myself as a doll, a surrogate, a dummy. Someone to take on my reproducibilities and I could trade places with them or let them step in when I was tired, an identical twin. Someone to be careless, null and void when doom was circling, someone else to take the blows is life.

I really wanted to meet myself. You know when you watch a home video of yourself or see yourself in the mirror and think.....is that me? is that what I look like? what do people think of me? I wanted to meet myself so I could understand myself more fully and begin to understand my identity.