Summer is time for slowing things down

 Here's to the the completion of my second year at the U and on to my 3rd and final year!  I'm feeling ready and excited to see what is made in my studio this year as I get ready for my thesis show.  I've found a flow to my practice which is a great place to be at the end of my second year.  The process of creating my large sculptures doesn't have a set plan for where they may potentially live in my installations.  I might have a general idea for how they sit and what other objects or forms they may be placed in relation to, but the process of installing is separate from the building.  There is a slowness to the building process that I have grown to enjoy and desire when my life seems to be getting more hectic and stressed.  This slowness and pace is apparent in the pieces themselves as they sit in my installations, having a quicker and more immediate feeling.

The following images are from my final installation for the spring semester.  I have grown a new understanding of what I want my viewers to feel from these situations.  There is a way to create an emotion and feeling with just the placement of two objects in relation to each other.  I am looking to create a similar experience for others to that of my experiences with certain buildings and architectural situations.  I love the feeling of awe and remembering a memory just from different shapes and combination of facades I encounter.  With these installations, I hope to give people a chance to remember and contemplate.

After the end of the semester, I was able to slow down and focus on making pots again.  It's been a nice change of pace and change from my more conceptual thought process.  I was also preparing to be the Featured Artist in July at Lillstreet Art Center!  I'm excited to have been asked to show more of my work there for the month of July so check out some of my new pieces in a couple of weeks.  

As I slow down for the summer a bit (even though I've also started 2 new jobs!), I have more time for making things in the kitchen.  I've been baking rhubarb bread, pulp muffins, making kambucha, fermenting, and trying new dishes for breakfast and dinner.  I really enjoy slowing down in the kitchen and learning new processes.  So I've decided to make pots and pieces that I've realized I need to show off and help the processes of these new creations I'm making!  So here's an in progress fermenting pot for my roommate and I to make sauerkraut in!  yum.   Also not shown is a bread basket for my rhubarb bread, a basket for the fruits and veggies of the summer, and a chemex for a new way to make coffee.  I'll get images to you once they are complete!  The last two images are two of some of my favorite things I've seen so far this summer.  A barn in Red Wing that I catered at for a wedding and then Powderhorn Park at dusk with some lovely baby ducks enjoying the sunset.  

Happy Summer everyone!