I’ve moved back to Nashville.

I turned 35.

Okay, maybe not much has changed after all.

Homemade carrot cake from scratch, with a filling of cranberry/orange/ginger relish and whipped cream cheese icing.  “Delicious” does not even begin to adequately describe this treat!

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction is now accepting submissions of artworks from all artists 18 years and older creating work relating to human sexual behavior, gender and/or reproduction. We welcome a broad range of submissions exploring subjects including:

• sex
• gender
• sexuality
• eroticism
• reproduction
• romantic relationships
• the politics of sex and gender
• human figure, sexuality and illness

The exhibit will explore the positive and negative ways these topics affect individuals, couples and/or society.  Entries must be original works from medias including: painting, drawing, video art, installations, printmaking, photography, sculpture, ceramics, fibers, computer based art, or mixed media.  We invite you to enter and/or share information about this exhibit with other artists by distributing this email and the attached brochure with anyone interested, posting the attached poster in appropriate locations, and visiting our website at https://www.indiana.edu/~kipics/jas2010/.

Artist can submit their work online at https://www.indiana.edu/~kipics/jas2010/ or by mail (with images stored on CD and payment by check) with the attached entry form.  Artist may submit up to three entries.  The nonrefundable entry fee is $30 for the first piece, $35 for two, and $40 for three.  The deadline for entries is February 1, 2010.

Virtual versions of previous Kinsey Institute Juried Art Shows can be found at http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/services/gallery/jeas/.

The Kinsey Institute’s 2010 Juried Art Show will be held at the Indiana University School of Fine Arts Gallery.  The SoFA Gallery (http://www.indiana.edu/~sofa/) is centrally located on the Bloomington campus.

The 2010 jurors are Lisa D. Freiman, Ph.D., Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; Betsy Stirratt, Director of School of Fine Arts Gallery at Indiana University; and Garry Milius, Associate Curator at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.

All selected works will be exhibited at the SoFA Gallery, May 28-July 30, 2010, and a public opening reception will take place on Friday, May 28, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

For more information about the Juried Art Show or The Kinsey Institute, please see the attached brochure, visit our website at www.kinseyinstitute.org or contact the Kinsey Institute at kiart@indiana.edu or 812-855-7686.

L to R (Top Row): green bean casserole (with fresh green beans, fresh onion, fresh garlic), brussel sprouts, chopped veggies, fried cinnamon apples with raisins and fresh cranberries, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing from scratch, (Middle Row) homemade cranberry relish (fresh cranberries, orange and ginger), traditional canned cranberry sauce, glazed carrots in a honey-mustard curry sauce, raisins, (Bottom Row) 14 lb turkey (roasted with fresh rosemary, basil, orange and lemon slices, stuffed with beer-soaked bread and lemons, asparagus pea cheese casserole, sauteed sweet potato slices, homemade gravy.

A lot of food for five people.  Kirby and I started preparing food last night and cooked all day today.  Our house will have tasty leftovers for at least a week.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie (Kirby’s special family recipe) that features a special nutmeg whipped cream topping that completely redefines pumpkin pie.  And there was sparkling wine.   For dinner it was Kirby, Joe, Simon, Joe’s friend Numania, myself and latecomer Nick.  Caitlin, who went home for Thanksgiving, was greatly missed.

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I’m trying to figure out which I like best: the top one with lines,  the second one that isn’t outlined, or the third that isn’t outlined and that doesn’t feature the bitmapped background/foreground.

Post Script: I’ve decided I like the third one best, but I need to change the background colors.  Also the composition needs to be horizontally longer.

Post Post Script:  Here’s the finished result:

I need to find some online tutorials for importing hand-drawn preliminary sketches into Photoshop and then coloring them in.  I’m scanning in my original sketch and digitally building on top of that, but I feel as if the software is designed to eliminate some of the steps that are slowing me down.  Must learn more faster.   Also practice.  I am elated to discover that being able to execute this project demands that I spend every moment of my free time drawing and writing in a way that I’ve never been motivated to do before!

It looks simple and is only 4 seconds long, but it took a lot more effort than it might seem.

This is a very short clip from the project I’ve been working on, writing, storyboarding and now beginning to animate.

But you’re not actually ‘moving.’

Not exactly, no…

And it’s not actually a ‘new’ space.

Okay, right, whatever.

Since Melissa moved out I’ve sort of staked claim on my apartment’s storage space.  It’s a dark, half-finished room/crawl-space in the basement of our house.  None of my housemates have that much stuff, which is nice because I don’t have room in my closet-sized bedroom for all of my art supplies, books, computer equipment, etc. I installed an electric outlet in the space so that I can use my computer down here.  And I’ve slowly been trying to shift things around, clean things up, sort through old boxes to get rid of junk.   It’s a lot of work but today I was able to put up some shelves, allowing me to unpack my masculinity books.

One of my biggest struggles with living in California has been not having my own space.  Moving out of my studio at Chestnut Street was a justifiable trade-off for the versatile warehouse space that could host art shows.  But all that ended, and since then I’ve been clinging to this notion that after I get my MFA I might move back to Nashville and open a gallery or arts center of some sort that will allow me the luxury of a workable studio again.  I’ve been operating that, in the meantime, I’ll figure a way to do without.  Working out of boxes (or rather, not doing work) has cramped me up, a lot more than I realize.  It’s tough to get things done when every decision you make is contingent on how much you’re able to pull out of a box for a short amount of time before your housemates get home and you’re in their way again.  Or trying to find that one particular book you need, but you have to go through sixteen boxes to see if you still own it.

As this space below the house is slowly coming together, I am excited about once again being able to have my own place to work!