Friday, October 24, 2008


Lack of updates due to lack of confidence. Sorry guys. It's coming back a little. It's just so hard to motivate myself when all I hear is how sub-par my peers and I are.

But on a positive note, I've been working a book project, which is the image you see above. That is a series of Lobotomy Bunneh trading cards made from collage and fortune cookie papers. I've designed a great little book-like box to hold them in, and I'm rather fond of it. So much so that I would rather skip ahead and make several versions to sell in my Etsy store. We'll see where that takes me.

I am still working on the erotic art piece from a few posts ago. I've gotten some feedback from my fellow students and I'm going to finish that up within a few weeks. I've also been invited to submit art for The Dirty Show in Detroit, and I believe I'll be sending in that piece. I feel like it stands a decent chance of making it into the show, and if not, than at least I gained some experience with entering.

I am looking into other academic schooling for next year. I will graduate from MECA with my BFA, but then what? If I believe the things I hear, than I will be hopeless and empty and destined to work retail the rest of my life. So my next option is to go to a University, like I should have done in the first place. I may simply go to SMCC for a quick tech job, and be done. I can have a stable carreer and make my art on the side as I see fit. Perfect. But I'm still up in the air about it.
I have come to the conclusion that if I want to continue in the art field, I have to regain confidence. A guest speaker at my school today said that we have to have confidence in ourselves even when no one else will. I believe I am good, and I am learning, and I will grow. I am at a big cross roads. Do I go forward, or do I take a step back?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't you EVER let anyone take your passion for art away from you. I had way too many friends in high school have that happen to them by teachers, and I myself had to fight like hell to not lose it. If you need a constant reminder, I am here and I will be that person.

I can relate to you in a small way. I had a best friend in high school who was four years behind me. I was a senior and he was a freshman. We became so close and had so much in common it was hard when I had to graduate and leave him 'behind'. He pretty much made me feel like I was his mentor and he wanted to follow in my footsteps and become an artist just like me. So I was away at art school in Massachusetts with warm thoughts that not only I wanted to be an artist, but my best friend wanted me to be one too. And then he and I would maybe make art together one day once he was in college with me. Then he got sick. My sophomore year I went to go visit him in the hospital and he was so small and fragile, it hurt to see him that way. He was dying and there was nothing I could do to help. I gave him all of my expensive art supplies and paper and told him to make as much art as he could. He was so happy to see me. He died a few months later. I haven't been able to let go completely and sometimes I'll have a nervous breakdown over him. But he's been the fire for me ever since I started with art school, and I've let him continue to be that fire. I cannot let myself down because then I'll let him down. And trust me, there have been times when I've wanted to give up and go into culinary school or nursing instead. But always deep down there's been Blake whispering in my ear, stay with it.

So we're here for more than our own reasons. Stick with it Dani, you've been successful thus far! Your hope and pride is somewhere still inside of you, we'll all have to work extra hard to get it back out.

I think your piece will make it into the dirty show, and if not, you're right. You'll have the experience! Awesome!

Anonymous said...

And as if I haven't said enough already, I would buy a set of your Bunneh fortune/tarot cards, if you went and got sets made. Check out moo.com, they have a lot of different options for printing!

jamie peeps said...

Dani, hang in there. It's not about what other people think, anyway. Your fire says lit inside no matter what. Think of it like a divine spark and run with it. YOU are awesomeness.