A Teaser.

In the last two months I have:

taken on a job...
and then another
started working on projects again
been offered freelance work
considered leaving one position
lost a feline friend
voted
littered my room with fabric scraps
spent more time at home than I have in the last four years
accepted the fact that I'm not a child anymore.

While neither of my positions are glamorous or remotely related to what I went to school for, I find that they've been helpful in keeping me motivated. Essentially, I enjoy the one that matters most (pays the bills) and the other is keeping me focused on moving forward with my artwork.
I'll also be starting some freelance work very soon through a good friend. I'm hoping that it'll give me the kick in the butt I need to consider freelancing as a means of keeping myself fresh until I can afford to find a position in my field...and move. I'm still trying to remain positive and hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for within the year. I'm ready to embrace big changes.

As for projects, I started a larger fabric piece about a month ago and while it's still not done I want to post a little teaser. I'm finding it a little hard to balance my work with "work work", but I think I'll be able to settle in soon. So, no promises as to when the piece will be finished but I hope it's not too long before I can post again. I'm going to be trying some new tricks and techniques, so we'll see. I'm also doing little things to keep busy--like the new header. Over the weekend I broke out the camera and spent Saturday afternoon photographing fruit baskets for my boyfriend's parents' business. Perhaps I'll post some of those one day, just for fun. Little things here and there, though and bigger projects to come. And for the tease...
I really need better lighting. I bet you can't guess what it is...

J

What I've been up to and other things

Well, hello again! Lack of posts are due to lack of time and lack of new work, unfortunately. The images above are some shots I took of a baby blanket that I made for a family friend. It's just a basic two piece, yellow fleece with appliqued bunnies and stitched detailing. Looks simple, right? I thought so too when I was planning it out. It took a great deal longer than I had anticipated but luckily I was able to finish in time. I also realized that I loathe fleece. It's extremely hard to sew both by hand and on machine (I finally got around to playing with my new baby!) I'm kind of sad I didn't get a better shot of the finished blanket. I took several but they all came out blurry. Sigh.

As for what's to come next... I'm not really sure. I'm (very) recently unemployed and have really started focusing on job hunting and it's a bit overwhelming. I sympathize for those of you that have been diligently looking since graduation. I'm not quite sure how you do it since I've already gone a little nutty. That might just be from the heat, though. I have a few new project ideas but I think that what I really need to do is just sit down and draw things out. Hopefully I'll get to something new within the next couple days. Other than that not much is new. I guess that's all until something exciting comes up or I have new work to share. Keep on, keeping on!

J

Rainy days and Tuesday always get me down?

The unreliability of the weather always irks me. Here in Syracuse it goes from being 90 and absolutely gorgeous to humid, rainy and overall icky in the matter of minutes. Or a day or so. Nothing we can do about that though other than complain and I'm the queen of that.

I finally have some new pieces to post. Sorry it's been so long but it has been kind of hectic here. It feels like I never stop moving but that's about to change. As of next week I'm going to have a little more creativity time as I will officially join the realm of the unemployed. At least for a little while.

I've been playing around with embroidery techniques on old linen and it's actually really therapeutic. I like placing stitch after stitch after stitch. I've actually gotten a lot cleaner with my handiwork.
Here's a simple contour of a lounging cat all sprawled out. The inspiration for this was my very own feline friend who I admit has gotten quite needy as of late. The piece piece was done entirely in backstitches. I find they give a cleaner, clearer line. Less of a break in the middle. Here's a detail.
I've also completed another small owl for a friend who desperately wanted one of my pieces. Last week she witnessed my desperate attempt to pick cherries from a very large tree. After coming up unsuccessful and looking like a downright fool she presented me with a large bag of Bings that she had picked up that morning. So this owl is a very big thank you for kind words and yummy food. I've been told it's my cutest to date.
I'm still playing around with fabric too. Well I guess that's all for now. On to more cutting and stitching and coming up with new projects.

J

Updates

Well hi there,

Just a quick update. Small changes have been made to the blog header and to my website (you can find me here.) Working on a couple small projects. Trying out new techniques and cleaning up my stitches. Hopefully I'll have something new to post soon. Until then...

J

New Space

Why, hello there!
For some reason I assumed that adjusting to post-grad life would be easy. While I haven't really decided if it is or isn't, I've found that all I want to do is sleep. Sleep, eat, and clean. Maybe not so much the latter but I have been doing a lot of organizing. I finally have some semblance of a studio space (well, table) as seen here:Aaaand here:

And here: This last picture is actually my lovely new sewing machine that I haven't even gotten to hook up yet. It has been in my possession a week now, but there always seems to be something else I need to do. Like sleep, eat, or clean. Or go to work. I'm starting to understand what my professors meant about working part-time in order to keep up with artwork. Even with the few days a week that I am working, it's hard to just sit down and create. It gets even harder when you factor in:


-appointments
-family
-aggressively affectionate needy cat
-boyfriend
-piles of the semester's laundry (still not done)
-friends you've fallen out of contact with
-job hunting to replace current job which is up at the end of the month
-job hunting to replace whatever job you get to replace current job
-sleep
-mental health time
-grocery shopping
-calls to new healthcare provider (I won't even get started)


The list goes on as I'm sure you all know, but my point is that life after graduation isn't easy. For all grads (even though I'm biased towards those of us in the creative fields). But enough with the venting, ranting, sobbing, whatever you want to call it. There are good things to come!

Lately I've been inspired by artists who work with text. Joetta Maue is a fiber artist based out of New York who works both with text and what she refers to as "re-appropriated" linens. Basically, your grandma's doilies. Personally, I like the idea of mixing old with new. It kind of reminds me of a collage piece I did for Marty Blake. So I think my next step is to do a large-scale, stitched (text) banner for over my "studio". Sort of an homage to Ms. Maue, yet utilizing her technique in a way that is uniquely my own. We'll see where this goes. I definitely need to get the ball rolling as I have far too many lists of ideas running through my head. So until next time...Ta-ta!

J

Coming Soon...

Once I get settled in somewhere, I'll start posting as I create. Unfortunately, everything is in boxes and I have no idea where anything is. By the end of the week I hope to be back into some sort of schedule. For now I'm going to post a little of what I've done.
Judy Garland for a distorted portrait assignment.A hooting owl for one of my promocards.And a sleepy fox for a series of Russian folktales.

I'm constantly looking for new influences, ideas, and techniques and I hope that once things settle down again I'll get back into the groove of working. I haven't really fully acknowledged the fact that I'm done with school although it's sinking in a little more each day. I'm already starting to miss everyone, haha. I'm sure I'll see you around. Love you all and miss you madly.
Forever and always,

Jill

Hoot

Graduation is looming, but I've been trying to keep busy. I'm avoiding packing...it happens. Here are a couple images of my graduation cap. The senior illustrators all kind of decided to do owls. I'm quite happy with the way mine turned out even though I decided against a background and he's kind of floating. Oh well.

So here goes. I probably won't post again until after this weekend. Cheers.

J

I told you...

I'm sorry about the lack of posts. I've been a little busy:

Covering portfolios...Cutting swatches...
And sending it all away...

Lubin House this week. BFA show at XL Gallery this week. Graduation this week. Packing my life away again. Crazy times. I promise to post more soon. Website should be up completely in the next day or so. You can find me here. Cheers.

J

What happened next...

So this what happens on a sunny Friday afternoon in Syracuse. After a couple hours of cutting, tying about a hundred little bows, and a few hot glue burns I have 75 perfect little swatches. Perhaps I'm somewhat of a masochist. Lovely.

Oh well, I think I'm taking tomorrow off to rest and then it's back to work. Open portfolio day is Wednesday and there's still much to do. But for now I say adieu!

J

Giving this another shot...

So I have a small confession to make...I am absolutely horrible with updating these things. They just sit there untouched. For months. This is perhaps the third or fourth that I've started in the last few years. I guess I'm just distracted too easily. Hopefully I'll find something better to talk about than my absentee bloggism. Oh well, onto new beginnings.

Before I go though...here are the fabric samples that I had printed through Spoonflower. They finally came today and I'm absolutely euphoric. What do you think?


Alright I'm off to go play with some fabric. Cheers!