This very small picture to the left is what has been driving me crazy for the past two hours. C-R-A-Z-Y.  Deep breaths...okay.  So at the SDA conference one thing that we discussed at length in various settings was the need to have an on-line presence.  (Hence, this web, thank you for visiting by the way...and the main catalyst for me creating this here blog...I digress...) Web, check.  Blog, check.  Facebook page...kind of...check?  The albums are there, been going through pictures of my work from the past ten years (alright, so it is a little more than that) and that was an undertaking.  I guess I did come in just before digital cameras got really big...or maybe I just couldn't afford one right away.  I do have many pieces photgraphed from undergraduate, but there are many pieces that are in hardcopy format or even slide format.  So that will be another project for another day.  I did work on some physical, 'with my hands' work today...working on a sketch inpspired by a Mucha print that I really like...will post when it is a little more completed.

Fresh from the conference, with the sights and sounds of a new city under my belt so to speak...ideas are racing through my head.  At my workshop with Anna Carlson we were discussing working in multiples, pushing an idea instead of stopping after the first one or three.  I have an idea where to start but first want to continue to just draw for a little bit, not worrying about a finished product.  Have an idea for a pen drawing challenge...just drawing and doodlin' until all of the ink runs out and seeing what happens. Still working out the details...

Hello!  My name is Jennifer Love Gironda, known to some as Mrs. G, Coach, JLove, Jenny, ‘da muse… it’s all the same.   My intention is to use this blog to stay motivated and to write about my work, or works in progress...or any other creative thing I am working on.  Let me say that I am trying to start this blog with somewhat of a grammatical structure…but I do love some e.e. cummings so it might be inevitable that as the blog grows my attention to syntax may fall to the wayside.  Also, there probably won’t be a continuous flow; I am just going to write what I know about my art, the act of making art and all of the happenings that impact these two things.  So…here goes.

 I just got back from an amazing trip to Minneapolis, where I attended the Surface Design Association Confluence.  One word- inspired.  But I get inspired often, and I get excited and start something…alas, life gets in the way, or that’s my excuse at least.  One of my struggles as an artist has been deciding what to do, figuring out what it is that I need to get out…will I paint it, draw it, bead it?  All of the above. 

I attended a workshop with Anna Carlson focused on moving past just the first piece, hence the title of the workshop, ‘Beyond One of a Kind: Creating Collections and Signature Style.’  I feel more confident in my work after the experience; I do have some reoccurring elements and concepts in my work, so I just need to delve into them more.  We participated in activities ranging from evaluating our own work and influence to presenting to the group and getting feedback.  Perfect start to my summer break, I needed this.

I am going to start small, just start with this weekend.  My goal for today was to get this here art blog up and running- check.  (Insert pat on back, celebratory jig, etc here) Now my focus for the weekend is just to get some drawing done.  I had not drawn in a while prior to the workshop…forgot how much I love to draw…how much I need to sketch.  When I sit down with that blank piece of paper I have so many questions, occasionally I can work these out through the act of sketching.  I wore out my trusty ink pen from the El Inn in Kyoto (best pen EVER)… I dulled my new drawing pencils…I made marks. 

So…gonna sketch.  The pic posted here is one of the sketches from the plane trip back to FL.  Gustav Klimt is such an inspiration to me…so I looked at one his pieces, pulled out the largest shapes and then put the print away and just let my hands travel across the page.  I really became aware of my love for spirals while drawing this piece.  Working on a Mucha-inspired sketch tonight… let the journey begin.