Jes Lee

Month: July 2011

Where does it all go?

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Time. Money. Summer. Yeah, all the fun things fly past. I think that is the way it is supposed to be though … the whole ‘live hard and fast’ mentality. I have been doing that lately, in between bouts of taking it very very easy. Lately I have been getting artwork ready to show in a group exhibition in August, trying to get a piece ready to submit to the State Fair, making plans with friends, working on a new logo and website look for my aunt, working on more poetry videos, trying to write some poetry myself, designing new greeting cards and prints, applying for more festivals this fall, and spending a bit of time in my aunt’s pool. It really has been a great summer. Hotter than most, but I don’t mind that too much. That just gives me more reason to get my work done early in the day, and spend the later half somewhere cool.
Today, it is hot and rainy. (The rain is really the only part I strongly dislike about this hot weather, simply because after the rain, it smells like hot worms outside. I seriously can’t stand that. I was traumatized by a 5th grade teacher who had a huge fish tank with big fish that the boys fed worms to. Traumatized.) I have zip for energy today for some reason, so I’m trying to be a little more kind to myself and take it easy. Mostly I am going through artwork from previous shows and seeing what is no longer worth having framed so I can reuse the frames. Beyond that I’ll do a little bit of pottery, and a little bit of coating mylar with india ink so I can make some scratch negatives. Just a quiet little art day.

Some of you who follow this blog will notice that I am on Instagram now and that I post all of my Instagram photos here. I apologize if this bothers you. I do this because I trust Posterous’ terms of service much more than many other places. Plus, I like keeping things neat and in one place. Please don’t think that all I will be doing is posting photos like that here though. There will be updates! I promise!

Until next time,
~Peace~

Sometimes I do more thinking than writing

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I swear I have started at least 10 different blog posts in my head. None of them have made it into this blog space though. There hasn’t been a real reason lately, just a bunch of piddly bits that have kept me from posting, including not enough time, or deciding to avoid my computer for a weekend.

So what has been happening? I am mostly finished with the book project I started for class. There are really just a couple of minor parts I would like to add, and once that is done, I will post pics here. I’m still thinking of making an edition of this, and possibly making more similar to this for upcoming shows. It is exciting! I enjoy making them, I love how they turn out in the end, and it would definitely add to the already long list of ways I enjoy my Co-op membership at MCBA. In other exciting news, every year MCBA sells 100 calendars as a fund raiser at the Book Festival in November. Artists donate supplies and time to print the calendar, one month per artist. I get the opportunity this year to design and create the month of July for these calendars! I am so excited! Now to work on ideas for how it will look….

Last weekend was my birthday. It was amazing! (Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesleephotos/sets/72157627011445243/) I had a chance to see family and many friends, and hear from many awesome people over the weekend. Each day made me happy! Among many fun outings (and an awesome Birthday cake made by Rosie!) I, for one weekend, allowed myself to slow down, and relax. This isn’t something I often do. For one, being an artist and needing to work a job besides what you do as an artist is not at all easy. You are constantly working on something, be it actual work, or creating. But, no matter how hard it is, you do it because you believe in the work you are creating. The second reason is that with having an immune deficiency, at least as far as it works for me, when I start to slow down, I realize how tired I have been, and, well, sometimes it is just easier if I ignore that feeling and just not slow down. But, I allowed it this past weekend, and honestly, it felt amazing. I’m in between projects to a point right now, so it is a bit easier to do right now, but I do think I will try and continue on at a bit slower of a pace from now on. Now, on to this weekend! We are leaving Thursday morning to head to Nebraska to visit a friend we haven’t seen for quite awhile. I’m hoping to blog and tweet a lot from the road and take lots of photos to share with all of you soon!

Until then,
~Peace~

Jes