High Contrast Grey.

I bought one of Allison’s photos of Chris at her art yard sale (yart sale?). Slowly my living room wall coming together. I want to re-ink some of my old painting and definitely re-mat it with another color.

I have finished my summer session class. It was a quick five weeks of painting 5 different paintings and I didn’t quite finish my painting of the Eugene Atget photo, but I got close enough to turn it in and while going through critique I think I might have figured out a way to do the cobble stones. The prof had suggested painting a dark layer over and then using my pallet knife to remove, but when I tried that it removed all the paint to the canvas, but if I instead use the back of a brush it might just work. Now that I am finally done with the painting class I can once again spend my free time at the Butterfly café working on art and drinking pots of tea. I feel as though I dropped off from that aspect of my life since starting the class..

Finished my painting of the underground market finally. I went and got some prints of my last watercolor picture that I finished and while signing and numbering over at Bernice’s the people next to me bought a print. First print sold. I pushed myself to finish this underground market painting so that I can get prints made of it tomorrow and start preparing for a show.

Working more on my Eugene Atget painting. Slowly adding layer upon layer and figuring out how to work with acrylics finally. If only the air here wasn’t so dry that as I wait for my thin layer to dry that the mixed paint as well dries. I’ve been experimenting with acrylic medium as well, but I think I should build up more of the layers first. Perhaps make it so that one can’t see the grid marks through the paint anymore. It is due in a week now, as well as another painting of a still life that has been set up in the classroom that I have been avoiding doing.. I think that I will be spending my weekend at the University. It would have been nice if University housing had provided a larger table in the apartment.. Hell, maybe even something that was a table and not just a counter connected to the wall with nothing below it.

I went back to the Multi Item store with their 75% off sale and bought Wormwood, the book from the 1890s about absinthe in Paris, as well as a book from 1908 about Africa with the racist title of The Jungle Folk of Africa, and a new hat for Miette so I could get my great grandma’s beret back, but then Marie wanted to wear it so.. guess I need to find her a hat now too. I was really surprised when the guy at the store priced the hat at only $1 but then again it did seem to not really have the vintage appeal as much as the crust punk kid appeal. I ended up spending under $10 buying these things, so I think I might go back later in the week and perhaps dig through more of their books from the 1800s and the tea cups that Stephanie went through, but I assumed that they would be too expensive. Bah.

Slowly but surely I am turning my apartment into a French bordello. I bought some really cheap green latex house paint to paint some stripes down the newspaper, but Stephanie made me remember that newspaper isn’t very thick and it would probably end up getting onto the wall behind. I’m already covering the walls in little holes that I am going to have to plaster up, I don’t think that housing will like me too much if I then put some green paint onto the walls. But really, fuck these white boring walls. It’s becoming easier and easier to start working on art in the living room now. Nothing like nesting.

Drinking wine all afternoon working on my final for my summer painting class. An intersection in Paris in 1910 referenced and provided by Eugene Atget. I still need to sketch in the other side before continuing the undercoat, but I was getting impatient and wanted some definition to all the lines I have been putting onto the canvas.

Went to another house show at Spruce Street but had to leave early at midnight to make it home in any kind of timely manner seeing as how from there it is about a full hour just to walk down to my place. The nights are getting nicer for being out, but yet I find myself being inside more and more just doing nothing.. Boring. I’m trying my best to create an interesting atmosphere in my apartment to inspire me to work on my art more, but the apartment is no substitute for cafés.

Capitol Hill.

While in Seattle we went by Golden Gardens. Stephanie had said that she had never been to the ocean. This wasn’t really the ocean but still somewhat closer than anything she would have seen in Montana. I love how this section of the city has become so overrun with life and plants. An easy escape from the city.

I went by Seattle for Memorial Day weekend. The way the art classes are structured here, we get Fridays off for constant three day weekends and since Memorial Day weekend was on a Monday we used the four day weekend to run off to Seattle. We went to see punk rock kids with accordions at folklife while as well wandering about the city seeing what it has to offer. I had never before gone to Fremont market and before going thought that it would be like the Ballard market that I would wander down and through on occasion while living in Ballard. Not being only about a block long with mostly foods, the Fremont market was as well full of crafts and random things feeling much more like a flea market. And of course Seattle had to show its love and go from being overcast to raining while we wandered up and down the booths.