High Contrast Grey.

Jessye looks at my presentation. With university in 'full swing' it seems as though all my free time has been taken up. Regretfully resulting in fewer posts keeping up with my art. Part of what has been filling up my time was learning that I could still apply for the Bachelor of Fine Arts which I had originally thought I had missed the chance to while I was in France. I had thought it was one of those things that needed to be applied for a year in advance, but thankfully (and frustratingly) I was incorrect. It has been nice to finally get all my art supplies together. All those antique frames that are in need of images to put in them. But still I wish that I could be back in Bretagne. If there could have been a way to have all my things and groupings of friends here. The BFA show was based on a collection of ten different pieces. 5 in my medium of preference (I wanted to select both the painting and the drawing categories as I try to apply both, but I was deterred into ...

Bottle of whiskey hidden in a dirty, over-sized pack. I sit at the Butterfly drinking an Earl Grey, over-steeped and bitter. Accompanied with literary discoveries in the French language. A man in a suit jacket and jeans buys his son a small treat. They have run out of teapots and teacups. / An old painter sits down across the table. “Young man, I am addressing you now.” He shake-ily writes his name and number on an unused 3x5 and through closed eyes, recalls his meeting of Edward Hopper. Stern like a Prussian officer from World War One with his helmet off. Unforgettable.

I have finally just about made it through the all hundreds of photos that I took for the Bellatrix show a few weeks ago. Choosing random ones that I like and editing so them so that the performers have photos to represent them on the facebooks. I got a message from Anita around a week ago asking to use one of the images to promote people auditioning to join the show, but I am not sure which one she chose. Although I talked to her again today and she was looking to have me take a photo to use to promote their next show sometime soon. Good times.

ps. Chris is an amazing performer.

Bellatrix. I was thinking that I was not going to be able to make the show because it was on the Sunday marking the end of Thanksgiving break and I was planning to be in Seattle at that point, but the weather forced me to stay in Missoula. Originally Anita (the woman who put together the event and is pictured with the umbrella) had wanted me to be the photographer for the event, but I had to decline on the ground that I didn’t think that I would be in town. It was one of the few good things to come out of me being stuck in Missoula. Tonight I have been invited to the cast party to show the photos that I took of the performance. I am not too sure what to expect, but it seems like it will be pretty amazing.

The Dark Dreams people enlisted me to aid in taking some pictures for them that they could in turn use for promotion of their events in Missoula. This was supposed to be a boot licking S&M session with pseudo-military goths punishing the straight “normal” university student of Missoula. I think they turned out alright, although the dynamic of having four people was kind of hard to get to work without it seeming too forced (no pun intended). And once again I have found use for all the riding crops that I have my in possession.

The Yard Dogs @ The Top Hat, Missoula. Musical burlesque.

I stopped by the Badlander before the fashion show was to begin last night and became the unofficial photographer, sans Dane who just seems to be the unofficial photographer for everything in Missoula. Doing that after hitting up all the little galleries and whatnot on first Friday was slightly interesting. One very prominent factor and problem for me with first Friday is that I am never really sure how many glasses of mediocre wine I have had since I skip about so much. At least it probably helps with the frustration over the content of a lot of the art I see in Missoula. Boring Western art made even more boring by the fact that it floods everything. Although to contrast all that, the show at the Badlander has some pretty progressive and beautiful art about.

While walking to the Butterfly after class yesterday I decided to take a new side street in may zig-zag wandering pattern, where I saw this flag waving proudly on the second story of this apartment building. I was hoping for a slight breeze to come along and open the flag just enough to better show off the hammer and sickle, so I stood across the street resting up against a telephone pole with my camera in hand, probably looking like quite the creeper. The breeze I wanted never came and it was right at the point when the sun is in the process of going down and starting to get darker/brighter at certain points (as seen in the photo and the lighting of the building). The other night I was walking home from the university after going to see a panel discussion on WWI. I had debated catching the drunk bus as it went through the university, but it never seems to be on time so I am never sure if I just missed it or if it is coming in just a bit. Anyways, public transportation complain...

Missoula, Montana. Autumn [2010]. My view while walking from my apartment to downtown.

I took the after school middle school group that I have been teaching street art out to the local free wall today. I am not really sure if any of them incorporated what I have been trying to teach them, but they seemed to at least enjoy the freedom of doing whatever they wanted on the free wall. Out of this I did make a quick stencil of a rat to show them what stencils could do, which perhaps I will wander downtown later this week to leave little city rats about.

Spruce St. Halloween party. [2010]

Every time I try to put my schedule for what I have going on in this month of October it appears more and more like I won’t be getting anytime to just relax. (Now if only I would stop relaxing once I got home.. stupid addicting internet) It seems as though all my art classes are piling on the homework, which personally I love doing art, but I know that some of this work isn’t going to come out looking as great as it could just because as I get stressed I will rush to finish aspects of my homework knowing that I can get away with doing that. Bad habits. Upon all the homework that I have, I as well have my study abroad forms to fill out and essays for that and really the list keeps going. I’ve been working on breathing exercises and plans on when I will actually get it done in sections. Fun fun. In my desire to constantly run away I’ve started thinking more and more about when I finish my study abroad why don’t I look into getting into the Peace Corps and run away again for a f...

It seems what really makes a nice neighborhood, in my opinion, would be that there are trees lining the way to create shade (aside of course the fact that the houses should be pleasant to look at). The street of my childhood had trees, and though it hid the sky it brought beauty and life and shelter when the heat came. Now when I go back it seems as though more and more trees have gone missing. When I ask why I get responses of the aging neighborhood not wanting to maintain the trees, complaints of having to clean up leafs, and the lie that it was dying (the stumps left behind show that that was never the truth). The whole town that my folks live in seems to be going through this phase of cutting down trees. I think that it might be a new marketing technique for the tree trimming businesses, but that is only an assumption. My father and I have long conversations on how to improve the image of the city, but it seems as though it has already fallen to far into the s...

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..

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.

Went to a house party the other night. A band from Mexico was touring through and their van broke down here so, being stuck they decided to have another show (and perhaps raise some money to fix up their van?) in the basement of a house. We spent a lot of our time sitting and starring into the fire. Small anecdotes of conversation to occur. Justin with a bottle of wine in his hands retelling his tales of the bizarre and strange. Thoughts into where the artist fits in the modern world. A modern world where communication and knowledge is shared faster than ever.

Missoula, MT.

One of the prints for my photography midterm. I couldn’t quite capture the yellowing of the lithprint with this photo, but oh well. Just ask and you can see it in person. I’m thinking once I get the pictures back from turning them in that I will add them to my walls. While in salsa dancing class I looked out the window and found that I am once again wanting to be in the looming confines of a city. Where the buildings tower above and block out chunks of the sky. Where you can go places and everyone is new. Its odd going to parties and hearing time and time again, ‘I keep seeing you.’ Just a few more days and I’ll again be in Seattle. I’m not too sure how to fill up a few days of showing Olivia about town, but I guess we will find things to do. It would help if she was at least 21, but maybe I can sneak her into a few places like the White Horse, I would hope the Can Can as well, but we will see. I wish that the film that French club showed the other night would have showed mo...

Missoula, MT.