The last two pages from my B.F.A. Exhibit.

In other news….. I’m all graduated!

Hire me, please. :)

I’ll post photos from the exhibit reception (which was a huge success!) soon, but first I have to update with my most important and exciting news:

I am engaged!

The plan was for all friends to to head out to a restaurant after the reception to celebrate, so after we got the food cleaned up people started drifting away with the intention to meet us there. I said good-byes to my immediate family, who weren’t going out with us.  My boyfriend of over 5.5 years, Nik, and I were the last to leave. Once I had retrieved my coat, he told me he had a surprise for me. My thoughts? He must have bought me a present for finishing my exhibit, how sweet! Instead, he blind-folded me and spun me around multiple times, then lead me down the hall. I was asked to plug my ears, which I did so suspiciously. Because I like the full effect of surprises, I plugged them tight so I couldn’t see or hear anything.  I could tell when we went outside, though, because it was significantly colder and I could suddenly feel snowflakes. I could also smell something warm and good, like woodsmoke. By this time I am extremely suspicious and think I may have an idea about what’s going to happen.

Even my assumptions didn’t prepare me. When I removed the blind-fold, I was greeted by a half-circle of my closest friends and family, all holding sparklers as these huge fluffy snowflakes of the first real snowfall drifted down. Nik got down on one knee, proposed, and put a gorgeous ring on my finger (I said yes, of course!). And then the bells started ringing from the campus clocktower. No kidding.

It was absolutely perfect! He planned it so well to have everyone there, even out-of-town friends, and I had absolutely no idea because they were already there for the art exhibit! I am still in awe and shock, and I am so utterly happy.

December 3, 2009

My friends! Unfortunately my family and few others present aren't in this photo, though.

Right outside of the Univeristy Art Center where I've spent most of the past 4.5 years.

I can’t believe it’s December already! Where has time gone? My show reception is in two days, and I’m ready and excited. I bought a new dress for the occasion yesterday, and all that’s left to do now is prepare the food the day of. Oh, and get cracking at all my other neglected homework.

LOST or FOUND – B.F.A. Exhibit

Featuring the work of Illustrators:

BreeAnn Veenstra
Caleb Hazen
Corey Miller
Jamie McElroy

Grand Valley State University
Stuart B. and Barbara H. Padnos Student Art Gallery
Open to the public

Monday, November 30, 2009 – Thursday, December 3, 2009

Reception Thursday, December 3, 5:00-7:00

There are many aspects of a journey: a difficult decision, the shadowed face of a stranger, the harrowing recesses of human nature, the smile of a friend. Whether experienced with the imagination or the memory, all paths lead to an enlightened ending. We seek to be your guides on this journey of the things yet to be discovered.

Postcards have all been mailed and most have arrived in people’s mailboxes. Plexiglass has been picked up and all artwork revisions have been finished. Next hurdle: printing the finals. I have a very nice textured paper made for digital printing that my boss so kindly let me have, and the test proofs that I had done came out great. We had some trouble with getting the right colors again when I went in yesterday, but fortunately they solved the problem.  I intend to get all my finals printed today if possible, so my fingers and toes are crossed that all goes well!

Here’s the front and back of our postcard:

Here’s the first double-page spread of the story, which will measure 21″ x 32″ including borders.

So I just finished stuffing packing envelopes for my portfolio mailing to various children’s book publishers:

Each package will have four of seven illustrations, a cover letter on my own letterhead, and a SASE response card for them to send back to me. I’ll be sending these out within the next week, so wish me luck!

And though it’s unrelated, I just rediscovered this photo on my camera from this year’s sprign break trip to Florida. Liz and I went to SeaWorld, where we fed the dolphins. Twice. Happiest moment ever.

Oh, and here’s a mediocre and slightly warped shot of a 16-hour painting I did for figure painting class. I was lucky to find a girl who volunteered to pose for me, and she was so happy with the finished product that she’s going to purchase it.

oil on press board

Crit-O-Rama was this past week, and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. Here’s an excerpt from Grand Valley State University briefing just exactly what the event is:

“Crit-O-Rama is a big critical open house hosted by the Department of Art and Design each spring. Faculty and students invite artists from around the country to come to town and meet for a day of art feedback with art students from GVSU and area colleges and universities. Students display their artwork for a week at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, where the events are held. On the day of Crit O Rama, they solicit feedback from any of the visiting artists or faculty they want to meet with. In addition to that day of critiques, the visiting artists also spend an additional day or two with us, and give public lectures on their artwork. Some teach workshops, give demonstrations, or team teach studio courses with faculty at GVSU and the other participating schools.”

Visiting artists here for the events include speakers, Loren Schwerd, a sculptor from the Louisiana State University, and artist lecturers Christine Carr, a photo and video artist who teaches at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA.; Endi Poskovic, a printmaker of large-scale woodcuts who teaches at The University of Michigan; Tim Berg, a ceramic artist who teaches at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif.; Lora Fosberg, a Chicago printmaker, and Gabriel Akagawa, an environmental sculptor who teaches part time at The Art Institute of Chicago.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen to Endi Poskovic speak about his work and philosophies when he visited my printmaking class. His woodcuts are absolutely amazing. Such bright and vivid colors! Really, you have to see these in person to appreciate just how sharp and impressive his work is.

Yesterday was the big event, the free for all critique. I arrived rather early and was able to stay the entire duration, so I was able to talk to a lot of people. It was so much fun to see other people’s works, and then have the chance to chat to students from various universities about my work as well as their work. I thought I might be a bit shy, but it was really easy to trot over whenever I saw someone looking at my work and ask them what their thoughts were.

My only complaint is that we needed more visiting artists! They were always in high-demand and had lines of people following them. We were literally stalking them around the UICA, ready to pounce as soon as they finished their current critique. I managed to nab Lora Fosberg fairly early and had a great discussion with her about my illustrations. She’s so spunky and fun to talk to!

After asking a few visiting professors to critique my work, Endi was able to come and talk to me. We had a lengthy and provoking discussion about where I was with my art and where I should go next. He adored my technique and style, so we mainly discussed subject matter and narratives. He gave me some invaluable ideas and challenges that I’m definitely going to have to ponder over.

I completely forgot to take photos of my work displayed on the wall. Go me. I know my professor, Ed, was wandering around with a camera so I’ll have to see if he managed to take any with my work in it.

dinosauria by endi poscovic

lora fosberg's new book

'new living' by lora fosberg

I have successfully launched my new and improved website!

www.lullafly.com

Everything should be in working order, but if you happen to see something not working please let me know so I can fix it! I added a preloader script to make the images in my galleries load as fast as possible, so if you’re experiencing slow loading times please let me know. I’ve tested it on two different connections without trouble, and I’m hoping slower connections will load things smoothly as well.

Now that my website is complete I must turn my attentions to re-designing some business cards and mailer samples to send out.

I figured it’s high time for me to start an art blog,  so here we are! I intend on sharing my thoughts, drawings and illustrations, and general news regarding both my life and my art. Don’t worry, though, this blog will focus mainly on my art-related life. Nevertheless, I can’t promise that I won’t include occasional random tidbits or photos of my kitten, Crow.

In addition to creating this blog, I’m currently in the process of reconstructing my website, www.lullafly.com using HTML/CSS and Flash, so stay tuned for updates!