new process

I just started building a new set of stretcher bars for my next painting last night. I've never used this process before. Actually lately I've grown pretty complacent, and have just been using 2x2" beams. they are often a little warped, or twisted so it makes the whole process less than ideal and even downright mediocre. So I've decided to buy 1x3" poplar planks and then glue a strip of 1" molding to edges. this will provide a nice lift for the canvas, and any warping in the beams themselves is almost nonexistent. My only fear at this point is the see how the frame holds up, or possibly warps once I wrap the canvas taught around the stretcher bars. Hopefully I can nullify this as much as possible using cross beams and metal joint supports.
Anyway, here is a photo of me gluing the molding to one of the poplar beams.

Two types of people in the world...

There are two types of people in the world.
1) The first type of person thinks that any cover song is "way better than the original."
2) The second type of person just had ravioli for dinner.

Actually, the post was going to originally say that the first type of person can't admit when their favorite band puts out a mediocre album. But then I was thinking about this Rage Against the Machine cover of "Straight Edge" I was listening to in the car and I just thought to myself, "Minor Threat had those fat guitar sounds! Rage sounds all flat in comparison." And I think that was one of the first times in recent memory where I didn't like the cover better than the original.

Also, how come I never update this blog anymore?

the space between two dots

Tybot drove me to work this morning, and i started waxing philosophical about direction -- a mild version of the "why am i here? where am i going?" questions you ask during life's crossroads.

it spawned from listening to the New Pornographers' Twin Cinema album this morning while getting ready. this is a band that was introduced to me via what i would later recognize as a very ugly situation, but i would never have suspected it then. at the time, i thought the band was ok -- but ironically, now years later i love the band, even with the awareness of the context. the bigger picture, if you will.

as one example of a larger point i was trying to make, i said it struck me as ironic how big twists can sometimes start in places or things you would never suspect.

anyway -- i was deep in thought, thinking about starting points and middle points and what comes next and said, "i feel like i'm at a line between the dots and don't quite know where the next dot is -- or what the big picture will end up being."

to be expected, Tybot had the answer and responded perfectly:

"yeah, like connect the dots. a lot of times it's a giraffe."







so there you have it.

i'm a girl of simple tastes

as for today, i like...

• waking up to sunshine on a Friday morning and knowing i don't have to go to work
• being out the door by 9:30 a.m., with Nikes on my feet, sunglasses on my head and a book in tote
• reading by Lake Michigan until lunchtime (or in this case until i finish the book -- about three hours later)
• walking back home with Grant Park, the Museum Campus, Soldier Field and Chicago's spectacular skyline as the backdrop (this is my neighborhood? seriously? a year and a half living in the city and it still feels new)
• coming home to our airy loft
• tossing some fresh pasta with avocado then rummaging through Tybot's studio for a bit
• finding the perfect painting for our west wall
• flipping through a design/architecture magazine (while admiring our view of the Sears Tower from the living room couch)
• taking a two-hour nap
• waking up just in time to walk back down Michigan and catch the last hour of Radiohead at Grant Park (yeeeeah- i got in!)

Tybot gets home from camping tomorrow -- i'm pretty excited about that too.

that also probably explains why i'm blogging on a friday night.

k,byeeee.

Link dump

Hello, I am dumping a bunch of links here for easy access. Feel free to check them out, if you so desire.

http://tylerspurgeon.wikidot.com/
a wiki site that I set up to meta organize and document myself.

http://tylerspurgeon.wikidot.com/forum:start
the forum i set up at said wiki site. please feel free to jump on and post about whatever you'd like.

www.tylerspurgeon.com
this is probably the most important one for now. this will be a personal website where people can access images of my paintings. it's still in beta phase, and i'm busy uploading files at the moment. it probably won't be live for another day or so.

so proud of tybot

tybot sold another painting this weekend. "girl with gas mask" has now joined the ranks of tybot collector pieces. here it is on our living room floor during the final cradling process. i love this photo, and it's a fantastic painting. definitely a favorite among visitors to the tybot/babetron abode.




(by the way -- congratulations, miss benne, on your stunning new art acquisition!)

the pinecone