Ari Takata-Vasquez Blur

Flight

(Acrylic on wood canvas, clay, nails. 8"x12")

Drive

(Acrylic on canvas. 9"x12")

Set

(Acrylic on watercolor paper. 3.5" x12")

Terrestrial 

(Acrylic on wood, clay, and wire. 9"x12")

Catherine Schy Reibel

slough creek

110

rod and gun

bryce

Maël Castellan, loaded

A semester of suffering, recovery and renewal in progress. This class was always a sanctuary. Despite myself, my work couldn't but reflect this process, sometimes overtly, others covertly. 

Gravity. Feel it entirely, as you would joy.

Hope. A case for the power of the individual over fate. (Or: Jellyfish.)

Defiance. Half a gift.

Renewal. The self re-emerges.

The magic of Tony Dubovsky

I thought about posting my drawings to the blog - and, if Mr. Tony insists that I do so, I will - but it dawned on me that work produced in VS 280 is secondary to the actual product of the class: a tightly bonded group of adults, or students of life, really, who grow to see one another's work, to feel it, to accept it with warm embrace.  With Tony, we learn to experience creative work, be it our own or that of others, without the weight of academic ideologies and disciplinary of-the-momentness.  We push ourselves out of the academic comfort zone of binary evaluations ("good" or "bad"), and ask ourselves to see a broad spectrum of qualities in all work.  That our physical creations are artifact is precisely what makes Tony's class the self-effacing crown jewel of the CED.  In a consortium of departments that encourage harsh judgments and often reward students who toe the party line, VS 280 is an island of respite for those students who pathologically reject the status quo.  So, Tony and colleagues, please let this be my final offering to you.  My gratitude for your effort to perceive my tiny drawings.  A proclamation that Nathan's hanging monuments are fundamentally grounded in process.  A proclamation that, even though Mael is a Breton, he's a ray of creative sunshine.  That Eulaila has discovered herself in watercolors.  That Christina's garbage is worth an entire department's heavy bond-printed boards.  That Lauren's intricate combines say more than a thousand words ever could.  That Suok's paintings shouldn't make sense, but they do.  That Cat knows wood.  That Jorge bares his soul in charcoal.  And that Tony, precious Tony, our friend and mentor, maker of artists, maker of art, sayer of weird things, is to thank for a most unexpected, inspiring, gratifying academic experience.

Thanks, Tony, and thanks, everyone.  We'll always have VS 280.

Suok Jeong

Beyond (acrylic paint, 34"x34")

Anchor (acrylic paint, 9" x 12")

Find (acrylic paint, 16.5" x 11.5")

Join (acrylic paint, 12" x 6")

Michelle's Four Samples

Touch  (Watercolor)

Reach (Color Pencils on Cardboard)

Find (Acrylic on

 Canvas Paper)

Field (Acrylic on Wood)

Lauren McQuistion- Studies in Materiality

The Eyes of The Skin

trace paper, sewing thread, and ink wash on watercolor paper

To Wander

gesso, acrylic wash, gauche, watercolor pencil, and bleach on muslin

Nine Rules, 30 Minutes

gesso, india ink, graphite, and rubber cement on reused masonite panel

Route 20 South

gesso, water, and folded muslin on masonite panel

Christina Gossmann: Traces of Nairobi

Anchor. (Clay, watercolor and acrylic on cardboard, 4"x7")

Reach. (Watercolor and string on paper, 8.5"x11")

Field. (Watercolor on paper, 28"x26")

Return. (Charcoal on paper, 38.5"x28")

Untitled. (Watercolor 7 x7")

Untitled. (Watercolor 7 x7")

Flight. (Watercolor 22"x30")

Wash. (Watercolor 14"x22")

Muñeca de Trapo

Through the illusion of time
And intoxicating companions,
Our unconscious souls clashed
In the most intimate form
That I know you will fight to forget
As I mend the scars on the doll.

The clash of our souls,
Blurs and reluctance,
Turn into truth.
The clash of our cores
This accidental yet magical bond.
That I must fight to forget
As I mend the scars on the doll.

When did the door allow us in?
How did the shirts unbuttoned?
When did the belts ceased to buckle?
Why don't they want to respond?

Let me then mend
What our hands once tore voluntarily
Let me sow a new smile.
Let me mend the scars on the doll.

Be

I tried to let go of my hand
So she could be fully herself.
She struggled and struggled
Then began to exist.

As she was born,
As she laid there
On a plain paper bed,
What began as a stroke
Soon was begging for form.

Different shades. Same attitude.
I could do nothing but let them be.
Curved and similar.
Persistent crowd of strokes.

I despise them but let them strive
Against my judgement
Against my hate.

Take form. Be.

Careless Self

In the middle of two spaces,
I find my careless self being pulled apart.
It could be dangerous.
It could be amazing.
I at times wonder if the last thought
Keeping those two worlds together
By a long, thin, careless self
Were to break.
How many new possibilities would emerge?
How many damages would it create?
Hang in there, my dear thought.
Don't ever let yourself be torn apart,
Unless you absolutely need to be torn apart.

Tus Visitas en mis Sueños

Pensé que ya me había resignado.
Pensé que ya no te iba a recordar.
Y aunque mi mente me obligue a negarlo,
Mi alma en ti no deja de pensar.

Algunas veces en mis noches sudadas
Aun recibo tus amargas visitas.
Y aunque por siempre intente olvidarlas
Sigues regresando a mis noches malditas.

Imposibles son los encuentros.
Imposibles son tus caricias.
¡Qué absurdo me suena este cuento
Que yo mismo escribo de prisa!

Así regreses o no vuelvas nunca
Yo siempre te seguiré pensando
No porque merezcas ni una
De mis noches por ti delirando.

Espero y sea sólo la idea
De con un alguien sentirme cerca.
Y que no seas tú a quien mi conciencia desea
Porque muy pronto mi alma se seca.

today, i took a nap.  as it turns out, it's important to specify "pm" or "am" on iphone alarm clock.

i made this over the weekend, keeping in mind nate's comments on my ambivalent use of notebook paper.  i try not to be ambivalent in the things i make, mainly because i'm ambivalent in everything else.  i also try to be precious in the things i make, mainly because i'm not precious in anything else.

it would be nice if every posted their drawings this week.  i think it would be a nice log.