Artful Ambiguity

The News From Artful

2010-08-20T21:39:00.000-04:00

There have been a lot of changes to Artful Ambiguity in Second Life. We have our own sim now, complete with market, rental homes, castle, tavern, beaches and gardens. I'm planning an underwater dance area for under-sea events as well. If the homes continue to be vacant I may turn that area into a garden dance area, but that remains to be seen. It would have been nice to have the Awesomeville sim as well, but I think giving that up was a smart move; I can always open a new sim at another time. I need to concentrate on what I already have rather than start on a new project.

Besides, I do have real world issues to cope with these days which are more important. Second Life is a great place, but you can't live there. It's virtual, even though the friendships formed may be real as well as the emotions those relationships bring up. I can't let a virtual world dictate the real one, especially as I originally entered SL as a place to learn and play. So here is to the boundaries. Enjoying SL and helping to build it and cultivate my corner of it, but to keep it there when I log out for the night.

It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Rebirth of a Blog

2009-06-22T11:39:00.002-04:00

I have been thinking about starting this blog up again as my creative dry spell appears to be over and I'm in the mood to stop ignoring the world in general. At this time I'm not 100% sure what I'll be blogging ABOUT, but a general theme is probably pointless anyway considering the blog's title. A good amount will likely include bits about Second Life as that is where a lot of my creativity has been manifesting. There is also a good chance that I'll muse about my continuing unemployment in this rapidly dwindling summer break.

Anyway, I'm not promising to blog regularly but stay tuned to this space because there is bound to be something :)

Testing

2008-08-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

I'm just making sure this blog still works. There is a strong possibility that I will be deleting it as I really don't use it anymore and Blogger has become so difficult and frustrating to work with. However I'm not ready to make a final decision just yet. There is a chance that I will need this blog in the fall.

Blogging

2008-05-13T22:48:00.004-04:00

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted anything to this blog. Not that I have not been blogging at all, I just have not blogged here. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that this has been a very busy semester for me and free time has been at a premium. The other, and more relevant to this site, is that I find blogger to be very frustrating to work with, so I've been saving myself the frustration and using other sites.

Updated blogs can be found on my MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/lavenderk5 and I use Twitter, and the URL to follow me there is on the right side of this page. (You'll need to copy and paste the URL to my MySpace page as I cannot insert a working link. This is a big part of the frustration that happens regularly on blogger blogs.)

This particular blog will stay open, I'm just not sure how I will be using the space, therefore I'm going to let it stay idle for the time being.

Jen

ICSC New Faculty Search

2007-12-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to ask for your assistance in our search for a newly created faculty position, Assistant/Associate Professor for Leadership and Creativity at the International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC) at
Buffalo State College. I have attached a position description for your information. Please pass it on to qualified colleagues who may be interested in the position.

It is an exciting time at the International Center for Studies in Creativity as our Master of Science in Creativity, our international certification in Creativity and Change Leadership and our minor program at the undergraduate level continue to grow. Recognized as the "Credential in Creativity" for more than 30 years, our educational programs are designed to provide professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to become
transformational leaders, both in business and education. We are currently developing an undergraduate minor in leadership and this newly created faculty position reflects our commitment to enhancing leadership studies and
articulating the natural connection between leadership and creativity. For more information about the ICSC please visit our website:
www.buffalostate.edu/creativity

Please feel free to contact me or Sue Keller-Mathers, Search Chair at
(kellersm at buffalostate dot edu) with any questions regarding this position.

Thank you for sharing this with anyone you feel may be interested/qualified.

Click here for a downloadable version of the position description.
(Just scroll down a bit for the link to the Word document.)

Creative Process

2007-10-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about process a lot these days, especially as mine seems to be stunted somehow. It's not that I don't want to make anything, because I do, it's more like I just don't have the energy. So that brings up the question of what is it that I need in my environment to enable my creative process, and where is it now?

There's the usual, get plenty of sleep, eat right and exercise. Sleep needs work, but I've been making the effort to eat better and to get more exercise. That, right there, is part of my current problem: I'm not used to regular exercise and have been dealing with a certain amount of muscle strain lately. So yesterday, for example, sitting at the computer just reading was a study in pain so art-making was not going to happen. My hope is that I'll sleep better with regular exercise, but I really don't think sleep is contributing to the current creative drought as I haven't slept well since 1984, and I've certainly been creative since then.

No, I think this is psychological. At the moment I'm waiting to hear about an application to an Art History grad program, so I'm on pins and needles to see if I'm in or not. Waiting patiently is not something I'm good at. The problem is that if I don't get in, I need to come up with something else to do this spring. I'd rather not do that because I really want this program. There are other Art History departments in the SUNY system, but I like this one and it means I won't have to move. So there's that pressure on me because I find not knowing very stressful. Then there are plumbing problems in my apartment which are taking forever to fix, which is a whole other set of stressors.

What I think I'm going to have to do though is just jump in and get started on something. The last thing I need right now is to get stressed out over being stressed out. Once I actually start making things I'm hoping I'll get caught up in the flow and, hopefully, that will take on a life of its own.

Back to Business

2007-10-21T22:58:00.000-04:00

I do have some projects in the works, which is why posting on this site has been so slow lately, but I do plan to return to regular blogging on this page later in the coming week. The website may need to take a backseat to everything else right now, but the blog should be what passes for active again soonish.

Free Burma

2007-10-04T14:07:00.000-04:00

Today, this blog is part of International Blogger's Day for Burma. Information on how you might participate are below the graphic.

International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons.

Watermarks

2007-08-06T08:56:00.000-04:00

One of the things I want to get done before I leave on Saturday, is to get my work watermarked for copyright protection. Then there are the pieces that still need to be cropped and fussed with for online display. There's really not much that has to be worked on, at least in terms of cropping, but the watermarks could pose more of a challenge. Photo Shop has the digimark filter, but it doesn't seem to have had an impact on the images I put up on MySpace this weekend. So it's back to the drawing board, so to speak.

Interesting thing about cropping the digital versions of my work: it really does change the piece. For some of them anyway. The prints seem to stay pretty much the same, only kind of larger so it's easier to make out detail. But the paintings are going to look completely different. And not in the same way as slides of paintings.. the act of cropping and making color adjustments really does change them.

I'm not upset about this, although it's something I need to keep in mind if I'm putting these things up as representative of my work. What is going to end up happening is I'll use the cropped, digital versions to make all new pieces. This is a good thing because I really do like working digitally, and I really like the idea of using my own images as bases for something new. It's kind of like collage only without the glue.

Anything new, however, really will have to wait until I'm back at the end of the month. I simply won't have the time this week to re-create on top of everything else. What's good is that I may be able to work on the website when I'm at Mom's during the week of the 19th. If that is the case it will save me all sorts of time when I get back and will turn the second week into a working vacation. (I need the time away, but working in a different environment can be just as good as a vacation.)

So that's my thought process right now.

Creative Process

2007-08-01T00:33:00.000-04:00

Something I've noticed about myself over the years is that I get distracted pretty easily. Which is why I make sure I have everything I need before I start on any sort of creative endeavor. For example, if I'm going to paint I make sure I have all my materials, my brushes are in good shape, the room is as I need it to be, my subject matter is set up. But I also need to make sure that I'm not scheduled to be anywhere, or that anyone is going to need me for something, and I have no outstanding projects or bills or anything. Because the moment the phone rings, and I've forgotten to turn off the sound, or someone comes looking for me, I'm done working and I have a hard time getting back to it. Actually it's that more than anything else that has kept me from painting recently: I just can't seem to get my ducks in a row so I can comfortably vanish for a week or so. I'm tempeted to lie to everyone and ditch my vacation plans in order to hide here and paint. But that will never work as I've already lined someone up to water the plants and there will be workers here to fix my bathroom, so my plan is thwarted as it's even thought up.

That's my lame excuse for not posting here regulaly and for neglecting my website. Maybe not so lame, as it's been one thing after the other around here. It has occured to me that I'm not busy enough, that my big scheme to devote my summer to freelance work so I can get my apartment organized, work on the website, learn Flash, blog, write fiction and work on some essays to post over at MySpace, visit my nieces and nephews, paint and do things with my friends. It hasn't worked out that way.

I'm not going to get into specifics because, frankly, I don't have the energy. The point is that I have had very little structure this summer and that's a good way for the Forces of Chaos and Disruption to completely take over my life and derail my creative projects. Aside from the writing and the kid-visiting, very little else has come to pass. And I doubt that I'll get enough privacy to paint in peace this summer so as far as that goes I'm shooting for the fall. I'm also going to have to go out and get me some structure. That means not relying on freelance work because that gives me way too much time to be distracted by other things.

But I'm not away yet, and there will still be summer left when I return. The website may just get finished sooner than I think it will, and the apartment can get organized slowly.

Anyway, that's what I have now on my creative process. Oh, I forgot to mention that the reason I need for mundane tasks to be completed and a minimum of interruption, especially when I'm painting, is because I lose time. It does take me a while to get started, but once I do I tend to fall off the face of the earth until I get to a place to stop, or I finish. It's why I don't really date anymore because I've found that men get annoyed when the woman they're involved with vanishes and ignores them in order to spend time painting. (It's never permanent, and I've explained that if they just leave me alone I'll get done faster, and it's not like they aren't warned, but they get annoyed anyway.)

Now THAT is what I have now on my creative process. If anything else comes to me I promise to blog about it.

Status of the site

2007-07-23T08:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted here and worked on my website. Not that I've been idle, because I haven't, it's just that both this blog and the site needed to take a back seat for a while.

That should be changing soon. I now have digital versions of many of my paintings, so once I've cropped them and add watermarks, they should be ready to go online. Some will also find new life as new, digital pieces. There's also a new Bio Book cover for the ICSC to be posted, and a logo I'm working on for someone. (That will have to wait until he's ready to put it on his own site first.) The site in general could stand to be re-formatted as there are more works to post, and what's up now needs to be watermarked.

This is all assuming that the rest of my life stays on the track it's currently taking. I'm not anticipating turn-about, but then I never do. There are other projects that need my time and attention, but my work, this blog, and my site have taken a back-burner for many months now and it's time that changes.

One possible change that's looming is if I get accepted into the Art History M.A. program I've applied to. (I've been saying "if" not "when" because while I know I'm qualified, I just don't want to take this for granted.) But any changes going back to school will bring won't happen until January. Of course there are preparations I'll need to make beforehand, like in finally filing away my things from my M.S., brushing up my language skills, and generally organizing the apartment, but some of that has to happen anyway, and I don't have to dive into all that until the summer is over. So there is time for me to work on my website.

A good stopping place

2007-03-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's a matter of timing. The pics that did not upload originally, have since been uploaded onto the site and I think it's in a good place right now. I still need to scan my personal work, but the stuff I've done for others is up and arranged in a good way.

I'm still not 100% happy with the site though, and a lot of that is because of the URL. That and the whole thing where it just doesn't have the features that I want. Still, it's free space and it will serve until I can get hosting. Sending people links will do until I can get a URL I can actually remember.

The scanning will most likely start at the end of the week. I'm not sure how much I can get done, but I can start at least. At the moment I'm thinking in terms of how I'm going to get all this arranged. I have a different agenda with my personal stuff so I may lay out the second page differently, but I'm not sure yet. I need to see how the scans turn out and what I decide to change, if I change anything. What I can picture is me getting the paintings scanned and then playing with them in Photo Shop. It's something I've always wanted to do so we'll see how creative I get next week.

Website Building

2007-03-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

There's page one done. There are some things missing, but this is enough for now. The next step is to get my personal work up on page two, and then I can leave this for a bit while I look into hosting.

I had hoped that I could leave this standing as my main site, but I think proper hosting has to happen for a couple of reasons. The first is that I was unable to upload everything I want up there. I'm not sure why, but so far there are two images missing. I'll try again another time, but it's kind of irritating.

Anyway, that's one of them over on the left. It's the cover of the 2006 Summer Bio Book for the ICSC's summer programming. The sample of one of the pages is up on the website. Maybe it's not that big a deal for it to not be up on the site, but it bugs me that it's not.

Besides, what I was hoping for was to have all the images up in a gallery that folks could click to enter so you could see full size if you wanted to. On a properly hosted site I'll be able to add one very easily.

To the right, is the other missing image which I had wanted for page two. It's a personal piece called "Generations, 2002" and is one of my portfolio pieces.

The other reason I want proper hosting is the domain. Right now the URL of my page is nearly impossible to remember and my name isn't part of it. Neither of those things are positives from a marketing perspective. So the next step has to be host-shopping.

At least my stuff is up, which is more than I could say a month ago. And it will serve for the time being.

The Website

2007-02-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

The new website is up and can be found here. I'm not going to post the URL except in link form, at least not now, because it is cumbersome and difficult to remember. Hopefully I'll be able to change it, but as the site is currently a work-in-progress at the moment anyway, I'm going to leave it as-is for the time being.

It's a pretty good start. Not quite the way I'd like it, but it IS a free site that came with my new ISP, so I'm really not complaining. That's also why I'm not stressing about the URL. Eventually I'll get proper hosting and then I'll have something better. Anyway, all I need to do now is get my paintings, prints, and drawings scanned and a page set up for them and I'll be good to go. I also need to remember screenshots of my other websites and other logos I've made. I'm currently planning the logistics of this, but it's all academic until I get the scans. Ideally I want to put them into a photo album of some kind, but I'll see what's available to me in the stite-builder toolkit.

I'm actually a bit excited about this. People have been after me for years to put my work online and now that I've got a good internet connections I can actually do it. What would be great is if this can lead to clients. Eventually I'd also like to customize this blog a bit more, but that can wait. It takes me a bit to get started, but once I do I stick to it. This is also a lot of fun, so hopefully I can make some extra money from it.

Phase One

2007-02-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

Well, my internet is upgraded and it seems I get a certain amount of free webspace as part of my service. Which is great. I'm not sure that it's a final solution, but at least I can give it a try and see if I like it. Also my work will be online, which I think is really important. I can also provide links to the sites I designed for the ACA and Creative Connections as well as some of the graphics I made.

This blog I think I'll use as a forum to discuss the work. And I think I'd like to keep it to my own stuff, rather than art-blogging about what else is out there. I've already got a blog for that. Fun stuff I'll keep on my LJ, and I have no idea what I'll end up using MySpace for. Right now it's just there so I can read friend's blogs.

So it's going slow, but at least there's movement.

Artful Ambiguity

2007-01-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

The great thing about having the word "ambiguity" appearing in your blog title is that it really can indicate anything. And when the ambiguity is "artful" that indicates a certain level of creativity. At least to me it does.

Actually my reason for starting this blog was because I had the thought that I would try to have a site of some sort dedicated to my artwork. My vision is to have my own full website and the blog would be attached as a way of a means to explain what's behind the images. Not that I feel such things are necessary, often times the artist's vision can get in the way of enjoying the piece, at least that's what's true for me. And I don't want to enable the tendency of people to rely on others to tell them what they see and feel when they look at art. But sometimes it is helpful and people are curious and there's really nothing wrong with that. Maybe if artist's visions were more accessible, art in general would be less intimidating and more accessable to more people. Plus it can help a lot to write about the images I make, so there's the rationale for the blog in a nutshell. The title is a handy excuse for me to go off-topic whenever I feel the urge to do so.

But the website is not a reality yet and I've been extremely unproductive artistically. Part of that is because I needed to finish up with some commitments that took a great deal of time and energy. It's done now, so in that sense I can move on. I do have canvas ready to start again, so I'll be disappearing in order to do just that fairly soon. That dosen't move the website forward, however. For that I need a digital camera so I can put my paintings online.. I'm sure I can borrow one from someone. And I also need a website. I'm working on it. My feeling is that as long as I can get this up by the end of the year I'll be good.

Actually if it is going to happen at all it has to be done before the end of 2007 because I'm hoping to start on the path to a PhD in 2008. Once that starts I'll be able to maintain, but not start anything else.

So that's the story of Artful Ambiguity. As I wait for the website to become reality and my paintings to become digital, at least I have the blog.

Test Post

2006-10-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

This is the initial test post.

Please be patient while the blog is prepared.