new portraits

i took some senior portraits and the girl wanted some pictures of her with her best friend. these are a few of the good ones...more to come!

the fox, the crow, and the cookie

for computer illustration we had to illustrate a narrative series for our final project.

my inspiration was the mewithoutyou song: the fox, the crow and the cookie, based on the children's fable.

the lyrics are:

Through mostly vacant streets
A baker from the outskirts of his town
Earned his living peddling sweets
From a ragged cart he dragged around
The clever fox crept close behind
Kept an ever watchful eye
For a chance to steal a ginger spice cake
Or a boysenberry pie

Looking down was the hungry crow:
"When the time is right, I'll strike
And condescend to the earth below
And take whichever treat I'd like"
The moment the baker turned around
To shoo the fox off from his cart
The crow swooped down and snatched a shortbread cookie
And a German chocolate tart

Using most unfriendly words
That the village children had not yet heard
The baker shouted threats by canzonette
To curse the crafty bird
"You rotten wooden mixing spoon
Why, you midnight-winged raccoon
You better bring those pastries back
You no-good burned-black macaroon"

The fox approached the tree
Where the bird was perched delighted in his nest
"Brother Crow, don't you remember me?
It's your old friend Fox with a humble request
If you could share just a modest piece
Seeing as I distracted that awful man"
This failed to persuade the crow in the least
So the fox rethought his plan

"Then if your lovely song would grace my ears
Or to even to hear you speak
Would ease my pains and fears!"
The crow looked down with the candy in his beak
"Your poems of wisdom, my good crow
What a paradise they bring!"
This flattery pleased the proud bird
So he opened his mouth and began to sing:

"Your subtle acclamation's true
Best to give praise where praise is due
Every rook and jay and corvidae's
Been raving about me too
They admire me, one and all
Must be the passion in my caw
My slender bill known throughout the escadrille
My fierce commanding claw!"

I got a walnut brownie brain
And molasses in my veins
Crushed graham cracker crust
My powdered sugared funnel cake cocaine
Let the crescent cookie rise
These carob-colored almond eyes
Would rest to see my cashewed princess
In the swirling marble sky
Would rest upon the knee
Where all of the visions cease to be
A root-beer float in our banana boat
Across the tapioca sea
When letting all attachments go
Is the only prayer we know
May it be so
May it be so
May it be so
Oh

i had a lot of fun layering textures and colors, and developing a style to fit the text. i have never made something quite like this before, so it was a fun adventure.

here's the final product. enjoy!

renae+matthew engagement!

i took engagement pictures of my sis and her fiance today! best shoot ever! we went to German village, and the lighting was perfect.

fresh off the press

i just completed this today for computer illustration. we were given random topics and metaphors to illustrate. mine were micro-enterprising in 3rd world countries and garden.

recent images. the top two are from a road trip i took with friends to NYC. what fun! i made cyanotype prints too. will post those soon!

business card

here's the design for my business card!

here are the other two!

senior show

here's some pictures from my show. there are two more that for some reason won't upload...so i'll work on getting those up. enjoy!

one of the last of the polaroids! (although i hear talk of there possibly being a comeback, fingers crossed) the blur is on account of being too close to the subject, but i think it creates a neat effect.

below are holga images taken on the evening of my 22nd birthday (a combined party with my dear friend eva, with whom i share the same day of birth). it was complete with origami lilies, friends, and food.

this image i took while my sister was asleep.

i think i want to do a whole series on sleeping people...isn't renae simply beautiful?

senior show, coming soon...

my senior show is next week, Monday Feb. 22nd. i'll post images soon, but not until the show's up for public viewing.

this is a self-portrait from one of my shoots for senior show, that i didn't end up using. it's experimental, ghostly... borderline creepy?

prints from the summer

"i love ohio, the back roads

i know ohio, like the back of my hand

it's so strange to see your story in my life"

these are some collograph prints from over the summer (i recently became the proud owner of a baby printing press!) i love how each one has subtleties all its own. each print is entirely unique, one-of-a-kind.

cloud comma white

I took some pictures for a friend's band: cloud comma white. check out their myspace! they're really good. anyways, they wanted their heads and bodies to be switched...so this is my attempt.

For my computer illustration class, we are working on designing pattern swatches. This one is my favorite thus far. It's got a nice retro-throwback-grandma's apron persona.

i live in a camera

So my bedroom is now a camera obscura as well...

camera obscura: success!

I started working on my senior show today. I'm making camera obscuras and pinhole cameras. I'm just so excited that it actually worked though! Above is picture of the Administration building projected upside down and backwards on the wall of the breakroom in the Art building. This is my concept so far; it's a work in progress.

Senior Show Concept: The Mind’s Eye

Inner and outer worlds are incongruent. Thoughts are disconnected from actions. Distortions exist between what is perceived and what is real. The camera is an instrument that supposedly captures reality. However, this assumption does not always ring true. Manipulations can occur on many levels. Using the pinhole camera, I will create images that distort reality. As if entering into the mind’s eye, the viewer will encounter images that show the world not as it is, but as it is imagined. People have distorted perceptions of themselves, of the church, of God, of the earth, of other people. Consequently, in each image the inconsistencies, the distortions, of the medium will add to the image, rather than taking away from it. As part of the exhibit, I will create a camera obscura as an installation, so that people may enter inside the camera to see an upside down and backwards image of the cityscape or landscape outside reflected on the wall inside. What is real: the world inside, or the world outside, the world of the mind, or the external world?