My personal life continues to feel crazy. My trip to Wyoming was great upon returning I moved 24 hours later. Needless to say some other things have taken my away from writing on my blog. I have continued to shoot a lot in both my apartments now that I have moved in I need to photograph objects and belongings in my new space. I had planned to photograph objects as I unpacked them but that become more challenging than I expected. I still plan to make a sort of catalog but that will come in time. In a week I'm gone again to South Africa which I'm so excited about it will be a trip of a lifetime. Then it's time to get back to work both in the studio and with my teaching job. Today I went to the DeCordova Annual Exhibition I new two of the artists and enjoyed some of the work. Especially what Marguerite White had to say about light, "Light can alter the way we perceive our surroundings, prompting memories and provoking the imagination to see or experience a place differently." I also enjoyed the ideas Vanessa Tropeano and Matt Brackett spoke about in there work. I have yet to see my work in the BYC show I went the other day but sadly the gallery wasn't open.

As I sat in my studio this afternoon looking through work and deciding where to go next I had the following thoughts. Home, what is my home as I try to get a stronger grasp on those concepts I have been photographing my old and new apartment both empty and with belongings in them. What is it that makes home, I am beginning to believe my understanding of home is through my connection to the objects in my life. This has become more apparent as I photograph my spaces empty and see them just as spaces I once occupied or anyone occupied for that matter. They become my home when my belongings are in them. Photographing my spaces throughout my move has proved to be more difficult than I imagined beyond having some other things happening in my personal life moving brings about anxiety. I make a direct correlation to that anxiety from moving back and forth as a child and now in my adult life I continue to move just less frequently. So now the question how do I make my images come together and create a sense of home and place?
Ideas of space keep floating in my mind personal space something we all need and want, and yet feeling comfortable in my own personal space. The space I occupy how I and how I deal with space and belongings. So much of that seems to stem from out culture and need to have material possessions yet those are what make up my personal sense of home and others as I speak to people about what makes home for them.

I had a great first meeting with my new mentor Shellburne Thurber the other day. I will elaborate more later. Lots of information and ideas I need to go back through my notes. I can't believe I'm leaving for another trip in the am I'm off to Wyoming! This week was crazy but I got a lot of shooting done in my new apartment which was great. Now I just need to pack and move and get in the studio before I go to South Africa in August. All this travel seemed like a good idea. Anyway it will get done I need to spend some time with all the thoughts that I have about my work and new shooting I have been doing. I am sad to be missing the opening for the Boston Young Contemporaries Show next Thursday.

After 2 days out from the residency I still feel tired probably from all the running around I have been doing. I'm headed out of town in the morning to go to my family home in Michigan. I plan to do some shooting there and go through my notes from the residency. I have my first meeting with my new mentor Shellburne Thurber next week which I am looking forward to. Plus a lot of shooting to do before I move and then once that process is over. While I feel a little overwhelmed at my tasks at hand I feel good about where I need to go.

About to start 3rd residency. This program seems to be going by quickly. It's been a busy month with the end of school and finishing up odds and ends for the residency. I was able to catch a few shows the painting work of Antonio Lopez Garcia at the MFA was wonderful. While his landscapes of Madrid are beautiful I was more interested in his interior drawings and paintings as well as the subtleties in his work. The PRC juried show had some nice work as well as the color camera obscura images by Abe Morell. Now I'm just excited to start the next residency and get some more feedback. I really loved the following quote by Antonio Lopez Garcia

"I'm not attracted to paintings that are born consciously related to past works, but to paint a still life of food inevitably calls to mind Velazquez or Caravaggio...I ask myself, why aren't there more paintings of commonplace subjects, if, for example we all come together around a table, three times each day, to eat."

Working on getting things done for the residency. My last mentor meeting with Jesseca has been rescheduled for next week. Still working on the small images from my childhood home I'm trying to decided on the right box I have about 5 in my studio now. I'm really happy with the new work I have doing and can't wait to go to the residency. It's that crazy time of the year at my job so things are hectic but I seem to be balancing it. I am excited that I got one of my photographs in the Boston Young Contemporaries Show, I attached it below.

I am having some more large prints made of my image this week, which I am very excited about. I continue to work with size and think about the format and display of my work. I have also been working with materials and mounting smaller images of my childhood home and placing them in a box. I see those images as something that is movable but is still important to the project and ideas I am discussing about home. My struggle has been what kind of box the images go into as well as what they are mounted onto. I have been using balsa wood which is flexible and thin giving some physical weight to the images and making them almost like old postcards. I just painted clear and white gesso on the back of the wood to see how that changes the feel of the images. I spoke with Jesseca in my last meeting about different mounting possibilities maybe aluminum which I need to further explore or gator board which is like foam core just a little stiffer. There is something however about the thinness of the balsa wood that I really enjoy. I am looking forward to showing this work at the residency as it is a change from last semester. Well lots to do before June and everything seems to be crazy, it will all get done though!

I have Open Studios this weekend which should be good. It's been a busy past couple of weeks and that's going to continue until the residency just trying to put my head down and go. I met with Jesseca on Monday and had a good conversation with her about where my work has currently gone. I have been further exploring my space and photographed my childhood homes a couple weeks ago while on a visit.
Last night went to First Friday despite the rain seems like every time I go it's rainy but it was good to get to those galleries because it's tough for me to get over there during the week.