Filed under: costumes, favorites, mask, papier-mâché by ramune

In case you couldn’t tell, I like to make stuff. I also like to dress up, so when my friend Ashley told me about the Green Masquerade Ball at the House of Sweden back in May I could not resist. From what I understood the “green” theme was meant to be more about sustainability and the environment and not just the color green. Ashley and I discussed a bundle of options and then decided that she would go as solar power and I would go as wind energy. I didn’t have enough time to come up with an entire costume, and since it was a masquerade ball I figured I would be “green” and make it out of papier-mâché (newspaper, water, flour). The Personals section of the newspaper works particularly well. I can’t remember when I last made anything out of papier-mâché but I am pretty sure it was sometime in elementary school. I thoroughly enjoyed getting my hands all goopy with flour paste.

The Green Masquerade Ball was fun, but I was quite disappointed in the lack of creativity and relevant masks/costumes. Some people just wore something green and others didn’t even wear that. I am not sure if it’s a DC thing, but don’t bother showing up to a costume party if you are “too cool” to at least half-assedly put some effort in. There are plenty of other places you can go if you don’t want to dress up.

Enough of my rant . . . it was a good time and although you can’t tell from the photo at the top, the wind turbine on my mask actually spins when you blow/push on it.

Filed under: artomatic, favorites, painting, process by ramune

Last year my friend David exhibited a bunch of his photos at Artomatic and after walking through only three of the nine floors, I decided I had to sign up this year (and make sure to see all of the art on all nine floors).

I knew it would be a lot of work, but the reality of it hit hard the other weekend. The fact that the location is right next to the National’s stadium, and they have home games almost every day until the Artomatic opening makes it particularly frustrating to drive there and find parking ($25 on game days!). Taking the metro with a ladder and a bag full of painting supplies is also less than fun, but I did what I had to do and drove to the nearest metro (where I could find free parking) and then metroed the rest of the way.

Day 1: Put primer on walls
I thought I had everything I needed with me, but did not take into account the massive pits in the walls that would require filling. I could probably have left them alone and no one would have noticed, but I am a bit of a perfectionist and want my wall to be defect-free. I called my mother to look up the nearest hardware store (I’m sure if I had an iPhone there would be an app for that) and tried to catch a cab but only had $3 cash (damn that $2 melted Reeses I bought from a street vendor). After standing on a corner not knowing what to do, I went to the CVS, bought a bag of chips and got cash back and tried to find another cab. Unfortunately there were no cabs to be found, so I gave up and took the metro back to my car and drove to the hardware store. Wood filler was purchased, I made my way back to my exhibit space, had a therapeutic session filling holes in the panels and then got to priming.

I thought all was going well, but silly me believed the man at Home Depot who told me that a quart of paint was enough for two coats of primer on a 12′x8′ wall. It wasn’t even enough for one full coat . . . as you can see in the photo below. I painted what I could, packed up and left. This was a silly mistake for me to make because I should know better. My work study job for three years of college was working at the Pratt galleries and I spent a lot of time filling holes and painting walls. I just didn’t think to question the guy when he said it would be enough.

Day 2: Finished priming the wall!

Day 3: Choose paint color and paint two coats
I toiled and troubled over what color to paint my wall (I created several Illustrator mock-ups with a variety of color options and layouts), and eventually decided on a Valspar granite textured paint from Lowes. It glitters . . . hopefully not obnoxiously so, but I think it adds a little something. I have never painted any kind of textured paint, so that was an interesting learning process. I had to buy a fluffier roller, roll the first coat and then hand-brush Xs for the second coat. Side Note: There is no way to paint that kind of stuff cleanly. It sprayed all over my arms, face and into my eyes (hopefully I won’t go blind before Artomatic). I am not sure how I did it, but somehow I took a gallon of paint meant to cover 120 square feet and made it cover over 192 square feet. I haven’t seen it completely dry yet, but I sure hope it looks good. This is how it looked when I left it this past Saturday.

Now that painting is all done, I have to get my photos printed, finish two enamels, buy mat boards, frame the photos, frame the enamels, install all of that, install lights and a table with guestbook (that my awesomely talented sister is making for me) and postcards (that are being printed now) and maybe other treats . . . then I am done! Whew . . . lots left to do, but most of the manual labor is done.

That, my friends, it what has been keeping me busy and away from updating this here blog. I will try to be better about it, but most of my “creativeness” has been spent on this exhibit.

Filed under: favorites, photography, urbex by ramune

Abandoned buildings are my “new” favorite thing. I’ve always been fascinated with urban decay and have wanted to explore abandoned places, but until recently I had not really sought them out. This past Monday while I was in NYC (seems to be a bimonthly visit now), my sister and I took a wee road trip outside of the city to find this lovely decaying power plant. Unfortunately it was raining and the place was in a pretty sketchy area. It’s funny how a rainy overcast day in a sketchy part of town can make you a bit hesitant to enter a creepy decaying building. It was probably the smarter thing to do, but I would like to go back sometime and explore some more. Until then, here are some photos from the outside, and as usual more photos from this trip and any future trips to abandoned places around New York are here.

Somewhat disturbing graffiti . . . I am going to imagine it’s just someone stabbing marshmallows to roast over a fire.

Filed under: favorites, photography, urbex by ramune

This Valentine’s Day was the best ever, and it wasn’t for any romantic reason either. My friend Maya and I drove out to an abandoned mental institution (dream come true) and explored two of the numerous buildings in the complex. I found the place because one of my Flickr contacts had been there the previous weekend and had taken some really great shots and was kind enough to give me some tips on how to find it. When we arrived it was so much more amazing than I could have imagined. I thought maybe there would be a few buildings, but there were more than I can even remember. I have already decided that I am going to make a map of the complex, number the buildings and jot down notes on what’s in each one so that I can remember which ones I have been in and which ones are worth going back to. Believe you me . . . I will be going back there a number of times, it is my new playground.

While we were there we ran into another photographer who told us a bit of history about the place. The place was supposedly started in the 1920s as an institution for the mentally retarded and was finally closed down in 1991. There is not much information online about it, but it appears that it had a pretty sordid past full of abuse and experimentation. I hope my excitement about the asylum does not come off as callus, as I can’t even imagine the horrors that people must have suffered in institutions like this, but I feel so lucky to be able to explore this rusty and undoubtedly asbestos-filled complex that has so much history just lying all over the place. It’s really like something out of a film, but I guess what they say is true, “Fact is stranger than fiction.”

These are just a few photos, more can be seen here, and I will continue to add them as I go back.

We didn’t make it into this building . . .

I could spend all day taking photos of peeling paint (lead anyone?)

I have a soft spot for red chairs and light blue/green backgrounds

I like the idea of nature reclaiming man-made buildings

Maya found this very appropriate Valentine sticker on a door. Creepy and appropriate!

Filed under: favorites, knitting, music, photography, self-portrait by ramune

Me, Shawl by Siga R., Hat by Vasare R.

Cold and Colder seems to be the theme as of late. It has been cold outside (and still no snow), I am cold inside and I have been listening to Colder . . . a lot. So today I bring you a self-portrait in my favorite cold weather bundle up gear and a song.

Let’s start with the song: “Wrong Baby” by Colder.
This is one of my favorite Colder songs and has been stuck in my head for a while now. It suits my mood lately and is off the album called Heat (yes please). If you are going to watch the video I recommend listening to the song first. The video is great if you want to see Marc’s sweet French dance moves, but his voice is not quite as good as on the album.

Now back to my project. Since it’s been so cold lately, I have been wrapping myself up in a fantastic shawl my mother knit for me. It’s a whoppin’ 7.5′ x 2′ and is super cozy (my sister has one as well). Along with the shawl I am wearing a hat my sister made when we had our wee business (Pilkasiulas).

Stay warm and drink hot cocoa!

Filed under: doodle, favorites, self-portrait by ramune

Cold.

It’s been chilly the past couple days, supposedly chillier than it’s been in five years (brrrrr). On one of these chilly afternoons I decided to work from a coffee shop. Unfortunately this coffee shop gets incredibly crowded, so I had to sit in what I call the “quiet” or “overflow” room. The overflow room has no speakers, a horrible wifi connection and as far as I could tell, no heat. I froze for a good two hours and while my interwebs connection was crapping out I decided to draw (it’s been a while my sweet Moleskine). The only thing on my mind was that I was cold, so I figured why not draw me being cold. I sketched it at the coffee shop, scanned it when I got home and then worked on it in Illustrator. It isn’t supposed to be photo realistic.

Filed under: favorites, friends, holiday, photography, silliness by ramune

Happy 2009! Here is my friend “Silly Bob” on New Year’s Eve. She was attempting to do the ol’ push the nose up and pull the cheeks down face. I really love how this fisheye (or as my brother calls “fishbowl”) shot came out. The sparkly shirt with a little bit of blue background all surrounded in a thick blackness just makes the shot for me . . . not to mention her silly face.

All the best to everyone in 2009. If you made resolutions I hope you can stick to them (at least for the first month or so). Other than the usual things I am always trying to improve, I would like to not mull so much. My mother claims that this is just a trait of Aquarians and that’s just the way I am . . . I guess that means I have to work a bit harder at it.

Other than resolutions, these are my hopes for 2009:

1. Get a full-time job that I love (or at least gives me the time and energy needed to work on point 2)
2. Get fig.ments going, have a place where I can house a kiln and sell my goods.
3. Move . . . somewhere, anywhere (well maybe not anywhere, but I am open)
4. Travel overseas. I have made it a point to leave the country every year and fully intend to do so this year. Last year’s destination was Canada, which is somewhat cheating but it was way the heck up there so I think that counts. I would like to visit “Silly Bob” in Shanghai before she leaves, so that might be in the cards. Maybe not this year, but Argentina, Chile and Antarctica are at the top of my list for sometime in the next . . . 5 years?
5. This is about to turn into a list of things I want to do before I die, so I will stop here.

Filed under: collaboration, favorites, photography, silliness by ramune

Attempting to break into National Airport?

The other week when I went to my friends’ Christmas dinner party I got a lomo fisheye camera from my secret santa (Brandy). I was pretty thrilled and have had a chance to play around with it. Normally I post smaller images but I could not help posting these ones large, I think they are so much fun. The ones on this page are from this past Saturday, but you can see more in my Fisheye set on Flickr.

Have a fantastic New Years and see you back here in 2009!

My sister looking “troubled”

Filed under: favorites, holiday, photography by ramune

Playing with star shaped bokeh

I have been wanting to play with shaped bokeh for a while now and forgot about it until I saw Flickr’s recent blog entry on holiday bokeh. It’s really quite easy to do if you have the right kind of lens (which thankfully I do). I haven’t tried playing around with it much on my other lenses because I have had pretty good results using my 50mm F/1.4 lens.

After cutting out some of my own shapes and experimenting with them I went to Paper Source and tried out their moose hole punch (for all my fellow meese). Initially I was hoping to get a snowflake hole punch but was not too impressed with the selection. Either way, I was like a little kid taking photos with my shaped bokeh filters. I might make some other shapes and add them to my Christmas set, in the meantime here are some to keep you entertained.

The beta with some hidden moose bokeh

Star bokeh over fish bowl

Shooting star bokeh

Regular bokeh with Christmas lights

Filed under: favorites, knitting, self-portrait by ramune

My first pattern! Knit gauntlets

Years ago my sister gave me a lovely pair of gauntlets for Christmas. They were fantastic in every way . . . and then I lost one. The following year she gave me a new pair of gauntlets by the same designer and again, they were fantastic in every way . . . and then I lost one.

This year I decided to “throw down the gauntlet” and knit myself a pair. I looked online for a pattern but didn’t find anything I was particularly excited about. Either they looked way too complicated for a first try or they looked boring. I decided to go through some stitch pattern ideas to see what I could work into a gauntlet pattern (no, not the Medieval pieces of armor) . The chevron pattern jumped out at me as a good first simple/interesting design. The yarn is super comfy/warm/soft and I can’t wait to put them to use! I also look forward to making other gauntlets with different knit patterns.

Silly attempt at modeling my new gauntlets