NCECA 2015: Providence

My goals this year were a bit different. Meet new people, get connections, figure out if this postbacc thing is right for me. I got to talk to lots of different people, which was a bit nerve-wracking for me. But when in this situation it's best to remember that other people are probably just as nervous, and clay people are generally super friendly and open to conversation. Here are a few highlights from my trip!

My bed/room mate, Eli!

Bought myself an Ayumi Horie mug <3

Our view of the capital building from the hotel.

Julia Galloway being an awesome woman. Her talk was very inspiring; she switches up her work quite often. Best quote from her that day was, "Cups are very intimate objects. Nothing touches your lips as often as a cup, even if you're very passionate."

These two photos were taken at my soon to be school, UMass Dartmouth. It's about 20 minutes from Providence so they had an open house sorta thing. I don't know who made the sculpture but the paintings are by Katie Wild. I LOVE her work. It's life size and sometimes on plexiglass.

And for my newest artist inspo, here's Kyungmin Park. To see someone doing figurative sculpture seems to be oddly rare right now. Not only is it figurative but she incorporates bright colors and motifs. It's nice to meet someone you can relate your work to. she was giving a demo on fingers and tongues and other body parts for the AMACO/Brent booth. Eli and I watched and listened for about an hour.

So funfact: Providences' bars and clubs close hella early (like 1am?) but on the last night we found a drag show/lgbt club that was poppin. 

Next year NCECA will be in Kansas City, and I cannot wait. it's a refreshing experience every time and I'm so lucky to have a conference like this in my field. I think I accomplished all of my objectives for this years conference :D

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year folks! I realized I needed to blog when I had the urge to write an entire paragraph on instagram. My last post was August right? after a failed attempt at blogging every day? I think I was thinking too hard and thinking too business-y with the blog. I'm going to keep this blog low key from now on...although I have been thinking a LOT about dying my hair so that adventure will surely be here. Also I'm getting married this year. Also I'm hoping to get into grad school this year x__X

Speaking of which, applications take  f  o  r  e  v  e  r  r  r  r  r. I'm applying to four schools: Rochester Institute of Technology, UMass Dartmouth, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Louisiana State University. One school wants a statement of purpose. One wants a letter of intent. One wants both. Some of them require two applications with two separate fees. Some want writing samples. One of them wanted three drawing examples from life out of the precious 20 images we're allowed to send in the portfolio and i'm like wtfffffffffffffff. It's not like I can't do a still life; my drawing skills are on point (or should I say fleek? What is fleek? Am I old now?). I figured by grad school you wouldn't have to prove these things anymore. SO NOTE TO THOSE APPLYING TO MFA PROGRAMS: photograph EVERYTHING. Even the still lives and crappy line drawings. It may save you later on; I'm so glad I did because I did NOT feel like drawing a damn thing. I'd like to know if anyone has had any experiences with these schools or areas. Let me know how they are! How is Baton Rouge? How about Richmond? Rochester? Come august I'm outta CT!

So if you only follow my blog (bless your heart) you haven't seen my dyed hair, as pictured above. Since I couldn't keep the locs because of my chosen dusty career path, I decided to color it! I'm starting with blond-ish since I know whatever color I want to do I'll have to lighten it anyways. I did the color myself and I have to say I really love how it came out. What I really want though are the wild colors. I want purple, lavender, pink, a rainbow of pastels, maybe even teal...Lemme show you my hair crush:

This is Mermaid Nef. She has gone through almost the entire rainbow and I'm in love. She's also into Sailor Moon and other kawaii things and she's just super rad. This purple with touches of magenta is what I think I want to try next. 

I also want to mention my super serious intention of losing weight. I know this is the time of the year that everyone makes new year's resolutions; I've never really been the type. I've been making small conscious decisions to improve my health since moving to our new apartment. Now that the holidays are out of the way I can really commit to something. I'm getting married and then there's two other weddings happening this year; one of them I'm a bridesmaid. I got a Jawbone UP band and it's really been helping. My complex has a gym so I'm already set in that regards. Here's to a less flabby me!

If you don't already, you should follow my instagram. It's my most updated social media and I'm posting more of my ceramics work there now than I have in the pass. Also right now I'm doing a give away on there of a cute lil' kitty mug soooo...... get on it :)

Dying my hair.....PURPLE!

I love love love how this came out! I have to get rid of it by the time my wedding comes around since I'm choosing to please my mother, It didn't come out quite like Nef's, but I'm alright with that.

I used fuschia and purple from Ion's semi permanent collection, sorta feathered and blended the two so I had two colors throughout. I liked doing it this way so as my hair grows I won't have a harsh line.

Cant wait to try another color!

How I took out my Locs

As I type this I still thoroughly miss them. I fill this hole in my heart with marley twists, which is great but it's not permanent. Any whosies, on to the tutorial!

T O O L S :
Hot water in a mug
hair tie
An abundant amount of cheap conditioner
Dental tool
Netflix

Each loc took about an hour, and I had a little over 100 locs so I literally spent the whole summer taking them out, 2-4 a day.

1. I found it easiest to put all of my hair into a high pony tail and pull out one loc from the back at a time.
2. To the best of your ability, dip the loc into the mug of hot water and hold it for at least 10 seconds. The heat opens up the loc to receive the conditioner and eases the detangling process.
3. using a quarter-size dollop of conditioner, squeeze it into the loc so it's super saturated.
4. Using the dental tool, gently pick away from the bottom up. Your hair will separate and the process will amaze you because if you're like me, you thought this was impossible.
5. once completed, I combed and twisted it out of the way.

MORE TIPS

Each week I washed my hair, keeping my loose hair separate. I kept the loose hair in twists neatly tucked away in a bun or a ponytail. I worked at a camp full time 6 days a week and at a pharmacy for 14-20 hrs a week, so I was quite the busy lady. Just know it's possible!

I went to a salon the moment I was done because I didn't know if my hair was damaged, if I would have to cut it all off or what. I got my hair professionally washed and trimmed by a salon who knows natural hair. To my surprise, only about an inch was trimmed off! *happy dance*

This process can be done at any stage of locked hair because at the end of the day, locs are just beautifully organized knotted hair. Good luck!

Ice Bucket HACK

I was nominated...I thought I escaped this....but here I go. I switched it up and opted for the hack and donated five bucks to each cause. For more info, check out icebuckethack.com :)

TTFN!