How is Grad school?

So. Yes.  I'm in grad school.  If you have been wondering why I've been making such little work (not really, I just don't release a lot of what I do make) or why I'm not doing a bunch of fashion/glamour/creative work, it's because I'm down in Normal (yes, Normal) Illinois attending grad school.

I'm currently in my second semester here at Illinois State University, and the current vote is: I love it! (sometimes) half the time? That sounds accurate.  It's a lot of work, and pretty intense, which is all very new to me.  I'm loving how much time I have to dedicate to my work, but there are a few classes that area bit overwhelming ("this is a 400 level class and I feel like I never took the 100 level courses!).  But over all everything is meant to help with our work.

Cinematic narratives, semester 1

I'm feeling a little lost this semester.  I'm having a hard time committing to a body of work.  We are suppose to choose a theme and work on it for YEARS, and I can hardly manage six months.  I get bored of my projects very easily, and I'm having a hard time forcing myself to be creative and keep making the work I'm supposed to (yay procrastination shoots!).  I'm taking a break from my current body of work to start a new mini series; I think I just need some time to step away from my project and try to get excited about it again.

The amount of sewing/fashion design I've been doing is pretty crazy

I'm still working on this whole 'making myself be creative' thing.  I suppose it is a challenge; how to commit to a project and work on it for longer than 6 months.  I am finding that I am coming back to previous projects and approaching them in a different light.  My first semester I did cinematic narratives, which I had abandoned by the beginning of second semester.  Now I'm here planning on how I will go back to cinematic narratives, just in a different direction.  So perhaps I can make bodies of work over a period of years-just not continuously.  I definitely have a few topics that I return to over and over- narratives and allegorical images are my main- along with a few ideas that are recurring- beauty vs. fear, understanding how humanity functions.  

And I've been working on my lighting awesomeness as well. 

Over all, I am happy to be here.  I get the most amazing feedback-it's so great to have these new perspectives.  I feel like I'm actually talking to artists!  Even if I have lost some of my freedom to make whatever I want, I don't think that this is all a bad thing.  I just received a grant from Friends of the Arts, and will be having a show in the fall for my latest body of work.  I'm having the most wonderful opportunities here-ones I never dreamed of in my undergrad!  I'm definitely looking forward to continuing my life as an artist, and how grad school will help make things a reality.

BTS of my latest project, Allegory

Preview of a piece to be shown this spring, What is Left of Her