Decision Made

Today is the end of Wintersession. I spent all week finishing up my piece and met with my instructor this morning to discuss the result.

After using Photoshop to visualize the metal frame in various colors, I decided to paint the floating box element white and the support pole a charcoal gray. As soon as I saw the painted elements I knew I had made the right decision. The color really helps unify the piece and gives it a more considered appearance. I used spray paint to cover the metal and had to prime, paint and seal the entire piece in one day. My index finger is still numb at the tip from pressing down on the nozzle all day. I am not sure how well or how long the paint job will hold up but for now it is satisfactory.

The finished piece is a little over six feet tall and has quite a strong presence for being such a straightforward gesture. I am very pleased by how it turned out and can imagine a grouping of them in a room being quite intriguing. My instructor had the great suggestion to draw the finished piece. As designers and makers, my classmates and I often use sketching as a necessary development and construction tool. But once decisions are made we rarely go back to the paper to document the end result. There are some artists who do not sell their physical work but instead sell the documentation of it. This is especially true for artists like Christo and Jeanne-Claude who work with large outdoor installations. I thought the drawings might be a fun may to explore my projects at the next level.

Photoshop Decisions

My piece that I have been making for Wintersession is almost done. In fact, everything is done except for the finishing. I have had trouble making a decision on whether or not to paint the metal elements or leave them as steel. And if I do decide to paint, what color to use. Since I had the piece partially assembled my instructor suggested taking a photo and manipulating it in Photoshop (a powerful, and popular, image-editing software) to try out some of the options.

Original Photo

Edited Photo

Lest you think Photoshop is not all it is cracked up to be I should state that I am by no means an expert, nor in this case was I trying to be. You get the idea though. I was able to get a vague idea of what the piece would look like without having to waste a bunch of time and money actually testing the physical piece.

Thesis Exhibition Space

As a part of the thesis process we are required to mount a show of our work. The school provides a space but it is less than ideal. It is located in a RISD building which is not accessible to the public and the building itself is home to the upholstery studio and the alternative materials space so it is always junked out with the remnants of student work. Not ideal. After having spent so much of my time and energy working on the pieces I would hate for only a few people to see them. So, with my classmate Ruth, I went in search of a different space and found the perfect spot. It is an empty retail space on the corner of a block with windows wrapping around the perimeter.


The owners were willing to rent it to us at a reduced rate for a month each. Ruth will be having her show in April and I will be up from May 15th to June 14th. I am excited about having my work in a beautiful space that people can actually visit. My show will coincide with the large grad show held yearly in the convention center so hopefully I can direct people to my space from the furniture booth at the show. I would love to sell some of my work - my apartment just can't take any more stuff. I am hoping to find another student to share the space with me. Preferrably someone whose work would hang on the walls so the distinction between our work would be clear. And preferrably someone who knows a lot of people so they can help bring people into the space.

Etsy Shop Opens!!!

My weekends have been filled with purse-making for the last few weeks. So far I have two purses and two clutches. I can make each clutch in just under two hours while the purses take quite a bit longer. I should really try and determine just how much longer, but with the handle and extra stitching the time really adds up. I remodeled my Etsy shop last weekend and today I put some purses up for sale. Etsy.com is an online marketplace for handmade goods. They sold $100 million worth of goods last year and their customers are 97% women! I am not sure how well my bags will do on Etsy - the average transaction size is $30! - but maybe I will get some good feedback. Check it out at MicaelanDavis.etsy.com.