A letter for Ghadah

It will be in the mail on Sunday..

Know Your Jinn

Well, here it is.. my first MFA project.. www.knowyourjinn.com.

In my fabrication class we were supposed to learn how to use the laser cutter and the vinyl cutter while producing an installation piece for the lab. I really wanted to try something I had never done before, so I drew up all sorts of crazy installation ideas, but nothing really seemed like my work. In the end I did what I always do and looked at my surroundings for inspiration. One of my closest friends was telling me how their mom had been attacked by Jinn in their house. This friend went on to tell me that they bought a pigeon that is supposed to eat the Jinn as protection for the family. The whole situation really made me think about our culture.. and being surrounded by westerners everyday I wondered how odd it would be to talk to them openly about what my friend was going through.. so I decided to start a Jinn awareness campaign to help expats understand our culture better. The image above is the installation I made for our lab, its supposed to be minimalistic (the bird has Surat AlKursee etched on it for protection against the Jinn). Click here to see the stickers from the awareness campaign hanging all over VCUQ.

I know the project is kind of quirky, but it was really nice to step away from what I normally do.

Some fun things that have come from the project include seeing images of my stickers as chat icons for various students, being told that some students are freaked out by the campaign, and finally being approached by a colleague to possibly work with them on an illustration book.

Updates; kitty, plant, and letters

We bought Kitty a climbing tree/scratching post. She can’t reach the upper level of the tree yet, but she seems to enjoy the levels she can reach. It amazes me how quickly she is growing..

I guess my dying plant is attracting some sympathy from the VCU locals.. apparently I am over watering it, what to do now? blah!

Ghadah wrote me a letter! Its on its way from Kuwait.. I’m so excited. I’m in the process of writing her one in reply

Lectures at VCU-Q

Last night I attended the Cultural Identity lecture by Sonia Ashour which is part of a series of lectures VCUQ is doing about breaking boundaries this year. Her topic was so spot on with regards to the topic we are covering in our Design studio class that our group of MFA students has asked her to meet with us for a chat tomorrow. I hope she can make it. (why is there no UNESCO heritage office in Kuwait?)

Today I attended a lecture by Pete Case from Gloo Design Agency and I learned what true team work and open minded approach could achieve.

I didn’t realize how much I missed the lecture series at university until now

Snail Mail

My friends and I have stayed in touch over the years through postcards from all over the world. I have always adored how they show up out of the blue in your mailbox reminding you of someone you care about. I had been considering posting  my snail mail address for a while, but I wasn’t sure about it until I found Ghadah AlKandari’s blog Raw Epistle where she invites people to revive the art of letter writing. I’ve already sent her an email with my address, can’t wait for my letter.

You can find my snail mail details on the Contact Me page if you’d like send me a letter or a postcard. If you send me one, I’ll send you one back.

Update: Undergrads

Since my ultimate career goal is to teach undergrads I’ve been watching professors and the projects they are using to inspire their students to be creative.. Today I witnessed the undergrads throwing their journals from the second floor to the first floor.. It was fun to watch them look side to side as if to make sure it was really ok to do it..

I blurred out the girls face because Qatari people are way more serious than Kuwaitis about not being photographed.

Update: Apparently their journals are now art.. fun..

 

Building Yoda

 

We put together a stop motion video of our Yoda print

Not so peachy

I woke up today on the wrong side of the world (yes, even with that cute little monster sharing a bed with me). Things at school have been getting more intense. Nothing really beyond our abilities,  its just that I am feeling a little disconnected from my own life. I miss my friends. I miss the familiar faces and places of home. I bought this desk plant to help reduce the stress at my studio.. the stupid thing has decided to start dying, and its stressing the hell out of me. Should I just throw it out? I am giving it one last chance.. I’m going to cut off all the dead bits and see if that will revive it, Patricia (fellow grad student) thinks it should work. We’ll see.

links

I need to update my links page.. haven’t changed them up in years.. a project for this weekend?

Rawr

When I got home last night I found that little Miss Kitty Milkbeard had gotten her self all gross and dirty, so it was straight into the shower with her. I found out that trying to photograph a wet cat is its own form of hell.. She was well behaved for the most part though, and she always enjoys the hair dryer afterwards.