Threadless is an awesome company that will print up your unique design for a t-shirt and sell it. Designers submit their t-shirt designs and the public votes on their favorites. Then they get made into a t-shirt and sold. There’s some really great stuff on here.
MTV used to be so much fun. I would sit for hours watching videos, from the 80s new wave stuff all the way to college when I’d watch 120 minutes. Well, now it’s hard to see videos on MTV anymore what with all the reality shows. Yes, I know, there are new MTV channels out there that do show videos but it’s just not the same. Enter Videos at antville, where people post links to videos they’ve found online. You can search your favorite bands or just browse to see what’s out there. There are a lot of very artistic and just cool videos and this is pretty much the only place you can see some of them nowadays.
Last night in Art Therapy class we experienced the House Tree Person assessment. It was essentially developed as a personality test but it has far-reaching applications in art therapy. The person is asked to draw on a blank sheet of paper first a house, then a tree, then a person. We did this twice first using pencil and then using crayon. I drew the first tree very hunched over from the wind, it’s braches reaching over to cover someone. The second tree in crayon was much more sturdy and grounded and was reaching above and beyond itself. I did really feel like I went through a process of feeling kind of down about a certain situation in my life and that drawing the second set of sketches made me see the positive aspect of things.
The 1940s house was a great “reality” series on BBC, where a family has to live in a 1940s house, dress like it’s the 1940s, eat and basically live like it’s WWII era-Britian. The family they chose is kinda lame, I have to say, but other than that it was really interesting. They really learned about all the sacrifices people had to go through during that time. I loved when they put the family through fake air raids and bombings. And it was interesting to watch them grapple with dwindling supplies of everything from milk to soap. I think watching it you really get a sense of how lavish our lifestyles are nowadays, and how what we think of as a necessity really is a luxury. This is in my opinion one of the better of all the “Live in a different era House” series that have been on the BBC and PBS over the years.
Last night we went to see Rob Dickinson, formerly of Catherine Wheel, at Southpaw in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Brilliant show. He of course played a bunch of songs from his latest album Fresh Wine for the Horses, including my favorites My Name Is Love and Oceans. He also played a lot of old Catherine Wheel favorites as well, like Black Metallic and Eat my Dust You Insensitive F**k.
The night started out at Long Tan for some dinner, and then I took my friend Q and her dad Bas over to O’Connors, this great old bar that I used to hang out in when I lived in Park Slope. O’Connors hasn’t changed, still has cheap beer and a great jukebox with lots of oldies, and the place was a real hit with Bas. He’s been working in the music business for many years, and he actually was the one to sign Catherine Wheel in the states after hearing Black Metallic for the first time. So he and Rob go way back. Bas also knows Pat Benatar, the guys in ZZTop, and Donna Summer to name a few. When I told him I was from New Jersey and that I liked Bon Jovi he said oh, Jonny’s a great guy!
We went to the show, danced, drank some guinness, and had a real laugh. Later on Rob came out and after a bunch of fans met him and took pics with him, Q, Bas and I got to say hello. So what does one say to Rob Dickinson? I just told him your music has meant a lot to me over the years, and he smiled broadly and gave me a hug. The 3 of us chatted for a while and some Frat boys from Virginia tried to pick us up, but I flashed my wedding ring and that was that.
Timbuk2 has come out with the canvas artist bag, which you can paint yourself any way you like. It actually has canvas on the outside, which you can prime and paint just as you would a framed canvas. I think it rocks. Except I wish they didn’t have that big spiral logo on them, that’s kind of annoying. Some artists have done some very creative things with these bags, which you can check out on the Timbuk 2 canvas artist bag page.
So Chloe won! I thought she rocked the final project of putting together your own collection. I’ve talked about Project Runway here before, but it’s just really addictive. I thought that Santino also did pretty well with the final, and I was torn between Santino and Chloe but Daniel’s collection was very uneven. I always thought the whole season Santino would win because he was the most passionate, and took risks. Chloe definitely lacks the charisma of Santino, and doesn’t seem like a designer personality. But what she has is a real understanding of women and what looks good on them. I think ultimately that’s very important in real world fashion design, because who really wears all the weird feather and shredded outfits?
I just love Super 8 Filmmaking. I bought a camera years ago at Willoughby’s, and you can still get film at B&H. The colors are rich and dense, and there’s no sound, so it actually takes that aspect out of the filmmaking process which I like. It’s a pure visual experience. There’s a great resource for getting started in Super 8 here.
Last May, Kodak announced they were discontinuing the popular Kodachrome Super 8 film, but they are introducing a Ektachrome Super 8 film to replace it. A lot of filmmakers were disappointed, since Kodachrome was so grainy and the color was so saturated. It remains to be seen if Ektachrome can match Kodachrome’s unique film quality, and if Super 8 can survive in this digital video age.
The Sheela Na Gig, besides being a great PJ Harvey song, is thought by some to be a pre-Christian fertility or Earth Goddess figure. These figures carved out of stone are found all over Britian and Ireland. No one is really sure what they mean, and over the ages, people have ascribed different meanings to them. I like to think it’s an image of feminine power and fertility. I created one in art therapy class last night with plaster, and I have to work on it some more, and then paint and decorate it next week. It was really fun to do and it felt empowering and healing in a way. They’re also kind of cute looking and playful figures.
Is it really true, that you can just do what you love and money will come pouring in? I just don’t know. Right now I’m just enjoying my classes, doing something I do love. I find the classes fascinating. But practically speaking, I’ve got a mortgage to pay and I don’t know how I could do this. My friend Isadora says that she has confidence in me that I can make it work. So I asked my art materials teacher what she thought of the job market and outlook for art therapy, and she said it’s a growing field. She said alot of hospitals are realizing that they really need art therapists. Also the licensing of the field is giving it much more legitimacy and she feels that eventually the salaries will start to match those of psychologists. According to her starting salaries are 40 a year for someone with their master’s. So I think I could do this, it’s another tool in my toolbox, perhaps I could even work part time. A lot of people, when I tell them what I’m studying, really don’t believe that I could make a living at it. They think I’m crazy to even pursue it. So, am I crazy? Why not start with doing something I really enjoy, and see where it takes me?