This is the last one, I swear.

Yesterday I got a haircut, but before I did I made one last video. This is totally the last one, I promise. But all fun aside, I'm fairly busy right now packing and cleaning charcoal out of my room. The real challenge is going to be figuring out how to get home most of my drawings, some of which are on 30x40 illustration board. My bad.

And That's a Wrap!

I have finished my freshman foundations year at RISD. I survived. The year has gone by so fast it's really insane. Hopefully pretty soon I can start putting up stuff from my studio classes as I edit the pictures and finish up packing. For now, though, enjoy this video......And that was Robbie's last performance at RISD for three months. But seriously, people are streaming out of RISD at an alarming rate. At least two or three people have already vacated my hall! It hasn't really sunk in that the year is over yet, but I guess as I see more and more people leave it'll hit me. Now back to the boxes I go.

Guide to the Hides

30" x 40" Mixed media on illustration board

A narrative map for 2D class about the thrill of finding hidden or overlooked spots and exploring their potential.

Extracurriculars

Despite my packed studio schedule, at RISD we still manage to make time for extracurriculars. Clubs and sports are of course part of this, but what I consider more important are the excursions we organize on our own -- sometimes spontaneously, sometimes months in advance. In any case, here are some things I've been up to besides working recently:

Devotchka and Gogol Bordello at the House of Blues in Boston
An incredible concert that was well worth the travel time and preparations. Gogol Bordello remains as my favorite group to watch live. Their new album came out April 27, and I suggest that anyone with a remote interest in Gogol Bordello to pick it up.















Z-Day (Or the H1Z1 outbreak)
Every year, hundreds of Brown and RISD students (and others!) join a zombie horde to shamble over Thayer St. and parts of the Brown campus.





Urban Exploration
As part of a 2D project, we explored an abandoned arcade with surprising results.







With finals month gearing up, my amount of free time is already diminishing...but hopefully I'll still have time for a few extracurriculars!

Flight

Flight
Black and Brown Ink, Gesso, and Pencil on Paper (33"x33") and Illustration Board (Two pieces, approximately 18"x24")



This assignment for my drawing class was based on the concept of "journey" and our personal interpretations of the word. I chose to create a triptych depicting a physical and psychological journey of the changes in myself I've experienced while at RISD. The two flanking pieces show my figure in first a coniferous forest (home in the Pac-NW) and later in my dorm room. The middle piece is an aerial view of Providence, from photographic reference, sketches, and invention. The bat is a sort of personal iconography for me - symbolizing the tension of duality as well as my self.

I may go back and work on this piece if I have the time (Hah!) to integrate the influence of Max Beckmann, as suggested by my professor. Also, it is hard to tell with this poorly lit studio photo, but the wing on the left protrudes slightly from the wall.

Modular Wearable Design

I just finished yesterday an assignment for 3D: A modular, wearable design. I chose to use guitar picks in bulk, intending to connect them like scales to form a hat. Unfortunately, I realized halfway through that 144 guitar picks is not quite enough to make a full hat. So instead I made this large necklace from 75 guitar picks. They are connected by segments mono-filament fishing line. Each joint was created by burning one end of the line to form a bulb, threading it through small holes drilled in the picks, and burning the other end to satisfaction.



Wearing the necklace





I may or may not have accidentally flung molten plastic around my room/onto my hand at least thirty times.

I'm Justin Bieber

So. I'm Justin Bieber.



(I do work here. I promise.)

Spring Break

Here I am, back at school, after a great spring break with climbing at the New River Gorge, WV. First, I headed down last Saturday with Jay to visit a friend in Claysville, PA. We had planned to only stay one night but ended leaving mid-Monday morning due to poor weather conditions in Summersville (town near the climbing area).

At Cabela's in Wheeling, WV

Mary and I try on some hats at a souvenir shop. Good luck finding anything without a confederate flag on it.

We arrived later that day at the house of Mark and Kamila Spitzer in Princeton, WV (farther south than the climbing area by about 1.5 hours) after doing some exploring of our own in the Bridge area of The New.

The New River Gorge Bridge - The 3rd largest arch bridge in the world

While we only had 2.5 days to climb at the New, our experience was great. The weather cleared up within twelve hours -- from snow to 70's and sun. We climbed primarily fairly easy sport routes the whole time (5.7-5.10). The sandstone was shockingly good quality of rock but took some getting used to.


Whippoorwill Area. When the lake is filled, the water rises up to the dark mark on the cliff. You can see Mark and Kamila by the cliff on the left.


View from inside a small cave.


CLIMBING IS DANGEROUS!


Jay climbs a 5.9 at Orange Oswald area

We left Thursday after a short morning of climbing. Unfortunately, our trip back did not go smoothly at all. We had some minor navigational errors, but the major problem happened when we decided to stop in Nutter Fort, WV for a lunch at Subway. We hit a vicious pothole at speed and damaged the sidewall badly enough that the tire was completely flat within a minute (note to parental units: I wasn't the driver). Luckily, we were able to put on the spare -- which was only rated to 50mph -- and drive to a tire place in town, thanks to the advice of a random guy with a heavy southern accent who also lent us a tire iron. Although our tire was beyond repair, we were able to purchase a new one and got back on the road.
Quality establishment. Thanks Tom & Keith!


$38 in tolls and 600 miles later we made it back to Providence and school work. Hopefully I'll be able to put up some more school work later on this week, as it is piling up in my room right now.