A place to post as you go…
…And to share and comment on each other’s explorations
Day 1 March 24, 2020 Hello Class! Here we go... Post and share your experiments and explorations, thoughts on process and developments on your work.... I'm excited to see everyone's work! Cybele
Tara Diaz: 4/3/2020 blog
Due to my work closing, I left home to stay with my parents to save up money. With my parents being in Orange County meant that I was away from Lyle. but I didn’t let it stop me. I decided to go outside and get some materials. I kneeled down on the ground and did tracing and rubbings. even did one on the wall. It looked funny especially to my little sister who was confused on what I was doing and Why.
I decide to do black and red for colors. Even though Ingrid Calame’s pieces where really colorful, I decided to stick to two colors to give it my own twist. Being outside made me happy and feel as if things were normal again. I will get more rubbings and tracings. Mom gave me full permission to use her house plants. Since she did something similar when she was in school, she gave me few tips on what to do. I’m excited for this final project.
Hello Tara,
This is great progress in tracings. I actually like that you added the setup of doing the tracings, demonstrating how you hold down the trace paper. However, I do think that maybe showing closeups or scans of the tracings would also be great to include to show those textures of the items/materials you are working with. One question is that now that you are away from the Center, what is your plan to tie in these tracings to the theme of place, specifically the Center?
Keep up the good work,
Alondra
Hey Alondra.
True I am far from center. My idea is to place these tracings on top of each other. May need to use photoshop to make is seemless. I want it to be as if they are one piece and never seperated. I’m letting them speak and be how they want to be and if a new color comes out then so be it. I’m gonna post more progress soon.
hope this helps.
Tara
Alondra D Delgado: 04/05/2020 blog
My goal is to capture these areas of transition around the Cal Poly Pomona campus to tie in these pathways to the Center of Regenerative Studies. To move further with this, I am not sure yet if I should continue with photographs or move on to video recording. If I continue with photographs my plan is to either have a monumental object repeated in each frame or place them in a presentation in correlation to a map (both forms of approach tie into placement to the Center).
Hey Alondra,
I can’t believe how great these photos turned out. You really have captured the pathway/transitions of the main campus. With what you will do with the photos from the Lyle Center I think will turn out awesome, keep up with the project, I’m excited to see what it turns into in the end.
Don
Kathleen Blakistone: Final Project Update
The Gaelic witch guides my alchemical practice. Ink making continues with experiments in nettle, pokeberry, and copper oxide that involves stripping copper wire and cutting it to bits. Copper oxide is a simple recipe of salt, vinegar and copper that wants plenty of oxygen as it ages – the more we stir, the bluer it becomes. This is an aged ink that can chew through any metal nib, so only the brush can with stand it’s wicked tongue. The walnut ink grows darker and each ink has it’s own smell and texture on the page. The copper oxide should be ready next week and some on site musings are next.
Kathleen
Wow! this sounds so awesome. I can’t wait to see what you do with this cool ink. What are you going to create with these inks?
Tara
Hello Kathleen!
This is amazing! So creative. Do you have ideas on how this ink will tie into its material use and the Center? Can’t wait to see all the variations you come up with.
Alondra
Hi Kathleen!
This is going to be an interesting project and I can’t wait to see I know it will turn out with what effects your inks will have for what you want to create with them.
Don
Final Project Update – 2
The ink making continues – I’ve added a yellow Tumeric to the mix and the copper oxide continues to astound me with it’s deepening turquoise and fascinating capacity to leave deposits on the paper. It is really a kind of chemical magic, so often overlooked. I also continue to find brushed to experiment and learn from. The gum arabic does make the ink have a fine finish and despite the cloves to keep the ink from going rancid, the blue cherry color of the Pokeberry ink is turning a blood red – deep, visceral, and with a warmth the original color did not have. It does interesting color shifts in the walnut.
Final Project – Update 3
Finally made it to the Lyle Center and was able to sit for many hours and paint outside. I found it difficult to be with this process at the beginning – that impatience reared up again. It’s clear I am still learning the tools – each brush makes such a different mark and working in the direct sun made most of the inks dry very quickly. I find myself most attracted to the turquoise and how it interacts with the other colors. After I was done with the initial large pieces, I photographed them with the shadows of the annual grass and it seemed to provide that “shadow” work that I am still learning about. Curiously, the yellow ink is made with alcohol and it does not mix with the other inks in the way that it does not shift their colors, nor does it stay evident unless saturating the paper. So getting to know the tools and materials has been a large part of the process so far.
The second set of images was done under the walnut tree itself and the shadows were overhead cooing me on to find some spirit. I find reproducing the tree in some respectful way is not yet there. I need to spend several more sessions there and feel like I am missing green ink in order to honor the source of the energy cycles. I do like sitting in the land and letting the space share secrets and have a real life experience of foxtails stuck in my butt, warm rays landing on my arms and the wind blowing my hair.
Tara Diaz’s project update
With mom’s permission and help, I was able to get some leaf tracing. Couldn’t go outside due to rain but managed to get some from her house plants. After that, I started putting layers on top to see what I like and what I can work with.
I understood that I may need the use of Photoshop so it can be layered on top better. But I’m happy with the process. I got tracings from Lyle center too. I will put them in photoshop as well and layer them together. I will let them speak to me and tell me where and how they would want to be positioned.
Wow! This looks outstanding! I feel like I can touch the leaf and the texture of your drawings. Can’t wait to see your how your process progresses. – Alondra
Thank you lots Alondra. Same to you. -Tara
Neil Heacox Project Update
Week 1 — Went back on site to try to find an inspiration based on the art of Richard Long. I had in my head the idea of using stones in some way. Could not find any stones. The Center is very overgrown with plants. A lot of them invasive. I found lots of sticks and branches, yellow mustard flowers, and milk thistle. I find a place that’s been cleared away and is just dirt and decide this is a great place to display artwork. I decide to showcase the nature of invasive plants somehow with the mustard and milkweed, and envision some kind of halo/circular tower.
Week 2– Tried to draw what I had in my head, and after doing so, realized that it looks kind of like the coronavirus. At first I’m annoyed because I’ve been trying to not think about it since we’re all thinking about it too much these days. However I then think about what to draw in the dirt, and I draw slashes and figure they can represent periods of time and/or different countries.
Then I thought hand symbols could really represent all the conflicting feelings we’re currently having in this moment: -high five (welcoming, naivete, connection means of infection) -peace sign (hoping for peace, but also tourism, which spreads the virus)
-Stop hand (keep back) -pointing hand (alarm, focus) -bird (anger, hatred, frustration),
-thumbs down and up (nod to social media, dislike of virus, people who like anarchy or only look out for themselves). It also looks similar to a campfire, which combining with hand shapes can nod to our ancient history, and how these issues are reminding us of our current modern hubris that we’re invincible.
I realized that this virus is also invasive, and a nod to how unprepared we humans are with the consequences of our actions. Maybe embracing these two ideas is one way to show people the impact we’re causing by moving things around the world so haphazardly. Maybe.
I can see how you want to be away from the current issues that we are facing. We don’t want to think about what is happening. But emotions can get the best of us. I love the symbolism of your piece. Let everything that is inside come out. Can’t wait to see where this piece goes. -Tara
Hello Neil,
I think this is a great step to starting the project. I agree with you, I also overthink this project and have expectations on what my next steps can be. However, I think we must embrace that sometimes we just do not have all the answers to which is the correct step to take next. I enjoyed reading what you posted; they reminded of journal entries. They were so descriptive I thought they were poetic themselves. With that in mind maybe that can continue as a project within itself. Additionally, as I read about the expectation of using stones maybe you could have used small rocks and played with the perspective to make them look bigger? Some of the images used I can see the relation between them to Richard Long’s idea, but I also think that the tie between them can be better. Good luck! – Alondra
Tara Diaz 4/12/2020 update
After I uploaded the pics of my work, I started playing with them in photoshop. I like how things are looking so far. I’m just playing with the design to try and place them on different layers to see how it works. I just looked at the pieces and allowed them to speak to me. I didn’t do any harsh filtering to them yet just to see how everything looks. But I may see what which ones i like and add some filter to it. I’m debating on it still. As i figured, photoshop did help a lot with layering. So far I will continue playing with the layering and see if adding colors or paints will change anything.
concrete near garage 
sidewalk 
wall 
Plant used in the tracing 
Other plant used in the rubbing
Your layered images look beautiful! The earth tones are perfect and I love the way the textures are coming together. I particularly like them as a set. It’s interesting to see how the images change depending on which layer is more visible. – Caitlin
Don Chavez 4-13-2020
Hello everyone, my goal for this blog is to capture and collect these areas of pathway/transitions through the Lyle Center of Regenerative Studies to see a new form of imagery with these single images I have photographed and collected. I am not sure how there going to turn out with what I have, but I figure it will be glorious to see the results. Because when I continue with the photographs my plan is to have a wonderful short series of new imagery for the pathway/transition forms to approach into placing for the Center.
Hello Don,
I think these images are great and capture the transitional points located throughout the Center. Now I think the next step can be anything… Perhaps maybe integrating these images with the wander topics we have looked at during the semester. Trying various ways to bring forth a new idea but still keeping a sense of placement to the Center. -Alondra
I really like how you captured some of the various pathways that exist at the Center. Maybe one thing that you could do is show the different paths students and staff take at the Center starting with the parking lot and ending with one the locations such as the classroom- Russell
Chelsea Marks – 4/15/20
I wanted to duplicate one of Rabih Mroue’s political collages but form it into what is going on today. My collage shows some of the major problem that we are facing this week with the coronavirus. I plan to make a new collage each week and then for the final I want to re-work all of the pieces into a multi media art piece.
Hello Chelsea,
I like that this idea of collaging the current events we are going through right now. It really does capture the times of now. However, I was thinking maybe you can also add some personal touches. Like how you are feeling or thinking or something you miss? Somehow these new ideas can help you bring a sense of placement because this this particular collage I think more of an event than a place. Also, maybe finding a way to tie it back to the Center can be a good way to move forward. You got this! – Alondra
This is amazing. I like how you were able to sum up the last few months of this year with a few pictures. Can’t wait to see all of the variations you come up with for your final project-Russell
Macy Dreizler
The concept for my final project is to create 12 individual 7” by 10” paintings/collages made from materials pulled from the center (dirt, grass, plastic etc) and collaged with image from the center as well. I want them to be abstract enough but still representative of the many “places” the center is made up. Each piece will reflect one of the 12 regenerative design principles and the 12 locations identified on the Lyle Center visitor map. Since my artist inspiration for the final is John Cage, I wanted to incorporate the element of randomness or chance into my art. I wrote each of the principles and each of the locations from the Lyle center on little sheets of paper and pulled one principle and pulled one location to pair it with. I now have a location paired with a regenerative design principle to inspire each piece. I went to the center yesterday (4-14-20) to gather some materials and take some photos. It was really warm out and I wasn’t feeling the most inspired but I did gather some soil, a few dried out plants and some metal mesh I found on the ground. I started to feel a little like I was mining the place for my own use which felt weird to me yesterday. Initially I thought that each piece would be made entirely of materials only from that location to which it corresponds but I’m starting to think I wont be as strict with myself in terms of certain materials must be used for certain pieces and locations. I want these 12 pieces to form a very loose, very wild “map” of the center but convey more of a feeling than anything. Not really a map in the utilitarian sense, but a map of the feelings I experience when at the center and also in response to my interpreting of the principles. When I was at the center yesterday, all the flowers were taking off and the weeds were all unruly it truly felt like the plants were taking over and I want that feeling to drive the pieces. What happens when human maintenance halts? Do plants in areas where humans have intervened need us as much as we need them? Or are they better off without us? I’m excited to see where the pieces end up, and am trying to let the materials, the principles and the center take focus and allow my somewhat subconscious want to control what the pieces look like take a back seat to the experience. I’ve added some pictures of the process and also some from the center yesterday I might use to collage. I plan on going back soon to gather some more materials.
Hi Macy,
This idea sounds wonderful. I am very intrigued at how this would turn out considering that the strategies and materials can possibly be at random. I think if your piece really captures the sense of feeling this can be such as success. I think potentially adding a sense of the place you are at now (being in quarantine and all) adding your interpretation would give us a grasp of how you feel too. Great proposal! -Alondra
Placemaking at the Lyle Center 