Keepin' on Keepin' on

WHAT I DID: So I read this book I got on alternative photo processes and honestly it made me sad. I mean that is semi-irrelevant to my project, but it did. Nothing in it was particularly useful to my project at hand because when I checked it out from the library I didnt realize that every process in there is chemical/darkroom. It's straight up history of photographic processes stuff which means I was hooked and couldn't stop reading because I would love to spend my life learning and executing every single one of those dead art forms- I told you it was sad! The most it got into as far as digital use was how to make digital negatives. It had nothing about any type of transferring either. Total fail as far as book-picking but at least the other book is specifically about polaroid transferring.

My mom actually found a polaroid camera she forgot she had in her classroom. I'm going to snag that and see if it will work or not for my project. I still haven't received a reply from Lisa so I emailed her again in case it got lost or she forgot about it. I also went and talked to Sepideh about the photo transfer techniques she's using which is apparently similar to what Shay has tried (why has everyone already discovered this except me?) so she is a good resource for me also. I went and got some papers and fabrics and intend to have a variety of trial transfers for the crit on tuesday. I also got different bulbs for my lamp so that will be shown as well.

Can I just say that bringing in writing help was the best thing ever for me. I really had so much trouble writing the thesis and I expected her to just say she had no idea what I was talking about and leave me more lost and confused. Not true. Giving us a list of words to circle and phrases to watch for was exactly what I needed and makes fixing my writing seem like it's not this huge overwhelming task. In the meeting she gave me such great ideas as far as how to go about writing that will make the second time around so much easier. Whoever's idea that was- thank you.

WHAT I DISCOVERED: There's always someone who has done this (this being whatever it is that youre doing at the time) before. Which is great because you're not alone, you can learn faster etc. but it also makes me feel behind- like I must live under a rock or something. Oh well- I'll get over it. I'm happy to be considering other transfer options and now i'm thinking of simple things like printing on vellum. I know that sounds dumb that it never occurred to me before- but its occurred to me now so lets move forward. I believe the lamp I just made is a possible fire hazard since it gets so unbelievably hot but I feel clueless when it comes to safer, cooler colored lights. I know LEDs are cooler but I know nothing about them and always have thought of them as being too small for my work. Looking into new light sources might be important for my future work.

WHAT'S NEXT: Keep on reading. Keep on watching videos. Keep on talking to people. Keep on trying things out. Keep on learning. word.