Space Valkyrie

Beachtimes Grid (9.12.09)

2009-09-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Jay and I decided to take the pup to Half Moon Bay yesterday, where it was surprisingly misty and cold. It was refreshing though, and we had a good time.

Jay says I make the face in number five a lot. Not so good, really. Also, where did those freckles come from?!

I'm going to have some work up at the Art Ark gallery in San Jose starting Monday. The reception is Sep. 20th from 1-5, there's also a closing reception during first Fridays in October. You should come!

Grid for 9.9.09

2009-09-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Another day, another insect. Arachnid. You know. From what I can gather from the internet, this is a Golden Orb-Weaver Spider. When I first saw it the spider looked like it was floating in the air because its web was so fine. It stayed still the whole time I was shooting, even though I got pretty close with my lens.

I've been trying to focus on other subjects beyond insects, but they just keep appearing in my life. I suppose I can do both, if nothing else it give me a great joy to discover these beautiful little things.

Grid for 9.8.09

2009-09-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Another grid from my parents' home in Fresno. A dragonfly was caught in the screen door and I only had a few minutes to shoot these before he figured out what was up and flew away. Number one is beautiful and number eleven makes me sad for some reason.

About two years ago I discovered my multi-lens technique with a dragonfly, so to me they are a lucky sign. Dragonflies are really strange, archaic things. I like them a lot, but you won't catch me wearing one. I like them too much for that.

Homtime Grid (9.6.09)

2009-09-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Day two of my visit to my parents' in Fresno. Three and four feather my sister's and my senior portraits. Who made the smart decision to not cut herself 11 year old's bangs before senior portrait time? Not me!

That globe in number two is really, really old. Like pre-USSR old.

My mom made pudding (numbers six, eleven, twelve) because Syd (ten, with my sister) won first place in his bike race. Go Syd!

Doesn't my mom's hair (eight) look great?

For some reason Contact Sheet II keeps putting these out of order when it didn't before. Come on now.

Football Grid (9.5.09)

2009-09-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Football season is upon us, and for me that means getting dragged out to various tiny Central Valley towns to see my little brother play whenever I visit my parents. Here my brother's team was playing in Mendota, the "Cantaloupe Capitol of the World". My little bro is number 70, he's a kicker, and you can see him doing his thing (in a blurry way) in number twelve.

My favorite by far is number eight, which was some crazy dad who kept yelling all night. I am impressed by how majestic I made his nasty little beard. (It was nasty. It really was.)

This has nothing to do with any of the photos, but man the recession has hit the Central Valley hard. Mendota, always a pretty small town, seemed so sad and empty. San Joaquin, always a pretty sad down, seemed fit to implode. It makes me sad to see these towns struggling, they're so important. Without them everything would be so homogenized.

Sunny (grid for 9.3.09)

2009-09-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

Heston and I enjoying the sun in our own ways.

I mean, just look at that guy. Could anyone or anything be happier than that pup in a sunbeam? I don't think so.

Superflash (grid for 8.31.09)

2009-09-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of a backlog but I won't push it though all at once, I promise!

Another LOST picture in number 2. On this day I did both the laundry (6) and the dishes (7). Nine is for my loom, which I haven't touched but I need to. This was so long ago now that I don't even have any witty commentary.

I just keep doing this though, even when the pictures are boring. I think its the boring days that push me to do better.

Hands (grid for 8.29.09)

2009-08-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

Four & five = engagement ring love, which is obnoxious I know but that is what blogs are for, obnoxious vain crap.

Seven: dog rump!

Nine, ten, eleven: intentionally overexposed! I particularly like eleven, which also happens to be my lucky number.

Twelve: I introduced Heston to Daisy, with adorable results. Daisy, suprisingly, was not afraid at all and Heston was a gentleman, as always.

So, tomorrow the finalists for Critical Mass are announced. I may have entered. I may be waiting on the edge of my seat for the results, even though I have next to no chance because no one knows who I am. I get a book out of it no matter what so I guess its ok.

Grid for 8.28.09

2009-08-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

How do you feel about the numbers/font? Not sure myself, maybe it isn't the right font. Maybe I'm too lazy to change it.

Kind of a simple subject grid because I had guests coming so I had to hurry up and meet my quota. Check out the squash (personal fav, number seven)! I grew that with my own bare hands! The tomato too! A few weeks ago I had about seventy million tomatos (I'm under-estimating here) and I made some tomato sauce with them. Talk about amazing! I highly recommend growing your own food, it is gratifying in a way that can't be explained.

Summer Evening Grid (8.27.09)

2009-08-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

New and improved! With numbers for easy reference!

This was a lazy hanging out outside while waiting for food to grill kind of grid. The ultimate griller did most of the work (#5) while I hung around with the dog and drank a peach beer (#2, 3, & 4). Aren't my shoes awesome? Just had to say that.

Also, doesn't number six remind you of LOST?

Things in My Kitchen (Grid for 8.26.09)

2009-08-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

I read once that when you are having artist's block you should paint/shoot everything in your kitchen. I wasn't even thinking of that when I started shooting the bowls, I was just watching for dinner to finish cooking (Hamburger Helper, natch. I only roll classy, you know). Who knew that my kitchen shelves would bounce my flash so nicely? And check out that Spock cup. Old Spock and new Spock!

I would also like to brag a little: The tomatoes and the pepper are from my garden. I grew those.

Also also, have you ever tried Barefoot Coffee? It is the best coffee in the Bay Area, for sure.

Heston Grid (8.25.09)

2009-08-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned before, Jay and I got a dog. What I didn't mention is how I have wanted a dog fiercely for years. So, I'm just warning you now, I will probably take a million pictures of him because he is the best thing to happen to me in a long time. But he's cute, right? So then its ok.

I don't like the pinkish cast these all have but I was evidently too lazy to try to fix it. Its been a tiring week, school started Monday.

Also, because of his coloring, I think Heston looks like a balding old man. I like this.

Grid for 8.24.2009

2009-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

I get annoyed too easily. This doesn't have anything to do with this set of photos, I'm just putting it out there.

Here I go again trying to take my own picture. I kinda like these, although I'm a little frowny. Hell, I'm always a little frowny.

Saturday Afternoon Fiddling (8.21.09)

2009-08-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

As you can see, my basil has gone to seed and its far too late to fix it :(

Also, I would like to draw your attention to the novelty steins. Jay and I each have one, Avon made them in the 90's and there's basically one for every nerdy interest. Jay drinks from the Country Music one (preferred beverage: Simple Times beer from Trader Joes) whereas I hoist from the "Conquest of Space" stein (not as preferred beverage: Coors Light). Check that thing out though, the handle is a Saturn rocket! The Eagle Lunar Lander is on the side! There's an astronaut on top! I can't say as much about Jay's, I think the Carter family is on it.

I would like to encourage a trend of hip internetty types drinking out of Avon novelty steins. To do so, I have found ebay links for other amazing steins so that you too can get in on the action!

For the history buff, a tribute to the Gold Rush

For the acquirer of California facts, a Rainbow Trout stein

My personal favorite, "Great Dogs of the Outdoors"

So, awesome people out there! Get a stein, they're only like 20 bucks and you can fit not one but TWO cans/bottles of beer in them.

(A small ebay complaint: I wish they had some sort of social networky "share" feature so that you all could actually see pictures of these instead of clicking on links. I know how lazy you are and I know you don't want to click on anything.)

Heston (8.21.09)

2009-08-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Jay and I got an English Bulldog, who we named Heston. You know, after Moses. He is probably the cutest thing ever, people even stop us in parking lots to tell us that, so its not just me. He is smooshy and cuddly and he snores, so he fits right in with Jay and I.

It has been unexpectedly nice to have a dog. Growing up (on the farm, yehaw) we always had at least three dogs, usually more, so Heston has filled a little gap that I wasn't even aware of until we got him.

Vaughn's First Birthday Party (8.16.09)

2009-08-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm posting too many of these in a row, but I don't know how many people even read this, much less how many of those people care that I'm going to post 5 updates in a row.

This is my nephew Vaughn, he just turned one. He is a happy baby, also a very photographed one. At one point I counted 5 cameras on this kid. It made my efforts seem a little futile, but I like to think that I took the best pictures. The kid with the black hair is my other nephew, Trace, who is a nice kid and photographs exceedingly well. The other kid, who doesn't photograph well is my brother Caleb (its a Schumacher thing I suppose).

I adore Caleb. He is 13 and is so awkward that I can't help but stick up for him all the time. Which makes him feel more awkward. What a sister.

8.16.09

2009-08-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

I'm a little embarrassed about these ones because they are of me! Not that you could really tell I suppose. I have always been wary of self portraits, I don't like showing my face, I don't like coming off as self obsessed. I hate showing people pictures of myself, even just normal ones. So I forced myself to deal with it a little, forced myself in front of the camera and tried to show a version of myself that I was comfortable with. I like these, there's something powerful there.

Mayra & Luis' Wedding (8.1.09)

2009-08-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

This was a hell of a day. Woke up early and took my last walk on the beach before entering into a frenzy of getting-ready-for-wedding-ness. Jay picked me up in Cayucos and we hauled ass to Monterey to be there for Mayra and Luis' wedding. However, Mayra is a cool lady and Luis is a cool dude, so it was worth it. I was their table settings photographer (because Luis knows like 80 bazillion photographers so everyone did a tiny part of the photography), which sent me into a details oriented bliss for a while.

This was the only wedding I've ever been to where there was tequila instead of champagne, and I definitely approve. The shot glasses had the date of their wedding on them, but of course Jay and I are fools and left ours at the wedding.

Re-restart

2009-08-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

So, I'm trying this again, thanks to some gentle prodding from my friend Luis and some very strong prodding from my own self. I've redone the format a little, the pictures are bigger so you can, you know, see what's going on. Maybe I'll write a little more, too. Maybe.

This was from 7/30/09, so I guess its a little old by now, but I love these images. The kid is my cousin Ben. Doesn't he have nice hands? I love his thumbs.

Last year for Christmas I made Ben a photo calendar with pictures of animals. While we were walking on the beach he told me, "Centa, you know how you can make money taking pictures? You should make calendars, because you make really nice ones. You can make them about all kinds of things, like you could make a beach one or even one just about rocks." So these pictures are for our calendar about rocks.

5/12/09

2009-05-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Let me give you a numbered description:

1) Jesus embroidery, kitchen 2)Hello Kitty shot glass 3)Alfred 4)Good luck! 5) Screaming rock 6)grumplet 7)David Lynch 8) fiance 9) pincushion 10) upskirt sailormoon 11) synthesizer (yeah we have some) 12) guinea pig dance

5/11/09

2009-05-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

Today was a sorta weird day. Spent a lot of time embroidering onto my weaving (see above) and watching star trek (also see above). Shake and bake for dinner, really tasty even if that is embarrassing to admit.

5/10/09

2009-05-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

There are only 7 images here because after the last one was taken the grill lit on fire! We were ok, but those tasty burgers were ruined.

5/9/09

2009-05-10T10:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I slept too much and then watched a Japanese horror movie that ended up having a heavy-handed pro-life message. I want my time back.

5/7/09

2009-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

The flower is from a squash plant in my garden. I already have several squash growing! I am excited about the garden.

Also, I made chocolate covered strawberries! These are amazingly easy to make and everyone is verrrry impressed when you bring them to something (like a final critique in studio photography). Want a recipe?

Restart

2009-05-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

I unintentionally slacked off on this project, so I'm restarting it now! This is from last weekend, which was a good weekend. This weekend has been kind of sluggish so far.

Did I mention that I am engaged? To Jay, even? (see above grillin-dude) This partially explains why I have slacked off in the 12-photos department. Planning a wedding is crazy! Why knew that people were going to care about the color of your napkins? (THEY DO.)

For those of you who care about these things, we are thinking next June, Madonna Inn.

Talent Show

2009-03-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

I volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and today we had a talent show. There was a puppet show and quite a bit of dancing. I really enjoy being around all these kids, they're a lot of fun.

Its funny how shy these kids, who hang out together every week, can be when they are put on a stage. I can relate, I was a pretty shy kid too. I was always hyper consious of everything I did, but in the end the coolest people were always the ones who didn't care anyway. I'm working on that.

My little sister is the girl in the purple shirt.

All cute all the time (3/29/09)

2009-03-31T22:52:00.000-07:00

My guinea pigs are a constant renewable source of cuteness. And when all else fails and I can't think of anything to shoot, there they are. And I can pay them in carrots!

Catch Up

2009-03-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

Took this a few days ago when visiting my parents. There is an eight acre pond/wilderness behind their house, I believe this had some sort of effect on me during my formative years. Besides my family and friends, its the only thing I really miss about Fresno on a daily basis.

How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour

2009-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Some good stuff here, some real good stuff.

Sometimes amazing things will just fly up and find you.

Family time

2009-03-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Drove down to Fresno to visit my family. My brother John was up from LA and so all five of us siblings were in the same building, which is a rare event. I was able to spend some time with my nephew Vaughn, who makes funny faces into the camera. Also, my sister Anne likes to eat cake, and Aaron got a new gun.

Caleb broke his leg playing rollerblade basketball. When you are 12, things like that seem like a good idea.

Friday studio

2009-03-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

My sister is one of the most beautiful people I know. She is also an excellent model. However, it is strange to view my sister in an artistic way, looking at the angle of her neck or the shadow her nose makes and having to make critical judgments about that.

Lost time

2009-03-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted any in a while, sorry. Here are a few to make up for that.

We got some new lights in the school studio, this is Ron under the beauty dish. He is a nice guy.

not enough

2009-03-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Didn't take too many that I liked today. The rest of today was pretty great though.

Sunol Wilderness

2009-03-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes going out into nature is like giving myself a good scrubbing. It has been a very good day so far.

Sunol Regional Wilderness? I highly recommend it.

Honey-jam cookies

2009-03-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

See the blurry picture of the building? Thats how everything looks like when I take out my contacts.

I baked today; made some cookies that used honey instead of sugar. They're pretty good, a little chewy and topped with boysenberry jam.

Pug hair on my sweater

2009-03-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Amanda's pugs!

Also, we drove up to Mt. Diablo, which is beautiful! Up on the summit you could see all the way to San Jose. The clouds hovered over concord but it didn't rain. You could see the windmills too, they looked like toothpicks.

Quality day.

Chrysanthemums (3/7/09)

2009-03-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

I kind of like these better than the studio shoot. These flowers are so weird looking to me, the look like they belong under the sea. And the color! What a strange green.

Also, those fish are my salt and pepper shakers. Just braggin. The knife? From ikea. No braggin there.

Also also, my Jay bought an SLR, so he is taking pictures too, which I am excited about. He has a flickr, so go give him some love.

Studio 3/6/09

2009-03-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'll post the final picture when I'm done editing it. I'm only semi-satisfied with this shoot, but what can you do? The assignment was "reflective object", which is the canister the flowers are in. I decided to minimize the importance of the canister though, I hope that doesn't get points knocked off (it will).

Woz

2009-03-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

Had to do this quick before it started raining again. There are two that I think need to be viewed larger because you can't see the awesome details here.

Check out the weird light! That is from the blue building in the background. Every day around 4ish the street lights up blue like this.

And I just really liked this one. I feel like taking all these pictures is helping me get to know my home more.

In between

2009-03-05T11:59:00.001-08:00

I didn't make a grid again until yesterday, so to fill in for those grids are two cute pictures of guinea pigs.

and

Daisy always looks at me like that! Like I am mean to her or something. She is always watching me though. If I am in her line of sight, her little pink eyeballs are following me.

Sonic Adventure (grid for 3/1/09)

2009-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Jay and I decided to drive to Gilroy to get some Sonic. While that may sound pathetic, consider that I have not had a tasty, tasty toaster sandwich in TWO YEARS.We also ended up shopping at the outlet mall, which I decided was not worthy of document.

Here are four words that describe outlet shopping:
-zombies
-slow
-samsonite luggage

Tired colors

2009-02-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

The first one was inspired by Adam (http://majestic-eagles.blogspot.com). All of these have the same muted colors, unintended but interesting. It is interesting to see how my mood effects what I end up shooting.

On tv there is a girl standing in a hotel made of ice with candles on her head. St. Luica's day? December 13th. Its a celebration of light.

Speaking of light, here is the moon and Venus, looking lovely as always.

This is the kind of picture my dad would like.

Looking through the peephole in the front door

2009-02-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

Took most of these out in the front yard, where I ran into the mailman.

"New camera?" he asks.
"Got it for Christmas, still getting to know it," I reply.
"There's a hawk that lives up in the blue building, you should take pictures of that."

Also, the pictures of the interiors of the house--the blinds, the peephole, the windows --remind me of the shut-in feeling I get about living in the city. I can hear other people's lives happen if I open the windows, so we usually keep them shut. That doesn't happen in the country. This is neither good nor bad, here no there, just something to think about.

Here's the final version of that studio shoot I posted earlier in the week. We were supposed to recreate an image from art history and add a modern product. I chose this Man Ray photograph, mostly because I love Man Ray. I should have thaought about that more when I chose the image, because this one was a little difficult to light. It turned out pretty good in the end though, don't you think?

Tonight I'm getting Thai food with some photo friends, isn't that good?

The strange beauty of my unbrushed hair (2/26/09)

2009-02-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry if this seems a little narcissistic, I was just taken by the way my hair looked through the camera. I normally hate to take my own picture unless I can focus on little details like this. This idea will probably get revisited in the future, possibly with a model (like who? I don't know) so I have more control of the shots.

Flash!

2009-02-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

By the time I got home today it was dark, so I busted out good ol 430exII and scooted around a little. Can I just pause and gush about that flash a little? It is a good one. You know, everyone goes on and on about the 530exII and stuff, but my little 430 is a trooper! And its smaller. And its awesome. Canon users, I recommend it. Nikon users, you are out of luck. For several reasons. (I kid I kid!) So I took some flash pictures of the rose hips, which made them look pretty eerie to me.

Also, check out my guinea pigs. They are always cute. Sweetpea (the black one) is always so hard to photograph because she is so dark, she absorbs all light and the rest of the picture is horridly overexposed. Its tough being a piglet I guess.

One last thing: The outlet. For some reason that plug looks really ominous to me. Maybe that means I'm turning into David Lynch. I mean, that'd be cool. Sorta.

Rainy Day and my website

2009-02-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

The first frame is from Mad Max. Took a picture of the tv.

Also, in Centa-news, my website is up: http://www.centaschumacher.com Look at it, bookmark it, love it, tell me what you think about it.

Studio Grid

2009-02-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

Portrait shoot on Friday. Which famous photographer was I imitating in these images? Our assignment was to emulate an image from art history.

My lovely model was my partner Elisa. She ended up using me as her model too, which resulted in this image:

Yeah yeah my lipstick is a little smudged. This picture amuses me a little though, I never see myself in this way. When my boyfriend saw this picture he said, "This is pretty, but it doesn't really look like you."

I like studio class though.

Spider in the garage

2009-02-22T17:30:00.000-08:00

I was a little late, but here are a few grids in a row again.

Today's Grid

2009-02-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today was sort of a hard day.

Grid for 2/15/2009

2009-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Mostly the flowers I got for Valentine's Day. :)

Grid for 2/14/2009

2009-02-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, but a cold and a broken card reader have been holding me back. To make up for it, here are three in a row! Zowee!

These are pictures from my sister Anne's boyfriend Syd, who races bikes. Despite having a dude crash into him, Syd got 6th place! Also, he is a cool guy. It was fun to watch him race.

12

2009-02-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

I really like the sticks. Also, that wasp's nest could use some revisiting.

So far--and I know this is two days in--I really like this project I've given myself.

First Contact Sheet

2009-02-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

Here's the first one! Not sure how productive it was, but now you know what my shower looks like.

Unrelated: Maybe its bad to be admitting this, but I am watching RuPaul's Drag Race. It is amazing. RuPaul is out. of. control. ("Are you a Diana Ross? Oh heeeeyyy! Or are you just a supreme? Oooh!")

Attempts

2009-02-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a class in the studio again this semester. I like working in the studio, but I'm awful at coming up with concepts for "commercial" photography. It is very difficult for me to think of making photographs in order to sell a product. Some people are great at it, but I would rather just get out some rocks or bugs and shoot those instead.

Here's another one I shot in the studio. This is me. I love the motion in this, the blur and the mess of hair. Hair monster.

What am I getting at? Something, anyway.

I think I'm going to start something new. I'm going to take pictures every day, even if they are bland. I'll make a little grid of 12 images and post them here. I'm sort of ripping this idea off from Liz Kubal (http://www.lizkuball.com/blog/) but my images will be so different I don't think it is a problem. Hold me accountable, my two readers! Tell me if you like what you see.

I'll start tomorrow though. These are tantalizing enough for tonight.

thinking

2009-02-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I freak out and think that I am a terrible artist. Sometimes I take a picture like this and get cocky. Neither is productive.

I'm concerned with my output. Not enough work being made. I'm afraid this new job I'm getting will take all my time away again. At my old job I never had weekends. Rarely had a day off, I was either at work or school or both. I'm worried that this will happen again, hell, it will happen again. But its either work away all my free time or mooch off my boyfriend and parents. One of these is better than the other but both are awful. (In the UK they would call this whingeing)

Well, this blog was supposed to be about my art making process. I keep coming back to leaves when I shoot. They are so articulate. Well designed. Did you know that the way branches form--with one study branch that shoots off into thinner ones that eventually grow and produce even more branches--is the same way our veins form in our body? Nature is efficient.

three and four and

2009-01-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

I still haven't found a job, but not for lack of trying. I've applied to about 10 places now, I haven't heard from anyone yet. Part of me is very, very worried about this. The rest of me is sort of enjoying it-- I've never had the luxury to focus on my classes alone. I have so much more energy and I've been having lots of ideas art-wise. I guess that says something about the jobs I have held, doesn't it?

Thing is, I've always sort of assumed that I would be miserable in whatever job I am in, especially the part-time stuff through college. Perhaps that is wrong, perhaps its my outlook that is incorrect.

Our house is right under the flight path of all the airplanes landing at Mineta Airport. They come down pretty low above the house. We have double pane windows though, so all you hear is a little "swooosh" and see an airplane out the window.

The kid that did that deserves a Maybach

2009-01-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

One of my new years resolutions was to write in this more often. To be more transparent about who I am. I keep to myself a little too much, few people know me. So here we go.

The holidays were really wonderful. Without being overwhelmingly sappy, Christmas was great. I have an awesome boyfriend and my family rules. And while I know the holidays aren't all about presents, I have to mention one of them: Jay got me a new camera. Its pretty amazing, it just takes pictures like this with an effortless grace:

That is Jay waiting in line at the Museum of Natural Science, where we went for my birthday. My birthday is January 4th, so in my mind it is just part of the holidays. I'm 23 now. That's fine, I don't have many thoughts about it really. Mostly I view my birthday as inconvenient, its at a weird time.

I just liked this one alot.

So then yesterday I lost my job, which sort of makes all the shopping and things I have done over the past few weeks seem very stupid. Five people were cut from my store, same thing is happening at other places around here too. What sucks about this whole thing is that I didn't get a two weeks notice-- I really liked all my coworkers and didn't get a chance to say good bye to anyone. Nor was I able to brace myself and plan ahead. I would feel pretty stupid going in now though, I don't want to be that awkward person.

So now I have a whole lot of free time. Maybe I can finally start working on becoming a WWE Diva like I've always dreamed. If you need more history of the WWE Divas, here's a link that pretty much explains it all: Women's History Month. Or maybe, you know, I'll get another job. Psh, who am I kidding? I've already started down the Diva road.

The weird thing about all of this is that Jay and I planned to go on a trip to Florida starting tomorrow, which now feels exorbitant to me. I should be trying to get a job instead! But the trip has all been planned and paid for, so that would be stupid. I'll try to keep this updated with Florida-ness, I know all three of you are very excited.

2008-11-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

ugh i hope that idiocy didn't show up on anyones blog reader, shit

Strings (and things)

2008-09-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is the start of something I want to work on. Its going to get bigger than this, its going to be more complicated than this, but this is the beginning of it. Part of this is about how we connect what we see everyday to our own existance. Its also a little bit about fragility (my own? nawww). Also, its about whatever it makes you think about. What does it make you think about?

I have a question for you, my readers (all five of you!): Do you ever feel that the closer you are to someone, the harder is it to talk about certain things? For example, I've never been able to talk about my art with anyone I was in a romantic relationship with. Its much, much easier for me to talk about my work to people I am not close with. My boyfriend is a really talented musician, and I think he is the same way. He'll play something for me and we'll nod and not say anything else. If I try to give an observation or compliment, it feels insubstantial. He has told me he feels the same way about my photos. He doesn't hate my work, he just isn't sure how to talk to me about it. Mostly, this is a relief. I feel don't have to explain all these tricky things to him, I can just work in peace. This doesn't just apply to my boyfriend either, I am the same with my best friend. I feel like I fumble around with explanations of things that are usually a more muddled, emotional side of me. Maybe this addresses my own desire to keep my demeanor as controlled as possible. Maybe that's why I make art in the first place; I'm incapable of articulating the more complicated aspects of myself and art is my way to let those things out. Maybe that's cheesy as hell. But, as I told Aurora (whose work is awesome, by the way) the other night, "If I was good at saying this stuff, I would be a writer instead of a photographer."

In other things, this past Saturday I went out with Adam and Aurora to a bar in Visalia to see some of Aurora's paintings and to see some bands, and I was impressed by how cool downtown Visalia is. I also felt a little cheated. How come no one had ever told me how cool it was? How come I had to move to San Jose before I could know how fun Visalia could be? Fresno, take a tip from Visalia: you don't need Sammy Hagar to be cool, you need some local, independently owned restraunts, bars, and shops that are open past 9 o'clock (I'm looking at you, downtown).

Well dang I have hell of gone off on a few things.

Ok, I'm going to try this again.

2008-08-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm going to try some more of the blogging stuff. I'm going to branch out a little bit more I think, talk about more things.

Sometimes I feel like I have really inappropriate emotional reactions to things. Strange things (images, parts of stories, news) will make be inordinately sad. For example, I was looking through the blog Sexy People and I found this picture (which has been reposted in a couple other places too):

Alright, so I am aware that the concept of that blog is funny. A lot of the other pictures on that site were making me laugh. But for some reason this picture was different. These guys (who look like brothers to me) looked so earnestly happy and proud that I because really sad thinking that someone was laughing at them. These look like nice guys and I am honest to god tearing up right now thinking about how mean it is that they are probably being made fun of without them knowing it, when all they wanted to do was to take a picture together to give to their mom or something.

Before you go off on me and tell me how sensitive and weird I am, let me point out to you that I am aware of how stupid and really strange my behavior is. I'm not going to rally against this blog, like I said, I thought all of it was funny except, for some strange reason, this picture. I am trying to understand why I behave this way seemingly out of the blue. (Don't even try to blame it on hormones either, its not the time for that)

Here's another example: In the book The Grapes of Wrath, the chapter where Steinbeck describes the two gas stations had me bawling. The yellow paint? I couldn't handle myself. Not any of the other sad parts in the book upset me nearly as much as that part. And I'm not a book-crier either, so I don't know what is going on in my head.

I guess I should study my reaction to things more. Why do I feel the way I feel? What triggers emotional response, anyway?

Edit: when I looked at the blog again, I saw a few others that made me a little sad too. But maybe I'm just in the mood now. These look like nice people. I mostly get my kicks out of laughing at jerks, not nice people. Still, this one is pretty good. And in general, Olan Mills-type portraiture cracks me up. This stuff is funny. And yet, I fear I'm turning into one of those ladies that complains about people's feelings getting hurt. Save me from that, please.

Things These Days

2008-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been taking quite a few pictures of leaves. Basically, it is the only thing I have been shooting.

Well, I've been trying to shoot other things, but the only things that I end up liking are these leaves. I feel like this is a subject matter that could quickly turn boring to the viewer, but to me it is an endless source of fascination. When I take these up-close images it is like I'm exploring this new landscape no one has seen before. I know that's not really true, but hell, I've never seen this kind of thing before.

I always try to figure out why I'm drawn to certain things. For a while it was making images transparent (I'm still into that), and then there were all the bugs, and now these leaves. I guess it all started when I went through a time when I would photograph nothing but trees. I get suck in these modes, but I've made good work from all of them so I guess it isn't a bad thing at all.

I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to

2008-07-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in a while, obviously. I'd almost given up on this while blog thing, I didn't feel like I was making a very good contribution. To be honest, I was getting frustrated by art making, and scared, too. There were some things I didn't want to think about, so I just stopped thinking about art for a while, but then I just became miserable.

Sometimes I get really worried-- How will I survive doing what I do? How will having a degree in art help me out at all? Will I be able to stay happy this way?

And there are more questions: Am I good enough? How do I get people to pay attention to my work? I want to be in shows but I have no idea how to get my work there, and in this business that so centers on who you know, I know no one.

These are all things I can never really get myself to come out and say to other people. I guess it is mostly from pride, I don't want to admit to anyone that at times I am terrified that I will fail. I want to do well, and I love creating and the discovery that is within that, but lately I'm been very concerned about my potential for success.

This sounds so whiny, but I feel like everyone is doing better than me at this. What does it take? How do I do this?

---

In other, non-whiny news, a customer at the camera store I work at gave me her broken camera, and it takes pictures like this:

That's because the light sensor inside the camera is broken, but I kind of like what it does. I secretly call it my magical realism camera, although it really is nothing like that. I mostly want to make Achewood references on the internet. I was thinking that a series of self-portraits might be fun with this.

Also, because the economy kind of sucks, people have been buying fewer cameras, so we end up doing things like this:

That is because we are productive, intelligent young people. The promise of tomorrow is in us! (Those are film canisters and that is Justin, btw)

Pitfire! (with lots of pictures)

2008-05-11T19:18:00.001-07:00

So, the culminating event for my wheel-throwing class this semester was to do a huge pitfire in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains. For some reason I was possessed to shoot it all with my fisheye lens. The way it works is this:

1) Dig a really big hole:

2) Fill the hole with sawdust, salt, and pots:

3) Cover the pots with wood:

4) LIGHT IT ON FIRE

5) A few hours, a few beers, and several rounds of free-form scrabble later, this is what is left:(none of these are mine, sadly)

6) My pots!

(they look better in person, I swear)

I'll take some regular non-fisheye pictures of these later, these pots are really cool looking. This technique is a traditional Native American method of firing vessels, and you can't control the pattern the fire puts on the pots, which I love.

another list

2008-05-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

spiders
fingernails (broken, ragged)
waiting
long necklaces
laughing
by your self
fridays
nighttime
friends (lack of)

---
Something will come of this, I think. Eventually.

Ideas

2008-04-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

Things that have been bouncing around my head:

-Book-binding. I want to make a nice-looking book for the final project in one of my classes. Here are a few good sites I found today:
Bookbinding For Beginners: A reproduced text from 1917 I believe, a little dense but good instructions.
Making Books With Children: I'm probably going to do some of these projects first, they are written for kids so they are pretty simple but still have lots of potential.
Rag and Bone Blog: A really awesome blog written by a bookbinder. It also has lots of art-inspiration type posts.

-Embroidery! I embroidered a set of napkins for my mom for her birthday, which I forgot to take a picture of, of course. They each had a different animal that could be found around the farm. I'm trying to think of a way to fuse my photographic interests with my sewing and embroidery skills in a way that isn't hokey.

-Rini Templeton mostly made art as activism. She referred to her work as "Xerox Art" because she made her bold, simplistic images with the express purpose of having them put on fliers and posters, so she wanted them to be easily reproduced. Her work is available to use even now in fliers and pamphlets (find out more on the website), but its her simple nature scenes that I really like. They would make nice tattoos or embroidery patterns (jeez aren't those on two ends of the spectrum?)

-Lists. I am a list maker, but not in any way that actually keeps me organized. My sketchbook is filled with lists like this:

vodka
extra hours
runny nose
warm skin
warm bed
brown eyes
waking up
cold light
glass of water
soup

They just appear. I don't know why.

Home

2008-04-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been a little while since I've posted. I've been working really hard at school, I recently made a little photo album with pictures of ghosts in it. Unfortunatly, I had to turn it in before I had a chance to scan it, so when I get it back I'll post it here. The reason I bring it up at all is that I am interested in making a book for the final project in one of my classes, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice or knew of any websites that have good info on book binding. Any help would be most excellent.

I took this picture last time I was visiting home in Fresno, and it is a good example of the beauty that surrounds that place. If there had been some way to stay home and do what I am doing now, I would have done it. I lived in a paradise, there was a forest behind my house with acres and acres of room to explore and draw inspiration from. This isn't to say that I am unhappy where I am now or that I don't want to be here, but I do miss it dearly.

I am, however, glad I left. I'm a much better artist (and person!) for moving up to San Jose, and I've met someone I love with all my heart. I just hope that someday I can create a home that is as loving and amazing as the one I grew up in.

This post turned unexpectedly sappy, I guess I miss my family. However, how can you -not- miss a place where these little guys are made?

Bowls!

2008-04-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some bowls I made in my ceramics class. I've been having a good time making these, but I think glazing is my favorite part. Wheel throwing is so different from photography. I've always felt that photography is the most attention-deficit of the art forms, especially now with digital photography you can immediately see what you've done and move on to the next thing. Yes yes, there is post-production work in Photoshop and whatnot, but it is nothing compared to throwing a piece, waiting a few days for it to harden up, trimming it, waiting for it to dry some more, then bisque firing it for a day before finally glazing it and firing it for three to four days!

Ceramics is definitely teaching me to be more patient. It is also something that takes quite a bit of work and dedication. Generally I have been throwing all semester and these are the first things I have made that I am genuinely excited to show other people.

Its also very different to make objects that will be used. Photos are just to be looked at, where as with these, people can eat out of them! They are useful, too! This isn't demeaning my photographs in any way, but its just a different way to view things.

Here I am eating lunch out of something I made myself! That, by the way, is macaroni and cheese, something I make very well.

This one is probably my favorite. That shape is an imprint of my own hand on the glaze. :) Here are a couple more. Is this post too image-heavy?

What do you think of them? Which one is your favorite?

Flashback

2008-04-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is an older piece I did when I was still going to Fresno State, so its probably almost three years old. I promise I'll get some newer work up soon, but I found this piece the other day and it kind of hit me with a lot of emotion. I did this with the idea of double exposing a portrait of my mom with something that was descriptive of her; her name is Robin and she has lots of little bird figurines all over the place. First I shot the roll with the pictures of various birds around the house, and then rewound the film and started taking my mom's piture.

Normally my mom doesn't really like having her photo taken. And whenever a picture of her is taken, she's smiling and posing for the camera. I remember when I was shooting this roll of film she did the same thing throughout most of the roll, she smiled and faced the camera. Finally, when I was almost done with the roll, my dad made some loud noise outside the door she was standing near, and she frowned in his direction. I snapped this last shot right before she said, "We got into a fight this morning."

My parents normally get along very well, so that was disturbing enough for me at the time. I remember printing this, feeling funny about it, putting it away after I turned it in. Now that I look at it, its not so disturbing as it is surprising how I was able to capture my mom in such a way, and that the double exposed image underneath happened to be a pair of birds. (That always reminded me of my parents together)

This might be an interesting idea to visit on again, but this time doing a portait like this for each of my family members. (Dang that would take forever, I have 4 siblings) I don't know how effective that would be in a fine-art aspect, I mean I don' t know how many people would be interested in seeing pictures of my family (as amazing as we all are). But maybe it would be a nice gift for my family, something to put up somewhere in the house.

More Closeups

2008-04-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

I found this guy while I was on a walk with my sister and her boyfriend. After I took the picture and showed it to them, Syd gave me one of the best compliments I have ever received. He said, "Now, I would have just walked on past this, but you see stuff like this and make awesome pictures from it."

Soon I'm going to make a post about how exactly I make these pictures. It involves too many adapter type things, that's for sure.

Tomorrow I'm going to work on an assignment for one of my classes, its an exposure test for the ZONE SYSTEM, which sometimes I think is an awesome way to go about things, and sometimes I think it is defunct. Minor White, one of my favorite photographers, was all about it, he even co-authored a book about it (which I own and have read the first 10 pages of, heh). Anyone else have any feelings about the ZONE SYSTEM?

Also, please recommend me some good blogs, your blogs and other people's.

Closeups

2008-04-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

I found this dragonfly, dead, in my parent's driveway this past summer. I was borrowing Felix's macro extension at the time, and taking these pictures has radically changed how I approach making images. There is something about this technique that fits my mindset about art perfectly.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I am constantly amazed at what I see when I photograph. I am filled with a wonder at what goes on around everyone all the time, and Ihope that some of that comes through in this work.

I buried the dragonfly in the garden after I was done.

Also! If you are in the Fresno area, go to the Yoshi Now flea market this weekend! My friends Adam and Aurora are both selling excellent things there, and there are snacks also, which is always a bonus.

Something to start with

2008-04-10T17:30:00.001-07:00

This is a part of a series I did last semester. I feel like I am an explorer with my photography, I'm trying to understand things through my work. Just like a scientist discovers though study, this is my way of studying.

What do you think?

So I'm starting this thing.

2008-04-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

I want to hold myself accountable for making more art work. I want get more feed back on my work. I want my art to be more visible than it has been. So, I'm starting a blog!

I'm trying to immerse myself in my ideas. So often I think of things and nothing comes of it. I want my ideas to have more life.

If you're here and you don't know what/who I am, here's a little bit of that: My name is Centa, I am mostly a photographer but I like to do other things too. A little bit of pottery on occasion, and I also love to sew and embroider, which sometimes makes it way into my artwork.

I'm thinking that I'll post work in progress and finished work, along with an occasional (maybe weekly) artist that I enjoy. If you have you own blog, send me a link, I'd love to check it out!

So here it goes, get ready for some Centa-blogs!

lookit

2008-04-09T21:57:00.001-07:00

so, i made one of those blogs