Frank follows meSunday morning market (mostly clothes, art and handicrafts)Engulfed by graffiti; a whole courtyard where all the walls were filledNarrow streetsA movie theatreThe Schelde Riverjust a castle...hardly any snow leftBoats for Alexmmm tattoo shopShredding a mean accordion soloMary of the Vines?Crossroads CafeStreet jammin'Yet more graffitiCondom ad, oolalaA shop window in passingFor Dad (and a little self portrait in there too)No parking Yes, I am keeping warm.
So a picture overload for all you guys; don't expect it all the time though, haha. Today was a day of wandering. I set out on my own to explore the city. No map to guide my way; I merely took pictures and walked until I stumbled back to my front porch. It was really wonderful to be on my own, going where I wanted to and soaking everything up. Tomorrow is my first day of classes. Digital Illustration with Lode Coen. We are doing some brainstorming and mind mapping to get the ball rolling on our Evolution dossier. I'm very excited! Enjoy! -Laura
The flights were long and tiresome, but I am finally here. I arrived bright and early at 7:30, (about 1:30 am Florida time) and had a full day of unpacking and a bit of exploring. Frank Somers, the head of international relations and a long list of other titles and duties, form Sint Lucas picked us up from the airport and showed us great hospitality. He lives in an old church from the 15th century which he is slowly renovating. Our apartment building (Danielle Slaughter of Ringling Fine Arts, and Yours Truly) is very cool. We each have our own rooms, and there are communal water closets, showers, and kitchens on the 1st and 4th floor. There are about 12 other students living in the same building, from different colleges in the area. Everyone is keen on introducing themselves to us and are very helpful and kind. Everyone speaks a bit of English as well so there's really no problems communicating.
So day 2, its about midnight here and though I napped earlier, I'll probably hit the sack early. Early? I'm not entirely sure, jet lag plays many tricks on the mind...
Everything is old and beautiful. The building across the street from me is from 1650. Some building have denotations on the side of them proclaiming the date they were built. Everyone renovates and preserves their history. Its hard to wrap my head around walking the same cobblestones as Jan Van Eyck and other incredible masters.
Even the jail is a renovated old old building (which happens to be only around the corner from me... I can see it from my window in fact... but not to worry the last jail break was 15 years ago, and by the looks of the exterior, with its solid brick walls and high brick and mortar wall, all donned with thickly barred windows and electric wire I should be fine. And I'm fairly certain I can hear anyone climbing up the 80 steps to my room. Yes, thats 4 flights of stairs (but somehow I live on the 3rd floor?)
Its chilly, but I'm keeping bundled. For the most part, its just a matter of getting used to it. The sun came out yesterday but made its appearance known only for an hour or so, then swiftly disappeared and hasn't been heard from since. Its still beautiful and grand and awe inspiring.
School is very interesting. Sint Lucas is on the same "campus" as a secondary (high school) art magnet program, so its interesting to see younger students working along side us. It feels very much like Gibbs, not very rich, tables made out of horses and plywood, but there are macs in every classroom (with the French "azec" keyboard as opposed to our "qwerty" so I'll be using my laptop extensively). I am so anxious to start classes and see how this trip influences my work as an artist. I am a 15-20 minute walk from campus. Streets are slightly confusing, so mapquest has become a near and dear friend. My teachers are all very friendly and helpful and eager to start our international collaboration.
My first assignment is a semester-long very open ended dossier about Evolution. My schedule consists of classes Monday-Wednesday, leaving Thursday and Friday to work on my other independent study courses as well as free time to paint, visit museums and explore. I have twoIllustration classes, regular Illustration and Digital Ill, both of which are dealing with the same topic of Evolution. In Illustration, its a large class in which there are 3 teachers, Pleun Vos, Anne Kurris, and Luk Duflou. I met Meneer Luk Duflou and Meneer Lode Coen, my Digital Illustration teacher (who I get along with famously). My other classes are a nude drawing class with Ingre Vandecasteele on Tuesdays followed by a Drawing/Sketching class with Sebastiaan Vandoninck, in which we go out on locations and do observational drawings I also got a chance to see Tilde Van Uytven, we will meet for lunch sometime this week, she said she would show me the cheap places!
Everyone is impressed with my bit of dutch, though currently I can only declare who and what I am and who and what someone else does, where they live, etc. But I keep practicing and learning, and listening. Getting used to pronunciations and reading lots of signs and shop names.
My room is small, but nice. I have a bed, a sink, some shelving, a small wardobe, and old boarded up fire place, a heater (which gets mighty warm), a desk and chair, and a nice comfy chair as well, which is wonderful for curling up and reading. Meneer Frank Somers (head of international relations at Sint Lucas) has been wonderful. He's the one that purchased our beds and linens (all IKEA, which I found terribly amusing) and has taken us around town a bit. He lives about a block away in an old church he is renovating. Its breathtaking. He took us to dinner at a place called Popoff the other night, and I had some Irish stew with lamb, and quite possibly the best cup of coffee and lemon meringue pie of my LIFE. Oh god it was tart and delicious and thick yet fluffy meringue... mmmmm.
So as you can see, I am alive, well, and thoroughly enjoying myself. No bouts of homesickness yet, I think I'll do just fine.
SO without further adieu, here are some pictures
Begjinenstraat
Across from my apartment (1650)Begijnenstraat 62Other side of Begjinenstraat
My room
My viewMy bed
My Illustration Classroom
As always, plenty PLENTY more to come,
Though I do feel like a tourist with a bullseye painted on my back when walking around taking pictures of everything. I'm learning to be more inconspicuous...
Enjoy!
-Laura
Here's a little digital ditty for you guys New t-shirt design for Shadows of the Statue. Its based on Tezcatlipoca, or the "Smoking Mirror", an Aztec diety known for murking people, and generously accepting human sacrifices. Metal, no? (oh, and sorry for the bleached out color, the jpeg format kind of compressed everything a bit)
They've got some new music up and a couple new shows they're selling tickets for! COME OUT AND SUPPORT! If you need tickets, feel free to contact me
only 34 days left until I'm in Belgium... More to post soon! -Laura
And those Bearded Wonders are at it again, Shadows of the Statue has some new music up, actively writing songs, pursuing shows, aaand new graphic design! Some new shwag/merch/goodies are coming your way. This will be a design printed on the side of a beer coozie!
Enjoy! (and remember a helping hand shall never be passed over, I'm trying to go to Belgium people, every little bit helps!)
A huge opportunity has presented itself; As some of you Ringling kids know, last year the Sint Lucas School in Antwerp, Belgium and Ringling College of Art and Design performed the very first exchange program, swapping teachers for 3 weeks, sending my painting teacher Ms. Robin Cody over to Europe and giving us an opportunity to study with a Belgium teacher, Tilda Van Utvin. It was an incredible experience, giving a slight taste of cultural diversity.
WELL... to make a rather long story short, this year Ringling and Sint Lucas have decided to open up the exchange to students, swapping two students from each school for the Spring 2010 semester. Submitting portfolios and going through the interview process, I was fortunate enough to be "the chosen one" from the Illustration Dept, making me one of the first students in Ringling history to travel to Belgium, acting as an Ambassador for the school, as well as the U.S.
Meaning, that this will be my new home for the next 5 months (starting in January). This is a huge opportunity and I am excited beyond all good sense! So expect lots of updates as this semester closes and new horizons appear on the other side of the world, for Yours Truly.
(Now here's the catch... its gonna cost ALOT of money to get over there, and unfortunately, since the program started on such a short notice, there hasn't been any funds allocated to the program, so my tuition to Ringling will cover those of Sint Lucas, however I will have to pay my way there, rent for those 5 months as well as food, supplies and stocking up on warm clothing, apparently its rather chilly, especially for my thin, Floridian blood!) So with all that being said, I will GLADLY take donations, sell work, take on commissions and tattoo, anything to save up enough to go! Any takers?
I will continually update on my ventures, giving you guys information about the school, city, and the work I'm producing... so STAY TUNEDDD -Laura
side note: NONE of these photos are mine, just ripped from Google Images, so thanks to whoever for the photos, all the copyrights still belong to you, i was just borrowing them for a second!
I know, I know, I'm slacking, but its been busy busy times. Big things are happening for this small potato, so stay tuned for some ink-age, new ills, studies and finals... as well as some big announcements!
But now you know, I'm still alive, still kicking, still being the little overachiever that I am... So in the mean time, feast your eyes on these little ditties, and keep in touch! -Laura
Hey hey hey everybody! So, shame on me for not posting more often, but times are rough, and I'm busting butt to get my school work under control, as well as prepping for the annual Illest of Ill show at Ringling (which I'm incredibly excited for, as should you be! come down to SRQ Friday, October 9th and see the best of the best of Ringling's Illustration dept. strutting their stuff).
Anywho, here's a little tasty for your peepers; its Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman on his march through Atlanta. Scatchboard 11" x 17" ish... it was also made into t shirts for the most metal band you've never heard of (until right now...) Shadows of the Statue check them out, they're pretty awesome, and hopefully you think my drawing is too!
Until next time (which I promise will be soon) -Laura
I was all set with my ink cup all filled, #5 Round Liner in place, foot pedal below me, all the disinfectants and sterilized products i could need, and lo-and-behold, I gave myself my first tattoo. 15 minutes later, a few wonky little stars were permanently imbedded in my skin; HOORAY!
Just something small to start out with, get a feel for the real deal... Not to bad eh? Plenty, plenty more to come...
So I've been all giddy with Graphic Design lately, so here's a little tasty for you all. The band is Shadows of the Statue, and they are pretty effing metal. Their myspace kind of looks, well, not so much, but hey I know nothing of HTML, I designed a background for it, and know how I want the layout done, I just need someone to do it. (So if you're out there, hit me up! We could use the help, and will compensate for your troubles!)
So that's about it for now, I've been working on some paintings, but nothing I'm ready to release to the world wide web. But nevertheless, stay tuned... I feel an epic post coming up in the near future!
So here is a little post for you guys. Its summertime, so I've been taking it as an opportunity to recuperate a bit from school. Ive done some work here and there, but for the most part just taking it easy.
We've lost a close friend of the family, Billy Mays Jr. As some of you guys may know, the hit Discovery show Pitchmen is filmed right here in Tampa; my sister and cousin, and frankly, most of my family has worked for Sullivan Productions in some way or another.In fact, my artwork has been hanging in the office for this whole season of the show. All this meaning that we have all, at some point, have had a run in with the famed Mr. Mays and the rest of the crew. My thoughts are with his family and close loved-ones. It was so sudden and abrupt, a deeply sad moment for everyone nation-wide. He will always be remembered as a beacon of hope and a smiling face that could brighten anyone's late-night hours. He will be greatly missed.
On a lighter note, I recently got an amazing pro quality tattoo kit, so stay tuned for some mad crazy ink-age!
And here's a piece of graphic design for your optical nerves to salivate over; Enjoy!
Frank follows me
Sunday morning market (mostly clothes, art and handicrafts)
Engulfed by graffiti; a whole courtyard where all the walls were filled
Narrow streets
A movie theatre
The Schelde River
just a castle...
hardly any snow left
Boats for Alex
mmm tattoo shop
Shredding a mean accordion solo
Mary of the Vines?
Crossroads Cafe
Street jammin'
Yet more graffiti
Condom ad, oolala
A shop window in passing
For Dad (and a little self portrait in there too)
No parking 
Yes, I am keeping warm.
