Daily Art Journal Recap

Now that the month is over, how did I fare on this challenge? It was such a fail. Okay, maybe not completely a failure, but I didn’t do so great either. I missed a lot of days and only made up a few of them. I lost focus in the middle/end and had challenges with packing up my art supplies for my move (hence, not completing the last three days of the month). Sometimes I would come up with ideas and be frustrated at my inability to carry them out, whether it was my artistic skill or not having the correct supplies. This was wayyyyy too broad for a daily challenge.

However, there were some positives! I learned a lot about myself and how/when I can create. I learned a ton about structuring daily challenges and have ideas for how to make the next one more doable. Also, I did make some pieces that I was really proud of, and looking back at a lot of these, I can remember what I was thinking and feeling on those days.

A major positive is that I now have some fellow 30daychallenge-ites who can spur me on and keep me on task for the next month. I’ll post links to their blogs on the sidebar.

DAJ Day 24: The Oval

Geocaching on campus! I finally found the one at the top of the Oval... I have no idea why I didn't find it before because it's in the only obvious place.

DAJ Day 23: Headcam

I have a new webpage! This post has moved here: http://www.allykraus.com/wp/2011/07/27/daily-art-journal-day-23-headcam/

DAJ Day 22: Jumper Cables

I have a new webpage! This post has moved here: http://www.allykraus.com/wp/2011/07/26/daily-art-journal-day-22-jumper-cables/

DAJ Day 21: Covered Up

Inspired by the Rodin sculptures of Burghers of Calais in Stanford's main quad. They are recovering/redoing some of the cement tiles and covered up the statues in moving blankets and tape to presumably protect them. At first I thought it was an art project until I read the sign.

DAJ Day 20: Induction

Inspired by a lovely relaxing day reading up on induction loops at stop lights at Philz in Berkeley.

DAJ Day 19: 2 Months!

Commemorating my first day rock climbing after a long hiatus to rest injured fingers.

DAJ Day 18: Plaid

Tonight was a rough night. I really wanted to make something but was lacking inspiration. Based on a character from a TV show on Hulu.

DAJ Day 17: Med Center 2

This draws from the earlier picture I made about the med center but tied in some weaving I saw on CRAFT.

DAJ Day 16: Yarn Painting

I have this amazing yarn painting I found when I was in Berkeley and decided to try making my own. It's so much harder than it looks.

DAJ Day 15: Doors

Inspired by a picture from my spontaneous trip to Ford Ord. This one was kind of a fail... I couldn't find my exacto knife so had to drastically change plans and couldn't pull it together.

DAJ Day 14: Fountain

Inspired by all the circles on this fountain on campus: the red structure, the shadow, the water.

DAJ Day 13: Pescadero

I have a new webpage! This post has moved here: http://www.allykraus.com/wp/2011/07/16/daily-art-journal-day-13-pescadero/

DAJ Day 12: New Beginnings

Inspired by signing my lease!

DAJ Day 11: Contrast

For this one, I was curious how the same colors would look on two different backgrounds.

DAJ Day 10: Craigslist

This is my brain on Craigslist, sifting through all the housing ads. It also left with me with no time to spend on art projects. Incidentally, this was the night I looked at the apartment I ended up getting.

DAJ Day 9: Medical Center

I have a new webpage! This post has moved here: http://www.allykraus.com/wp/2011/07/11/daily-art-journal-day-9-medical-center/

DAJ Day 8: Renegade Craft Fair

Inspiration: A certain geometric designed that popped up in a bunch of different booths at the Renegade Craft Fair in SF. It was too difficult for me to make without a protractor so this was a simplified version.

DAJ Day 7: Pain

Inspiration: A study I did at Stanford where I was supposed to control my brain activation in regions that process pain. It was painful.

Photo Book

Since Hill 88 has been painted over a horrible sea green, I thought it was finally time to consolidate my photos from several visits over the years into a photo book. I bought a Groupon for A&I books that was about to expire and decided this was the perfect subject. The demise of Hill 88 marks the end of an era... or at least the end of my favorite SALT piece.

The cover:


And some of the inside pages.






I did a lot of internet research before making this book because I wanted to write an small intro explaining the history of Hill 88. I actually found some awesome links this time around!

A map + explanation of the different parts

And this awesome picture of the geodesic domes. I can't find the original link, but here is another nice picture from the NPS site, and I'm sure I found it on there.


I hope someday artists will return to the hill again - I look forward to it! But I probably won't be returning anytime soon. It makes me sad.

Cross Stitch QR code with pattern

Updated  12/12/11: I have cross stitched QR codes now for sale in my Etsy shop!
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(See my original QR code patch!)

My first attempt at jazzing up a QR code. I've heard rumors that you can obscure ~30% of a QR code and it can still be read. For now, I've started with picking out patterns in the randomness of the code. For this one, I went through and found all standalone squares 1x1 or greater and changed their color. It looked fine on my pattern:


But not so great once I actually stitched it:


I think red was a poor choice of color (it looks like measles!) and the squares didn't translate so well with the X of the cross stitch on such a small scale.

Linoleum Printing on Fabric

(See my original linoleum print on paper.)

Eventually I want to screenprint on t-shirts, but since I don't have any screen drawing fluid of my own, I decided to start by attempting a linoleum block print on fabric. Maybe there is a good way to do this... I had some black fabric screenprinting ink which I tried rolling onto my linoleum stamp and tested it out on an scrap piece of fabric.


It came out so light! And, you could really see the texture of the paint on the stamp. Maybe this is because I used too much paint? Or maybe because it's not the right type of paint for this project? Anyway, wasn't really satisfied with the result, so I'm going to hold off printing on an actual shirt.

DAJ Day 6: Fail

Inspirations: finger pain, recommendations, geocaching. Overall, I really disliked how this turned out. Hence, "fail".

DAJ Day 5: Top of the Mountain

Inspirations: many! Hiking in the hills with my lab, Craigslist and apartment hunting, a Sufjan Stevens song and hearing him talk about it at his concert, frustration.

DAJ Day 4: My Job

I have a new webpage! This post has moved here: http://www.allykraus.com/wp/2011/07/06/daily-art-journal-day-4-my-job/

DAJ Day 3: Found

Inspiration: Heading to the Caltrain station before work, I saw someone put a cup on a tree branch... another really literal picture. This made me laugh because it's art in a way - it's a deliberate action; someone interacting with their environment. It reminded me of this grate at Berkeley Bowl West where people place random found objects. That grate has the feeling of a shrine, and I like to think of those as offerings to the Berkeley Bowl god. I think it's possible that would happen in Berkeley... this grocery story inspires weird amounts of devotion in it's shoppers, including myself. Every time I'm in town, I always stop by, pay my respects and leave a little trinket. So I put the grate in the background behind the tree.

The grate in question:

DAJ Day 2: Layout

Inspiration: Choosing the layout for my former tumblr. Pretty literal.

DAJ Day 1: Sprinkler Night Walk

This picture was inspired by a night walk I took with a friend around my neighborhood. We went to the park by my house and all of a sudden the sprinklers started spraying everywhere. They were pretty much the worst sprinklers ever, spraying light posts, sidewalks and all at weird angles. An alternate name for this piece is "Your Tax Dollars at Work".

Daily Art Journal (DAJ) - 30 Day Challenge

I was recently inspired by this TED talk to take on a 30 Day Challenge related to crafting. I have been toying with this idea for awhile but the biggest challenge was to come up with a theme for the challenges: most of the things I make are exercises in patience and cannot be reasonably be completed in a day.

Last night, I came up with the idea for an art journal. Basically, creating one picture per day that represents a meaningful event or idea of that day. I think it's both a wonderful way to mark the passing of time and to ensure that I make something each day.

Originally, I had set up a Tumblr account for my daily art challenges. And neglected this blog in the process. Now, everything is simplified and in one place!