hey january, see you next week.

i've never really been one to make resolutions, but these are some things i'm planning on doing this year:

1/ i'm signing up for a sprint triathlon. it's a 300 yard swim, 10.5 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. these numbers might not seem like a lot, but i think it's something completely out of character for me to do... and it's something for me to look forward to. and it's good for me.

2/ i'm going to make a schedule for myself to make art. i have (almost) a permanent schedule at my job, which means that i can make a permanent schedule to make art. and i have no excuses to not stick to it. i'm cleaning out my space and organizing everything (starting tonight) because my biggest excuse is that i don't have space.

3/ i'm going to start shopping for myself and cooking more. since moving back home i don't do that anymore. i like cooking. i like eating healthy. why not?

14" by 18"


close up

i'm starting where i left off. except maybe even farther back than that. i'm starting small because that's what i can afford, and hopefully what others can afford too. i'm starting with familiar colors and a familiar process in the hopes that it will lead me to something new. it doesn't really matter where i'm starting; it matters that i have started.

sometimes you just need to GET OUT... and i am while i can.

today at work i spilled a huge glass of iced tea all over a customer. luckily he was nice and told me it was okay because he was already wet from the pouring rain. i got a $10 tip anyway.

then i decided to tell my managers that i'm not finishing my two weeks, and went home and booked a flight to Los Angeles... for $10.

be back in time for my new job!!

x

my life has become a warning story.

check out my etsy

if you want to buy something click here

after the shittiest week comes good news.......

1- i have a job interview in a little over an hour. waitress, but i dont care it's something, with good money.

2- i'm working out a contract with a company that makes paintings into prints and sells them at places like crate & barrel and hotel lines.

3- there's a job opening at a friend's travel agency and she knows the head of HR. travel is number two for me.

4- my show is in TWO DAYS (hopefully sell some paintings, and get to party with a lot of people i love)

5- i'm getting over this cold quick

6- i have another show in November!!!!!!!!

FIRST FRIDAY INVITE

September 3 · 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Loose Threads Boutique
9 W 4th Street
Bethlehem, PA

my show at Loose Threads Boutique is in TEN DAYS. which means i hang in less than that. unfortunately, i've been thinking about what i'm going to wear more than what i'm going to show. great way to look at things... probably NOT.

i have SO MUCH to choose from. Four years of stuff from Arcadia. I don't know how to go about this. The fact that they'll be on sale is keeping me from choosing my favorites. This is a shop, not a gallery. this isn't school. i get the feeling people want to buy art with bright colors and recognizable things. i haven't painted recognizable things in such a long time... so long that i don't really feel connected to those paintings anymore. i dont really feel anything when i look at them.

i also have about 100 paintings at my grandparents' house that i haven't even looked at yet. maybe i'll just lay everything i like out and let everyone else choose.

can i do that with my real life too?

The National - About Today (@ Spin)

preeeeeeeetty. the national's good for miserable days. and any day.

"i steer clear of definitions. i don't know what i want. i am inconsistent, non-committal, passive; i like the indefinite, the boundless; i like continual uncertainty." -gerhard richter

this used to be my favorite quote. it made sense for a long time. in art, in relationships, in living. i'm starting to realize i deserve better. from myself and from others.

x.

Today

i contacted 4 different places to either show art in the area, or to teach art in the area. summer's almost over. summer job's almost over. no more excuses.

i do have a show next month with a first friday opening. I'm excited. It's at Loose Threads Boutique in Bethlehem.

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" (Single Edit Version) Dangerbird Records

dear steph, i love when the songs you love i love.

swear i spent hours on this

this might be one of those paintings that doesnt get any better no matter how much time i spend with it or how much time i spend away from it.

i love discovering paint on the bottom of my feet.

oil paint + turpenoid + bleach = fizz fun

oil paint + turpenoid + bleach = headache

oil paint + turpenoid + bleach = something new.


today steph & i went to the banana factory. it was great to walk around and look at art. inspiring. made me miss the space i had to paint in at arcadia. made me miss any kind of community, especially one including artists. and made me miss having nothing to do but think, read, talk, and create.

i need to move.

i haven't been working on my self portrait.

i almost got scammed out of $600 and a painting on etsy today. it would have been really cool if it was an actual sale though.

maybe i'll paint my bedroom while i wait for this new painting to dry and for it to get dark enough out to continue my self portrait.

i miss my Best Foreign Friends

skype isn't enough.

baaaaalllloooons!

i think this was probably more exciting to see in person, accidentally, while driving to ziti night with WPP loves. but i'll share them anyway.

Tiësto feat. Tegan & Sara - Feel It In My Bones

i wish this video was cooler, cause i cant stop listening to the song... it'd still be cool to live in those green things. except blue.

good fun silly fun ringing rocks & the front bottoms

cat scratch needs to go away from the bottom of my chin 'cause i miss resting it on my hand.

so frustrating

i'm having one of those painting experiences where i work for an hour and nothing is done. all the colors i've mixed are wrong, every line i draw i can't tell if it's making more or less sense. i can't figure out where my chin is when i look in the mirror. i can't tell if the shadows on my skin are orange or brown. or purple. or red. chances are it's a combination of all of those colors, and i feel like i dont know how to see them anymore. or if i do see them i dont know how to translate them.

i just realized how rough it is going to be painting alone. no fellow painters. no professors. no opinions or advice or guidance. no talking.

that's what scares me the most. i think i move forward best when i'm talking about my art to someone who understands what i'm talking about. because a lot of times other people know what i'm trying to say before i know what i'm trying to say. and a lot of times i don't even realize i like what i'm doing until i talk about it with someone else.

am i doomed?

give me pizza. i'll marry you.

slow progress

...but at least it's progress

project.

this is something that i've always struggled with: knowing when I'm done. With my thesis paintings I came up with a process that relied on the materials I was using to tell me when I'm done.

right now i'm painting a self portrait. i haven't truly painted from life since december... it's kind of scary. but it feels really really good. aside from the fact that i primed the back of the canvas instead of the front and the oil is soaking in, the hardest part for me is knowing when I'm done. There are so many times in every step of the process of painting that I think, "well this looks cool, i could be done." I guess what I'm trying to come to is the point where I like what's on the canvas and I feel like i can't paint it anymore. Which, weirdly, I'm not really sure I've actually done before...

so I'm going to post the process of this self portrait.

sold!

creation and destruction. they seem to be the same.


i dont know what i need, but i need it fast.

this is what i did yesterday. it's not a painting, but at least it's something. i should put up a picture of the one painting i have done so far this summer. and i promise by the end of the week, i'll have another painting.

ETSY SHOP

CLICK


http://www.etsy.com/shop/NikiLeist

Drawing Final

not great photos, but oh well.

Statement:

I have chosen to draw myself because I am always there. I do not have to think about setting up a still life or model. I can jump directly into the experience of creating, which is the most important aspect of art to me. Because I am more interested in the experience of creation and the process, I do not normally focus on my physical presence. I have found that by using myself as a subject I am more aware of my body while creating. This discovery has resulted in a more involved and valuable experience by building a deeper relationship between myself and my drawing.

Spring 2010

Thesis Paintings

66" x 54", 54" x 48", 54" x 48"

now what?

THESIS DAY!!!

statement:

I view painting as an encounter. It is a means of communicating through my interaction with my materials. In this work, I am not referencing images or objects, but am painting to explore my own ideas. When creating art, it is imperative that I have an intense connection with my materials. This connection enables me to engage in a process that is authentic to me and to the material. I am connected to a painting when I cannot tell if I am acting or reacting, if I am guiding the paint or if the paint is guiding me. In this way, through interacting with materials and embracing uncertainty, I have found a process that allows me to explore and experiment freely.

The subject of these paintings is the visceral experience that unfolds through the interaction of my mind with the materials. What is seen on the canvas reflects a series of choices and interactions with my subconscious, supported by a process of working with the materials. From painting to painting patterns emerge, tracing an underlying context that I am exploring in my work and in my life.

Spring 2010 Paintings

paintings range from 54" x 48" (second from top) to 10" x 16" (bottom painting) the smaller paintings are from earlier in the semester.

Spring 2010

Body Paint

most photos by Steph Young

Statement:

What interests me most in painting myself is the impermanence of it. When I'm finished the paint washes away. The only evidence is the photos and no one can see them unless I let them. No one can see me painted unless I invite them into the room. It doesn't become an object and it doesn't exist unless I want it to.

Fall 2009