Blackout Poems

I came across a great way to write poetry. It's simple, all you need is a bunch of written words (i.e. a newspaper, magazine or old book) a Sharpie, and some creative thinking! Below is a before and after of one of my first 'blackout' poems:

KATYA

while in college I had the time to 

realize a great love for the world

It is a puzzle in figuring out how to twist the given words into something totally different. I sometimes felt confined by not having free reign in word choice, yet that's where creativity came into (word) play. These poems are more or less force into minimalism, which I enjoyed. Here are some more poems I 'wrote':

WILLIAM WALLET

money for travel

a perfect life

ELO

envy love often

yet know that there is 

nothing superior 

to one's own

happiness and health

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

when romance patiently says jump,

think about the potential of opportunity,

a new world: 

a small possibility

LIFE

merely 

a 

romantic 

experience that 

is 

beautiful 

to the end

Stained

There is no question in my mind that some day I will be carpenter by hobby. Both of my grandfathers had a knack with wood, so it is in my blood. While I do not have the means or space to do much, I do what I can. This project did not entail any construction with wood, but more the working of wood. In this case, a wooden stool.

A while back, a friend showed me a mesmerizing wood staining technique that uses multiple colors of dye to extenuate wood. When complete, the color scheme and technique I was aiming for looks like this:

A mix between a fireball and tiger eye. I thought it would be fun to try out this stain method on the seat of my stool, which was wooden and had some beautifully curled wood on the seat. 

In short, the method I followed was to dye the wood with black then red then yellow dyes, and sand in between dyes with a finer and finer grit of sand paper. The final step was to seal/gloss the wood with polyurethane. This last step is what really brings the wood to life. 

Once I sanded off the existing layer of gloss, I was ready to dye, sand, dye, sand, dye...

then came layer after layer of polyurethane...

...and viola! 

While my finished seat did not look quite like the fireball tiger eye I was aiming for, I am quite content with my end product. This project taught me a lot about how wood works as a canvass. I will surely be doing more wood staining in the future!

Montage 49

San Francisco - the city by the bay; where fog calls home; the infinite city - is where I live. I am by no means a city boy, but this is a really special city. Perched at the tip of the peninsula, SF is confined to an area 7 miles by 7 miles. From the micro-climates to the intense cultural identities of the many neighborhoods, this is a very diverse city for it's relatively small size. One of the many great and unique aspects of San Francisco is the ample creative inspiration bound within the city limits.

Many people are familiar with the Victorian houses that adorn the steep streets. One of the more artistic expressions, I have found, comes in the front gate of these houses and other residences in the city. For this project, I took pictures of gates from all over the city and made a montage of them. I found it fitting to put them in a 7x7 grid - hence the project title of 'Montage 49'. A huge thanks to Dave for helping me with the task of montaging the pictures.

Enjoy!

Transcendentalism (Part 2)

My second and last installment of a decorative-cheesy-wall-hanging incorporates a similar poem to the first. Written in wake of the true period of transcendentalism, it exhibits the same motives, tone and inspiration as RWE's 'Success'.

This is what you shall do:

Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and the crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.

-- Walt Whitman

The first time I read this poem, I was floored by WW's potent and elegant words; a true genius.

As for my adornment...

Inspiration for this piece came over time and from many places. It started with the poem, which was shared with me by someone very important to me. The color scheme used was derived from a special textile I bought while in Thailand. The design itself was inspired from a fabric I saw in a friend's home, and a decorative tea box. 

Unlike my previous attempt at a wall worthy hanging, I really enjoyed the production and product of this one. If you would like one, specially made for your wall, commissions are free of charge.

For now.

Laser Fun

I have stumbled across the wizard of all crafting tools: a laser cutter! I lucked upon the opportunity to use one through a friend. She has been using it to make jewelry and crafts of her own - check out some of the awesome things she has made:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativeninjask/

The laser can precisely cut and etch a variety of materials including paper, wood and plexiglass. The cutting is automated by a computer which reads drawing files. It's surprisingly simple to use and cuts quickly and flawlessly. So far, I have visited the laser twice. I showed up the first time with some simple materials and a few prepared drawings, curious as to what the laser was all about. Here is what I came away with:

Wood etching

Paper cutouts, intertwined

For my next visit, I wanted to craft something for the holidays. I decided to create a snowflake. Their beautiful symmetry, complex geometry, and perpetual uniqueness has always appealed to me. I also have a vivid memory from elementary school when we decorated large plastic snow flakes for the holidays. I always wanted to make my very own...

If my laser cutting has inspired or sparked your curiosity, check out the place I've been going to:  http://pagodaarts.com/ 

Let me know if you have any questions or aspirations of your own!

Happy Holidays with wishes of health and happiness.

Cinque Cinque

When I was younger, I wanted to be an architect. I thought it would be fun to draw buildings. Once I learned that computer programs have more or less taken the place of hand drawn blueprints, I decided architecture was not my calling. Even still, I am attracted to the linearity of buildings. For this project, I knew I wanted to draw some type of buildings. I had planed to draw on inspiration from my travels in Amsterdam, where the buildings reminded me of the Victorians adorning the streets of San Francisco. At the last second, I changed my mind. I had a calling to draw a different panorama from my travels: Cinque Terre.


Cinque Terre, whose direct translation from Italian is 'Five Lands', is a string of 5 towns on the northwestern coast of Italy. Still somewhat out of the tourist's fray, these towns are beyond wonderful. During my time in Italy, I visited Cinque Terre. While there, we enjoyed pesto (Corniglia, the town we stayed in, claimed to have invented it!), met some great people, and hiked the trail that connects all of the villages. While each town sits right on the sea, they each have their own character and flair. I was struck by how the sea, sky, land and dwelling lay juxtaposed. I remember being inspired to draw this:

Riomaggiore

Manarola

I chose my medium to be the long lost art of colored pencils. I had not used colored pencils in years, so it was a nice revisiting of old ways. After studying the pictures above, I decided to learn perspective drawing. I taught myself the theory behind drawing in 1-point perspective, thanks to the help of wikihow.com and youtube.com. Below is a series of sketches leading up to the final piece...

I AM.

Premise 

'I am.' - the shortest sentence in the English language. At some point over the course of my stellar Language Arts education, I learned this and was sure to never forget it. It is simple. I like it. Know you all now that words are not my forte, however they do fascinate me. In my opinion, poetry is one of the most stunning forms of art. The piece I am about to present to you can be seen as a derivative of poetry. Not only is this piece composed solely of words (with one minor exception), but it is also devoid of color. Both elements are very unlike my typical works of art.

Inspiration

A few months ago I was living around the corner from a gallery featuring art made by graffiti artists and the like. I frequented the gallery and not just because it was in the neighborhood; I have always appreciated graffiti art. In a way, it is my generation's rendering of fine art. Initial inspiration for my piece came from a series of pen drawings featured at the gallery. Each depicted a word that was made up of smaller words written in the ubiquitous and hardly discernible graffiti font. A couple of musing conversations later, I AM was created.

Process

The idea was to use one word adjectives as the building blocks of the three letters needed for the sentence in focus. The one criteria for these words was their ability to follow 'I am' and still compete a sensical sentence. I found it fitting to incorporate adjectives within the 'I' that describe me as an individual. The 'AM' composes itself with words that positively describe anybody. Many of the words are written or positioned in a way that represents their meaning.

Presentation

I: lucky, balanced, prudent, curious, independent, sm/art, humble, creative, shrewd, 24, shy, Paul Lowe Kirschner.

A: beautiful, growing, unique, alone, small, peaceful, 

infinite (symbol), home, eager, alive, ?, alone.

M: delicate, iridescent, special, content, free, 

complicated, !!, dreaming, ok, human, strong, love.

I AM.