Kent's Blog

Family Troupe (version 2)

2011-09-22T10:57:00.001-04:00

Alternative Light set up.

Family Troupe

2011-09-21T11:54:00.000-04:00

"Family Troupe"

2011 - Mixed Media

I'll probably do some progress shots/ documentation when I get some more photos taken. The physical scene is about 24 inches wide, 24 inches tall, and 12 inches deep.

The Blue Marble Gambit

2011-09-11T07:56:00.002-04:00

In the beginning of the summer, I completed a book cover illustration for a client self-publishing on the Amazon Kindle. For his novel, The Blue Marble Gambit, Mr. Holt requested an illustration in the style of my drawing "The Cartographer's Library," which I made back in college. This is what I came up with. It was a fun project and we were both very satisfied by the result.

You can view the book, download a sample chapter, and purchase it from Amazon.

Kindle Screen Broken

2011-08-22T22:52:00.000-04:00

How did this happen? Just in time for my 3 hour flight to Korea, too....

"The Travellers" - Progress shots

2011-08-18T10:44:00.002-04:00

That's a working title.... Here are some photos. I don't think I'm going to post any more of this until the finished product - I am expecting to be finished building around September 1 and lighting/ photographing by mid September.

Concept Sketches

2011-08-03T06:54:00.002-04:00

New Diorama - Progress shots

2011-08-02T23:33:00.003-04:00

Here are some shots of my current diorama. This will be another forest (like one of the scenes I made for IP,) though on a smaller scale (60cm x 60cm x 30 cm, or 2ft x 2ft x 1 ft.) It will feature, hopefully, 3 characters (made from polymer clay, not rapid-prototyping) and lots of other details. I will try to post the concept sketch tonight with some color studies.

My "studio" space setup in my apartment

Beginning stages of the landscape

One of the 3 characters

Sculpture Sketches

2011-07-20T08:41:00.002-04:00

My family visited me in Japan last week and brought my art supplies! So I've been doing some fast miniature sculpting. This guy is about 4 inches high. Because the oil-based clay attaches and separates pretty easily, I've been experimenting with different "costumes" made of large, general forms, which has been a good exercise in character design.

Roppongi Hills/ Mori Tower

2011-06-24T09:34:00.003-04:00

Today I went to Roppongi Hills to check out the French Window exhibit in the Mori Tower. A ticket had been generously mailed to me by a friend I met here on the subway, which let me see not only the exhibit, but let me into the planetarium and on the very top of the building (the whole museum complex was on the 52nd-55th floor of the tower!)

The French Window exhibit was very strong - they had some of Duchamp's readymades, including one of his (in)famous R. Mutt urinals. I also particularly enjoyed the work of Laurent Grasso, Claude Closky, Cyprian Gaillard, and Saadine Afif.

The Planetarium was more a series of installations about the universe. By far, my favorite was the room modelled to resemble a 1000 light year big section of the universe. The stars, little lights hung from strings, were positioned precisely as they are in space all around the room. You could stand in the middle of the room and view everything from Earth's perspective. A very stunning, immersive installation. They also had a section where they put stars from constellations like Orion with the depth separation that we cannot view from earth (since we see them head on) with a little viewfinder that enabled you to line up the lights and see which constellation they made. Pretty cool, alas, they didn't allow pictures.

They DID allow pictures on the Skyway though. There were stunning views of Tokyo. Of course, I had to take a panoramic shot:

Cirque Update

2011-05-21T08:27:00.004-04:00

Already nine days since my last post? Since then, I've gotten the face makeup down on my own (first attempt took me two hours, which I've whittled down to about an hour and fifteen minutes), performed almost all of my "general cues" (we have small, background-type roles throughout the show in addition to our main act) AND started in my main act itself (Poles/ Trampoline.) Learning all of the choreography for my main act in two days almost made my head explode, but I kept it together and, even if I was a bit stiff and over-focused, got through my first performance without (really) crashing into anyone else or being on the wrong end of the stage.

I have two more cues to polish up and start performing in the show and then my schedule will settle into just performing/ poles training, so that I can increase the difficulty of my tricks and my presence in the act itself (right now, though I am performing in my main act, all of my actual Chinese poles/ tramp tricks are minimal and easy, so I can get accustomed to performing.) Chinese Poles is new for me, but I feel like I am starting to make steady progress and at least the tramp is there to make me feel a little at home.

I gotta say, one of my favorite parts of work ("work") so far has been getting to interact with the audience. Not only at the bow at the end (where you finally understand that the modest/ quiet Japanese crowd actually adored the show the whole time) but during my act itself. There are several times where I slide to the edge of the stage and have a few moments to play with the audience in the first few rows. It's always fun, whether the person gasps, smiles, or gives polite little encouraging claps when noticing me. Once I settle into my "character" a little more, I think this will only be more fun....

Picture: the heel blister(s) that have been plaguing me since day 1:

Costume/ Makeup

2011-05-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

The last 3 days have been a whirlwind of training and things to remember, so I am too exhausted to write anything coherent, but here are some pictures from my makeup tutorial sessions. I have been learning to do my own makeup for my act; this is me in my act costume before a photo session.

Book Cover Design - Sketches

2011-05-09T20:38:00.003-04:00

I am wrapping up my first book cover project - this one is for an author who is publishing directly to the Kindle. I'll link the book when it's available online. The client wanted "the Earth being lowered into a set of alien jaws."

Tokyo Apartment

2011-05-06T21:47:00.006-04:00

Below are pictures of my apartment in Tokyo - this is a temporary residence, though. I'll be moving in about a week. The place is really nice and has more of a hotel suite/ studio feel, without any kind of living room. I've noticed that the place is designed around energy conservation - I have to plug my room key into the wall at the entrance, for example, to turn on the generator that controls the lights in my room. So every time I leave, the lights are guaranteed to be off, and I'm guaranteed to not misplace my key inside, which is cool.

Other crazy features include precise controls for the water heater (I can set my bath water to heat to an exact temperature) and a toilet that automatically learns when I use it most and preheats the seat for me ahead of time. I have to carry around my appliance guide so that I know which buttons do what, but I'm starting to figure it out.

Pictures:

Entrance (The little brown thing on the upper right is my plugged in room key)

Main Room - Bed/ Desk and Kitchen on the right

Kitchen Area

Laundry/ Sink (Shower is to the right)

Bath/ Shower (The whole room is designed to get wet, so you can adjust the shower head depending on whether you're showering/ bathing.)

Crazy hot water control.

Crazy ventilation control

In Tokyo

2011-05-04T17:49:00.002-04:00

So for those who don't know (though everyone who reads this probably does) I just moved to Tokyo to start a job as a performer on Cirque du Soleil's show ZED. While in Guatemala I tried keeping this space exclusively for art and created a separate blog for Guatemala; that wasn't really working, so I'll post everything on this blog from now on ranging from musings about Japan, to Cirque stuff, to more art. I'll even tag everything so that you can filter it if you're only interested in one category or the other.

Before I go, I just want to brag(?) a little bit that I watched 4 movies and 1 documentary on the plane ride over here, including The Dawn Treader, Mystic River, The Book of Eli, Karate Kid, and My Kid Could Paint That, which was easily the most interesting of the bunch.

2011-04-06T01:36:00.001-04:00

I want to make more dioramas.

Olympika - Wall Installation/ Mural

2011-02-09T15:25:00.004-05:00

...It's finished! More pics and information below....

Figures were projected onto large sheets of plywood with a projector before being cutout with a jigsaw. Each piece was then painted a two tone red/ black and given a glossy, protective finish. Figures are arranged and mounted on the wall to depict a double layout [a higher level double-flipping gymnastics skill.]

New www.olympika.net

2011-02-08T12:52:00.003-05:00

...is live! www.olympika.net Feedback welcome and appreciated while I am making tweaks.

Volcano Islands

2011-02-07T15:25:00.002-05:00

More doodling

End of the Earth

2011-02-05T20:21:00.002-05:00

Ink + Photoshop

New drawing in several variations. Which one do you like best?

Castle B

2011-02-02T23:03:00.000-05:00

I like the way it looks here as well [just a Hue change, call me a cheater.]

Castle

2011-02-02T22:52:00.001-05:00

Still another style in PS to work up from the original doodle.

Some of the proportions don't make sense. You should be OK with that.

Shadow Land

2011-02-01T14:16:00.003-05:00

[edit: The preview is reeeally compressed for some reason, you need to open the image to get a good enough look at it.]

Witch

2011-01-31T15:51:00.000-05:00

She needs a dentist- Ink drawing.

I like these (Another Doodle)

2011-01-30T18:10:00.002-05:00

Ink + Photoshop

Doodles

2011-01-30T13:10:00.002-05:00

Ink drawings (where you dip the nib in the ink bottle) are where it's at.

New Guatemala Blog

2011-01-23T23:30:00.006-05:00

All posts about Guatemala now go here (including recent pics from a trip to the beach, check it out):

http://www.guatemalakent.blogspot.com/

I'm going to try and keep this (my main blog) more focused on my art projects.

Michigan Gymnastics Yearbook Back Cover

2011-01-20T14:46:00.001-05:00

One more page for the yearbook....

Michigan Gymnastics Yearbook Graphics

2011-01-19T00:33:00.002-05:00

I am helping a teammate out with a few designs/ layouts for the upcoming official "Men's Gymnastics Yearbook [media guide]" for the 2011 season. These were a lot of fun to make-

Bloodhorn Repaint

2011-01-13T22:32:00.002-05:00

Another dragon repaint. Sculpted originally by Rob Simpson. Color scheme by me.

Dragon Repaint

2011-01-09T15:19:00.002-05:00

Repainting some of my old dragons (um, I used to collect them when I was younger) to potentially sell for some extra cash. If not, the painting is good practice.

(Sculpted by James Brierley, repaint by me):

Compared to its original color scheme, I'm proud of my efforts.

Mario

2010-12-27T23:46:00.001-05:00

Eh, so I haven't been making much in the way of art over break. I did a video graphic logo for Olympika, but that's about it. Hence the lack of postings.

I did, however, recently fully complete New Super Mario Bros. (Wii) by getting all the Star Coins in every level. Sweet.

Intrasquad

2010-12-14T00:17:00.003-05:00

Panoramic (3 photos stitched together) of the 2011 Michigan Men's Gymnastics team.

New Olympika.net

2010-12-05T20:01:00.002-05:00

The Wood figures should be done tomorrow, but for now here's a preview of our gym's new website. I am redesigning the site with html to be more user friendly, to enhance our gym's identity/ aesthetic, and to reach a wide range of viewers by cross-contacting social media websites. I am planning on designing a mobile version of the site as well for easy browsing on iphones/ blackberries.

(Like my UM themed browser?)

Web Design

2010-12-02T14:50:00.002-05:00

Website that I designed for a local Italian restaurant - entirely in Spanish. Check it out:

www.lacasadelalasagna.com

Copán Ruins Panorama

2010-11-30T23:18:00.002-05:00

270 degree view (almost a complete wraparound)

1st pass of black/ red

2010-11-23T13:36:00.002-05:00

They're still rough around the edges but this gives you a pretty good idea of what it will look like. I'll probably go back in with black and red once or twice more on each to build up the paint/ clean up details.

Starting to paint the figures....

2010-11-22T16:09:00.001-05:00

A lot going on (designing 2 websites, and starting to paint this installation project) but not a lot to show yet. Just another photo of the wood cutouts pre-painting....

farm

2010-11-16T21:17:00.002-05:00

Beautiful view at Raul's family farm. The coast was directly behind me on the horizon. Raul's dad's assistant, ready for trouble with a loaded shotgun, was five feet behind me.

Installation Update - Starting to cut

2010-11-13T18:22:00.002-05:00

Did a test cut today with one 4x8 piece of wood (wanted to make sure everything 'worked' before buying all four boards.) Things went surprisingly smoothly. There is a nice wood shop on Raul's family finca (farm), the jigsaw we have is a serious cutting machine, and the cutting went way smoothier/ easier than I suspected. Props to #artschool for teaching me some wood skills.

We opted for 3/8 inch plywood. I was worried that it would be to heavy, but the pieces themselves when cut out are very light, sturdy, and I think will pin flat against the wall easily, without braces.

Gonna do a paint test tomorrow....

Green2 (now blue)

2010-11-09T23:02:00.003-05:00

with a sketch for a boat in the foregound. Does it look vaguely epic yet? This kind of look is difficult for me to pull off....

Olympika Installation Update

2010-11-08T11:41:00.003-05:00

This is probably the layout I will use when cutting out the figures to make efficient use of the material of each 4x8 board (the brown rectangles). I managed to fit all 7 pieces in + the Olympika logo on 4 sheets of wood which is good.

Once I get hold of a projector and pieces of wood, the work in the "real world" will begin....

Green

2010-11-07T13:04:00.003-05:00

Got my digital pen back so messing around with some digital painting again. I want to try and push this further and stick something in the foreground. Trying to stay patient....

Olympika Installation Brainstorm

2010-11-01T13:23:00.002-04:00

"Sketching" for a new installation at Olympika Gymnastics here in Guatemala. I think the figures will be cut out of wood and be about life-size. I'll update my progress on the project here....

Ooze

2010-10-31T15:52:00.002-04:00

More Illustrator!

Online Portfolio Updated

2010-10-30T18:50:00.002-04:00

www.kentcaldwell.com

New layout online and running, files transferred off the UofM server. I'm ready for the "real world"....

One more.

2010-10-29T23:35:00.001-04:00

Proof that I was actually there, with my new haircut (photo courtesy of Jacob, my kayaking buddy):

Rio Dulce/ Livingston Photos

2010-10-29T23:12:00.003-04:00

With semi-interesting captions:

Definitely in the jungle (Rio Dulce, on the boat "tour".... I don't think stopping at the mystic "Isle of Birds" counts as cool when I've seen more crows on an Ann Arbor telephone wire.)

Waking up at 6AM to kayak was a sweet idea (my Kayaking-friend Jacob from Israel in the FG.)

My room at the Finca Tatin (my bed, 1 of 4 in the upper room, was a whoppin $5/ night.)

Deep in the gorge. Underground hot springs/ rivers, dense vegetation, steep cliffs. Pretty sweet.

Part of the Siete Altares in Livingston. It's cooler when it rains because the water flows over the rock ledge. Like a tool, I did a back flip off the rock ledge for good measure. Alberto, my tour guide, filmed it (he also taught me some words in a Mayan dialect.)

No pics. sorry.

2010-10-28T17:31:00.002-04:00

...There hasn´t been internet at my house for the past week, which has kind of slowed down my digital-self. I got a camera card uploader though for my point and shoot, so I should have pictures from my trip to Livingston/ Rio Dulce up soon.

November might be a busier month for me; I have several Graphic Design projects to work on for the gym, a couple of trips that still need taking, summer camps starting next week that I´ll be teaching (school is over here), and a few more books to pile through now that I´m finished with the titanic Atlas Shrugged (minus the 60 page Galt manifesto.)

Tambien, yo tengo que recordar para aprender Español....

web re-design

2010-10-17T00:01:00.002-04:00

Since my umich access expires in November, I used the change as incentive to redesign kentcaldwell.com as I'll be changing hosts soon. Here's a preview image of what I've got so far...

Contact Sheet 1

2010-10-13T16:48:00.002-04:00

...I've been pretty good with my 1 drawing per day rule, but don't have a memory card uploader right now to prove it. You don't want to see all of my pencil doodles anyways.

I spent a little bit of time just now playing with some photos from my thesis in Photoshop after a recommendation that the photos of my dioramas might have potential to sell commercially (ie to magazines and whatnot.)

2010-10-03T20:41:00.001-04:00

"But there is also too much focus in school on literature written mainly for an audience of critics and teachers. That's a shame because the true glory of literature lies in its ability to hold an audience spellbound with the power of narrative, which is our oldest and most prevalent way of understanding the world." -a quote from David Taylor.

Trying to keep this in mind more in order to loosen up and just write/ tell stories.

Monster

2010-10-01T13:43:00.003-04:00

I've always loved how bizarre deep sea fish can be. Seeing some real life specimens at the Natural History Museum in DC was incredible, and I realize that no matter what, I'm always in the mood to make up some deep sea critters:

I'm really starting to appreciate Illustrator's flexibility, I just have to adjust to the mechanics of the software and really settle in before I get somewhere I'm happy with.

I'm Obsessed....

2010-09-29T16:11:00.003-04:00

Another shot of the ring....

In non-related news, it needs to quit raining in Guatemala. I haven't seen the sun since I've been back, and another mega landslide just wiped out half the main road coming up from the gym to the city. I had to navigate an alternate route, lost about 30 minutes of free time, and traffic is so clogged that I didn't have time to go home before coming to the gym, so I'm sitting here crusted with sweat from my morning workout and without my computer/ book/ sketch pad. I guess things could be worse, but this rainy season just needs to end....

I'm gonna start drawing on paper soon....

2010-09-29T00:03:00.002-04:00

But here's a critter done with patterns in Illustartor:

Bling.

2010-09-27T23:56:00.004-04:00

I'm going to have to make an exception/ clarification to this "one post of art per-day" rule. If I am travelling/ touring/ visiting the US to get my national championship ring:

Then I am excused from posting a piece of art. But now that I am back in Guate (after a great trip to Ann Arbor, and after my return flight had to land in Honduras to wait for the visibility to clear before landing in the city), here is yet another Illustrator castle doodle:

Don't Hate

2010-09-20T15:35:00.003-04:00

...These are fun, relaxing, new, and satisfy that mathematical/ pattern side of my brain somewhat.

It feels good to be productive

2010-09-19T17:37:00.001-04:00

...I might keep whipping up these things in Illustrator and see where I can get....

Illustrator-

2010-09-19T14:37:00.001-04:00

I'm not used to making art entirely within illustrator, but here's the result of some mindless tinkering....

Congressman Dingell

2010-09-18T18:45:00.002-04:00

From a photo taken by Thomas Kelley of our local Michigan Congressman....

A Doodle Per Day....

2010-09-17T23:53:00.003-04:00

...keeps laziness away? After my birthday I resolved several things to myself, one of which is to draw 1 sketch/ doodle/ whatever per day.

That means hopefully, one post here per day, because this blog is going to hold me accountable.

I'm glad I didn't give up on this photoshop mess like I almost did 5 minutes into it. Somehow I managed to "break through" and just keep messing up/ covering/ manipulating/ tearing/ smearing/ flattening layers/ adjusting until I got somewhere I liked. Then I flattened that and tried to push and pull parts of the image to get somewhere better. Regardless of the finished product, it felt good to just push through that creative barrier and get to a place where I would make marks without looking back or being hesitant. Sweet.

Antigua/ Agua

2010-09-17T18:13:00.003-04:00

Forgot to post this photo I was lucky enough to take last week in Antigua. The sun rises very early (this is before 7AM I think), making for a nice view of the street with the volcano Agua in the background.

Atitlan part 1

2010-09-12T08:10:00.003-04:00

The weather finally cleared up for a few days, and my friend Phil and I seized the opportunity to spend a day at Atitlan. This is a lake formed by the collapsed caldera of a volcano (I think that's right), can be crossed by a motor boat in about 30 minutes, is over 1000 feet deep in places, surrounded by volcanoes, you get the idea.... We arrived in Panajachel and then took a boat to Santiago to do some exploring, and had a very good time to say the least. Some pictures:

The water looked awesome about midday:

View of a volcano from the Eastern shore:

...street food can't be beat. 50 cents for this snow-cone, which was topped with pinapple, apple, coconut, and plantains, all soaked in a sweet syrup:

Jade/ Macadamia nuts/ Rain

2010-09-06T13:47:00.002-04:00

It's been tough traveling on the weekends because it has been raining so much year. It's rained everyday since I've been here, and far more than a normal "rainy season" in Guatemala. Every time it rains it seems like another mudslide/ bridge collapse/ some other obstacle clogs traffic and makes adventuring more of a chore than fun.

So this past weekend was yet another trip to Antigua, which isn't really that interesting to me, to be honest. However, I went with Bob, and we visited a guy he knew through his old job who was a Jade carver. This guy, Francisco, was very warm and friendly, inviting me and Bob into his home, telling me about how he gets Jade (he goes up the nearby volcano and finds it himself), and how he works with Jade using various diamond-based dental instruments, drill presses, sanders, etc. We had some hot chocolate and cookies while there and some good conversation (his Spanish was easier for me to understand, as he was polite enough to speak slowly). Hopefully it won't be the last time I run into this guy (who reminded me distinctly of Gandalf):

The next day, we travelled to a Macadamia nut farm, had a small breakfast, met the owner (a guy who really liked to tell jokes, and expected you to laugh at them. A bit awkward, but still a very friendly guy) and then visited the old town (San Miguel Escobar) where Bob use to work when he first came to Guate several years ago. There was a goodbye party for a friend of his with steak/ beans/ cake/ rum all served in a tiny, humble home. Really cool, a lot of fun, met some interesting, self-admitted hippies and whatnot.

I'm hoping to get to Atitlan this upcoming weekend, before leaving for DC with my teammates....

Taste the Rainbow

2010-08-30T23:24:00.005-04:00

Ever wondered what happens to old school buses? You probably haven’t, but now that I’ve got you thinking, here’s your answer: old school buses from America get brought down to Guatemala, are given extreme makeovers, and become part of the city’s public transportation system.

These “chickenbuses” traverse the roads in Guatemala City and its suburbs constantly, and they come in an amazing variety of colors and styles.

Check out these photos, taken in just one outing into the city (I am building a collection). This is only maybe half of the buses I got photos of today, and I probably saw at least three times as many color combinations:

Oh and this one is pretty ridiculous:

The all-red buses like the one above aren't as visually interesting, and they only serve the heart of the city, but I can't get over the choice of combining a Mercedes Benz logo and symbol of Christ with the Confederate Flag. Spot on, Guate!

Panoramic shots

2010-08-27T12:15:00.003-04:00

These are two panoramic shots that I took on the trip Raul and I took to the stables (the Polo Field) where he picked up the horse trailer and also ordered some trucks of sand for his field at the farm.

The top shot was taken on the drive back home. The field itself is low in the valley and right near lake Amatitlan, so to get there you have to drive down a winding mountain road and go through a small village. There was a lookout spot at the top of the climb back into Guatemala City, so I stood there, snapped 7 quick photos, let Photoshop do its Automerge thing, and voila.

The bottom shot is actually taken from the Polo field, and is 5 shots stitched together in Photoshop.

In both photos, the tallest peak (on the left hand side, always capped in clouds) is actually Pacaya, the volcano that I climbed the first weekend and that erupted back when I first visited in May....

Meet Invitation

2010-08-24T22:47:00.002-04:00

A meet invitation I designed for the upcoming "Copa Quetzal/ Quetzal Cup" this May 2011, hosted by GIC and Olympika (the gym I work for):

Beagle

2010-08-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

The newest member of the Molina household....

Double Take

2010-08-21T19:54:00.003-04:00

I was researching some Mayan mythology (specifically, seeing what I could dig up on Mayan Monsters) when I came across this "escuincle" (which is more Aztec than Mayan.) There are some who think that this sculpture (of quite an ugly species of dog) has the human-mask-face on it to represent the concept of Shamans who could transfer their souls into animals:

I was stunned at the similarity to my own creature, "The Sphinx," which I created about 7 months before ever seeing the Escuincle:

A pretty cool coincidence I think for my crimson-tailed creation to look so similar to a pre-Columbian sculpture from the Oaxaca valley-

I can still draw (kind of)

2010-08-19T12:38:00.003-04:00

Arm (Supine and Prone) study from Anatomy for the Artist

Aprendiendo despacio....

2010-08-17T23:00:00.004-04:00

My Spanish is slowly improving- I usually pick up maybe 10 new words a day. I feel like pretty soon I will be able to at least coach very well in Spanish (already I am pretty decent, though I use cave-man Spanish... lots of imperative verbs and single words: "Run!" "Round off!" "Watch me" etc....) Combining that with some gestures, I have been able to get my point across maybe 75% of the time.

I worked with the boys class/ team all day today by myself (for the first time!) without too many problems. Of course, half these kids at the gym know English anyways (at least a little) so I usually have a translator or two by my side to help me out.

I also got to train this morning with Mynor for the first time (at the Guatemalan National Team training center.) That was pretty cool; I hope to get down to their gym a few times per week. It's in the city, though... and driving in the city is freaking nuts....

I am starting a couple of different graphic design projects for the gym here and, in other news, just submitted my first real-person grant to the Arts and Sciences Council of Charlotte, NC (I'm trying to get my dioramas in a permanent home, like a library.) Fingers crossed that I get the money, though I doubt I will - as an emerging artist who is not accustomed to writing a grant, I don't think anything will come of it, but I guess you have to start somewhere....

Mordor

2010-08-15T17:47:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was real cool and kind of crazy. My friend Phil down here has a motorcycle and we decided to take the weekend and get out of the city, thinking that climbing Pacaya, the volcano that erupted back in May, was the best option. Hopping on his motorcycle (yeah, we wore helmets) we drove about an hour till we got to the volcano.

The ride was pretty cool - one of the advantages of being on a motorcycle is that you can weave your way through standstill traffic, saving a lot of time. One of the disadvantages though is that you get wet if it is Guatemala's rainy season, which it is, so we got wet.

Still, we made it to the base of the volcano without getting drenched, purchased our entrance fee and hired our (required) tour guide for a total of about $12.50 a piece. On the uneven and rather strenuous hike up the volcano, our guide, a 15 year old kid who looked about 13, pointed out various signs of Pacaya's recent eruption – large chunks of rock that had spewed from the crater, bashed in tin roofs, and trees, which had been stripped of their vegetation by the fires:

Without warning, the trees gave way to a rocky, very uneven landscape of solidified ash/ lava – in the picture below you can see the end of the tree line in the fog on the right (this dog had followed us all the way up):

Walking out onto this landscape was kind of surreal – looking ahead at our guide, I felt like we had Gollum showing us the way, except that this kid wasn't schizophrenic:

The ground was uneven, sharp, pourous – layers upon layers of dried lava. In certain places, if a hold in the ground went deep enough, it was easy to start fires simply by holding a stick in the gap between the rocks, and letting the heat underneath ignite it:

Once we got a decent fire going we roasted some marshmallows, feeding a few to the dogs that had followed us (for that very reason) the entire way up:

Once the fog cleared a bit, we got a good view of the crater (the little trails of smoke on the right are not fog, but from fires up near the crater):

Though we couldn’t go nearly as far as people were able to before the eruption, and though there was no visible lava like there was said to be previously, it was still a really cool, unique experience that was worth every bit of the cost.

Afterwards, we drove to Antigua, met up with Phil's cousins for dinner/ drinks, and got a 2 bedroom room at a hostel for $5 a piece. It was no five-star resort, but for a private room and shared bathroom/ computer with internet/ resident golden retriever, I'd say it was a great deal. Nothing crazy to report in Antigua though, except that the drunks pee anywhere, in any direction, so you have to watch out.

Donde Vivo

2010-08-13T14:12:00.007-04:00

So a couple of pictures of where I live. This is my room (created from 3 images with Photoshop's photomerge tool. Sweet!):

Usually, each morning I get up and go read a little bit with a great view of the mountains:

The maid usually makes breakfast for me while I'm reading. It's awesome. She's very nice and doesn't speak any English, but I've already improved my ability to communicate with her (I'm glad that I can thank her properly now and not feel like a dumb tourist simply yelling "Grassy-ass!" for example).

Also - I am happy to report that I got ahold of my suitcase, bought a cell phone (for under 30 bucks!), and have helped coach at the gym twice now. So I feel properly settled. My Spanish is improving quickly, especially for coaching, but a large number of the kids at the gym also speak English! So while it helps having several translators in any one group, they are also as eager to practice their English with me as I am to practice Spanish with them. Maybe not quite the "immersive" environment some get, but still very very fun....

Down and Dirty

2010-08-11T15:15:00.003-04:00

After one flight cancellation, some scrambling to get on a flight at the last minute – where I dropped my water bottle straight onto a man’s head while loading my bags overhead while dripping with sweat from running to the gate – I made it to Guatemala, although my suitcase didn’t. We’ll have to go pick that up from the airport if it comes today.

I had originally reshuffled a bunch of clothes into my carry-on bags so my suitcase would make the 50lb weight limit, so luckily I’ve got a complete change of clothes on hand to tide me over. Thanks for your packing skills, Mom.

It was very rainy last night on the drive back to Raul’s house (where I’m staying). On the way, a fallen tree (from the saturation in the ground) almost blocked our path and had pulled down the phone lines to our neighborhood. I asked Raul if this kind of thing happened often because of the landscape/ rain combination. “Only when you’re here,” was his reply, referencing the mudslide from my first visit:

Apparently my presence exacerbates the natural disasters of the country? Not awesome-

Anyways, I will spend the next few days getting situated – doing things like buying a cell phone, going to the gym, and retrieving my suitcase.

2 days till Guatemala

2010-08-08T20:07:00.004-04:00

The summer has been slow. Real slow. I guess that was what I needed - time to really soak in college life before turning into a "real adult." Now that I am one, and still have no idea what to do with myself, I've decided to move to Guatemala, where I'll be coaching gymnastics through the end of November. With such a big change of scenery, I'm going to use this blog to update everyone as I attempt to get a handle on life in Central America. I anticipate my posts will be a mixed bag of stories, photos, and artwork... basically, anything that happens as a result of my time down there that I think is worth sharing.

Most of you reading this know that I went to Guatemala back in May for a brief visit. My four-day stay turned into 9, thanks to a volcanic eruption that covered the city in ash and a tropical storm that caused mudslides and a sinkhole in the middle of the city. This perhaps worked in my favor, with the delay giving me more time to convince myself that this is an area of the world that I'd like to "figure out" as best I can.

(images from my first trip):

I will be staying with my host Raul, a graduate of the UofM gymnastics team in 1995, and his three kids here:

I'll probably be coaching level 3/4 team girls. Here's a picture of me with some of them:

This is the gym I'll be working at (the floor is a really good spring floor):

Elif Shafak

2010-07-16T12:59:00.004-04:00

New TED talk here: Elif Shafak on Politics and Fiction

Some her ideas are a little jaded (I feel like I've heard "we judge one another based on stereotypes" since I was about seven) but it is still nice to hear a fresh perspective on the power of storytelling and fiction to connect and inspire people across the world....

Art in the past week....

2010-06-21T23:15:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately I have done nothing visual worth posting. I've done some sketching and painting in the past week, which has felt... strange... after spending so much time in 3D with my dioramas. Nothing worthy of public display....

I've actually been focusing most of my energy on learning Flash and the rest of the CS5 creative suite. After hours of video lessons and experimenting, I've learned enough actionscript and flash techniques to 1) poorly animate a robot and 2) make a game where pressing spacebar causes a rectangle to spin.

It may sound lame, but seeing that rectangle spin on cue was immensely satisfying.

If I animate something worth posting..... then I'll post it.

Check it yo.

2010-04-21T14:50:00.002-04:00

www.kentcaldwell.com has a temporary makeover to feature The Last Light installation.

!!!!!

2010-04-17T09:35:00.004-04:00

WE'RE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS.

Out in NY-

2010-04-13T17:44:00.002-04:00

So I'm in New York (West Point, not the city) for NCAA championships. We had a good day of training today and are all excited (and ready) for the competition to begin on Thursday. Plus, there's a southern style BBQ place right next to our hotel and, while my teammates may be annoyed that there's nothing close to where we're staying, at least I know where to get my sweet tea and pulled pork fix....

I'm a bit anxious about having to leave my installation at home, though. I hope everything (the lights, the curtains) stay as I left it. My biggest fear is that someone will unplug the lights or there will be some other issue that needs troubleshooting, and I won't be around to get to it....

Oh well. Time to focus on gymnastics. Well, after I finish my thesis paper....

Done.

2010-04-11T22:46:00.008-04:00

I'm FINISHED. I'm very happy with how everything turned out and am excited to hear what people think of the installation. The only thing left to be done is apply the vinyl lettering title at the top left of the wall, but I will leave that to Mark Nielsen, who was willing to apply it for me (since I don't know how).

I designed a take-away that sits just to the left of the wall (it's like a bookmark)...

The Front:

The Back (A map of the wall with titles of each scene):

A huge thanks to Ryan, Thomas, Mike, Chris D., Aimee, my mom, and my dad for helping me so much with the wall/ installation process. Couldn't have done it without them. I owe you all big time.

Bonus: I have time to pack for nationals!

Yeah!

2010-04-10T22:23:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow: Install the light timer, paint the wall, make a few tweaks, and hopefully get a takeaway printed....

Update

2010-04-10T00:30:00.003-04:00

I have almost all of the wiring figured out. Just a few more solders and breadboard connections left to make.

I spent the majority of tonight hanging the fabric of diorama #5. I think I figured out a solution that works to create an open, ambiguous space. It was pretty fun, actually, pulling the silk up on hooks and letting it fall and drape to try and create an interesting space....

Picture updates tomorrow? Maybe....

2010-04-09T00:40:00.004-04:00

I am really excited right now. I had a productive evening and got the spot lights in dioramas 3 and 4 to all light up at once (not an easy task, since they all are powered by 1 source, but some require a resistor, some can't work if a resistor is in the circuit, and some are too bright and had to be selectively toned down with my sole, life-saving potentiometer.)

The cutout, which will be covered by cloth, used as an opening to the back:

The backside of the installation:

Teaser shot of Diorama #3 (taken with my point and shoot)....

Installation Update

2010-04-08T00:51:00.002-04:00

I'm getting nervous that I won't have time to finish the wall, but I am making steady progress....

The first two dioramas are, I think it's safe to say, finished. Lights, curtain, everything. I am not quite happy with the lighting on the 2nd one, but I may be able to dim it down with resistors (which is what I want.)

The forest has all of its lights installed but needs more toy stuffing for the foliage. This means tomorrow morning will be devoted to errand running (Radio Shack, Kollosos Printing, Joann Fabrics, Riders....)

I love 5 minute epoxy and fishing line. And sheet acrylic. And resistors that work.

Installation Continues....

2010-04-06T00:49:00.004-04:00

I was really stressed about the building process and how I would make everything work (that's an understatement... I wasn't able to focus at practice today, I was grumpy, angsty, all bad things), but having my teammates Ryan and Thomas around not only made the atmosphere more enjoyable, but we got the entire wall assembled and in place before midnight. I think it looks pretty good- the top looks a little wacky, but I can cover that with a cap, I think....

With that colossal task out of the way (a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders), I can focus these next few days on the details, the lights, the fabric backdrops....

Installation Begins.

2010-04-04T23:35:00.001-04:00

The wall is at Work Gallery. I just have a couple more dioramas/ shelves to transport. Then assembly begins.

So far, I've managed to get everything down to the gallery in 2 trips. Very thankful for my friend Mike Sears' truck and assistance- I'd be drowning in work/ stress without both.

Updating the checklist

2010-03-29T22:01:00.003-04:00

~~Assemble Diorama #7 (it's built and painted, but in pieces)~~

~~Clean up dioramas (with paper mache)~~
~~Put in the order for vinyl lettering at Kolossos~~
Build the frames (I have decided to use mat board; Michael's framing is too expensive and I didn't like the frames, and any self built wood frame will not have a smooth enough look or a crisp bevel to it. Matboard isn't the fanciest thing ever, but its simple and subtle, and that's what I need.)
Wire as many of the lights as possible in prep for installation next week.

Tasks to complete before leaving for Big Tens...

2010-03-28T23:14:00.002-04:00

Assemble Diorama #7 (it's built and painted, but in pieces)
Clean up dioramas (with paper mache)
Put in the order for vinyl lettering at Kolossos
Build the frames (I have decided to use mat board; Michael's framing is too expensive and I didn't like the frames, and any self built wood frame will not have a smooth enough look or a crisp bevel to it. Matboard isn't the fanciest thing ever, but its simple and subtle, and that's what I need.)
Wire as many of the lights as possible in prep for installation next week.

Diorama #6

2010-03-24T23:23:00.002-04:00

...The tests for the lake/ cliffs scene happened tonight. I know I said I wasn't going to post more photos, but I had the time to take a couple of shots and I'm too excited not to share one of them.

The light scheme for #6:
-Red LED Bar
-Yellow LED Bar
-Orange and Blue Spot on the Jester
-Orange dim spot on the boy
-Flickering lantern
-Lightning flashes (maybe)

It's incredible how much the lighting can totally change the surface and feel of a piece... it makes me wish I had more time to tinker and experiment, even though I'm happy with what I've tested so far....

Two more lighting tests to go, numbers 5 and 7. The difficult ones....

Light Tests - Forest

2010-03-22T23:17:00.002-04:00

Tested diorama number 3 today (the forest). I think I'm going with the following:

1. Yellow light bars for ambience

2. Blue LEDs for additional ambience (from the other side)

3. White spot LED

I also practiced putting all the toy stuffing on the top/ sides of the forest, and it looked pretty good. The window itself is a bit too low (how did I measure wrong?!) but not disastrous by any means.... I might be able to raise the viewing window or just make do with how it is now without too much hassle.

Lighting Tests Begin

2010-03-21T19:29:00.004-04:00

Wall Pieces (stacked, you can see one of the cutouts). The shelves are tables, at least temporarily, to make for easier moving while I do tests.

Testing the lights on diorama #4.

This may be one of my last photo updates before I post about the installation itself on April 5th. You'll just have to wait and see the final product (April 12th is my deadline).

In short, I have all wall pieces built, holes cut out, and shelves built. I did light tests for diorama #4 today. I quickly discovered that there are so many possibilities for lights. The piece looked good with blues, oranges, yellows, and even blue+orange lights (the combination added a nice variety to the surfaces)....

I think that I'm gonna go with the following setup, though:

1. Red LED light bar, from bottom front (ambience)
2. Violet + White LED on the center tapestry
3. Orange LEDs on the 4 smaller tapestries
4. Warm White LED spots on the two characters

^I need to have a plan like this for all 7. Right now, I have lighting plans for the 1st, 2nd, and now 4th dioramas, so 4 more to go.... I actually feel ahead of schedule? This is weird, but at the same time I feel behind because I have so many choices to make about how to finish up many of the pieces.

***This may be too many lights to create an effective focal point, so I am either going to wire the red LED bar to a potentiometer or cut segments off, or put the potentiometer on the orange lights. We'll see....

Enough talk. Back to work-

Wall Building

2010-03-19T01:05:00.004-04:00

All of the frames are built for the wall sections and I have two frames attached to drywall as of tonight. My goal is to put the rest of the drywall on tomorrow and have the shelves cut and installed by Sunday night.

Then lighting tests happen from 3/22 to 3/30.

Then I go to Big Tens until 4/4.

Then installation in the gallery from 4/5 till I leave for NCAAs (4/12).

Then I'm finished.

Still tinkering with lighting when I'm at home, finishing up Diorama #7 and details on the other 6, and starting to explore the presentation of the installation (frames/ vinyl lettering)

Picture updates tomorrow, I think.

Quick Updates

2010-03-14T19:13:00.002-04:00

Two important things happened today:

1. I bought all of the drywall and lumber. That was a huge hurdle, and thankfully it didn't rain at all while I was transporting the materials (I had bought tarp to cover it just in case).

2. I found code to make an LED pulse off the arduino chip (using a digital rather than analog input, no less). After some tinkering with the code, I think I found pulse cycles that will fit in with some of my scenes....

Thesis Work

2010-03-11T00:55:00.002-05:00

...I spent some time tonight editing my thesis. The biggest change was switching it over to InDesign, giving it a 2 column layout, and adding pictures. I like the layout much better now and it's easier to manipulate than it was in Word (which dealt horribly with image placement....)

2010-03-08T20:16:00.002-05:00

Bought a fluorescent tube + fixture today. I think I've got the circuitry figured out, I just don't want to electrocute myself now.

Also, here's a digital sketch of the wall I'm building, side view and front view (brown= wood, navy= dioramas, yellow= cutout windows, and the transparencies indicate the drywall sheets).

2010-03-08T11:52:00.002-05:00

...It has to sit outside for another few hours while the epoxy dries. Luckily, it's nice out today.

The epoxy hardened pretty well! Not as smooth surfaced as I intented, but the water's kind of got a churned black-mud salt marsh feel to it (especially the way the black climbs up the edge of the island a little bit, it looks like tar.) I'll take it-

Great.

2010-03-07T21:15:00.003-05:00

(If only the resin would harden looking like this, but it doesn't....)

Well my first post-spring break hack at my project is shaping up to be a disaster. The ventilated fume hood area of the plaster room is apparently not ventilated enough for my Casting Resin that I'm using for the 6th diorama, and after getting chewed out by the studio coordinator for not having a plan (I thought I did have one, but apparently I underestimated its 'neurotoxicity'!) I'm leaving it to dry in the plaster room, which means I've got to move it before students come in and knock the thing to pieces.

Not only that, but the resin isn't even doing what I want it to. Despite sealing off the foam base with thick acrylic paint, it's still finding its way through the base, eating away at the foam, curing consequently on an uneven surface, and generally during this cliff piece into an outright disaster.

Back in town....

2010-03-05T10:22:00.002-05:00

We took a red eye back from San Francisco, leaving at 11pm and getting into Ann Arbor at 7AM. I'm not really sure where the separation between Thursday and Friday was over the past 24 hours - I felt like I was doing a Floor routine 5 minutes ago in California, and now I'm staring at my computer screen with that thick feeling between your eyes that comes with fatigue. And somehow, the day's only just begun....

Gymnastics is like an accelerated version of my creative process as an artist, I've come to realize. Much the same way this semester has been a roller coaster in studio, this past week was a roller coaster of its own in the gym. I went from highs - hitting my floor and vault routines in our meet against Stanford - to lows - our team losing by 9 points - back to highs - earning my first (and likely only) Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor, and landing my harder vault in practice - back to lows - falling on the next 5 vaults in a row, botching a floor routine, and finding myself unable to vault decently at all on Thursday.

I have days where I'm "on" with my gymnastics and days where I'm "off." The same happens with art making. I set goals in gymnastics on a day to day basis, much the same way I set weekly goals in studio. Some aspects of my training are rigid, while others are organic and spontaneous (just like art making, etc etc, you get the idea).

Successes and failures come with each, but I feel like in Gymnastics these come at the speed of lightning, while in art they come like the slow movements of the tides.

Enough writing. Can you tell I'm loopy and just rambling on? Hopefully I'll get into studio later today, check on everything, and get back to the grind... once I wake up a little more....

Tree Tops

2010-03-01T23:18:00.005-05:00

So I bought this toy stuffing material for $5, and it looks incredible (in my opinion) as foliage/ mist for the forest. It's light, clumps together, stays in place, can be lit from within, and provides the perfect kind of atmosphere for the scene. Sweet.

In Cali

2010-02-28T13:18:00.003-05:00

Diorama 6 - the Jester is now stuck on the cliff ledge and you can see a view of how you have to look down into the window to find Balder....

...But I have enough photo updates to do a couple of posts while I'm out here. Artwise, my goals while I'm on this training trip with the Gymnastics team are:

1) Become an expert in electrical sautering (I checked an iron, helping hands, pliers, wire stripper, wire, and about 20 LEDs)

2) Research 12v lighting systems

3) Brainstorm the layout/ construction of the final installation (wall)

4) Do the 3rd draft of my thesis

Otherwise, my main goal is to relax. The hotel we are staying at is awesome - hot tub, free breakfast, HD tv, free internet, and they put out free cookies everyday at the front desk. I think I'm set.