jody's blog
random thoughts, ideas and chaosChange me! Change me! [day 1]
I woke up to the whistling sound of my return air duct singing, "Change me! Change me! I've sucked in as much dust and dirt as my little fibers can handle." Yes, of course it's a disposable filter. I know they make non-disposable filters, but they're very...
I’ve come to a plastic fork in the road [a new challenge]
This has been on my mind for a while. I try my best every day not to use anything disposable, especially if there are other options or if I can do without. You might be asking, "What does that mean? Plastic forks? Napkins? Plastic bags? Toilet paper?" Here's...
a letter to grandma on how to use a digital camera
Yes, I'm digging through the archives on this one. I wrote this letter to my grandma as an assignment for a part-time blogging gig a while back. The assignment was to chose a technological photography item and write a letter to your grandma about how to use it. I...
create: photo mashups
I'm working on props for another light table live art piece. I need to make some birds that I can move across the light table to pick up seeds. I saw this photo in my friend Tonya's Instagram feed, and it immediately inspired my tissue paper black birds! Yes, I...
create: live chalk art
The live chalk art was created by adding people's names to the two side panels, which are 4' x 4'. The names were collected as people walked by. These panels took 6 hours to finish and were done during weekend services at Preston Trail Community Church. Here's a...
create: chalk art
I will be doing a live chalk drawing at church this Sunday for a series called Kingdom Come. The name of the message this week is Names. Last night, I decided to play with my hard pastel sticks and the names of the disciples. (Yes, I'm aware that there are 13 names...
create: digital painting from a photograph
My car is in the shop, spending many days away to get its oil well (it's way past leak) fixed. I decided to get a little exercise and walk to work yesterday. There's not much exciting stuff to look at during a 3 mile walk in suburbia, but I always find a little...
create: art photos with apps
Here's a radical example of what you can do. This tree took about 15 minutes to create. These photos were all edited (played with) in different iPhone photo editing apps. Most of these apps are free, or very low cost. Go download and play! [gallery...
paint: real or digital?
Is it real, or is it Memorex... I mean digital? I've been into the iPad painting and art. There are so many great apps to play with! Our family gift this year was a box of Prismacolor pencils, and I wasted no time getting those out to play with. The tree on the...
create: dinner art
Yes, we "colored" dinner. We used several colors of food coloring, some liquid, some paste. Each color was prepared in a separate bowl. This wasn't my first time doing this. Many years ago, a friend of mine was trying to install a car stereo. I don't know if...
photo project: saving the hopeless image
I had a photo idea. I asked my friend to take a photo of me against a concrete wall. Well, I was asking for the impossible. It was almost dark out and very cold too. Not that the cold had anything to do with it, but it was a motivating factor to get the heck...
art project: Posters of Paris [Toulouse Lautrec]
My kids and I went to see the Posters of Paris: Toulouse Lautrec exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. (I admit, it was my second time to see it) At the end of the exhibit, they have an interactive station where you can create your own poster. My first one was done...
art project: dumpster art
This was a photograph I made in art class about 8 years ago. This was taken with my Nikon 6006 film camera and processed in a darkroom at the school. The print is on matte paper, so the paper takes oil paint and colored pencil easily. This dumpster was...
art project: scanogram & iPad painting
This is a digital mixed media painting. The entire image was created with digital media, starting with a scanogram of vintage objects, and ending with a photo editing program. Step #1: Scanogram If you're not familiar with a scanogram, it's basically a photogram, but...
I hate cleaning the garage, but I love an art project
The garage (cleaning) art project. My garage is always a diaster area. I couldn't fit a car in there if I tried. Heck, I'm not even sure a bike would fit. Now let me be clear. Even if I could fit a car in my garage, I wouldn't put one in there. I like to use my...
Looking homeless in suburbia is to NOT look homeless
I keep trying to make these postings into something perfect. I want to post each one with some info about what it is, you know, setting the context. Then I want to make the post and ask questions about it afterward. I want to edit, read, reread, rewrite... you get...
We all need a reason to exist
Trying to fit in when you don't have the resources to fit in is quite a challenge. Here's another journal entry about homelessness in suburbia. There are so many challenges for homeless people, I can't even begin to scratch the surface. What I can do is give people...
The suburban equivalent of death row
Okay, maybe the title of this post is a little harsh, or is it? This is another journal entry from my homelessness thing. I still don't know what to call it. Here's a reality most of us don't think about. Gasoline is a necessity in suburbia, if of course, you have...
Holidays: no place to go
I've been in design hibernation on a secret graphic design mission, so I haven't been blogging over the last two weeks. The project still undercover, so I can't share it just yet. This is the next in the series of my homeless journals. Today is Labor Day, a day where...
It’s like having an insurance policy with no idea of what’s covered
I visited a local agency for help on my homeless journey. Every church in the area at least mentioned it, most of them saying they support it and that's where I must go for any help. This is another journal entry. I am using the name of the agency, as you would be...