Somewhere in the middle of the night, everything is going to be alright, alright.

Lee Miller, Nude Bent Forward, 1930

Today I finally went to see the Art Of Lee Miller showing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I had already missed her son's lecture, and was beyond disappointed that I did, especially after I heard how amazing it was. Lee Miller is possibably the most influential female photographer of the 20th century, with work ranging from portraiture to Vouge to World War II documentation. Her collection was probably one of the best one's I have seen yet. There were photographs exhibiting her entire career, including her earliest work in front of the camera as a model to the progression into her photography career. I must have walked around the exhibit 3 or 4 times and each time I discovered something new about each photograph. I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever felt someone's work to be this deeply influential.

Man Ray, Portrait of Lee Miller (above)

In other news, this is the first print of a Van Dyke Brown I did in Non-Silver Printmaking. It's a really interesting class of alternate processes. First, you coat your own paper or whatever you decide to print on (it could be anything from paper to wood to ceramics, the possibilities are endless!) with emulsion. Then you expose it in this huge machine called a platemaker and it really only takes a few seconds to expose. Then to develop it all you do is wash it in water for 5 minutes, then fix it and wash again, then you're done! The next process we are learning is cyanotypes which doesn't even involve fixing, but the exposures could last from a few minutes to a few hours, or even all day.

So, I'm working hard, but it's hard to find time to get everything done. This week is just an overload where it has been non stop work all day everyday. It's to the point where i have been forgetting to eat (today i didn't eat anything until 7:00pm, and yesterday i ate a total of 7 crackers) and sleeping is a whole 'nother story. I've been trying to write out weekly schedules to help manage my time, but even then I find myself tired, hungry and overworked. I still have a lot of work to do tonight and it's almost midnight, and this blog took to long to write. I'm off to read Hemingway and to write a paper for Love & Death.