Cat Snapp

Hope this helps Hannah!

I’m almost done with my first silkscreen here in TX.  These are some small monotypes on origami paper I’m making in conjunction with my edition.

I’ve been pretty busy getting settled into my new life, and as a result have neglected to share what’s been going on.

I started my classes last week… CRAZY.  It’s amazing how quickly you get out of  ‘art-making’ shape… but also how quickly you get right back into it.  I’ve got some sketches I feel really good about turning into prints.  I have a bad habit of not working in a sketchbook, but have been using it a lot lately.  I have so many ideas and images I’m working through. Hence, the benefit of a sketchbook.

My good friend, Leah, came up from Austin last weekend.  We got to catch up and talk about real life things- our worries, our dreams, our ideas, what we want out of our life.  We also went to Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant which was AWESOME and did some window shopping around Denton where I found some necklaces I fell in love with.

These are some of the first crosses I actually really, really like.

I also tried two vegan cupcake recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World!  I made regular vanilla and pumpkin chocolate chip.  Both with chocolate frosting.  After a minor catastrophe with the frosting, I have to admit, these were some pretty amazing cupcakes!

Last Saturday, Depeche Mode came to Dallas, and I went with my cousin, Celina, to see them.  We had lawn seats, so my camera phone got an awful shot, but the concert was great!  The lead singer’s voice sounds exactly the same as 15 years ago, and everyone went crazy when they played all the songs from the Violator album… especially Enjoy the Silence.  I’ve listened to them since I was in kindergarten… it was pretty exciting for me to see them live.

I helped install 2 print shows on campus… one in the UNT Union Gallery and one in the Cora Stafford Gallery.  There were some great artists in each of the portfolios, but I think my favorites were Michael Barnes and Nicole Hand.  Barnes’ prints remind me of a mix of “Where the Wild Things Are” and a Tim Burton animation.  Nicole Hand has some great, straightforward layering that is actually a good example of what I see in my head about my work.

This weekend I went to South Dakota for my cousin, Stefanie’s wedding.  Talk about a beautiful bride!  It was a small, intimate wedding… I felt special to be a part of it.  The vows were some of the deepest, most meaningful I’ve heard.  I took wedding photos of Stefanie and Keith with my dad, Laita.  I don’t have any pictures yet, but when they’re released to the couple, I’ll put some highlights up!

While in SD, I got to go to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse with my family… here are a couple shots from the trip.

This is “Art Alley” next to our hotel in Rapid City.  This shot doesn’t even show how awesome this was!  some of the dumpsters were painted to look like lady bugs.  We got a couple of the bride in here too.  Top Secret!

After the wedding, the reception was held at the groom’s parents’ house.  The sun decided to peak out in the early evening for this shot.  It was a gorgeous place up in the hills.

Mt. Rushmore was just plain great.

This is the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Mt. Rushmore in its entirety fits into the head of this sculpture.  It was started sometime in 1927 (I think) and is being constructed from private funding only.  The government has offered $10 million 2 separate times, but the organization refuses to accept it.  That’s why only the head is finished so far.  I don’t plan on coming back to see it’s progress until my children are my age.

We stopped in Bear Country USA… it was loaded with wildlife- rams, wolves, buffalo, mountain lions, and BEARS!  We were able to get some CRAZY up close shots of all the animals.  They had plenty of land to roam around- the humans are the ones in cages here (cars)!  I’ll have to post some of the best later on , but I did find my new pet- a baby black bear!  All the baby bears were all in one area taking a nap.  It was too cute.  You know when the two grown men with you are saying how cute these things are, it must be true!

My friend, Julia, started an ambitious project- Daily Prints!  She recently posted some of her new stuff- check it out!

The library is my new best friend in acquiring new music.  I’ve been listening to Cut Copy and was able to borrow their album from the library.  I’m pretty sure these guys are from Australia, but don’t hold me to it.  If you like Depeche Mode, Shiny Toy Guns, or 80’s new wave I think you might like it.

I think I’ve caught you up on the major things that have gone on in the last few weeks.  Bear with me, I’m new in Texas and life’s a bit CrAzY!

8 minute bike ride + 1 pair fitted jeans = bad idea

1 me + 1 billion particles grit + 1 lithography stone = uneven litho stone

My painting, Brown Chair in Trees was accepted into 1st Thursdays UCF: Eclectic Knights at the Orlando Museum of Art.  Hooray!  You can see the painting at the very bottom of this page.

My new lunchbox!

Welcome to Texas

My work space

And I really liked this interview with Wendy White.

I’ve spent the last few months trying to figure out how I want to use my voice as an artist.  I’ve spent the majority of the last 6 months tying myself in a knot over my work.  Frustration, because I don’t understand why I make the art I do, guilt for not making more of that art, and doubt over my ability to connect on a deeper level with art in general.  There were few artists I took a sincere interest in, and found even fewer whose work provided some insight to my own problem solving.  I decided that if I was going to be an artist, I really had to dig deep and find what is important to me.  Find what is important beyond art, especially if I was going to have any purpose or direction.

I’ve taken a lot of time to figure, and ponder, and wonder, and question… now I’m ready to put it into work.  I really am excited to finish some work and share it with you!  Until then, here are a couple artists I really do take interest in:

• Alfredo Arreguin:  discovered him when we had to write a paper on a contemporary artist in History of Non-Western Art a few years back.  I find that I always go back and look at his work time and time again.  None of the pictures I’ve found anywhere online do his work justice.  In good reproductions you can see the layers and layers of paintings one on top of the other.  I love that the portraits and landscapes are defined by the patterns and not clouded by them.

• Theodore Gall: saw his work at the Hunter-Kirkland Contemporary on a trek down Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM back in March.  The sculptures on his website are about the size of volleyball when held in your hands.  We had a real treat when the gallery director told us to pick the sculptures up off the pedestals and open the faces.  Each sculpture opens up, sometimes even multiple times to reveal a new scene.  The works are heavy in metaphor and psychology, and the handheld aspect of the work makes it extremely personal.  It was almost as if you were opening up your own head and revealing your deep dark secrets to everyone.  He is one of the few artists that really resonated with me from the Canyon Road galleries.

I love the precision, detail, and intricacy in both Arreguin and Gall’s work.  I really love the warmth and life I see in their work as well.  It can be difficult to be detailed and lively.  I know in my work I am working on this.

———————————–

I got my hair cut for the last time with my stylist, Tracy.  I’ve been going to Fusion Hair Design for the past 4 years, so it was a bit sad!  It can be difficult finding a new stylist and having to trust someone new with the mop on the top of my head.  I’ve seen this salon grow over the years and the staff is amazing.  If you are in the Orlando area and need a stylist, definitely go to Fusion!

If you don’t happen to know (which most likely you do), I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan- along with Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar…   Anyway, a while back I was perusing on Etsy and came across some stationary inspired by Harry Potter:

Letter writing is one of my favorite things to do!  So naturally I get really excited about stationary and this is one of my favorites.  I’m determined not to buy anymore stationary until I send out the bunch I already have, and this sadly is on my waiting list.

I recently bought an etching from my friend and fellow printmaker, Julia.  I already have 5 silkscreens of hers, and added this one to my collection:

As artists that both deal with interior spaces, our work gets compared a lot, but our content is completely different.  I admire her work because it is crisp, straightforward, and formal.  Her work lately depicts modern, elite interior spaces that are generally associated with being wealthy and “making it”.  But her cold, uninvolved, and anonymous perspective really communicates the lack of comfort material objects provide.  Funny, considering everything I’ve written is about “stuff”!

The past few months I’ve been experimenting with a food called quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah, I believe).  While it’s not considered a grain, the closest comparison I have to it is a crunchier version of grits.  It’s supposedly a “power food” full of protein, fiber, and other good things.  Last night we made “Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa” from a recipe Mike found on 101cookbooks.com:

We both really liked it… this recipe served as more of an oatmeal, and it was quick and basic to make.  We substituted the blackberries with blueberries and agave nectar with honey.  I would recommend this to those that like healthy goodness and trying new foods.

Last Friday Mike and I decided to be tourists for once and went to St. Augustine.  It’s an old town with Ripley’s Believe it or not!, ghost tours, and lots of little shops and restaurants.  The highlights of our trip were the Castillo de San Marcos, Claude’s Chocolates, and Luli’s Cupcakes.

The entrance into the fort

The barracks for the soldiers on watch duty

Detailing on a cannon

A volunteer preparing for the cannon firing demo

If you ever go to St. Augustine, you MUST try Claude’s Chocolates and Luli’s Cupcakes.  Some of the best chocolate and cupcakes I’ve ever had.  I’m a huge sweet tooth and feel responsible for trying the desserts in every place I travel to.  The chocolate is all handmade, and the flavors are delicate, complex and full-flavored.  We tried crunchy almond, champagne, and a few others.

I’ve tried cupcake places all over from local Orlando, to Austin, to the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC and Luli’s were hands down the best cupcakes.  We tried the Funky Monkey (banana and chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting) and Key Lime Pie.  There was just the right amount of frosting, the cake was moist , and both the cake and frosting complimented each other to create the full flavor.

When I was at my parents’ home in Virginia a couple months ago, my mom ordered a pair of Aerosoles, and I thought they were very cute!  Aerosoles are very comfortable, although not always fashionable shoes, but I love these:

During my time at home my mom also suggested that I listen to a podcast called “What Women Should Know About Men” by Shaunti Feldhahn.  I wasn’t all that excited at first, but I gave it a listen and recommend that any woman in a serious relationship listen to it! It delves into the inner lives of men a.k.a. what they are really thinking in everyday situations- it is quite shocking!  I learned a lot about the men in my life: their desire to be respected, their innate need to be able to provide for the women in their life, what being a “visual creature” actually means, and how they can be so focused on tasks (or in a woman’s world- why they seem to forget everything you ask them to do!).

Any guy will listen to the podcast and think, “Duh,” but I really think women will look at the men in their lives from a new perspective after they listen to it! 

I just bought C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint:

It’s a lip gloss infused with peppermint oil, so if you don’t have a breath mint handy, you can still have fresh “breath”.  My former roommate, AVR, actually had it years ago, but I recently got it for $3 as opposed to it’s normal $7.50 price tag at Bath and Body Works.

I also recently became interested in bento boxes and tiffins.  They are containers for holding lunches originating from Japan (bento) and India (tiffin).  I don’t know much about them, so if anyone has any good input, please share with me!  Particularly on their usefulness/best kinds.

^ bento^

^ tiffin ^

And my last bit for the day, music I’m currently listening to!

My boyfriend recently forwarded to me a link to the group Cut Copy.  I believe they are from Australia, and they have a techno, dance, fun vibe.  They remind me of ’80’s synth meets MGMT.  If you’ve heard of Shiny Toy Guns, they are probably the closest sound I can compare to.

Also, I discovered the Black Ghosts on the Twilight soundtrack.  I delved into more of their stuff and I would describe them as creepy vampire movie meets nightclub.  Their stuff is right up my alley!

So this is my first, official blog.  I’m in the process of streamlining all of my info online, so for now, here are all of the places you can find/follow me!

CatSnapp.com

facebook.com/CatSnapp

twitter.com/CatSnapp

playlist.com/catsnapp

and the site you’re on now, catsnapp.blog.com

More updates to come!   -Cat