The Beginning OF the Last Semester

So this is it. The last semester of my MFA.... it is so weird to think about how much time has already passed... I feel like it was just last week when I was stepping back onto campus to start my MFA. I am sure the fact that most of this adventure has now taken place online than actually in person is partially to blame, but all that being said, if the past 3 semesters have flown by I feel like this one is going to be over in a blink of an eye. Which scares me because I still have so much left to do, and a record breaking short semester in which to get it all done.

If you remember I had decided to focus on my digital painting last semester and my physical one this semester. I was hoping to get the structure of my physical piece worked out over break, however due to working retail like crazy during the holidays in hopes to improve my ever dire financial situation an and surgery that took much longer than expected to recover from that did not happen. I did get it here in our apartment before the semester started but quickly realized it was in a lot rougher shape than expected and that I needed to modify it so it will be able to support the weight of the 60 lb. TV and the even heavier piece of glass. Making this work is not nearly as simple as I was expecting it to be.

This week I waited for several things I needed to get in to start the cabinet repair. I removed all the shelving brackets and now I want to fix all the gouges and rough spots, such as the missing top corner, and found tutorials online on how to repair them with Bondo Auto Body Repair putty and wood filler. For the corner I had to make a mold which i did by rubbing Vaseline all over a good corner and then covering it with an insane amount of hot glue. I then used a razor to lift all the edges and peel the hardened glue away giving me a mold that I can use to help create the other side. The Bondo smelled horrible before I even opened it and is very toxic to breathe. It is supposed to be used outside for this reason as well as the fact it is extremely flammable and even static shock can be dangerous. Using it outside unfortunately is not an option so I am just hoping that having the sliding glass door open, a gold smith mask, and extra caution will make this next step go as good as it can. I also contacted Rick from Menards glass and he is coming to take a look at the structure on Thursday so we can make sure we are all good to go and get the right size piece of glass. I also spent a very large amount of time this week working on my Thesis Paper itself. I went through all the feedback Ulm had given me at the end of the previous semester and made changes to my paper to address them. This included a rewording of my thesis statement, adding in the "tech background" section which in my case I used to explain the physical build and actions behind my project, added in more images formatting them to be floating on the side of my paper with text wrapping around it, and then just re worded and made other smaller corrections. I still need to add a few more pictures in, redo my conclusion, and then I will hand it over to see what the general feedback on it is.

This coming week is my Birthday, Valentine's Day, and I still have yet to see my family due to COVID since early October so we are actually going to New York to see them and do late Christmas. So I wont have as much time this coming week to work on things, but hoping that the following weekend I will have the physical build all set up and done so I can start painting.