Luckily, none of the above because the school offers a variety of summer camps for non-A&D students.  Anna Foster (BFA '10), Marissa McLain (BFA '12), Reed Esslinger-Payet (MFA '12), and myself had the pleasure of teaching 'In The Middle,' a camp of thirty 11-13 year old kids in the Ann Arbor area.  During a week of teaching about art books, silkscreen printing, linoleum print making, collage, drawing, and a trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts, I was able to show the students a hands-on lesson about stop motion animation.  Thanks to the Duderstadt's Digital Lab One and the program Frame Thief, every student was able to create their own animations, compiled in this video here.  Enjoy!

In The Middle - Final Draft from Ashley Elander on Vimeo.

I recently moved to Chicago and just found a small sense of home here when I happened upon the Renegade Craft Fair about two weeks ago.  Picture Ypsilanti's Shadow Art Fair...times 3000!  If you like Etsy, backpacks, silkscreen, interesting jewelry, or just walking in an environment of excited people, boy is this the place for you!  Chicago closes down a few blocks of its busy Division Street two times a year to replace it with tent upon tent filled with nice people who make lots of goods that I know you'll love.  A few of my favorite parts about this craft fair are (1) sure Chicago is its home, but you can find it throughout the year in San Francisco, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Austin, (2) they have a shop that's open year-round in Chicago, and (3) if I create enough drawings, zines, books, etc., I could totally be part of this!

Images above:  Jen Skelley and Nate Duval, Jay Ryan Silkscreen, Featherproof Books, Timber!, and Elevated Press (located in Ann Arbor!)

A plus side of being an artist is that I'm not tied down to a boring, text-heavy résumé.  Oh no.  I get what we call in the biz an artist's résumé.  Just like my drawings, I get to jazz up my resume with personality.  Here's where we all get to pretend we're graphic designers.

An important thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to go overboard.  I've designed and redesigned my résumé enough times that I am only now beginning to find a happy medium.  It's important to make it interesting, but also to make it clear and legible.  Take something you like (a color, an interest, or your medium of choice), and think of how your résumé can show that you are X kind of artist.  For example, when I was really into video and animation, I made my résumé in 3D and it came with an attached pair of 3D glasses (not a joke).

Also a recent A&D graduate, Jenna Lyn Utter found her happy medium between work and play by employing a cover sheet along with the bundle of cover letter and résumé.  You can't tell here, but the floral paper is slightly transparent.  I'd hire her.

Artist résumés are allowed to be a little more personal rather than just a list of jobs and achievements.  Employers want to know what you can bring to the table, and with hiring creatives that includes knowing their personality.

[Note the 'Personal' section in Emily Skaer's résumé]

Ok, if you really need it spelled out for you...

And, finally, my current résumé.  Oh, c'mon, you knew it was coming.

MCA currently spotlights Chicago-based artists.  One artist that made me stop and gaze is Deb Sokolow.  Titled “You Tell People You’re Working Really Hard On Things These Days,” the drawing is a full-blown diagram of what she thinks surrounds her studio space in downtown Chicago.  Despite its large size, the piece is intimate as Sokolow allows us to tap into her train of thought, seeing her humor and her crazy.  It's work like this that makes me alright with my, at times, paranoid insanity.

The only problem I see with these large pieces is they seem very hard to document.  Looking at her website is nothing like seeing the work in person.  If you ever get the chance to see her stuff, take it.

I spent the majority of I.P. thinking that my drawings would lead up to another medium, like an animation or paintings.  However, once I realized that the timid, intimate nature of the drawings themselves have a strong relationship with the actual subject matter, I chose to stick with the series of drawings.  It's not settling with what I have, but rather re-working my situational drawings and really honing in on the mood and unspoken narrative of the character, Boxhead.

First Step: sketching out the gesture of the figure

Middle of the Road: a clean-cut style

Final Product: a rough-around-the-edges, lived-in drawing

Rinse and repeat for each drawing.  It's a time consuming process, but well worth it.

NOBODY FREAK OUT by Tom Buckholz

With this show, we welcomed a range of interpretations on the theme of illusion and disillusion.  Rather than illusions being solely visual, we asked for consideration of this topic as the concept or idea behind the work.  Artists were pushed to determine how to create a new reality or how to destroy a previously constructed one.

Work • Ann Arbor owns a central spot on State Street, an intersection between UM’s central campus and the city's downtown, which makes for a desirable location for any artist to show work.  Eryn and I felt strongly about collecting work for Disillusion that was both university affiliated and not, finding submissions locally from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and also from Chicago and New York.

Disillusion showcases not only artists from diverse locales and backgrounds, but also a variety of artwork from woven etchings to explosive installations.

Two Minute Crime Scene by Stephanie Tisza

“KEEP DOING WHAT WE’RE DOING WE’RE BOTH REALLY GOOD” by Tom Buckholz

Sweet Light by Jeremy Daly and Jack Doehring (photo courtesy of Dmytri Hryciw)

photography by Peter Baker

salamanders by Jack Carder

Eyeball Mountain #1 by Ben Bertin

The exhibit opened on Friday, February 12th with a special performance by Jeremy Daly and Kevin McKay. (photo courtesy of Dmytri Hryciw)

 Make sure you see Disillusion before it’s gone on March 12th.  This is only small a selection of the amazing work on display at Work • Ann Arbor (306 South State Street).

Here are some preliminary drawings for my IP project.  It's about an alter ego, suitably named Box Head, who struggles to cope with everyday situations.

What I enjoy most about my project (and drawing in general) is seeing how other people respond to the image.  I can usually be found drawing when I should be working, using the opportunity to grab the reactions of my coworkers.  Oh, that’s another aspect I like best about drawing/illustration:  it’s portable!!

One more thing, I work at a movie theater…

Until the next free moment I get off school/work/internship,

ashley