Inside the Doctor's Office

So we've been working on designing an Integrative Medical Center, and I've been so swamped that I haven't had a single second to upload pictures of what I've been doing. So now, although I'm even more crunched for time, I'm taking a moment to give you a glimpse inside via two perspective renderings I've done.

This is a view of the lobby as you step off the elevators:

This is the view inside the Herbalist's office looking into the Cafe area:

Studio Secrets

In an Ash Smith Art exclusive, I am offering you a behind the scenes peek at the Pratt Studios (Room 112). Yes folks, this is where all the magic happens:


And this is my desk:

Color Me Happy

In my Colors and Materials class we are covering a number of the famous color experiments of Albers'. This is my attempt at two Light Squares:


The bottom row of colors are the pure hues, the darker colors are those colors in shade, and the lighter ones are those same colors lightened (as if in bright light perhaps). One squares is comprised of cool colors, while the other is made up of warm ones.


Ironically enough, the colors in these photos aren't very good.

Building Blocks

If you'll remember, last week for my Studio class we tackled Lines, well this time we're moving up to Volumes! We had to design 3 vignettes, each composed of 3 clay rectangles and cubes, arranged in an interesting and provocative manner. We were encouraged to photograph them if that would add to our presentation, and these are some of the images I used:


I think that this one was really helpful in illustrating the way that this composition has two objects meeting at the same line, but because one is raised above the other they are not touching.

Color and Materials

So far my most fun class has been Color & Materials. The subject matter is really fun and interesting, plus its right after our big studio critiques on Friday so the atmosphere is a great combo of restlessness and stress release that makes for a lot of laughs. Our first homework assignment was dealing with Value, which is basically the light or darkness of a color. We created 3 squares, each composed of one piece of gray paper, and two pieces of paper which were of the same Value as the gray but different colors. So while the squares are composed of many different colors, if photographed in black and white they would look solid because they are all of the same Value.

Here are my squares, you can see that the middle color in each square is a gray tone, and the two colors surrounding it are supposed to be of the same value as the gray:


By editing the picture to appear black & white, we can see if I was successful:



Hmm...not bad, I didn't photograph it before I turned it in because I'm trying to train my eyes not cheat, so this is my first really good look at it. The only one that really stands out to me is the center color on the center square which is a little too light.

On the Line

As promised, here is much more information and visuals from my F3 Studio Assignment. We were supposed to construct a 3-d model using only linear elements that explored rhythmicity and the nature of lines (to the exclusion of materiality, color etc). My first instinct was that I wanted to work with clear fishing line to emphasize an idea of light as lines.


The tension created by the fishing line was too great for me to simply put up vertical walls, I had to buttress them into little wedges to keep them from tipping into each other:


I was happy with the way that shadows and lines were both present and non-present, but I wasn't thrilled with the overall execution. I wish that the structure had been strong enough to hold the string completely taut, but there's always next time!

My Swingline Stapler

Ok so it isn't a Swingline, but I have been spending the weekend obsessing about my stapler. You see, for my Studio on tuesday I have due a drawing which represents a mechanical/functional object in my home. Thus I have chosen my stapler gun, and having looked at it for hours I must say that it has a pleasantly anthropomorphic quality, reminding me somewhat of a grasshopper.


Shown here are the preliminary drawings that I've worked out on tracing paper, tomorrow I am going to transfer them onto high quality "final draft" paper.

Cozy Under the Covers

I have officially started my Masters program in Interior Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn!! Even though this was just my first week, I've already had some work due. Although I'm taking 4 classes, my Studio class is weighted the same as all of my other classes combined, and the others really function to support the work that we're doing for Studio. Over the next few months I plan to post pictures of most of my projects for Studio (they encourage us to document them for our portfolio so why not publish them?). So with that introduction out of the way, let me introduce you to my F1 project:

The official instructions say: "Through drawing, collage, sculpture, writing or composition, and by using colors, shapes, lines, textures etc., create a design that tells the story of a space that you have experienced in a significant way during your childhood." The space that I chose was in my bed, under the covers reading late at night:


When I was mulling over the prompt this was the image that immediately jumped into my mind, and its construction was relatively straightforward. The biggest challenge was creating a dark environment so that the flashlight could really illluminate the sheet and provoke the atmosphere of warmth and safety that I was trying for. My solution was to place the piece in my locker, which ended up being a very successful means of presentation.


After 3 hours of sitting in the same room everyone loved the chance to stretch our legs and visit my locker. It made mine really stand out from the pack (if I don't say so myself):

Final Reveal

Drumroll please, I have finished my architectural model! I presented it last night to my professor and a jury of other Pratt professors and graduates, along with the building documents I had drawn up, and got an overall pretty positive response.

The house that I've been studying for the past 5 weeks is the Vanna Venturi house, which Robert Venturi built for his mother in 1962 in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.

This is what the real Vanna Venturi House looks like:



And this is what my model looks like:



East Side:



West Side:



South Side:



Aerial view:



Color is generally frowned upon in model making but it felt to me like leaving it white would have been too sleek and sexy for such a grandmotherly un-sexy house. Plus I think that it was the little touch that really pulled it together. I'm actually pretty proud of how it turned out.

Building My First Model

I am working on the final project for my summer architectural drawing class: a scale model of the Vanna Venturi House and its corresponding documents. I've started putting together my model, not using glue yet just T-pins to hold it in place while I work. Next I tackle the roof!

New Wrappings

I'm constantly changing and re-inventing the way my home looks. I change the linens, put up new curtains, move the furniture etc. I really enjoy having projects to work on around the house, and recently finished two new ones. I just made this window-seat cushion and cover for my new apartment from the red bedspread from my last apartment:

(click to enlarge)

The crimson window seat clashed with the bright pink in the print of my chair (Mom always said never put red and pink together and I stand by it) so I decided to re-cover the chair. With a few staples from my canvas-stretching staple gun I attached this old sheet from Urban Outfitters, and I covered the cushion with a light blue pillow cover. Allowing for the fact that the chair's most frequent inhabitant is Ms. Lorelai Meow, I topped the "human" cushion with a soft turquoise cushion, easy to remove when a human wants to sit down without getting covered in cat fur.

(click to enlarge)