K. Traughber Art : Up & at 'em

The semester is over.

I celebrated passing my last German class with some Hoptimus.

Then there was a two day period of complete decompression.

My finals week, Lola has 6 seizures... 4 of which were grand mals. She lost a tooth on the last one. Talk about putting things in perspective. While I cared about my grades and projects... It all seemed rather minuscule. All I really wanted was for Lola to be ok, to be Lola.

Her lab tests came back great, so when the vet doesn't know what's wrong with your dog they tell you it's a "disorder". AKA seizure disorder, AKA your dog is seizing and we have no clue why. They put her on seizure medication, which has worked like a miracle. Every day Lola got a piece of herself back, and she was one more day seizure-free.

She went from pacing the house for hours on end, confused... going outside and staring blankly at the yard, terrified... to finally taking a bit of a run, getting her bark back, and recognizing us.

There are some holistic options we are considering as well. We take Lo' back to the vet in about a week.

We took this about an hour before her first seizure. She seemed completely herself up to the point she had it. I went to let Ben in through the garage and turned around when I heard a "thump". Lo' was convulsing wildly in the hallway, it felt so surreal.

Double down'n the coffee lately. So now that I had my decompression and all is well with Lo'... Onward to the Fellowship!

I started my Fellowship with IUS. I was awarded a grant for 15 weeks worth of work and additional funding for all my materials. SO very grateful, it feels cheap to try to explain how much I appreciate this opportunity.

I'm working under my mentor/professor Emily Sheehan. She's been such a foundation to my growth, and I appreciate her pushing me in every direction that she does. Brian Harper is also helping me out, and I'm pretty excited to have his feedback as well.

Okay, Okay... so it's going to end up about 10 portraits and 5 installs. Sounds nuts, but I can do it. I already have two of the portraits about 75% complete, and 4 started. So there's really only 4 more to get going on.

Here's my base: I'm exploring "windows" and "shadows". Short-hand that's the subconscious, the unconscious, and the discarded parts we seek to bury down deep and hide. I want for the show to give people a feeling of connection to their fellow man. I want to help them explore the shared human experience through these honest and raw moments that each subject shares.

I couldn't get my Papaw off my mind. I've been sitting on a portrait idea for him for over a year now. He's been really emotionally raw and open with me lately now that his health is in decline. He wasn't on the original list for my series, but I can't escape him lately. I keep thinking about being fatherless and how he was so supernatural to me growing up. He was crafty, classy, but feral/wild.

Going to expand on him a bit more when I post the portrait I have started. So to be continued.