Willem De Kooning's painting of "Woman and Bicycle." Recently this is how I have felt, at times, particularly on hills. As the season progresses, I will find a new image to represent the way I feel. I hope it looks strong, powerful, and sleek!

My Future Home

philly, originally uploaded by ashleyrodriguezreed.

I'm so excited to move to Philadelphia. Letter "A" represents my new school: Temple University. I will be a student at Tyler School of Art in the Fiber department. I'm a very lucky girl. "Philadelphia freedom..."

Omaha Light Pole

DSC03106, originally uploaded by ashleyrodriguezreed.

Today was one of the first sunny -and warm days. My friend and I took a walk with cameras in hand. We took many pictures of this interesting light pole. These have been in Omaha since I can remember. I like them.

This image is one of Jun Kaneko's pieces that is currently on display at the Bow Truss space downtown. I am new intern of Education Programs under Jacquie Scoones. My job involves creating contacts with local educators in the secondary schools and helping with ideas/planning future activities for learning from a creative perspective. New website coming soon! www.thekaneko.org

Architecture + Lighting = Art (just one equation of many)

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Staircase at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago

DSC03059, originally uploaded by ashleyrodriguezreed.

I loved this staircase. I could have spent a lot of time just taking photos from different angles!

4th grade art from Western Hills Omaha

4th grade art from Western Hills Omaha, originally uploaded by ashleyrodriguezreed.

This was a mixed media lesson using oil pastels and tempera to make a scratchboard. We talked about organic lines and shapes in a garden, looking at several artists. They turned out amazing! This is one among many.

In progress

DSC02973, originally uploaded by ashleyrodriguezreed.

Been messing with oils lately...doodle painting is fun.

My newest illustration of fun. I call it "Technicolor Dreamworld."

The installation is up! Overall I am happy with the colors and the patterns that came out. The figures create movement and energy however, I think that the relationship to the entire space is not unified because I kept the figures contained. I think that maybe if I had more time I could have pushed it farther and made it work. I can take away a lot from this because it was a challenge and now I can see what works and what doesn't. I'm still trying to figure it out. The meaning of the piece does come across, but the visual impact is not as strong as it could be. The idea behind this installation was that I was putting imagery together from the history in Corning and around it. The stories that are created and made by the people who settled her, such as the French Icarians, and the people who are trying to sustain their communities by bringing in new ideas and also preserving the past. I was fascinated by how we create our lives and what becomes meaningful over time, and how these things remain and evolve through time. The way the pieces are hung, like bed time mobiles or string puppets gives the lighthearted feel of story telling. Hung throughout the figures are common symbols that the community associated with their past/present/future. The figures have hand painted designs that represent nature and cultivating land. The smaller cut silhouettes have a structured, screen printed pattern. The pattern is influence by the Opera house stenciling, upholstery, and Icarian symbols.

Today thousands of bikers came through main street to eat and buy my t-shirts, of course. Bikers began trickling in by 8-9am and kept coming until the afternoon. The streets have probably never been this full since that last RAGBRAI in 97'. It was great for the whole community to get together and bake pies, grill pork chops, and welcome people. The beer garden had music blasting and some people were dancing in the street. Fun stuff!

RAGBRAI in Corning. Joke of the day: Do you know why some bikes have kick stands? Why? Because they are two tired...ha ha.

I began printing the pattern that I designed. It's very structured and but I made it look antiqued because I thought it would add depth to the flatness of the graphic print and also fit the Opera house ambiance. I want the fabric to seem modern but also feel like it could be from another time based on the aged look of it.

Rows and rows of trees. Iowa is full of trees contrasted by vast hills of corn and soybeans.

Corn and checker plaid.

This one is inspired by the lines of the land and the agriculture I see.

For my installation I'm currently printing/painting the fabric before I turn it into silhouettes. I have applied a rice paste with a squeegee to stiffen the fabric so that it will hold the forms it cut. I've decided to paint the fabric with a bleach solution and then use watered down acrylic to add extra color.

One of the students in my art class designed this marvelous picture using oil pastels. The lesson was on tessellations and color. Only six years old it's obvious she has a natural talent and an eye for color.

This design was made to be a tourist t-shirt. It's for anyone who wants to show the world they've been to Corning. Or maybe just for the townspeople who devote their days to the community. The cow in the street is from the cow I took a picture of on my first bike tour...scroll down to see.

If you scroll down you can see the picture I took of myself on my mountain bike. I wanted to create a bike themed t-shirt for all the bike lovers out there. RAGBRAI will be riding through the town on the 20th, so maybe some sales?

Last week I got the chance to go to the French Icarian historical site. It's not open to the public yet since they are in progress of building and restoring. This is the original one room school house that the Icarians built. Even after the commune dispersed it was used as a country schoolhouse. Learning about the Icarians has been fascinating. Being a city girl all my life, I'm getting a whole different feel for what community means in a rural setting. Even though the French Icarians were not the founders of Corning, there are similarities to the mission of the current community and the settlers seeking utopia. In Corning, many people are volunteers on boards or write grants for various projects to keep the city sustaining itself and hope to make it an attractive place for younger people in the future. The Icarians had a motto of "All for one and one for all." Today that idea feeds through since much of the town works together for the betterment of the whole.

On one of my rides looking over the countryside. Breathtaking!

These twigs are curly willow. My friend Sandy Maxa is a basket weaver and sculptor. She grows and cuts her own willow. I was lucky that she gave me this and some larger willow that I will have for my installation. These smaller twigs may work well in a wall hanging.

Last Saturday I went to a small town in Iowa called Maloy. It was settled by Irish immigrants. It is almost non existent anymore. A few houses, a church, a rec center and a park with a prairie make up this place. I took my first lesson on weaving here. This is tablet weaving using a deck of cards. It is really quite simple and fun.

This is the storefront of the Corning Center for Fine Art. I arranged things and displayed some of my t-shirts and aprons. I have sold a few shirts. That's positive since there aren't many people that stop by. On the bright side, there isn't much distraction.

I made this a couple weeks ago here in Corning. I call it "What Does Your Garden Grow." It's made with scraps of my screen printed fabric, wood blocked printed fabric, and a few silk vintage pieces with organza. It is bordered and backed with pillow ticking.

More amazing sky.

Storms passing through make beautiful and mysterious lighting.