Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who helped out the cause by purchasing/selling zines and photos at the concert! Thanks to you, I was able to earn $165 !! Now, I can afford to pay the deposit for the trip!

I'll be back next weekend at the Roller Roost selling merch for Torment Ridden (support them, they're great!) and some cheap art! Maybe I'll make some prints..... who knows, it will be a surprise.

Art and Prints Available

Here are some images of my artwork that is available for purchase. All of the proceeds from these sales will go toward my trip to Mongolia. You can also paypal a donation directly to my account - my email address is ConquerNewsprint@Yahoo.com.


All of the work shown are available both in their original form and as prints.

Prices:

Prints
5"x7" = $5
8"x10" = $8
11"x17"= $11

Originals are priced as marked.

Sculpture:

Toenuts 2007, Ceramic and glaze, Regular $20; Toenut Holes $10 (Sold out!!)

Mixed Media:
Twins 2006, collage, $7Halloween (Sold!) and High School Football 2006, 2 collages, $7 each
Anxiety and Craziness (Sold!) 2006, 2 collages $7 each
Thoughts Like Dragonflies (Sold!) and Cultural Exchange 2006, 2 collages, $7 each


Loneliness and Childhood 2007, 2 collages, $7 each

Greyscale 2006, 3 collages, $5 each or $11 for all 3

City Fish 2007, Mixed media on paper, $100 (Sold!)

Drawings:

City Hall from the Parkway (Sold!) 2007, Conte Crayon on paper, $20

Self Portrait Reflected in the TV 2007, Charcoal on Paper, $45

Reliquary Boxes 2007, Charcoal on paper $50

Shoe 2007, Charcoal on paper, $25

Portrait of a Student 2007, Conte Crayon on paper $25

I am English; I am the Opressor 2007, Charcoal on paper $50

Paintings:
SOLD! Wordsworth 2007, oil on canvas $125


Basilica 2007, Oil on canvas. $300

*All work shown above is copyrighted by its creator, Dana M. Osburn. If you need to use any of these images, please ask my permission first.

Zines! Zines! Zines for Mongolia!!

Hear ye, Hear ye!

As a fund raiser for my study abroad trip to Mongolia this summer, I'm selling some little zines that I make.

The Zine that I have ready now is called "Professor Eddie" and is a short story that I've been working on for a class that I think you'll really like. This 12 page publication features original drawings and is printed on full-sized 81/2" x 11" paper.


You can get your own copy for only $3 - Just contact me and I'll set you up!

Here is a sample of the story:

“Baby, we all been dyin’ since the day we been born,” said Professor Eddie. “Ain’ no cause ta fret over the details. Ah learned that from reading books. Books by famous fellas. Ah bet you read them same books. You go ta school, sugah?”
“I did,” I said. “But not any more. It got to be too pointless.”
“Whatchoo go ta school fo?”
“Art school. They thought they could teach me how to create.”
“So you wanted to create? You wanna be like God or somethin’?”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “I wonder what school He went to.”



So PLEASE PLEASE help me out and buy some zines for you, your family and your friends and stay tuned for more homemade stuff of mine that you can buy!

Love,

Dana (your best friend since birth.)

Some Information about Ulaanbaatar

Here's some info about Mongolia's capital from the Official Tourism Website of Mongolia:

The capital of modern Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, is a city with a history of over 360 years. After Karakorum the Imperial capital was abandoned, a new urban cite known initially as Urga, was founded in 1639 for the first spiritual leader of the Mongols, Bogd Zanabazar. Upon his investiture ceremony, the local nobility assigned their subordinates to be his disciples and to establish the city of Urga, renamed Bogdyn Khuree, which initially moved over twenty times along the Orkhon, Tuul and Selenge river valleys.

In 1778 Urga was settled between the four mountains of Bogd Khaan, Bayanzurkh, Songino Khairkhan and Chingeltei, on the banks of the Khatan Tuul and Selbe rivers, and was renamed Ikh Khuree. The Ikh Khuree of the Khalkh Mongols, apart from being its ecclesiastical center, also became the country’s cultural, state, economic and spiritual capital. As a result of the struggle for Mongolian independence and national freedom in 1911, the newly-declared Bogd Khaan government of Mongolia has chosen the Ikh Khuree, duly renaming it Niislel Khuree, as a designated capital of a sovereign nation.

The first State Great Khural (1924) gave it the legal status of capital city of the Mongolian People’s Republic, renaming it Ulaanbaatar City.

The first master plan for Ulaanbaatar development began to be implemented in the 1950s. Since the 1960s there has been an urbanization policy, with planting of gardens and trees and provision of municipal services.

Only 90 years ago the city housed around 50,000; it is now home to about a million, including long-term and short-term foreign and domestic visitors. This rapid population rise has been partly due to increasing urban migration. Most people from the western provinces choose a city life because of unemployment and poverty at home.

Since the 1994 Law on Ulaanbaatars legal status was passed by the State Great Khural, the capital city now has its own banner, coat of arms and emblem.

Under the Constitution, the city of Ulaanbaatar is specified as “a city with specific functions, its power management, territory, economic and social complex, and special status set forth by the law”.

The city of Ulaanbaatar has established and maintains friendly relationships with many cities around the world including Seoul, Florence, Moscow, and Denver. Among the world’s capital cities, Ulaanbaatar is notable as the capital city with the coldest climatic conditions.

Ulaanbaatar in Numbers

- The Capital city today produces 40 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, which can be broken down as 53,4 percent of industrial production, 87,1 percent of construction, 56,3 percent of trade, 80 percent of energy and 98 percent of transport and communication.

- 165.000 children study at its 98 state-run secondary schools and 8500 in its 67 private schools. 31.000 youngsters attend 154 kindergartens, which is 32 percent of all children in the country to attend kindergartens and pre-schools establishments.

- There are 73 clinics with state, city and district status and 112 family hospitals.

- There are over 250 hairdressing salons; about 100 cosmetics retailers. 60 tailors’ shops; more than 130 cobblers; over 30 launderettes and dry cleaners; 700 car repair workshops, and about 800 pawn shops.

- More than 3800 private businesses operate in the capital city.

- There are 214 streets; 3100 private business premises; 1566 apartment blocks, and 67000 fenced households.

- 76,5 km of road, from a total 418,6 km, is tarmac covered

- There are over 70 private cultural institutions as well as 6 cinemas, 3 state-sponsored cultural centers, 8 libraries, 7 museums and 10 professional art and entertainment organizations.

- At present two electric power stations, 340 heating ovens and over 90,000 home ovens provide the city’s electricity and heating requirements.

Accepted!

As of yesterday, I was officially accepted as a participant in the University of Colorado at Boulder's summer study abroad, Digital Photography in Mongolia class!!

This means that now I must submit my deposit and passport info and prepare to leave for Mongolia in June.

Hello!

Welcome and thank you for taking a moment to get to know my blog!

The purpose of this page is to document the process of my going to Mongolia from inception to culmination. Of course, I am a little late. I have had the idea for a while, but I'm still making the arrangements. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Here's a little bio:

I'm currently a sophomore at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, PA majoring in 2D Fine Art with a minor in Photography & Digital Arts. Right now, this school is my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Art has always been both a skill and an interest of mine, so I always knew that I would make a life with it -- the problem was that I couldn't decide which direction to take it. In high school, I was on the fence between painting, acting, writing and filmmaking. Today, I still haven't figured it out, but with an education in Fine Art from a flexible program, I have been able to bridge the worlds of two-dimensional art, performance and video with moderate success. Though I've built my life around very specific, strategic planning, I still consider myself to be a largely intuitive person.

Here's why I'm going to Mongolia:

Several weeks ago, it became apparent that I was to go to Mongolia this summer. It began as a hunch - a vague, inexplicable interest in the country - and escalated into a mission. I would go to Mongolia. I stayed up until about 4 a.m. one night emailing every church, every missionary, every Christian organization at all affiliated with ministry in Mongolia begging for the opportunity to travel there. I did not fit the qualifications for any of the groups' pre-planned programs, but I told them that I was a hard worker and would gladly be someone's personal assistant in exchange for the chance to travel there. No luck -- UNTIL, in a google search for "Christian Churches in Mongolia," a link to the University of Colorado at Boulder's study abroad program appeared. The course? Digital Photography in Mongolia, a three-week, three-credit course designed to teach students the basics of digital photography as an art medium and as social commentary. Perfect, right? I spoke with everyone and his dog at Moore and made an agreement to transfer this class in as Digital Photo I, a class that I need to fulfill my minor.

Here's where I am now:

The application deadline for the program is March 3rd and I have nearly completed it. The only things missing are my transcripts (which are on the way as we speak!) and my letter of recommendation which I am guaranteeing overnight on Thursday.

The program is quite expensive, however, and I plan to generate as much of the funding myself as possible. In order to make the nearly $8,000 I will need altogether for this trip, I plan to apply for as many scholarships as possible, which is proving to be difficult considering the nature of the program restricts my eligibility for most available scholarships and grants. I will also save every penny of my meager paychecks until then, and as soon as school's out, I will work extremely hard to earn as much as possible. In addition, I plan to create and sell inexpensive prints of my work, so stay tuned and buy lots and lots of artwork to support me!!

Even with all of these things, I realize the virtual impossibility of raising $8,000 in 3 1/2 months as a beyond full-time college student, so I plan to take out an educational loan to cover any unpaid expenses. NOTHING will stand in the way of this project! Not even that small matter called money.

Here's what's next:

I have to get my passport, get a camera, get accepted into the program and get the bills paid. I will probably also need some warm winter clothes because the Gobi Desert tends to be a bit colder than Central Pennsylvania.

Here's a little bit about Mongolia:

According to Wikipedia, the entire population of Mongolia is between 2.6 and 2.9 Million people. ( the population of New York City is about 8.2 million ) About 30% of the population is nomadic or seminomadic living in round tents called "gers" (mistakenly called "yurts") and herding animals.

The predominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, but Islam, Christianity and Shamanism are practiced on the fringes. Mongolia was once ruled by a militaristic, communist regime basically controlled by Stalin and the Soviet Union. When Mongolia recently became free from this restrictive regime, they began to open their country to a greater variety of religions. According to the US State Department, there is no national religion but all religious groups must undergo a complex application process in order to exist and work in the country. To date, there have been no cases taken to trial concerning injustices related to the permit regulations. Mongolia is currently in a state of transition between their traditional, isolated lifestyle and an interest in a degree of westernization including capitalism and democracy. The matter of religion is particularly sensitive to Mongolians because Stalin had out-right banned the practice of Buddhism in Mongolia, setting fire to many of the country's beautiful monasteries. Some Mongolians are afraid of losing the right to practice their faith because of another government mandate.

For further reading on Mongolia, check out Wikipedia.