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Archive

Experiencing a place through work, adventure sport, or study is the first step to creating a body of work. Below are visuals and a brief description about Alsup's experience in the location that inspired her artwork. 

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ALASKA Bristol Bay, June - July 2021

     Alaska, the "final frontier" is a rugged landscape home to jagged mountains and intense weather. While Alsup's first adventure in Alaska wasn't the exciting mountaineering trip or bear watching experience that many seek, it was none-the-less exciting.

     Alsup worked at the Red Salmon Cannery near Naknek Alaska, where she saved her paychecks to fund her study abroad semester. The job provided free food and housing, and she worked 12 to 16 hour shifts, 7 days a week, for 30 days. Alsup was originally hired as a salmon processor, where she was expecting to work in the factory gutting and canning fish. But she got lucky! Upon her arrival, the office needed an assistant, and pulled her resume from the bunch. Alsup spent her summer driving the company van around the Bristol Bay area, running errands for the office. She spent hours staring out of the car window at the looming mountains of Kaitmai National park across the bay, and sometimes spotted moose or grizzly bear wandering near by. 

It's About You Size
Boat Yard
Cannery Meals
Salmon Cannery I

Top Left: It's About You Sized, 5' x 3.5' watercolor on yupo

Top Right (top): Boat Yard III, 48" x 30" ink on paper

Top Right (bottom): Meal Time, 48" x 30" watercolor on paper

Bottom: Alaskan Salmon Cannery I, 18" x 24" pen on paper

Colorado June - August 2020, June - August 2022

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    Alsup started work with Colorado's Rocky Mountain Youth Corp (RMYC), based out of Steamboat Springs, in June of 2020 after her first year of college. It was the farthest she had ever been from home, and her first time seeing mountains.

     With the youth corp, Alsup built hiking trails throughout Colorado, but spent most of the time working in Arapaho National Forest with her crew. On their off days, Alsup and her crew would explore the state through backpacking trips, beautiful hikes, or climbing mountains. 

     Alsup returned to RMYC in the summer of 2022, and worked on Mt. Elbert- the tallest peak in Colorado. Her crew of 9 lived at a base camp on the mountain. They would wake up at 2am, hike 3.5 miles to work with a 3,000 ft. elevation gain, and push rocks around on the mountain to build hiking trails until the afternoon storms chased them down. 

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Top Left: Letters Home, 32" x 18" watercolor on paper

Top Right (top): Desert Flowers, 32" x 50" ink and watercolor on paper

Top Right (bottom): Rocky Mountain National Park, 12" x 24" pen and watercolor on paper

Bottom: Break-time Reading, 4.5' x 6' ink on paper

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Palestine October 1 2021 - February 1 2022

Jerusalem was home for four months during Alsup's semester abroad, where she studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. She lived in East Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives with two Bulgarian sisters and a German exchange student. During the school days, Alsup would wake up to the Islamic neighborhood's call to prayer, and practice a few Arabic greetings so she could say hello to the neighbors as she walked to the academy. While not in school learning from her new professors and international peers, Alsup spent time hiking and camping by herself in Palestine's beautiful wilderness. Alsup's favorite places to wander was Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea, and the Judean Mountains in the Hakdoshim Forest between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. 

Top Left: The Village of Lifta, 32" x 48" watercolor and ink on yupo

Top Right: Ein Gedi I, 48" x 32" watercolor and ink on yupo

Bottom: 6 of the 96 portraits of strangers in Jerusalem, 7" x 5" graphite on Kraft paper

Sketchbook Pages

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Left: Bicycles in Waldo, Ohio May 13th, 2021

Right: Leaves at Blue Lime Stone Park in Delaware, Ohio May 15th, 2021

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Left: Illustration of the State of Washington and Alaska with journal entries of the journey by bus and plane from Walla Walla, Washington to Naknek, Alaska, June 19th 2021

Right: A dog's paws while napping in Walla Walla, Washington, June 15th 2021

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Left: The porch at my parents house in Delaware, Ohio, May 21st 2021

Right: My foot on the Greyhound bus in South Dakota, May 24th 2021

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Figure Studies at the JFK Airport in New York, September 29th 2021

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Left: Downtown in Walla Walla, Washington, June 7th 2021

Right: Observations of hair and face texture and succulents in a friends home in Walla Walla, Washington, June 9th 2021

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Make shift pockets in the back of the sketchbook to collect various plane, train, and bus tickets, tour tickets, souvenirs, photos, etc. 

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A collection of bus tickets, baggage claim tags, a photograph, a souvenir penny, train tickets, plane tickets, tour tickets, and metro cards from 2021.

To view a more detailed Archive, you can view Alsup's Google Earth to see where each work of art has been inspired by.  

© 2023 by Odam Lviran. Proudly created with Wix.com.

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