Cargo.

One of my really close family friends, Sue, goes to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She is a visual artist in her senior year and she works with metals. She has a lot of art pieces if you are interested her website will be posted on here! She has one fibers piece named "influences" that I really like. I have known this girl since the day I was born. She is from Westchester, NY.  For as long as I can remember she has been coming over and sleeping over with her sister who is my age. She just came over two days ago! Anyways this piece is a bunch of maps morphed into one giant one. It is really cool. When I saw that Long Island made it into her piece was pretty cool. So I just applied to this Cargo website to hopefully get a webpage started for my work! I think I am going to take it slow with the acting for a bit. I really do enjoy it but I keep catching myself (literally) eyeing my paint brush and I keep looking at work I made last year in STAC. I believe thats a sign I should go back and work on something. I just want to take a quick second to thank everyone that came up to me and comforted me after fridays mishap. I really really really REALLY appreciate it! It meant a lot that after we all went home to enjoy our first day of vacation I was getting texts asking if I was okay. On the post should be posted the link! enjoy!    Sue's Work!

Future of this tree.

Well today in STAC we had a bit of free time. So i figured why not and paint! Since I have the time because I know that I wont have time to do it tonight. I decided to paint something simple and something I can finish in twenty minutes. I ended up painting a tree with some leaves and a cloudy background. I had a lot of fun doing this. I am debating on whether or not I should start a 365. I would either do photography or painting or some sort of drawing. I am just afraid of not being able to keep up with my busy schedule. Maybe i'll start at the end of this school year to finish at the end of my senior year. Although i definitely want to have one done before I graduate!

I seem to find myself in a position where:
a) I want to do art.
b) I want to do acting.
c) I want to try photography.
d) Look into architecture (something I may want to major in)
e) Look into interior design (something else I may want to major in also)
f) I want to have time to keep up with my art and acting but try photography.
g) No time.

It's pretty annoying how as time goes on I have more and more of a busy schedule and I want to do these things. I really want to try to brainstorm and find a way where I can at least do the majority. Using STAC and outside time. As you can tell I keep mentioning college because it is around the corner! I am starting to feel the pressure. Two things I want to major in (I think) is architecture. I know "I think" doesn't sound too good. I have always had a sort of interest in it. I feel like if I take the TIME (something that is very scarce in my life at the moment) to look more into it and practiced some basic things I would be more motivated. Another thing that I love love love love love and for sure I know I want to do even as a side job is interior design. My mom used to be an interior designer and I believe she went to school for that when she lived in Peru. I love mix and matching things to make a room. I got my bathroom redone 3 years ago. My family made 1 big bathroom into two separate ones. One for my parents and one for me! I designed my own bathroom and picked out the tiles and sink and all that fun stuff. If i have time later on this week i'll take a picture of it and explain my decisions. Anyways, my mom loves recreating rooms and has always done some sort of home improvement since I was young.  My fear with that is that if i do decide to major in it it will not turn out well. So I guess I am stuck. I also am going to research other majors that involve art. I do not want to not major in something that involves art. I feel like ever since I was young i've wanted to do something with art. Maybe this tree is the lost tree in the middle of know where representing me. Sort of lost, looking for a place to go.

New Project...?

I've been thinking about a project and playing around with my camera. I really had a lot of fun doing the "Wall of faces project." I did portraits of people that I knew. I would definitely want to work with portrait photography and put my camera more to use. I did a bit of Wikipedia research about things like lighting and it seems pretty cool. I kind of wanted to try it last year but then I realized that I wanted to try acting first. Anyways I am going to do more research and see what I can do! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_photography

Kontroll.

We watched Kontroll earlier this week in STAC. It was really really awesome! I have watched it twice since and it just gets better and better every time! I have been recommending my friends to watch it too. Something about it got to me. Usually it is pretty hard for me to concentrate on a movie for its entirety during STAC because I am not comfortable when I sit or just if people react to something a certain way and I don't i'll spend a while trying to figure out what I didn't and by then the movie is over. I could not keep my eyes off the screen. It was just so interesting and it pulled you and even if you didn't want to watch it had that affect where it made you want to. I think the story behind it is really good. The whole time watching it I was saying to myself "the guy who is pushing the people in front of the trains is the guy himself." It is still unclear who did it since it can be many different people. I think that it kind of awesome because it makes your mind think about all the possibilities. The main character was phenomenal. I promised my family I would show it to them too! I am looking forward to that! 

Missing my friend.

Ive just gotten into this mood where I want to blog. Also I really miss working on my art. I love working on theatre, something that I never in a million years thought I would do. It is a lot of fun but I miss my friend, art. Last time I worked on art in Stac was a while ago and I had to do timed gesture drawings to get my proportions correct. So I decided to pick up where I left off! Instead of doing pencil i did water color. When I saw my brush i felt the need to just use it. My proportions still are looking weak. I decided to work on a picture of my boyfriend. The painting on the left was 3 minutes and the small one on the right was 1 and a half. Everything is all over the place. So i plan to try another one tomorrow! This was a pretty exciting night because I always say how I want to work on art but I never get a chance to because of school work. Im glad I finally got some free time!

The Brain.

http://www.brainfitnessforlife.com/brain-anatomy-and-imaging/9-differences-between-the-male-and-female-brain/

Today in class we discussed the difference between male and female brains. I don't entirely know why but I was really really interested in it. I was telling one of my friends about it. I got home and did some research on it. I found this link and it basically said what we talked about in class how men are less likely to worry, their spatial abilities are sharper, women have better communication skills. I also learned that the males brain is ten percent larger then the females brain to accommodate bigger body mass. Another thing I found pretty interesting was men are more left brain dominant and women are balanced between right and left. Lastly, Men are more likely to be dyslexic or have other language disabilities. Males are also more prone to autism, ADHD and Tourette’s Syndrome, while women are more likely to have mood disorders like anxiety and depression.  I feel like I want to do something with this information. It really really interests me. 

3 Core Values.

1) Independent
2) Self Worth
3) Control

I have always known that independence was a important value in my life but I just realized that self worth and control were too. 

Los Questions dos!

1) How much time did you spend working?

On my individual I spent the whole week working on a project but on my final product about 3 days.

2) How much time did you spend thinking about the work - sort of sitting there and staring at it, or listening to it over and over again, etc.?

For the first couple of days I was sitting and looking at all the still lives that Mr. Ganes has set up. Contemplating on where I should begin. I started about 20 of them but I couldn't finish them. I started then stared at them and threw them away. I was definitely not happy with them. I was lacking confidence the first couple of days.

3) How much time did you spend doing other stuff that seems like work to that make you think you're working but you're not?

I don't remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday I had finally chose to draw Peter. Then I got bored of that and I looked at the Perrier bottles that are set up in Mr. Ganes' still lives and I started drawing them. I spent about 8th and 9th period drawing the bottles because of my frustration that had built up with the Peter drawing. Now looking back on it it was a waste of time because I could've done so much to fix the peter piece but I didn't and at the end of the intense week I did feel a little rushed.

4) How much time did you spend socializing?


I didn't spend as much time socializing as I did last year. There were times I was socializing while working and I got distracted but I feel like I am getting better when it comes to that. It is really all about catching yourself. If I didn't catch myself I probably wouldn't have had anything to show at the end of the week.

5) How did you use your community?


Well Courtney came to the rescue when I needed help on my Peter piece. She helped me out with proportions. For the majority of the week i was sitting by Peter, Bari, Katherine and Kaitlyn I would always ask them for their opinion on it. They would always give me their honest answer when something needed to be fixed.

6) Rip apart your awful project and how did such a disaster happen?

I don't entirely understand this question but I am assuming it is asking to bash on your project and how to make it better? I think I could have planned my timing better. There was still a lot to be done and it wasn't done. I also got a lot of not erasable charcoal on the parts that needed to be white and I could've been more neat about it and brought in white conte crayon to bring out the whites.

7) You've completed a step on your path. What is your next step?

Definitely my next step in the acting part is to do more acting. Practice, start small and hopefully it will get somewhere. I plan on auditioning for a part in the musical if i like the whole stage crew experience in the play.  My next step with visual arts is to move around the visual arts area. I have a really cool sculpture idea that I want to work on sometime in the future. I would even like to work more with ceramics. I have been working a lot in ceramics this summer and I really like it. Finally, for painting I am going to start and try to make more paintings that arent landscapes. I think I got those covered I just want to challenge myself and try painting faces because i have never done that. If I end up not liking the experience i will stick with landscapes and do more complicated ones. 

Los Questions #1

1) You've worked on a group film and on your own. In which situation are you most comfortable - group or solo? Which do you work best in?


 I don't want to say I like one over the other because I don't. Personally I feel like I need to both and I get things done when I am put in both situations. I like the balance of having pressure on myself which motivates me to get things done and done right when I work alone. When I work with other people the stress is shared and it is not as much. I loved the group film. I thought it was a great way to start off the year. I have been interested in acting for a while and I haven't done much about it. I am doing stage crew for the play "Our Town" to get a better feel of everything and hopefully I will move on to actually auditioning for a part in the musical. Anyways! yeah well this film was really cool it was the first time I actually broke out of my shell and it was a bit intimidating since I was in a group with all talented and experienced actors. That's why I like group work because you can work off each other and motivate each other.


 2) What did you learn that you expected to learn?

In the individual part I was expecting to get a better control of the vine and compressed charcoal and get better at still life drawings. This summer I worked with still life drawings but they were just so terrible. I really just want to do one still life that actually looked like the thing I am drawing. The only thing that I have made that looked like the legit thing was a drapery piece.

3) What did you learn that you didn't expect to learn? 


 I learned a little bit more about proportions. Courtney was floating around the room one day and I had asked her to help me because my piece looked so off and I was about to throw it out and actually explode. She had told me that my angles were off and I was doing them wrong. When I saw her doing it I realized I was and when I tried it for myself the piece transformed and it was pretty cool. In the group project I learned that I am not as shy as I think I am. I was honestly so scared of showing that film to the class. I was about to pee myself. Once Luke played it I calmed down and I didn't even care that everyone was watching. I started to laugh and I was not expecting that from myself.

4) What didn't you learn that you expected to learn?

For the Individual I didn't learn how to actually do a still life without a picture. Which was my whole purpose of choosing the charcoal still life as my project. I am pretty upset about that but my final piece turned out pretty awesome. I definitely won't stop trying. I am working a little bit at home on my own time with charcoal still lives.


 5) Praise your amazing achievement and explain your brilliant plan for pulling it off.

For the individual I ended up drawing Peter for my charcoal piece. I am pretty proud of it. It is the first piece that I made that actually looks like the person I am trying to draw without me using the grid technique. At first I was having a lot of trouble with the proportions and it was really stressful because Peter was moving, I was moving and there were eraser shavings everywhere. Finally, I decided to get Peter to pose and I took my fabulous iphone and took a picture and I started using the picture as a reference. I came across many obstacles. One being my cracked phone. This kid dropped my phone and cracked the whole screen so I had to look at the picture like that. It wasn't too bad it made the picture look kind of cool. As I am writing this I am starting to wish that I had included the cracked screen in the piece. Other than that that was my brilliant plan for pulling it off!

Petur.

I was determined to find a final something to draw. I was searching around the room and everything seemed way too boring or way too complicated especially for the time we have. I started to draw a still life set up but I found myself so unhappy. I wanted to get some compressed charcoal since it stays on better because i was also getting annoyed at the fact that the vine was getting all over the place. I was also getting frustrated with myself because I really wanted to start something. I was starting to regret not painting but I know I should not paint since I want to get better at my charcoal skills. I was just sitting and doodling when I realize I am drawing Peter who was directly in front of me! I don't entirely know why but I love observing people in the way they sit. I have a lot of sketches of people sitting listening to music or writing or even drawing. I think it is pretty cool. Peter was on his computer doing his project and I start drawing him working. I had everything in mind I wanted to do a close up on just him on his computer with nothing else in the background. In the process of all this I ran into two problems. One problem being that Peter was moving a lot. The second problem was measuring everything to have things in proportion. It was getting really frustrating because I would measure one thing and then I would measure it again to double check and it was completely wrong. After a while Courtney came to help me measure because clearly I was doing something wrong with the measuring. She too was having trouble and we were not agreeing on one measure. Then later on i realized that I move around a lot in my seat and that was what was messing me up in the proportion part. After a while I started to see more of a figure that looked like something. I liked it a lot and I am going to start working on the shades tomorrow. 

charcoal

For this week I want to work on a charcoal piece. Today I worked on a still life that Mr. Ganes has out. I did not find it too entertaining but I really want to work on my charcoal skills since they are not that great. It turned out to be a pretty good rough draft and I think i am ready to start tomorrow. I really like working with charcoal especially vine charcoal since it is more forgiving then compressed. I just need to work on controlling the charcoal on the paper. This summer i worked on a still life charcoal piece of a tea pot with a column next to it. I didnt entirely like it. I am excited to start but i also don't feel like i am too excited because i know i would've written a more exiting blog post! Ill you know how it goes tomorrow!

Ceramics: The Jar

                                     This is one of the pieces I made in my ceramics class.

 It is a little jar that i made on the wheel. It is my favorite piece because its a huge improvement on pieces that i have made in ceramics from the past two summers. I am a very small person with very small hands. My eight year old cousin has bigger hands than I do. Throwing pots on the wheel is very difficult because I need to have control of every part of the pot at all times or else the walls may get too thin, the base may get to thin or the whole thing can just collapse. I have had that happen before its not exactly fun. Sometimes its not that easy to have control of everything. Many pieces i make on the wheel come out  very small. I have another piece that I will post soon that collapsed on me but looked kinda cool so I kept it and fired it. Carving the lip and the foot of the jar scared me so much because it looked so good and I was so scared to have it just mess up because of the carving. My instructor really calmed me down and helped me carve out a pretty good lip. She then explained to me that the lip of the jar is the bottom part or the base and the foot of the jar is the opening at the top. I found that pretty cool. The first pot I made this session was terrible the lip was all over the place. I was very proud of myself to see this one come out so nice! Since I was so scared of the jar collapsing the walls on it are a little bit thick. Which after firing upset me because we had three options of glazing. One was raku the next was regular acrylic glaze and the last option was pit firing. I have many pieces with raku, acrylic and pit firing. I really wanted this jar to be rakued with the crackel glaze. This is the crackle glaze with raku firing that i found off google. I find it really cool and i thought it would look so nice on my jar. The problem was that the walls were too thick and if I had put it in the raku firing kiln it would have exploded. Also it wasn't Raku clay so that would have also made it explode if I had chosen to put it in the Raku kiln. I finally decided to paint it with brown acrylic and have it fired in the regular kiln. It didn't turn out terrible and I was satisfied with it. It looks like a little jar you would find in an antique store. I love it!


example of Raku crackle glaze. This is probably how my jar would have looked like if I had made the walls thinner.