Jim Warren

Jim Warren has paintings that remind you of a coloring crayon box that exploded. His work is just completely beautiful and the colors are fantastic. You can tell he gets inspiration from landscapes and the human form, since his photography has a lot to do with human bodies and faces being depicted within some sort of landscape. The colors are what really stands out. It is almost Lisa Frank like with the colors he uses, most children would be drawn to his work just based on the fact that it is so brightly colored and magnificent.

Yoko Ono

Yes- she is blamed for making the Beatles split up. True she is one of the more annoying artists of anything out there. Did anyone think that maybe she is actually good though? Yoko Ono, as hyped up as she is by her name, is actually quite underrated. She needs no introduction really, because she was in love with the most influential man in music, and she played her role well. She has done everything. She sings, sculpts, paints, and so much more. She has kept going even though there is a certain stigma about her name, especially since she has been called "the woman who broke up the Beatles" Her talent may be overshadowed by this, but in reality I believe this is what makes her great. She became the scape goat for Beatles fans to blame, but took it with stride. Even though she is Mrs. Lennon, she has overcome what has happened- made something more of herself, and become who she is today.

Richard Zoland

An impressionist who's paintings have gone fairly unnoticed is Richard Zoland. He was an artist whose art grew purely out of his inspiration and his talent. His inspirations included his day to day life and nature. Significant exhibitions include the Metropolitan Galleries in Osaka, Japan, the World Trade Center, 
Cape Cod Art Association, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, 
and his private gallery, Zolan’s On The Avenue in Palm Desert, California. He was once described as the 
man who was America. He build up new ideas from old traditions. He never let the work become more than
what it was. Never making it too big of a deal, or toning it down to mute it either.

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was a predominantly a landscape photographer, but not in the sense that a lot of people think. He took pictures of beautiful places or interesting places in the world, not just going around taking pictures of houses from a plane. You know the type I'm talking about- They come to your house with a giant picture of your home, attempting to sell it to you because it is an arial photograph of your home. No- this isn't Ansel. He started off as a musician- playing piano was predominantly his passion. The started transforming from a pianist to a photographer over a few years, and then his star really began to shine in the 1930s. He traveled the world seeking new and eccentric places to photograph. He was always searching for a bit more. He was an activist for the environment, and rallied and traveled in support for natural preserves and conservation efforts.

Though his love was the forest and the environment, his passion was photography. Mixing the two was only second nature, and a completely perfect combination.

Louise Bourgeouis

Louise Bourgeouis had a very rough start in her Art career. When she was 21 her mother died, and at the time Louise was studying Math, but this inspired her to study Art. Her father thought that art was a waste and wouldn't help her further her education. In her work you can see where her inspiration came from. She had references to her past like her childhood. This gives the world a constant insight to the way she was raised and what kind of experiences she had as a child. During the middle stages of her career (despite being celebrated for her contributions to the art community) she was seemingly unpopular, and received very little attention from artists everywhere.

Louise liked to take what made people uncomfortable, and turn it into art. In much of her work you see the human figure dismantled or awkwardly placed in a situation, often times it is disfigured as well. Her art was quite frequently about the human form, but also about emotions such as fear and disgust. An artist who can get this much emotion out of people just by a piece of art, is by far a great artist.

Robert Hughes Film-

I chose to analyze Jeff Koonz, because I enjoy how much everyone loves to hate him.
The piece "Puppy" is an excellent piece to look at for this.


1. How does the artist utilize material/media/found object in an art historical context, versus a contemporary context?
Koonz piece is made out of something you can find outside practically every spring. Flowers and dirt. The simplicity of this piece is awesome, and the fact that dirt and flowers are normally found outside really makes this piece work from a historical stand point.2. How do these materials inform the meaning of the piece?
The materials are super organic, outside of the metal frame work used to hold it up. The materials literally hare dirt and flowers. It makes the piece simple, yet complex at the same time. It is a massive piece of topiary, which the colors make complicated.3. What site was chosen for the artwork?
The original site for "Puppy" was in Germany, and in 2000 it did a brief exhibition in Rockefeller center where the massive christmas tree usually sits. 4. How does the site/place inform the meaning of the artwork?
The site has changed several times for this piece, which I believe each individual site brings something else to the table. In Rockefeller center, I think that the site helped show how the busy city needs to come down to more simple things, like a giant dog.

Alma Gomez

Alma Gomez is my art 109 drawing foundations teacher. For such a talented woman, she is very humble and close to her roots. She has done exhibitions all across Idaho, Utah and Nevada, and also does art work for Boise State as well. Several of her pieces reside in the student union building at BSU, as well as over in the Education building, and I believe one in the Morrison center.

A lot of her work has a spanish feel to it. Usually portraying people of Latin American heritage in them, or titled something in spanish. Most of the men are dark haired, leaving that spanish or latin feel, as many europeans are blond. You can tell she draws a lot of inspiration from her roots, as she incorporates her Latin roots into her paintings. Her still life pictures are often times non representational, or they have no real cultural feel to them. They are done by Alma, but she does not always incorporate her heritage into her pieces.

I had a hard time getting pictures of her work for my blog, as most of them are copyrighted and I am not allowed to paste them here. Bummer- I know.
But this is Alma herself-

Molly Hill

Molly Hill was featured at the Basement Gallery in Boise on 4/7/11. Her pieces were interesting, so I decided to focus on her for today. Most of her work has an oriental feel to it, even if it is not completely intended. Her inspirations come from Chinese culture, and the amazing historical sites there as well. She got a grant from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in conjunction with her visit to mount a one-person exhibit titled China Daydream at J Crist Gallery in December, 2007. This is where the oriental feel came into her work.

The red dot is a big feature in her work. I'm not sure what it is intended to be, but for me it is something representing the sun. It may be something else, but it is in almost every one of her paintings. There is almost always a string tying something up as well. It may symbolize how the Chinese are very wrapped up in their own culture.

E.H Shepherd

Today I am focusing on E.H. Shepherd. Many people will recognize his name, but not fully remember who he is. He is the man who illustrated Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne. His illustrations are very expensive collectors pieces now, and the original pooh oil painting sold for $285,000 in late 2000. As much as everyone loved his Winnie the Pooh illustrations, that bear seems to overshadow most of Shepherd's work.

Though Pooh bear overshadows his other work, I feel like Pooh exemplifies his work to a tee. Shepherd did a lot of pen and ink drawings. Most of his Winnie the Pooh pieces were pen and ink. I feel that without Shepherd's illustrations of Pooh, the bear wouldn't have been so popular and probably wouldn't be such an icon as he is today.

E.H. Shepherd wrote and illustrated his Autobiography, which I have yet had a chance to read. 

He did more than illustrate Winnie the Pooh, he fathered two children whom also became illustrators. He was one of Punch magazine's leading cartoonists for nearly 30 years. It is said that Pooh was his biggest regret because drawing Pooh resulted in the bulk of his work through life.

Boise History Museum

The Boise Historical museum hasn't changed since I was about 8 years old. That was the first time I had ever visited it, so it probably hasn't changed for a much longer time than 12 years. They move the exhibits around sometimes, but the overall content of the museum is quite dull. They have a gorgeous bar in there from an actual saloon, but the two headed calf has been moved recently from its spot in the other room into the bar area. It is stuff like this that makes me crazy when it comes to museums. Having random things in random spots. They also have this case that is full of stuff that has "recently been donated" over by the indian and cowboy saddles. It seems like the current curator of the museum hasn't thought of placement of things very carefully. They have a room about 75% of the way empty, which also REALLY bugs me.

Cabela's

I had never been to Cabela's before I started this project. I never made time to go in there, since I figured it was just like sportsman's warehouse and D&B. I figured that once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Cabela's actually has a few really cool exhibits inside of it like the mountain in the middle with different American wildlife, an the African display in the back left corner of the store. Those two were both amazing, especially the African one, but the part that really was cool was the gun display. There is an animatronic man in the arcade area who was actually based off a real man who hunted pretty much everything in the world. The guns are neatly displayed in the arcade behind glass, each with their story beside them. It is really classy. You can tell that they always are cleaning in there, or that the cases are airtight. I am really impressed by this.

4/7/11- Anne Frank Memorial

Over the last 6 years I have been to the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial at least 15 times. This place is amazing. I was around a few years back when vandals actually tipped over the bronze statue. If you aren't from around here, check out the link below. Two months prior to that, it was plastered with neo Nazi stickers.
http://www.kboi2.com/news/7602292.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3403224,00.html

At the memorial, you approach it and see that it is shaped like the rooftops of houses and a statue of Anne perched on a chair looking out. That is from the front of course. If you approach it from the back you come up upon a giant marble slab with an engraving on it, which leads to some stairs. The slab at the back is the exact shape of the book case that hid the stairwell to the attic. The stairs lead up into the memorial, where you see a Bronze figure of Anne gazing out of the window. On the ground there are double lines that indicate how large the room was that they stayed in. It includes everything about the size and shape of that room, which shows you just how small of a space those 8 people lived in. The surrounding park has a water feature that has many human rights

1) Describe what you see, including location (context) and physical space.
It is in between 9th street and capitol and river street. The river is to the back of it. It looks like the top of houses with Anne Frank looking out a window.

2) Describe the varying degrees of representation.

The angles of the stone slabs represent rooftops. The stairs up the back represent the stairs into the attic. The giant stone slab is the book case.

3) What are visual elements/principles that dominate in the memorial?

The color of the stone is the color of the inside of the house. The fountain dominates the right side of the feature, while the memorial dominates the left. The green from the trees really emphasizes the color of the stone used.

4) Is this memorial "site-specific"? Explain.

If it were anywhere else in the city, I think it would use some of its impact. I think it could really be anywhere, but the central location is ideal, and the river adds tranquility.

5) Who created, designed, and funded this memorial?

Kurt Karst designed the memorial's fountains. Greg Stone designed Anne Frank's Statue. It was funded by groups across Idaho such as school children

6) What materials/media were used to create this memorial?

Anne is made out of Bronze, and the stone seems to be marble and sandstone.

7) How do the text elements function?

They are all about human rights, and treating people the way you would want to be treated.

8) Reflecting on your answers to the previous questions, what do you think was the intended meaning or function? Explain what is communicated.

The intended meaning is to respect human dignity and diversity, and learn from the past because the future is inevitable.

9) In your opinion, how successful is this memorial? Explain.

I feel it is completely 100% functional. The location is ideal because the fountains and the cabin sort of seclude it and make it reasonably quiet for being between two major streets.

3/24/11- Andy Warhol

So today we are going to look at Andy Warhol. I didn't want to use him as an example, but I felt his art needed a little light shed on it from my blog. Warhol's use of acrylics, printmaking, and screen printing helped shape art into what it is today, and helped lead the way in the Pop art movement. He got alot of his muse in earlier work from iconic american products and people. Campbell's soups, Coca-Cola, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe are only a few of these.

 

Warhol was shot in 1968, of which he almost died. This influenced alot of his later paintings and screen printings.

This one was done in 1977.

What does it say to you?

3/24/- Second Place

Kyleeflower won second place in my art class's carving competition!
YEAHHHHH!!!
This is how it was displayed...

Outside of color-
I'd say the two look pretty similar!

3/23/11

I was going to carve a hand out of my soap- I melted it and then formed this pitiful looking hand by smashing together the mashed potato-like soap flakes. Really- soap doesn't melt well at all. I was going to have the hand coming out of the marshmallow fluff thing like God's hand coming out of a cloud.

I resolved and carved a piece of cauliflower out of my soap.
I resolved at this when the rest of my ideas failed miserably and I looked at my soap and thought about what it should look like if I were to just go with it. As I carved it started taking shape as a tree- but a tree was too common for me, and I wasn't about to go around carving something that obvious and easy. I am so pleased with my cauliflower!
Its called Kyleeflower- :D

3/22/11- Loon Loon

Deviant art has brought me across some really excellent artists-
one of Loon Loon. I have not figured out her real name, but her photography is really interesting to me, and in times super cute.

She gets her inspiration from nature, the human body and the sexuality of it, and animals.

This picture is just too adorable. The super tired puppy would make a great ad for nike since it is just chilling on a nike sneaker. She takes the innocence of the animal and captures it right as it is happening. She manages to catch it just before it has a fit and goes into it's mini rampage of insanity.

This piece explores the sexuality of the human body while (to me) showing what innocence may be leaving. The long bambi-esque eyelashes scream innocence to me, where the apprehension in the picture is far too much to handle because it seems as if they are about to pull away or just jump into this kiss. It is a feeling that alot of people feel right before that first kiss- it is the "do I do this" moment, the "what if I" moment.

She captures moments in life that we all wish we had taken the time to steal up ourselves but never found the time to. I hope she follows the same type of theme in her pictures, because it captures a piece of ignorance as well as awkwardness.

3/22/11

I changed my idea a bit- I decided to make "swear pops" out of soap and a brownie mold. I was going to smooth out the little squares and insert sticks into them so they looked like suckers. It was going to play off the idea of washing your mouth out with soap- but unfortunately the idea of a stick coming out of the sucker was frowned upon because the soap can't have anything but the soap.

I put the soap in the microwave to melt it and it came out looking like marshmallow fluff, but with a flaky texture. I kind of just wanted to leave the soap in there for the full minute and thirty seconds but I really didn't want to have to clean out the microwave because soap, is ironically hard to clean up!

3/21/11- Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom is an artist out of Reno Nevada who has sort of captivated me today. Since I plan to travel to Reno soon, I hope to possibly see some of his work while I'm down there. He paints with alot of oils and dyes. His vivid colors attract me. I am a vivid color type of person. I enjoy stuff lacking in color, but it is harder for me to get into than a pretty piece full of color- regardless the meaning.

This piece was actually the poster work for Reno's Artown, which was featured recently. Artown is an event that runs for the entirety of the month of July in Reno Nevada. I imagine that this piece was there in full size rather than just on the poster for the event. I love the blending and use of deep purples that contrast with the greens and compliment the yellows. This picture by Steve Bloom is absolutely beautiful. There are actually 2 men online featured as artists under the name Steve Bloom, to make sure you get the right one, he isn't the one who lives in Africa (obviously)

3/20/11

Soap or Spam?
I chose soap.
Spam makes me get the heebie jeebies. I know... I'm a weird duck, but roughly 90% of my class chose soap due to the vile nature of Spam.

My idea: I'm going to make a soap sculpture consisting of rings made of soap- giving new meaning to the words "soap ring".
You can wear them to wash your hands and never need a bar of soap again! Just wear your soap ring or wash ring to any social gathering and be amazed at the response your friends give you! Then when you need to wash your hands, don't worry about finding a sink with soap, you can use the spigot outside and your soap ring to ensure the cleanest of hands.

Yeah--- like that will sell!
ha ha!

3/18/11- Ramon San Andres R.

Photography is overlooked frequently on my blog. I will look at it occasionally, but it is usually when I look at transformations that have been perfomed on the photograph, such as the ones of Erica and I. Ramon San Andres R. seems to have captured my attention with his attention to detail and color.

I like how he takes the metal buildings and combines them with the beauty of the sky. Those two things go together like Mac & Cheese. I feel that his art is not completely original though in the fact that a lot of pictures out now in the publishing world feature this same theme. Sky and buildings. Modern things such as metal and concrete are a very prominent feature in photography now days.

Ramon San Andres R. seems to derive his inspiration from random things as well as buildings and people. He mostly does photography, but has a few paintings as well, which I find to be lacking in something for my taste.

This piece below makes me smile every time I stumble across it.

It is so innocent yet there is something about it that kind of makes you question it's intention.

3/17/11

My book project was a success! After my dad and I replaced the window in my car, I gathered up a bunch of it in a felt bag so that I could use it for my project. I used the inverted shape of the hamburger bun to create what looked like a clam shell. I dumped the glass in the middle of the "Obama shell" and placed the rock that flew through my window in the middle with the metal clip that held the window up.

When you get up close you can see the obama print in the paper itself. I tried to leave pictures showing through the different papers so people would question what book I used. 

I entitled this piece "$20.00 and gum" because that was all the thief stole from my car. I felt it had a nice ring to it, and was a fairly straight forward name that was comical.

 

 

3/16/11- Alex Pardee

Born in in 1976 with influences from 80's horror flicks, pop art, graffiti and gangster rap.
He uses alot of dyes, pen, and ink sort of materials but is trying to move more towards acrylic paints and oils. I really enjoy his art because some of it scares me while it intrigues me.

 

This one is entitled Escaped Conviction. It is very vivid, and the color is initially what attracted me to it. When I finally looked at it closer than a thumbnail, I realized how morbid and heinous this actually is.

Guilty Smurf

Guilty much? Ah I see you've got blood on your hands, that means you must have done something.

The painting above frightens me. Smurfs don't really look like that, they just sort of "resemble" that. I really dislike the use of the smurf in this. He represents innocence but is totally countered by the guilt of the blood on his hands

3/15/11

I no longer have a window in my car---
It was smashed out at 6:30 this morning while I was getting ready for work. I hope whoever stole out of my car realized that they didn't even get anything! They just stole an empty bag- so they lose. I feel a little triumphant over the thief because they didn't get anything!

On a sad note- the rock landed on my hamburger bun- yes my Obama paper bun for my hamburger book.
Now the top shell is inverted into the bottom shell, full of glass. I'm rather annoyed because now I have to either start over or incorporate this into my project, which I probably will add this into my project because the glass is really cool. It didn't break like other glasses do- with pointy, long, sharp shards everywhere. It broke into these little beads that have a really interesting pattern throughout them. It looks like this, although this isn't my photo because I haven't taken any close up pictures of the glass. It could make for something really impressive.

3/14/11

I've been really into a site called Deviantart.com- it is full of artists just waiting for someone to take notice of them. It is a really great outlet for work, especially if you have a following of people, because then it prompts you to do more art for them. When people like you, they tend to follow your work, which propels you forward. At least that is the way it is with me. If someone comments on how they enjoy my art, I feel obligated to continue to produce things that they appreciate because they like me. I know I should make art for myself, but when people like it, it makes it all the easier to finish your work and proceed forward.
Have a nice day everyone! It is a little rainy today!

3/14/11- Jennell Brunner

Jennelle is actually a good friend of mine. We went to high school together in Middleton, and I've always appreciated her art. Next to Andy Goldsworthy, I would say that she is my second favorite artist.
I've actually had the opportunity to watch her grow as an artist over the last 7 years since I met her, and her creativity never ceases to amaze me.

 These pieces are all very large and individual pieces that go together entitled my sins.

In order they go:

Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Pride, Lust

She never ceases to amaze me. She draws her inspirations from things around her. I can't even begin to assess the deep reaches of her mind because her art work is so amazing that I can't even begin to fathom where she gets her creativity.

 

This one is entitled "Crazy Cat Lady" which is actually fairly fitting, since this is a portrait of my best friend Erica Ellington. This draws off of Erica's mild insanity (which is why she is my favorite0 and the fact that Erica only has black cats. They literally flock to her. She currently owns 3, one of which she recently adopted because it is severely handicapped and allergic to its own teeth. Jennelle drew it for Erica's 17th birthday present. It seriously looks EXACTLY like Erica. I wish I could pull a picture of Erica to post on here, but the picture Jennelle used isn't online anywhere I can find, and she now lives in Moscow.

Her parents are really cool people, and I can see where Jennelle gets her personality and unique sense of life. Her parents actually traveled with a renaissance fair for most of her child hood. I can see this as being a real source of inspiration for her. She never limits herself on what media she uses to make her art, but usually they are something that is 2D.

She has done a couple pictures of me as well over the years that were done on the computer. She can do anything with anything. She is AMAZING!

 

Above is Me in "Dark Soda" based off a picture I took my Sophomore year of HS.

Below on the right is me in "Supergirl" derived from a picture taken at a waterfall where I was on the edge of a cliff. She took my love of superman and implied it as a theme. These two were also done by Jennelle

 

3/9/11- Janine Anoti

Janine Anoti is not the weirdest artist I've explored, but she is kind of out there in a really good way. She uses many different types of mixed media to show her amazing talent to the world. She uses Chocolate, Soap, electric cords, fabric, yarn, paint, photography, and so much more to create her master pieces.

What inspires her is the freedom that new things bring, and the idea of role reversal, but really I have no clue where she draws her inspiration from. She has a cow drinking out of a bathtub that she is in in her piece entitled EUREKA. It is the role reversal one. it looks like the cow is drinking from her breast actually.

Her piece Lick and Lather made up of 14 portrait busts, cast of a model of herself and mounted on look-a-like ancient classical pedestals. Seven statues were cast in white soap, and the other seven in brown chocolate, and then reshaped by the rather subjective acts which licking it over and over again, and with the frothing up of bubbles from her spit, foam-in one statue, the features were completely erased.

 

 

3/8/11 Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was a very interesting woman- I've been looking over her work and it is all a bit macabre as well as awkward. Don't get me wrong, I really like awkward because that is what makes good art.

“I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”  –Frida Kahlo


Her paintings often depict her in various situations. Always the same face structure, she never changes her beauty to enhance it or to degrade it. To her, that is what she looks like, so that is what we see.


She was not really popular until after she died, but then again, Michael Jackson's big comeback was right after he died as well. When you die, that is when you become a hot ticket item.

The painting above depicts her at the age of 18, when she was in a tragic bus accident that impaled her upon a metal pole. As you see down the inside of her, there is the pole. She drew her inspiration from the hardships that she suffered in life, such as her husband cheating on her with her own sister, and then getting a divorce because she cheated on him.

 

3/5/11- Barbara Kruger

Art that pops right off the page and art that makes you think, that is what Barbara Kruger's art does. Her photos that she has doctored have such a distinct quality about all of them that make you say, hey that is by Barbara Kruger! She uses pictures circa 1940's through 1950's and transforms them into a complete different thing than they were before. She changes the meaning of each one individually in order to convey a bigger and bolder meaning.

This installment above took up an entire room at the Mary Boone gallery in 1991. Her colors speak volumes about her art. She uses shades of Black, but black, white and red compose her work. The white writing on a red surface really screams out at you like a warning sign on a bottle saying "don't drink this!"

 

Her pieces are so urgent, and are always of black and white portraits with the red on them. It makes them seem more important like you have to look at it immediately and absorb the information fast. I bet people do one of two things when they go to a gallery with her stuff, they either go through it super fast because they read everything fast due to the urgency, or they get so caught up in all that is on the walls that they remain in the gallery forever and a day.

3/2/11- The air today

Yes- the air today is kind of epic- in these balloons!
This is the most fun balloon sculpture I've ever seen, and I now feel like a balloon sculpture would be a blast to do in class.

 

Maybe not to this magnitute- but hey I can dream big and aim for the sky right?

"If you can't make lemonade with your lemons, throw them at someone."

That is another idea I have for a project- lemons- paint- and throwing them at a canvas. I think the texture could be really interesting. You have to cut them up first in half both ways and do different types of transformations to make the lemons leave a different type of imprint on the canvas. cut holes in the fruit-

Step on the fruit. you name it you can do it!

Must be something in the air today because I'm feeling wacky and fun--- very spontaneous.

3/1/11

I am going to make a book out of a book that I've been trying to sell back to the bookstore and they won't accept it. Since it is a source of contingency with me, I'm completely okay with ripping it to shreds for my own personal use. It is the Obama first 100 days book that came out to sum up his days in office. I had to buy it for a political science class last year. I never read it because the class never made it to that book, and since I really don't care much for Obama in the first place, I want to be rid of this loathsome piece of coffee table occupant.

I've decided to make a hamburger out of paper mache with it so that it shows the reason that Obama's country is so obese.

2/24/11- Book Artists

Brian Dettmer-
I blew his picture up because I wanted you to see the detail done here in his book. Look at the depth he creates by digging down into the pages. I'm not sure if he wanted you to take the words that he had left on the surface for a value, but I did for everything is intentional in my eyes. Quite a few of the words left over contain a verb, making them do something, or they describe something- Shallow, deep, open. I want to be able to make something this beautiful... but I fear I may need more practice.

 

John Clark-
Altering a book by carving it is enough of a feat in itself, but when you can completely change the story by drawing a gorgeous picture across the pages, then being a book artist takes a new form. John Clark describes himself as a portrait artist. I'm really impressed that he drew this with a sharpie. I can never get my sharpie to cover that well without leaving lines from where I drew on the page. I think the drawing would be easy if you were just overlaying it like he does, it is the sharpie layering that really impresses me--- ha ha, just kidding. I think the picture is pretty neat too.

 

I don't have a picture of the next artist that I am writing about's art. She sews her books together with a needle and thread and uses a press machine from the old days to make her books. If you run your finger over the pages of her books, you can feel the indent from the metal letters having been pressed against the papers. I think this is a really cool thing that she does because it is so hard to do. I really would like to try it, but I can barely stand to touch paper.

2/22/11

What the heck?

Book projects?

I don't understand this--- we're supposed to do what with books?

I guess we're supposed to change the book, but still have it function as somewhat of a book or resemble- I dunno.

 

If it has to look like this, at my level of expertise, I think I'm screwed.

If it can look a bit less extravagant and amazing, I will sure give it one hell of a try. I think my level of expertise reflects something to the effect of a paper airplane or a cootie catcher. Though, I could never actually make a paper airplane that flew very well.

I guess that would make me a terrible plane designer as well...

2/21/11

My transformation project went over fairly well, I chose to replicate (at least attempt to) one of Georgia O'keeffe's paintings called "Red Canna" by tearing apart fake flowers and then gluing them to my canvas. I went to the dollar store and bought 5 bunches of fake flowers, but I had to buy an additional 5 because not all of the colors worked and such. I'm really impressed with the way that one turned out versus my wire sculpture. This one really expresses how much work I put into it and how well crafted it is. I really wish I had a picture of it on here to show you, but I'll upload one as soon as I get it.
Things that describe my piece would be analogous colors, continuity, and unity. The texture is soft to touch but hard for pushing on because it is held together by cardboard and hot glue.

2/19/11- Eric Fischl

Eric Fischl-
His main objective is to capture the dirty little activities and desires of people in the suburbs in his art.

With his art he can make you feel awkward and uncomfortable while you look at it. I concur, because even though his art has a really great point, it makes me feel weird by just looking at it. There is something about looking at naked people that society has instilled in me. His paintings feature the voice, more or less capture  the essence of the dirty voice in everyone's head. He puts on a canvas what we all want to say or what we secretly wish we hadn't done. Its the pure graphic nature of his work that makes it what it is. The piece below was actually a large source of contingency when it came out. Many people wouldn't look at it because it came out right around 9/11 and reminded civilians of people falling from the twin towers. Some of his art is just so raw that it is hard to deny the nature of it. The piece above is like that dirty little secret from 3 summers back that still lingers over head. Not proud of it, but unable to forget.

2/17/11- Andy Goldsworthy

I'm a real fan of making things out of nature. After Laurie showed us Andy Goldsworthy, I was immediately interested in him. His work is literally amazing! He is so patient and his pieces are so amazing. His materials consist of only things you can find in nature, and a lot of them are not permanent. He made these giant stone houses as an installment at the National Gallery of Art that were so immense I cannot fathom the amount of time he put into them. He does things with flowers, icicles, branches, leaves, thorns and anything you can find in nature. His installments can be really anywhere from a random valley in the forest to a small hillside near a quiet community. He never really makes anything to be permanent, but just to add to God's art for a moment in time. He is my new favorite artist. Look at these pieces below! They aren't meant to stay forever, just to be appreciated for the time that they exist.