Response:

The piece that I chose was La Velata (The Woman With the Veil) by Raphael, which is located for a short time at the Portland Art Museum. The painting was interesting to me because of its age and how intricate it was. I think that the painting may be of a woman on her wedding day which is the reason that she is wearing a veil. I also think this because of the dress that she is wearing and how innocent and young she appears to be. I like the use of color within the painting, I was shocked by the detail and texture that Raphael used to make the [painting look so incredibly real. One think that I was confused about was the way that the woman in the painting is clutching or resting her right hand on her breasts.

Reflection:

After some research I found that the woman who is pictured in the painting is a bakers daughter who was believed to be the longtime mistress of Raphael. Apparently she is the main subject of many of his paintings. Raphael lived and painted at the same time perid as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and was had a vast influence during the Renaissance. He mainly painted portraits and altarpieces, though he was also an architect. One of the main techniques that he is using in this painting is sfumato this is where the painter applies many layers of transparent colors which capture light and pronounce volume and form in the painting. This was a technique used extensively by Leonardo da Vinci’s especially in the Mona Lisa. The use of this technique is what caught my attention the most, about this painting and made it look so real. Also, I think because of the fact that he has extensive practice doing portraits he is extremely good at capturing the personality of the people and making it come out in his paintings. The fact that she is clenching her breasts in this picture may very well be associated to the fact that she was his mistress.

For this assignment I looked at a sculpture by artists Peter Voulkos called the “Scuptured Container”. This sculpture caught my eye because its design was so complex. When I first looked at the sculpture without looking at its name, I thought it was a tribal piece that stood for something important to a group of people, or that maybe it was representative of something that happened. The colors in the piece were tribal like, with red, brown, green, yellow, white, and black. It looked like it was made from a type of clay and the designs on it didn’t make much sense to me, therefore, it lead me to believe that it was representative of a culture I did not know of.

REFLECTION:After reading about Peter Voulkos in online statements I learned that the sculpture I found at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Art, was not much different from the rest of Voulkos ‘s creations. I looked online at a number of his other pieces and noticed that he had a common trend with all of his sculptures. They were all made from dark clay, which made them seem like they belonged to some sort of African tribe. Voulkos’s abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures were famous for their visual weight, their freely-formed construction, and their aggressive and energetic decoration. When I looked back at the sculpture after researching Voulkos, I still did not think it could serve as a container. His abstract-expressionalist ceramics helped me to see why I originally thought that the sculpture had something to do with African culture.

I chose to go to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art to find a piece of art for this assignment. I ended up in the Art of the Superhero exhibit they are currently having. I came across a work by Alex Ross. I thought this artwork was really amazing. I never really thought of comic book artwork as realistic, yet this example so realistic it looked like it could be a doctored photograph. I also found it very intriguing that Superman was looking up at a mural of doctors, firefighters, policemen, businessmen, and other sorts of people. It really said a lot about who the real-life heros are in our society. I thought it was about bridging a cap between reality and comics.

After reading about the information about Alex Ross and this artwork I realized that this piece was part of the exhibit dedicated to September 11^th. This work is titled Superman and the heroes of September 11, 2001. I think the work is very important and all Americans can find a part of themselves in this painting. All the men and women who helps put out nation back together after the attack on September 11^th, are our heros, our Superman. Also Alex Ross is widely admired in the comic book world for his naturalistic painted covers. When Ross first discovered Spider-Man as a boy he fell in love with the characters and wanted to bring them to life, which is exactly what his art does. Alex Ross does a great job of creating realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters.

For this assignment, I looked at a painting by Carol Grigg. It depicted a woman on a large horse and a person with their back facing the viewer. The person with their back facing the viewer was all bundled up. From their clothing, I surmised that the people depicted were Native Americans. The people in the painting seemed to be on some sort of journey. This painting interested me because of all of the warm brown colors in it. Also, the watercolors used to paint it gave it almost a blurred look, and paintings like that have always appealed to me.

After learning about the artist, I began to understand the painting in a different way. Carol Grigg is an artist living in Oregon, and she is of Cherokee heritage. She uses a variety of media to create works of art and all of her art is inspired by her Cherokee heritage. Now I understand that this piece is an expression of heritage. Before, I thought it might have been merely an interest of the artist’s, but now I see it in a different way. I can visualize her painting this piece and imagining what her ancestors may have been like and then transferring her mental picture to her canvas. The watercolor makes it seem like something imagined because it leaves the painting with that blurriness, so I think it was an excellent choice of media on the artist’s part.

An example of Grigg’s work that is similar to the painting I viewed.

SL Temple; 11.25.09 4:18; Salt Lake City, UT; f8; 1/80 Canon Rebel

I love the Salt Lake Temple, this is where I was sealed for eternity to my love.

I love this picture, some say that the tree is distracting but for me it stands as a symbol – in life it is often hard to find beauty – if we look we will find it – nothing could make this temple ugly. ALso, how often is it that something gets in our way of getting to the temple or righteously living the gospel…just as this tree that stands in view – so will those temptations.

The piece that caught my eye was a watercolor painting done by Byron Birdsall, in a boutique/café back home in California.  It was one large image split into three separate frames.  The colors were rather dull and simple, but the painting was beautiful.  The painting was a large snowy mountain scene with a lake in front, possibly Lake Shasta. It looked like he used almost the same brush stroke for the whole painting, which I found to be interesting.

Reflection:  The pamphlet that was placed by the artwork said that Birdsall is from Alaska and is noted for his “graded washes”.  Like I mentioned in my initial response, I feel that it is not too often you see paintings with such drab colors; but apparently that is a common theme that works out for him.  It also stated that he likes to work in his studio, or go out into a field that is within walking distance.  That is probably what he did with the piece of art I saw, so I guess it was somewhere in Alaska, not California.

For this assignment, I chose to visit the Schnitzer Art Gallery here on the University of Oregon campus. They have a wide selection of various different types of art and styles. I chose to write on a piece called “Pick an Apple, Any Apple” by t Jay Backstrand. I chose the work because of its overwhelming style and loud, emotional design. Here was my original response:

It has a very different approach to sending a message. The composition is very different due to the three different panels making up one single piece. Each one has almost and entirely different feel. One thing very noticable is the presence of animals on it. I spot three different ones, and each is very closely interacting with a human. Speaking of humans, I see some sort of oriental theme at work here, with paintings of people in traditional Japanese clothing. In addition, the presence of the apple basket doesn’t seem to fit the picture as a whole. The artist may possibly have some sort of nature message. It is really hard to gauge exactly what he means by all these different elements.

After Reading:

The description of this piece gives me and entirely different view of it. I was searching for a direct meaning of the artist’s work. I thought that it may have some sort of message that was much more specific. The description of the work said the artist’s goal was to create rhythm. In addition, it claimed thta much of the inspiration came from a historical perspective, meaning that it may have a lot of background that I am simply not familiar with. Physically, the artist had a strong emphasis on shape, something I didn’t pick up on very well. After seeing this description. I realize that there is a much more broad option when creating art. Rather than commenting on one single issue, we can instead put all of our ideas and mood down and let it create an issue itself. This work’s broad reaching ideas helped me discover that art is a much more open ended question.

This image is similar to the one I viewed. However, the one I observed used blue and red instead of green and purple.

My picture can be found in the Schnitzer museum here on the University of Oregon Campus. I was initially drawn to the picture I had chosen. It was in many beautiful colors and had only one object in it, an empty chair. I studied that chair and thought of what it could have represented. I thought maybe school, learning, symbolism of lost knowledge, and even interrogation. The blue and red colors seemed to add emotion tot eh picture. The blue cast over the chair and the rest of the right side of the picture was in red. Maybe blood or death?

The description fit the picture perfectly and I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it right of the bat. It was by Andy Warhol, pretty much the father of pop art, in 1971 and represented the death penalty of Sing Sing Prison in New York. The same chair depicted was the same chair that many mass murders and rapists were executed in until 1963 when it was banned. After reading at the description and researching the artist I have a more knowledgeable outlook of this piece. I feel that Warhol made this piece in celebration of the ending of the death penalty at Sing Sing. The chair all-alone in a dark room without someone in it exemplifies the absence of the executions. The time frame fits also because execution was outlawed in 1963 and this piece was done in 1971. I  now think that the separation of colors in the picture represents the separation of the two different eras: before and after the outlaw of the death penalty.

Our team is delighted to have been awarded two prizes today, one for branding design (and all the credit for that goes to Gin – well done, girl!) and one for student dragon investment (worth in total 100 million fake money pounds = 0 cash!).

It was all good fun, this mock dragon’s den role-play. It is plain to see that all Mace teams are getting better at delivering pitches, and our presentations are becoming zannier! Practice makes perfect… We will soon be ready for our REAL competition, ‘Bright Ideas’, deadline approaching too fast!

Today’s lesson had real structure from the start, timings and episodes made very clear, which I liked. And it went very well! Here is what I thought:

Team 1, playfully as always, made excellent use of humour in how they present themselves. Hilarious! Totally deserved the Special Mention by Andrew.

Team 2, Pika: very professional and well structured manner. Really good prototype. Also deserved their prizes.

Team 3, Comma, have really come a long way in a short time. I loved that they went to Stanstead to do market research. It looks like serious professional stuff.

Team 4, us. Presentation design was done by Gin, and I can’t stress enough what brilliant work she does! I was happy to talk through our ‘new and improved’ Passport guide, although in my opinion the visuals were self-explanatory.

Team 5, Mango Media, have also come a long way and did a warm presentation. I know nothing about the music industry, but they sounded like they knew what they were doing.

Team 6, T-shaped. We’ve always admired them. They are still up there doing quality stuff.

Team 7, Temptation, were likewise unwilling to relinquish their hard-earned reputation, and followed suit appropriately.

Team 8, Design Balance, lovable team, cracked us up with a fab parody of NHS advertising. Brilliant! On a personal note, though, I regret to say that I do not like the product. But I never wear baseball caps, so what do I know…

Team 9, Artbridge, have an ambitious plan and also seem to be developing their project seriously.

After the break, we got feedback. Corrine’s advice to us for the Trade Fair was fabulous and it really fired me up with ideas and motivation. Once that momentum has died down, however, I wonder how much I’ll effectively get done whilst simultaneously finishing the debate essay, rapidly undertaking the art one I have to hand in a few days later, and doing a bit of rare family gathering that is scheduled in lieu of Christmas celebrations. Momentum, please stay with me!

Since Catherine Gurnley’s lecture over a week ago, I’ve been thinking about what she said about paying ourselves a wage, which clashes with the general expectation that we should put our time and skills into the business because that’s the only capital we have to invest at this youthful stage.

Her comments come at a time when it’s beginning to be apparent to me that some people in our team work much more than others. Naturally I acknowledge that  a) shit happens, b) some tasks need to be done before others can be undertaken, c) some personalities will tend to obsess with detail (and work harder for it) more than happy-go-lucky members, but it’s getting to the point where I’m finding that it bothers me, though not so much that I have yet confronted the issue.

In any case, thinking about all of this, I had to question my own input to the business. It’s too late now for me to calculate the hours of work I’ve put in in the last two months, so instead I’ll compile a list of tasks I’ve done. I can make a point of keeping  a written track of my hours of work from January onwards if I should pessimistically envisage that an unequal input may result in long term disputes.

What I have done since we formed JumpAr in October 2009:

Liaising with all team members to agree on date, time and place for team meetings, via multiple emails, phone-calls and texts.

Researching competitors for online art installation web (an early stage business idea that we later dropped).

Attended every team meeting (and arrived on time) and participated actively with ideas, suggestions and opinions.

Provided material for group prototyping and made over 7 paper prototypes for the outer format of our product, both in team meetings and independently.

Contacted the Kingston University International Student Office to find out numbers of international students who are our potential customers.

Written up meeting minutes.

Proposed vast amount of names for our team/business.

Engaged in role-play enthusiastically, aware that others were shy (we didn’t know each well at first).

Written extensively on our team blog.

Attempted (though frustratingly unsuccessfully) to delegate tasks to all team members prior to meetings, so that we’d be prepared for each week’s assignment.

Contacted a language school to offer our product for the benefit of their customers.

Contacted lecturers, students, artist friends and acquaintances to request artist submissions for our publication.

Designed jumpAr logos and first Passport2 logo.

Printed out and read up on MACE blog assignments prior to meetings to try and steer our efforts to complete all tasks without wasting too much time.

Set up team wiki, contributed to all documents on it, and reviewed others’ documents. Spent considerable time trying to get my head around the contract!

In situ research on places to visit in or near Kingston. Collated information to use for our guide (Kingston Museum, riverside, Hampton Court, Old London Road, markets, Dorich house, etc.).

Taken lots of photographs of Kingston and places to visit so we have copyrighted images to use in our product.

Collected vast amounts of newspapers, pamphlets and brochures to observe their information and design and get ideas to make our guide better.

Researched iron-on patches when we decided to try other ideas before committing to guide.

Collated information for guide, edited it and shared with colleagues.

Compiled information for first prototype of ‘content’ (inside pages) and printed it to scale.

Written and presented to class our first pitch, and made simple cut-out-image animation film for it (later beautifully edited by Seb).

Acknowledged colleagues emails, and contributed to google-docs that have been shared with me (content excel sheet, contract, business plan, questionnaire, etc.).

Set up new website for Passport2 Guides.

Interviewed one international student to create personalised story, which I’m in the process of illustrating, in line with my colleagues’ ideas of how to offer material that will differentiate us from our competitors.

Taken the initiative to create and order postcards for sale for upcoming Trade Fair.

The piece of art that I choose for this project was Pick an Apple, Any Apple by Jay Blackstand. It was a very interesting piece because it was separated into 3 panels that composed the painting as a whole. In the fist panel it had a horse coming out of what appeared to be a motorcycle. This i though could be a play on horse power or something along that line. The second panel had a woman’s leg on a table. This panel had me confused because it had just a woman’s leg on it. The final panel had a box or a crate with a bunch of fish in it. It also had an outline of a man who was filled with pictures of older Asian like drawings. I though that this might be symbolizing the mixing of cultures and how they are connected together by a common thing like fish.

Jay Blackstand has been painting for over 50 years, his paintings are supposed to be narratives. He likes mixing the old with the new to show the contrast between them. He uses things like the panels in the painting that I viewed to have the viewer move in and out between the panels. He likes to use geometric shapes such as dots and grids to help the flow of his paintings. He also chooses to use sharp and saturated colors. Now that I know this about Jay Blackstand I can kind of understand his painting better the horse was there to contrast the old way of travel with the new. The leg on the table was dressed up with a modern flare in contrast to the pictures of a traditionally clad Asian person. I defiantly see more of a tale or message now that I understand what he does as an artist.

Initial Response:

The art piece “Sunflower and Corn in Mist” by David McCosh is a piece that uses lines and texture to displace abstract corn and sunflowers.  While the colors used are cold and taited, there is still a since of light when looking at the painting.  There is emphasis with the placement and color of each line shaping the objects.  While the sunflower and corn may be hidden amongst the mist, they are able to be seen due to the shading.

Reflection:

David McCosh painted a variety of paintings using the same concepts.  These drawings were done from his studio with out any objects to look at for inspriration.  McCosh chose to paint from memory.  His used lines and movement to create a specific illusion of an object (such and a sunflower and corn).  McCosh’s intent was not to create pictures that looked realistic, but rather to use elements and construct the illusion of an object.

My perception of the photo changed after reading more about McCosh because I was able to understand that his art was not suppose to look realistic, but it was rather to manipulate simple things such as lines and brush strokes to illude natural objects and a work of art.

I decided to go the museum at the University of Oregon to look and judge some fine pieces of art. The piece of art that I decided to do a post on was a painting by Jay Backstrand called ” Pick an apple, any Apple”(2005).  Without looking at the description of what the painting is suppose to be, i judge the painting. The first thing that caught my eye in the painting was that it was separated into 3 parts vertically. On the left side of the painting there is a big horse that looks like it is riding something sort of vehicle, it is interesting it is almost like the horse is trying to escape from something. There is also pink polka dots through out the left sid of the painting. THen in the middle there is a pair of women’s legs sitting on a table with the feet touching at the bottom. In between the feet is a small chinese women who looks like she is trap and cannot go anywhere. Then on the right portion of the painting there is another asian women holding a fish and in front of her there is a bucket of what looks like dead fish that she is about to cook. I am not sure what the artist is trying to portray with this part of the painting. Overall this painting is very strange and it is hard to tell what the artist is saying, but I think that the painting is trying to represent that do not get trapped by society.

After I z the picture I decided to read what the artist was trying to get across to the viewer through his painting. After reading the little blurb about the painting I found out that the artist is from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The article talked about how the panels or sections are meant for the viewer to move in and out through out the painting. Then the polka dots and vivid colors are supposed to add depth to the painting.  I can see how the panels make the viewer run in and out , but it is interesting how the artist used vivid colors and polka dots for depth in the painting.Then as I continued to read the article I found out that the painting is suppose to represent some asian history and a little background on what the asian culture is all about. I found this interesting I had very little idea on what the painting actually represented. But then looking back after reading the article it all made sense. I think when examine art a person should judge the art before the read what it represents and then read the article about the art. Then look back at the painting and you will have a completely different outlook on the painting.

Birthdays! Birthdays! Birthdays!

(Since the great birthday fire disaster of week 7, the Modelas now celebrate birthdays outside.)

First up was Elyse, who aged into a very blonde toddler.

Next up, JJ and JP aged to teens, and rolled the Hates the Outdoors and Daredevil traits, respectively.

JJ got a birthday mullet.

And JP got an evil birthday mustache.

And finally, Joanie aged to Adult.  She got a birthday shag. (No, not that kind of shag.)

Even Twiggy came by to celebrate, which surprised me, because for whatever reason, Joanie and Twiggy aren’t on friendly terms. I guess Twiggy’s still pissed that she was moved out to make way for Gen III. Or maybe Joanie is pissed that less than a week after the death of her father, Carlos, her mother has already married Christopher Bachelor.

Either way, it’s a good thing Twiggy came by to bury the hatchet when she did, because that afternoon, she died.

Twiggy Modela, the legacy founder, passed away at 7:09 PM on W10D1.  Everyone–well, mostly everyone–was very sad.

Later that night, JP was still rubbing it in.

JP: “That old lady is DEAD.”

Kevin: “That’s my MOM, yo.”

JP: “Your mom is DEAD, man.”

JJ: “… grandma … :’(“

Now, a brief pause while we get a closer look at JP’s evil pink bunny slippers.

Moving on.

I was surprised to see JJ was the most upset about Twiggy’s passing, since he’d never met her. I even tried sending him home with Cathy, thinking it might help his mood if he, you know, made a special friend…one who isn’t the grim reaper. No such luck.

“Did you hear about my grandma? She’s DEAD.”

Eventually, however, I did find something that made him feel a little bit better–himself.

I. Am. So. Creeped. Out. Right. Now.

Ron has spent his first few days of retirement cleaning house and skillin’ with Elyse.

Already she’s learned to walk, talk, use her potty, and has maxed out both the peg box and xylophone skill.

Ron’s rolling very few out-of-house wants these days, so between the cleaning (remember, he’s neat, and we can’t have a maid because of the toddler books scattered around) and the toddler time, and the occasional lifetime-want-fulfilling woohoo with Joanie, he’s a pretty satisfied elder.

Joanie used much of her maternity leave skilling, with the intention of going back to writing full time after she maxes out the Law Enforcement career track. Already she’s gotten three promotions since returning to work, and her LTH is off the charts. The day she aged Adult, she crossed the 150,000 mark.

As an aside, it’s occurred to me that the reason Joanie’s LTH is so high can be attributed to the move in Week 9. She did snag a lot of points from the “Buy a Stove” and “Buy a Painting” wants, which (if you have the money) can be easily satisfied. Maybe that should be a new game rule–that the Heiress moves upon turning YA.

Kevin Harvick maxed out his logic skill point, though he may have done that last week and I just forgot.

Kevin now works as a Trauma Surgeon, taking him one step closer to fulfilling his Lifetime Want.

What will happen to Kevin after he achieves his want? I’m really not sure, since I was originally keeping him around to help raise heirs. Now that the heirs are mostly all raised, though, I’m thinking there might be a change in plans.

Hmm….

Not my favorite genera of music, but it’s good to have in the background as you type.
hmm…what to type about. well…i guess i’ll just type in stream of consciousness.
hold on, got a text message………………………………………..k
so tonight i decided that i didn’t like how the bed in my dorm was so low, but these beds have these nifty little niches in them so that you can raise them up, like, two inches at a time.
so i was like, “eh, what the hell…”
BAD IDEA
it took me 20 minutes just trying to take the damn thing apart.
and then once i did the %*$*&#@ thing wouldn’t fit in the *($&% notches.
so i’m sleeping with my mattress on the ground tonight………………………………….sorry, ‘nother text
oh well
hmm…………………………………………sorry, ‘nother text
i shouldn’t be getting them this late, i mean it’s 12:47 am so…kinda late.
but i usually don’t get to bed before two anymore.
Oh…and i’d also like to express my most extreme pleasure to the people at google wave. they are doing a marvelous job over there.
i may never visit facebook or myspace again if this takes off.
and never park behind pizza parlors with your girlfriend while waiting for your pizza to be ready
because the people that knock on you window might be the same people who cooked your pizza
*special side note, clothes were on
And i don’t understand the hype over black metal, just got some from a friend, it just sounds like static from all the distortion. although it could’ve blown my speakers because they weren’t hardcore enough to handle all the awesomeness of…
¡¡¡THE METAL!!!
^for some reason this song sounds like it was recorded south of the border, hence my inspiration.
Oh
and i also incurage avid music listeners to create a ‘last.fm’ account and install the application
it keeps track of what you’ve listened to and what you might like and also checks how compatible you are to your friends through music.
pretty cool beans
well…i wanted to do a little bit on this bibliography before that two o’clock bewitching hour comes along.
Keep The Faith Brotha’s

^also, i lost my mind when i saw this^