Sunday, March 15, 2009

Art Experience- "Christina's World"

The piece of artwork that I chose to write about is actually a very famous painting by Andrew Wyeth called "Christina's World." I've seen this painting several times, but I've never understood the full meaning behind it until just recently. I saw this painting in a cafe' called "Blue Moon" in my hometown. When I stopped to look at this painting I tried to think about what the girl in the field had on her mind. Christina is laying in a large open field with a house in the distance. It seems like she's struggling to reach the house, like she is very tired or weak. The house seems too be just a little too far to get to. It might represent how alone she feels, or how she just needs a hand to help her on her way. Maybe she's too tired to get up, or maybe she can't get up?


After writing down what I thought, I read the description under the painting. The painting was created as a sort of tribute to Andrews neighbor Christina. He was moved by her determination to get to her house despite her crippling case of polio. Now that I have read exactly what is happening in this painting, it makes perfect sense. I could tell that she was struggling, but I wasn't sure why. I returned to the picture and looked at it for a while longer. I could almost feel Christina's pain, she looks so weak and tired. Even though you can't see her face, you can picture the determination on her face. The only thing that I've changed my mind about is the circumstances surrounding the painting. I had a feeling that it had something to do with a struggle or a longing of some sort, but now I see how strong and brave this girl is. The fact that she is an actual person says even more about this beautiful piece. I ended up looking for more info on the painting on the Internet, and I found out that Christina actually inspired many of his paintings. All around, this is a very heartwarming painting about a moment in the life of Christina. I think that Andrew wanted us to understand how important it is to never give up, never let things hold you back. Maybe he even wanted us to see how even though life might be tough, it may be even harder for others, and we should be thankful and not take things for granted.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

What does it mean to be and artist?


Ten things you need to be an artist: Creativity, Passion, Inspiration, Heart, Motivation, Vision, Skill, Depth, Originality, Patience.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Spirituality, Religion and Creativity

Spirituality is hard to define. I see spirituality as the faith and belief that there is a certain path for everyone in this world, the act of trying to reach your highest potential in this world. The idea that we are all here for a reason, and spirituality helps some people to focus on exactly what that is. Spirituality is based on meaning, understanding and knowing. It can also be the belief that you can connect and communicate with the spiritual world.
Spirituality differs from religion in several ways. Religion is the belief in a higher power, the worship of a God. Religion is the internal understanding that you were created by a certain being and the respect you show internally and externally in return. It is a faith in your God, a personal tie with your creator, and the way you live your life through that belief. Religion has to do with a group of people the believe in those same ideas. Spirituality is the belief in a higher meaning, not necessarily in a higher being. It is the idea of finding our spiritual path in life and your self journey to find that answer.
Creativity is usually defined in art, food, clothing, projects, and much more. Creativity is a unique ability to transform paint and a canvas into a masterpiece, or taking a cake and decorating it with grave detail and technique. It is the way you chose to dress yourself in the morning, and how you mix and match to fit your personal style. Creativity is also your way of constructively solving problems, coming up with ideas and following through with them to create a unique result. It's a way of expressing your personal ideas, usually by way of objects, and presenting the end result.
Creativity comes from within. We all think in different and unique ways, and we all have our own ways of expressing that creativity.
What is the source of creativity?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Why do we enjoy horror stories?

This is called Why do We Enjoy Horror Stories. It features two stories that supposedly happened to the author. He is telling the stories to librarians in a attempt to explain why we indeed enjoy them so much. The first story is a ghost story. He explains how he left his house one night and couldn't recall if he had locked the door or not. He said that he turned around to check and they was a beaming light the appeared in front of him. At first, he said he thought his house might be haunted, and he had never known. Once he looked closer her realized that it was a reflection from the street light behind him. The author states that after he realized what it was, "The fear had been banished and I felt euphoric and energized."
The next story he told was a horror story. This story consisted of him and his family traveling at a very rapid pace down a highway. He said that they needed to slow down but the brakes weren't working. He described how he tried everything but the car wouldn't slow, he ended up having to turn the car off, and dodge around cars until their vehicle finally came to a halt. He said that this experience was different because instead of euphoric, he felt scared and depressed. The moral of his story was to tell the difference between horror for entertainment, and horror in real life. So this somewhat reinforces Gaut's idea that horror gives evidence of being pleasurable to the audience. Clearly he felt a sense of pleasure from both stories. In the first story he felt a rush from an exciting experience, in the second he felt a sense of pleasure from surviving, yet he was terrified for a while after. Much like the feelings you could get at a horror movie, but more real. The second could go either way because the fear seemed to out weigh the pleasure. I just thought this was an interesting way to look at the question.

Why do I Enjoy Horror Stories?
by Greg "The Undead Rat" on July 16, 2008
http://heightslibrary.org/wordpress/undeadrat/?p=14

Why we crave horror movies

The first article I found was by Stephen King. Stephen talks about how horror movies bring out the kid in us. He says that we are "daring the nightmare." We all want to prove that we are brave enough to sit through a horror film. Whether we jump or not, he describes it as a roller coaster ride. He describes the twists and turns that horror movies present for everyone. In the article King also says, "And we go to have fun." He then moves on to say that this is the part that makes things complicated, because obviously part of the fun is lies in seeing people harmed or "menaced" as he put it. He says that maybe horror movies provide us with a sense of "psychic relief" because it's almost like giving ourselves a free rein. King then goes on to talk about how we all have the potential to be a little insane, and those emotions require curtain exercises to maintain structure. He says that horror movies are like sick jokes, they bring out the worst in all of us, but it also feeds our cravings in the mean time.
I completely agree with this article. Obviously it's written by a man who knows a lot about horror movies, and his audience for that matter. Comparing the horror experience to a roller coaster ride is just brilliant. It explains it so well with such ease. I believe we do like to challenge ourselves and see how long we can last without closing our eyes or screaming in terror. For some reason people just can't get enough of it, almost like a game. Just like Gaut said, "people seem to enjoy negative emotions." I think that King had a good point when he said that it's almost like your feeding your craving. You get some what of a fix from the excitement that you experience when watching a horror movie. I think King was right when he said that we're all ill, but we find ways to justify the things we do.


Stephen King, Why we Crave Horror Movies, originally published in 1981 in Playboy Magazine, I found it on, http://iws.ccccd.edu/jdoleh/English%201301/Why%20We%20Crave%20Horror%20Movies.pdf

Friday, February 6, 2009

This is me

I would say that I'm a pretty laid back person. If you saw me I think you would agree that most of the time I like to wear nice clothes and dress up, but I don't mind a nice pair of sweats every now and again. I could care less what people think about the way I look or dress. That doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt my feelings if someone did say something though. I think that the way I dress is a reflection on who I am. I try to keep it conservative and comfortable, but I love dressing up in a nice pair of heels and a dress, or jeans a boots, and I love wearing my cowboy boots. I'm a country girl! I try to cover up offensive areas and feel good in what I wear at the same time. I believe that your body is for you and your husband, not for the whole world to see. I think that says a lot about my beliefs. I a pretty modest when it comes to my looks, I just do what makes me feel good, I don't care if you think I look pretty or not. I also have 3 piercings on my ears and both of my tragus' pierced as well. I think that just shows that I'm open to piercings, but I don't want any others.
I make the choices that I do because I was raised to be myself. Not to do what everyone else tells you to do, but to be true to who you are and how you feel about things. I may not be the best at standing up for myself or confrontations, but I am who I am. My parents raised me to respect myself, and to make sure that others respected me. I think the way I dress shows that I would like to be respected. My parents don't like extreme piercings or big tattoos, but they're fine with my piercings, and my dad and I are talking about getting small tattoos together. I think that I've changed a significant amount over the years, I dress a little more casual/dressy now. No more Abercrombie and HCO all the time. (I still wear some but not as much). I'm still the same person, just a little more mature and sophisticated I would say. I'm not all about going out on weekends anymore, I study, work or just hang out with people. I think the way I act and carry myself now, shows that I have matured over these past few college years.
The beliefs and values of the peers that I hang out with, are much like my own. They value how they treat people, and how they treat themselves. I have several different kinds of friends. My friends from back home are a lot different from my friends at school. Back home we love bonfires, the beach, camping, fishing, going to the sand dunes, and hanging out. I think you would be able to tell that I'm from a hick town if you saw me doing the majority of those things. I don't really dress like I'm from the country when I'm here. A lot of my guy friends either dress country, casual, or classy. I would say that it reflects all of their values and beliefs. My country friends are all carefree and family oriented, (like most of my friends) my classy friends really like looking nice and taking care of themselves, and my causal friends are very kind and understanding. Most all of my friends have these attributes, but the most prominent ones are the ones I chose to talk about. I also have friends that act nothing like they dress. Some of my casual and classy friends are crazy party girls, and some of my tattooed friends are laid back and mellow. I think they express themselves in both ways. By going against what you would first think, and by acting just as they dress. I don't think that you can tell how someone acts purely by the way they dress, but I think that you can make some strong assumptions.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Edible art

The second site I found was http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/06/16/creative-food-art/ focused on edible art. Food that is made to look pretty or resemble something like a (cake) table, or an apple that is carved into a frog, etc. The site focues on severl edible art galleries and ways to make edible crafts.
I didn't find a specific long article on this site but I found several small captions and little discritions of what they do and how its made. Also in the about me section it states, "Confused about everything crafty out there? Not sure where to go and what to buy for your latest craft idea? Can’t find that kitsch pattern that everyone else is talking about? Well worry no more!" I though this was interesting because they call this a "craft" which reminded me of when Tefler talked about if food should be considered an "art" or a "craft". Clearly on this site they consider it to be a craft. This blog has tons of links to several things that show the possible ways that food can be changed into something aesthectically pleasing. I don't think anyone would have a problem seeing these examples as either some kind of art or at the least, a very skilled craft. It takes concentration and effort to creat these beautiful pieces. Whats to say that they can't be art and craft? I think it's possible for them to be considered in both categories considering that some on the pieces are actually in the forms of paintings. There are pictures made completely of food and fun little crafts that you can do with your kids. I just think its a great site to show how creative and crazy you can get with food. I think there is a strong idea here when it comes to the consideration of art. People take what they do with foos very seriously. The very first thing that I found on this site was under a picture of the frog apple and it said, "This post showcases beautiful examples of creative food art. Our goal is to prove that it is possible to create amazing art with just simple food ingredients." They want to open your eyes to the possiblity that food can be created into anything and the fun comes right along with it. Obviously everything on this site is so amazing, that I don't see how it can't be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and the tastebuds! To me, it sparks a very aesthetically pleasing cord for me. It's fantastic what people can do with food. How can this not be art?

Culinary art to the rescue

The first article I found was on http://www.straight.com/article-198468/culinary-art-rescue is an article about a Chef named Daniel Boulud. He considers himself an "artist," and says that he "expresses himself through food." The article goes on to talk about how if food is considered art, than it should be backed by government funding for art. According to Canada's Council for the Arts public-relations officer Carole Breton, "food is not part of the council's mandate. Case closed." As the article goes on, it becomes clear that people think that should be a subject for discussion.
I chose this article because it has controversy surrounding the idea of whether or not food should be considered art. Obviously in this case, it's not only for the reason of the chefs who consider themselves artists, but also for the lack of funding during out recession. I think that this article can help support some of the things that were brought up by Tefler. Clearly this chef considers himself to be something for aesthetic consideration. Which according to Tefler, this can qualify him as an artist. The article states that, "Exquisite food, Boulud told the Straight, enriches a person's mind and spirit, just like any other fine art." Which also has a strong argument towards the consideration of art. They talk about how even though the Council for Art's Public isn't acknowledging this idea, Jeremey Long, executive director of the B.C. Arts Council, thinks that it should at least be debated. I think that that request is fair, wouldn't you say? Also in this artilce there are several other people who think that food should be considered art, such as Elizabeth Keurvorst, who is the executive director of the Creative City Network of Canada. Elizabeth thinks "there should be more connection between arts and food. " I completely agree with this because clearly there are people who want it to be at least considered, or already consider do. I just think this shows how even if you don't agree with food being art, it should at least be discussed and debated. There is no harm in at least considered to consider it. Not to mention the fact that if the Chef is indeed considered to be an artist, than he is owed at least a consideration for his request.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

My Values

Activities- Sleep, talked to family/friends, work, reading, watched a movie, errands, homework, watched Sunday night TV shows, etc.

My Top 5
1.Family
2.Friendship
3.Integrity
4.Health
5.Enjoyment
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6.Personal Accomplishment
7.Security
8.Personal Development
9.Loyalty
10.Independence
11.Wisdom
12.Service
13.Wealth
14.Prestige
15.Leadership
16.Creativity
17.Expertness
18.Location
19.Community
20.Power
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My Reflection
My top values reflect well on what I did today, and what I do everyday. I LOVE my family more than anything! I make it a point to talk to my parents and my sister as much as possible (especially since I'm somewhat far away). On a good day, my mom and I talk about 3 times. Usually when I when I'm heading to work or school, at lunch, and at the end of my day. She's one of my best friends and I tell her almost everything. I don't talk to my dad as often as I'd like, but I'm working on it. My family has always been pretty close, and I've been raised to respect and value all the things in my life. I will always carry that with me as long as I live, because I think that you need to give thanks as much as possible. I have yet to come across a belief that I think is no longer valid in my life, I think that you learn something from each of them. That brings me to my friends, I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't have my friends! I value ALL of my friendships and always try my best to be there for everyone of them. Unfortunately, several of them live in many different places, so it's harder to see them as often as I'd like. I'm lucky this year because I live with one of my best friends.

As far as my day, I was able to finally sleep in, I didn't have to work until 1pm. So I would say that fits into my health category. Everyone needs a good nights sleep. Especially if you don't get one the rest of the week. I've also been trying to eat healthier and am working on a workout schedule. I really enjoy working out, but I need to figure out when the best time would be. I also enjoy watching movies, reading, camping, seeing friends and family, traveling, shopping, and many other things. I try to do all the things I love as often as I can, because I believe that in order to be happy, you need to do the things that you truly enjoy in life.
My goal in life is to become successful at something I love to do, and giving back to those who have helped me to reach all my goals. The only thing holding me back is that fact that I haven't pinpointed exactly what I want to do yet. I have several interests, but I can't decided which would make me that happiest. I'm going to work as hard as I can, for as long as it takes in order to figure out where I belong.

Movie Awards/Heath Ledger

As I was searching through the blogs on Technorati, I found one that sparked my interest. I'm HUGE movie buff! I love reading reviews on new movies and looking for upcoming movies that I might like. I also love watching the awards to see if those movies got the recognition that I think they deserve. Anyways, I found a blog that talked about Heath Ledger.
http://kaedrin.com/weblog/
I chose this blog because I really admired the work that Heath did in The Dark Night, as well as other roles he played. He was amazing! I've never seen someone who was so dedicated to a role. His performance gave me chills, and I know I'm not the only one who feels like we lost a GREAT actor. I was excited to see that Heaths work was widely recognized and respected. He's won several awards for his chilling performance as the joker since he passed. If you haven't seen The Dark Night, I suggest you rent it asap! You're missing out if you don't at least give it a chance. Heath makes me want to be an actress!