Saturday, May 30, 2009

Philly on Memorial Day


Waiting in the queue for Cezanne... I think Leger's Mechanic stole this show. Mondian's early paintings (one of a tree) were spectacular as well as Hartley's Lumberjack on a Beach. They had very few Cezanne paintings, even though he was the leading name in the show, but of course the two most notable were of Mt. St. Victiore.


Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on South Street.


Waiting in line for Geno's... almost there!!! Steak, cheese whiz, and onions (plus some chopped up pickles). yummm!!!


Naked Chocolate. Best kept secret in Philly? It's not really a secret. The best chocolates and desserts... plus they have drinkable chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate?


Love, from Kent, OH.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Alfred

Hand-picked images from Alfred last summer:



Grad student Tom's demo. Since this, I have discovered the wonders of plaster. I like working in mixed media. Who knows where such things will take me.
Add ImageTwo chamber wood kiln. This captured my attention because of how stark the image is. Full-frontal view with doors being slowly unbricked. The aftermath of loading and firing is clearly visible... rubble is everywhere. But the scene feels so calm considering the long and busy loading and firing that took place in this area earlier.


The Museum. Mixed Media piece on the left -- Something I aspire to try out some day. and the master himself, Pete Voulkos in the backround.


Bricking up the door of the single chamber wood kiln. Bricking done by my row of fellow artists. More like the story of the 30-somethings and the recent high school graduate. I was fortunate to build these temporary friendships. Late night chats and even a trip to the lake; lessons learned. I wish so badly to be back in those moments, but nothing could ever and will never be the same.

Love, from soon-to-be Kent, OH

Friday, May 22, 2009

£s not lbs.

Spring Break in England. 10 days, 3 games, 2 practices. LOTS of towns, attractions, cornish pasties. And one perfect dinner at the local pub with a pint and a plate of bangers and mash. yum!


The Abbey in Bath. Unfortunately we toured Bath on a Sunday, so the Abbey was closed to the public. The facade featured a relief carving of a ladder with angels crawling up it. (as seen in the center of the picture) It's seemed really unique to this Abbey, so I had to capture it. Overall, Bath was a fantastic town full of gorgeous Georgian architecture.

The Roman Baths in Bath. This was quite a disappointment for me. I guess it was just less than what I was expecting. The interior of the ruins were really interesting... They had drawn images of what the baths would have looked like in their prime versus what's left in tact in the present day. This picture shows the largest outdoor bath and the location where the water flows from the spring inside the building. (The lower level, right corner... where the two people are standing)

Warwick Castle. Visitors are able to climb the stairs to the tops of the 3 towers (seen straight ahead from left to right in the picture), but I didn't due to a phobia of worn-down enclosed stone spiral staircases. Scary. And it was really high up. Visitors are able to tour the entire castle because it's no longer inhabited.

The Tower Bridge over the River Thames in London. Such a lovely bridge... hard to believe it actually folds up to let ships through. It was really chilly when I walked across it, sort of dampening the effect. You would not believe the amount of tourists in this area because the London Tower is right beside the Tower Bridge.

Borough Market... Possibly best kept secret in London? I'm not sure how secret this market is, but definitely a must see in London. I thought I loved markets before I came here. It's nestled right off of and below the London Bridge. So much variety... produce, turkish delights, all kinds of dead animals (including rabbits), cheese wheels, bakery stands, all sorts of specialty stands, and the all-important cornish pasty. LOVE LOVE LOVE

One of the better produce stands at Borough Market. Produce stands in America usually only contain staple fruits and veggies, but these stands carry tons of varieties of things. Things that we would find obscure.

Westminster Abbey. I think this was the first legit cathedral I had ever seen. Rose window and all. It's so odd to study such things though books and pictures and then see one in the flesh. The Last Judgment was beautiful, plus there is a decent sized Mary and Baby Jesus directly below it. (though not seen in this picture)

Took the tube the whole way to Greene Park just to visit Harrods. I really wanted a Teddy. It's a nostalgia thing. I would say worth seeing, just for the majesty of the interior architecture. It's completely Egyptian revival and art nouveau. The only sections of the store tourists will ever visit are the candy shop and the gift shoppe, which is where I got my Teddy.

The Tudor style. This building stood out from all the rest: the design of the glass panes and the tiering of the stories. Found in Ludlow, England on the border of England and Wales. The town was a midpoint stop when we were travelling from Cardiff, Wales to Walsall, England (near Birmingham in the Midlands). The small, quaint town (as if any town in England is not quaint) boasts it's own castle, though we had no time to visit it.

Windsor Castle. Windsor is about 20 minutes outside of London or at least London's Heathrow Airport. I know this because we visited Windsor on our first day in England, travelling there directly from the airport. This picture shows where the moat once was. To the right (up the hill) is the tower. This castle is still inhabited by the royal family, and is known to be the favorite residence of Queen Elizabeth II. When we visited, the Queen's flag was flying, signifying that she was in residence at the castle at that time. (She is in residence here most of the time... the royal family hardly ever resides at Buckingham Palace) The most stunning part of this castle is, without a doubt, St. George's Chapel. Absolutely the best architecture of the entire trip; stunning organ and wood carved ceilings with pendants. It's incredibly difficult to find images of the interior of the chapel... It's certainly well-guarded.



I loved England. I'm going back someday. Soon.
Love, from Lititz, PA. (Yes I am home... until Thursday)

Monday, May 11, 2009

"Are you making a peach tree?"

The answer to that question is no. I cast peaches for a solid 3 weeks out of 4 molds. I started out using only the color of the plaster, which is of course white, and later experimented with adding liquid tempera to the wet plaster. I ended up with somewhere between 50 and 70 peaches, though I can't remember the exact number. (I've been extremely bad with counting these days.) My final critique was today at 5:45 pm... finished with Sculpture I forever. I got good reviews of this piece from both my Prof. and classmates. Let me know what you think.

I found that the liquid tempera broke down the quality of the plaster when added in large amounts. If only a small amount was added, there was little difference. Also, I played around with mixing a base color into the plaster and then adding some swirls right before pouring it into the molds to get some color variation. The swirled tempera had a hard time integrating into the plaster as it hardened, and left pockets of wet tempera even when the plaster was firm. This was an obvious issue, so I abandoned it for the most part. I also think that I used hydrocal instead of plaster for a few peaches because the peaches in question are much (and i mean MUCH) lighter weight wise than the others. Those peaches also took the color better, which makes me think I should have been using hydrocal rather than plaster in the first place.


The chair in all of it's grandfatherly glory. No, it's not made of solid clay. Disappointing I know. It's a hand-me-down chair from the field hockey house that was going to be put out for the trash man. Luckily I saved it just in time to coat it with slip. I mixed dry Holmer clay with water in the pug mill, and scooped all of that out into a bucket. (I had the bright idea that it might pug out... wrong) I coated this about 3 hours before the critique, and it was already drying enough to crack off. That was intentional, though, because it was part of my theme. This chair went in the dumpster after the crit... so sad.

The entire piece. The main idea is that we all have something that we want, but we know we shouldn't have no matter how right it seems. The viewer may not notice certain things about the piece from far away; the cracking and crumbling of the slip on the chair and the pure fact that the peaches are entirely unedible, but this becomes very apparent when the viewer gets progressively closer and closer. It's also a play on the Garden of Eden and the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Apples are commonly interpretted as the fruit from the tree, but instead of apples, I chose peaches. Peaches have a much more sensuous appeal, plus they are personally more appealing than apples. The fruit appears appetizing, but is better left alone, no matter how hungry one is. The chair is the spring from which the peaches originate and flow off of. It represents something so welcoming, so comfy, a place to rest, but symbolizes the place one never wants to be. The other students in my class had no clue what I was trying to do with this until I fully explained it, and that's how I intended it. It brings forward memories of loss, some vivid, some distant, but it's the common thread that everyone can connect with. Everything has or will experience such feelings. It's both a catalyst and an expression of personal feelings.


Love, from Kent, Ohio.