Ceramics class

The semester is finally over! Ceramics was such an amazing class. I spent hours forming clay, was forced to leave in the evenings and would come home inspired to create till I couldn't stay awake anymore.

Some of my pottery will be featured in the school art exhibit in May 2011. I'll be sure to let everyone know about it!

I will be selling all of the below pieces.

Contact me for prices.

Amber722@gmail.com

Knife Oil Painting

My latest inspiration:

Oil painting with a knife by Francoise Nielly.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Arcimboldo Faces on PhotoPeach

"Four Seasons" by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527 – July 11, 1593) "was born to a distinguished family in Milan, Italy, and began working as an artist at the Milan Cathedral, creating stained glass, fabrics, and paintings. His father, a painter, probably provided his early training. As the official artist and Master of Festivals for three successive German Emperors, Arcimboldo designed costumes, stage settings, chariots, and other diversions for courtly events and ceremonies. He was also in charge of making acquisitions for the royal cabinet of curiosities, which included art, antiques, curios, oddities of nature, and exotic animals and birds. He engineered creative water works, and even dreamed up a “color-piano” that was played by court musicians. He was perfect for the job and was richly rewarded for his inventiveness.

Arcimboldo was best known for his fantastical “composite head” paintings. These were portraits composed of objects such as fruit, flowers, books, or even a plate of meat. — that is, he painted representations of these objects on the canvas arranged in such a way that the whole collection of objects formed a recognizable likeness of the portrait subject.

While his paintings amused and fascinated wealthy courtiers with their apparent whimsy, they also appealed to the intellect. The profile format of this painting was probably inspired by portrait heads of Roman emperors, known to Renaissance artists as depicted on Roman coinage. By using the same format in his portraits, Arcimboldo associated Emperor Rudolph II—to whom these works were linked—with a powerful Roman emperor."

Here is a video where a group of students put together vegetables to create a face.

Instead of using real food that will decay, today we will begin the process of creating ceramic object inspired faces that will last much longer!

Sistine Chapel web site

Check out this awesome web site I just found! It's of the Sistine Chapel. You can move your mouse around to see it without people. Zoom in too! I'll be using it for my presentation of my Italy trip!

I dare you to MOVE!

I Stumbleupon.com this... so true. Artist: Eddie Colla

'David' is done!

I've been working on this project for awhile... deadlines are coming soon...

Here is my charcoal drawings of 'David'. I was going to incorporate his penis and foot, however I did not have a good picture of his foot and the penis just didn't work well in this collaborative. So instead you get his pectoral and stomach muscles.

You may have heard this from me before but, seeing 'David' was the highlight of my trip! In person it is the most amazing piece of art I have ever seen. When you walk into the room where he stands, it's breathtaking. 'David' is at the end of the room, staring at his opponent, Goliath. (At first I noticed his hands were unproportional to his body; which was explained later that it is a representation of David becoming a man. Kind of like how puppies have big paws and grow into them.) Towering high, every muscle was carefully crafted, bulging out as the young shepherd prepares to defeat a giant with only a sling and stone.

(1 Samuel 17: 1-58)

In my previous post I told how my intention was to watercolor while in Italy. I did, but it was a disaster. I was going to watercolor on special postcard sized paper and send them to family and friends back in the States. Instead, what I ended up doing was sending blank postcards to my home and then once I returned, I've been drawing images that I took pictures of while in Italy. I would've done it there, but I literally did not have the time for it. The postcards are stamped from all around Italy and are hidden behind the backing of the frame for someone to find one day. Just an added bonus I guess. Oh, and I wrote a bunch of information about Michelangelo and 'David' on them.

[outtakes]

Watercolor Pouring Technique

In Italy I thought that I would do watercolors because it is faster drying than what I am used to (oil paint). I quickly learned that it was not as easy as it looks. Now I've decided that I am going to take a watercolor class before I graduate. Watercolor is a beautiful medium and I want to learn how to do it well.

Tonight I went to a watercolor pouring technique seminar through the South Oakland Art Association. Linda Allen did the demonstration and she learned it from a master: Roland Roycraft. It is a beautiful way to use watercolor! I am excited to try out this technique for myself.

Here are some examples from Roycraft:

'Iris'

'Dance of the Wood Nymph'

P.S. The POTTERS MARKET is December 3,4,&5th Go here: thepottersmarket.com for more info.

Out West

Mt. Rainier, WA

So it's now mid fall and I've been home from Italy for about 2 1/2 months. I'm getting antsy. I have a Saturday afternoon class and it has kept me from traveling like I'm used to. I generally like to go somewhere about once a month... Some call me a gypsy.

I don't currently have any plans to go anywhere besides Kentucky for Thanksgiving with my family. Maybe New Years will be my next option? Haven't been to Chicago for awhile... Love the weather in LA... I'm not sure...

Anyway, thinking about all these random cities has reminded me of when I went to Seattle/Washington/Oregon last. What a great vacation. Hiking Mt. Rainier, seeing the most North West point of the lower United States, visiting the first Starbucks ever, Pike Place Brewery, the market, stepping in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, Climbing Mt. Hood, big trees, bears and waterfalls. Gorgeous.

Here are a few photographs I took on that trip.

Oregon somewhere

Saw this one while hiking at Mt. Rainier, WA

No idea where this one was at.

This one is from the rain forest in WA.

The prints are all displayed in my room. But if you think they would look good at your house, let me know ;)

Art Day

Awhile ago, my roommate Sam and I decided to have a day dedicated to art. We created for about 11 hours straight. It was lots of fun. I explored with watercolor, but nothing good came from that. I need to take a class... I did however finally start working on some homework for my Italy trip and was able to do this charcoal drawing of 'David' s face. (I have been lacking on my Italy homework because I have had mono since being home from the trip.)

Here is Sam oil painting.

I need to have another Art Day soon!!!

Detroit Lives.

Just a couple weeks behind, Palladium Boots finally posted the documentary about Detroit.

Check it out. It explains more about what is happening in Detroit and why people are coming down here to live.

I have been enjoying living in Detroit. Growing up in Royal Oak I never knew my neighbors. Here, I have hung out with them many times in the backyard. It is a totally different community.

Going to the suburbs now is like a chore. The people there are so afraid of Detroit and think they know what it is like down here, but they don't. They have no clue. It saddens me...

Last night I was at a church in Troy. They were talking about sending people to Africa to help the people there. I'm sure that Africa needs help, but so does Detroit. Why not send people here? It is so close and we can help so much, but we are too afraid.

Look around you and help the people in your own community. We CAN make this world a better place.

Caricature

For my Art Education class this semester we have to draw a caricature of ourselves. It will help us to get to know a little more about everyone in the class.

This is my caricature: I am riding a bike, which I've been doing more of lately. The world underneath me shows the continents that I have visited. My goal is to visit each continent before I die. So far I've made it to four of them! I love to travel and see new things. To the left is the skyline of Detroit. I currently live downtown and love it! Also I am a "big city girl," and this represents that. Underneath the world is a swimmer. I was a swimmer from 3rd grade till the end of High School. Received my letter jacket as a Freshman, and was Most Valuable Swimmer my Senior year. And, for the last two years I was the assistant coach of the Girls Royal Oak Ravens Swim Team. They were awesome and won Leagues those two years in a row! To the right is an oil painting brush and palette because I am an artist and my medium of choice is oil painting.

Drawing

Now Im on a roll... two blog entries in one day!

Drawing is not a skill that I usually take part in. For some reason I hate using pencils for anything. Its like the nusence of scratching a chalk board for me.

Last semester I had to take a drawing class. These were the results of that class:

Texture drawing.

Sketch.

My drawing final.

Still life.

Art Studio

Little by little I've been bringing home things from my art studio at my parents house, to our new house in Detroit. It's still missing a few things but it's getting there, and I'm excited to share the new space so... here it is:

A sewing machine will have a home here one day.

Angela's desk. See the awesome fabric Sam and Brittany found to cover the odd wall?

My area.

Oh, and.... I love this poster. So rad.

Johnny Knoxville makes a documentary about the revival of Detroit! Premieres August 30th.

Oil Paint

Oil Paining is my medium of choice.

I learned how to develop the skill at Grace College (2002-2005) through my professor Tim Young. Other than meeting new friends in undergrad, painting was the only other thing that I gained from College... I got a degree in Graphic Design, but have never used it.

It wasn't until a sculpture class in grad school that I realized that I am naturally a Realist. I try to do abstract art sometimes, but it does not come naturally. Here are a few paintings I've done:

My first painting at Grace College.

-currently in parents guest room

The only painting that I have done for myself... then when I was poor, I sold it.

-My college roommate, Bekah owns it. It's in her bedroom in Cincinnati, OH

Bekah also had me do these for her. -Cincinnati, OH

This one is painted only using a knife; no brushes.

This is my personal favorite. It was also done my first year at Grace.

-located in parents living room

After my first Lily painting, I decided to do a bunch of them.

-This one belongs to a different friend named Becca. She lives in Wyoming or something crazy like that

-A longtime friend Ashley has this one in Indianapolis, IN

My cousin, Becky has this one in Louisville, KY. She will be having a baby in November and has already picked out the name of Lily for her!

Below: My painting in Cincinnati. It looks good there!

Assisi, Pompei, Capri, and back to Rome.

The rest of the trip was things that I wanted to see, but wasn't required to by school. It was still educational, but more relaxing at the same time...

This is the city of Pompeii. In 79AD the volcano you see in the background erupted and a poisons gas blown from the wind landed in the city, killing everyone. The city later was covered with 25ft of ash. This is what still remains.
You can see how this guy was trying to protect himself with his hands raised.

On to Capri from there, which is now one of my favorite places on Earth! Bella means beautiful in Italian. I went on a boat tour around the island, seeing many caves, people swimming in the bright blue water, yachts everywhere. Celebrities are often spotted here. My friend on the tour saw Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Campbell.

Back to Rome for a couple days. Tried to go to a few more art galleries but they were closed for the holiday. Swimming along the Tiber River today and fly home tomorrow. Gracie (Thank you) to Wayne State University for giving me this amazing opportunity to experience the art and culture of Italy. I plan on returning one day! :)

Venice

Venice means Queen of the Sea. This fishing city’s wealth came form the sea and trading. The 117 islands began sinking from the buildings above and were secured with lots of logs standing straight and tightly underneath the surface. All of the islands are connected with over 400 bridges. There are no cars or Vespas like the other cities. Walking a ton or taking a water taxi is the only ways to get around. It is a very unique city!

Gondola ride:

A must when in Venice!!!

St. Mark Basilica:

This Basilica, built in the 1100’s is the oldest monument in Venice. It took 50 years to build, and 500 years to decorate. The church has 1800 feet of glass and gold textiles.

Dodge’s Palace:

A Dodge is kind of like the President. He is the head of the Church and State, has governors, senate and court underneath him, but always has the last say. In the Dodges palace is a gold plated ceiling. It is this way so that others will come in knowing that the Venictians are supposively richer than them.

I went to the Art Academia in Venice which has only Venician paintings. I saw one that was a painting of St. Mark’s Square and God flying above it. The Square looked exactly like it looks today, except in the background had ships in the canal and the people in the square were wearing Renaissance clothing. It’s cool how history can be portrayed in art.

Guggenheim Collection:

Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) was an art collector. Her motto was to buy a new work of art each day… rich lady if you couldn’t tell… She loved modern art: Abstract and Surrealism. The galleries that I know about were opened in London 1938, New York 1942, and Venice 1949. I visited the gallery and saw pieces that people have seen in books, but still have no idea what they really are like. I was going to buy a poster of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Alchemy’ for my classroom one day, but didn’t after seeing it because it just doesn’t give the work justice. Other works that you might know, that were featured (but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of) were Picassos ‘The Poet’, and Max Ernst ‘The Kiss’.

Getting lost in Venice is a part of experiencing it. When I was lost, I came upon a church holding 60 reproduced models of Leonardo da Vinci’s invention notes. Made from wood, brass, fabric, and bronze they are divided into sections of war, flying, water, mechanical, and building. He was a genius. Living from 1452-1519 and being a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, and writer makes him the archetype of the Renaissance man.

P.S. He pretty much invented the bicycle, but it wasn’t coined till the 1800’s.