Art From a Man 152 Years Old.

      My dog wanted to go to the backyard and I saw that my dad was in the grarage, so I went in and I saw him with this big trunk. It was very old and had the name H. Koster Jr. engraved on it. It turns out my dad's friend was going to throw it out, but instead my dad decides to take it. My dad opened it and inside there was a lot of rolled up pieces paper and some things in frames. It turns out a lot of those rolled up paper and frames were filled with art this guy did in the 1800s and early 1900s. His art is really good too, lots of drawings, watercolored in, and some paintings in there too. Some of the paper was also his graduation certificate of the second grade (1866), a map of america, some other certifcates, one about a medal of honor. There was also a few books about "Amazing Art of the World" made in the late 1800s, a lot of realism in there. Some books were about photography too. It was very interesting to see. I'll get a picture of it later.

Last day of Jim Bonnie.

Surprise, surprise! I did not know it was today, I don't think anybody did until the last few minutes we were told the sad news. Overall it was an amazing workshop, I feel more open and powerful from it, and I learned a lot about myself. It was nice getting in touch with our inner child and going into our body and hearts. I learned that I am happier with myself when I am not hiding under a mask, and that we should feel what we feel and should not be ashamed of our emotions. That is basically what I learned, it is actually harder to explain than I thought. I know I will use what I got from this for a very long time (by that I mean forever).

Ripping off masks.

Today in the 4th Jim Bonnie workshop we worked more into the idea of mask, the fake emotion we put out to hide our real emotions. I always had the idea of mask in mind since I watched this one anime called 'His & Her Circumstances', I watched it a long time ago but I remember it being about a girl who acted as the smart honor student in school, but at home she acted like a completely different, crazy girl, and then she finally met somebody she could open up to so the had a scene where her face is a mask and it falls off and cracks.

As for the Charlie Chaplin film, that would make my 2nd time watching a silent movie, so that was fun. I think you get more expression and feeling out of that movie than a movie with words, words ruin everything. I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy the movie, but  I ended up really liking it.


Well, I'm kind of tired now, so I'll stop here, but have fun anybody going to Italy!

A mess a paint can become something much bigger.

So Monday workshop I started of a little bummed that I bought all the wrong things, and then got a little scared that I wasn't going to paint right (if there is really such thing). I tend to have no self confidence in my art, or anything in general. These paintings remind me of what my English teacher told me when she saw me doodling in class, she said, "Sketches are so cool to me because it started out looking like a bunch of lines but then turns into something recognizable.", of course this isn't sketching, its paint, but I feel like it has the same idea to it. After getting more comfortable with the paint, I started getting somewhere, somewhere where it looks somewhat human. Although it looked more like Elvis than Clint Eastwood, I am pleased with it, considering it was my first time trying this.

Jim Bonnie

While eating during STAC Wednesday, I kept hearing good things about Jim Bonnie, I even heard that people cried last time. I thought they were joking but when I found out that  it was true, I got a bit scared and nervous, because I don't like people seeing me cry. When we met Jim Bonnie, he seem confident and comfortable, something I'm not. I was a little intimidated. He was explaining how we are surrounded by zombies, draining our energy, and how we have to stop having our energy drained. Just walking through any hallway at Herricks you can see zombies, everywhere. Then he had us lie down and told us to bring back the child in us, when I closed my eyes a pictured something bizarre, possibly scary, or warped. I pictured myself when I was little smiling, but then gets punched in the back, little me falling to the ground laying there almost looking dead, but growing and transforming into what I look like now. Creepy. Afterwards Mr. Bonnie had is yell phrases like "OUTTA MY WAY!" "DON'T PICK ON ME!" "SLIMEBALL!" and yell no to things he told us we couldn't do. Doing that was like releasing any negative energy I had, giving me a fresh start with myself. I felt stronger and that nothing in my way could stop me. I felt like I could look anyone in the eyes and take them down. Later on we paired up, I was with Jon and we did an improv where he was a teacher upset with me a rebellious student. Jon looked like he wasn't having the best day so I felt bad acting like a bratty student. It was fun, considering I don't improv often (at least in STAC that is). Just working with Jim Bonnie one day was thrilling so I'm excited for the next workshop!

I should check my email more often.

Very sorry it is late, I haven't checked my email in days. The workshop we started monday was very interesting to me because normally I draw to draw, but i don't think I have ever drawn to paint. I kinda excited paint it, but working in just pencil was an interesting process, I don't draw in shapes a lot, so this is something I hope to use more in the future. I think I will get the good paintbrushes this weekend, along with the oil based paint(?).
I also do remember just with my sketches I kinda squint to see if it looks somewhat photographic. I feel so bad this is so short, its 6AM and I'm getting ready for school(will add more later.)!

Avery Milton...

I can not decide whether I like his art or not. Some of it was good, but some of it looked like something I made in art class in the first grade, so I did not think of that as a positive thing, but that just may be me. The one I liked the most was the chicken one, I liked how he used scratches and marks to his painting (chicken scratch?). I don't think I will form a definite opinion anytime soon, but he certainly isn't my favorite artist.

I like The Prisoner episode today, I think it is because like Allison said, the change in scenery makes it more interesting, I think thats also why I like episodes when he 'escapes' for some short amount of time before getting thrown back to the village. Number 8 was great, another thing that convinces me that some psychos are lovable. I think the best was his face when he had the blood dripping from his lip and that insane grin.

On to the paint.

So, on tuesday I had some touch ups and lipo-suction to get to. The person in the bathtub pretty much had no neck so Margaret helped me create one. After that I touched up a bit on little things with the paper mache and I eventually got to the paint. For tuesday I only got up to the white tub, because the rest of it had more wet paper mache. Today, I stayed after and painted some more. I recoated the white tub and I started with the skin. Tomorrow I hope I can finish it up and have it donated to weetacon!

I might be getting the hang of this. Just maybe.

Once Margaret got here friday (yesterday) I got out my little containers, poured hot water, and margaret poured a little cup of... wheat paste? I forgot what it was called, but form there I got to work on my bathtub. I got to be honest, I think I  like the squishy feeling of the paper mache! Once I finished with the tub I think I started getting the hand of it, at least I think so, for I know I could be doing this all wrong! I finished about 85% during the workshop. The container I brought in had a top thankfully, so I brought some paper mache home with some paper, and I am finishing the rest this weekend. I feel like I am making a cast of a mummy!

Mushy, mushy, paper mache.

    So today I thankfully remembered to bring in my bundles of newspaper, taped up together to create what will eventually be my seven deadly sins project. Today I walked in thinking all I needed to do was tape on the legs and I would be ready to paper mache, but Margaret had a good idea of adding arms. When I finally put that together I think it looked awesome. Probably because it put a lot into it this weekend (it doesn't look like much but, because it kept messing up, or the tape lossened up a bit, it took some time). So by ninth period I got to stick my hands in the paper mache. Its very squishy! I didn't get to cover too much of it but friday I will have about 2 hours of time to work on it so I will have to get it done then!