semester of invisibility

Temple trip 2 weeks ago.

So This semester is interesting. A few people saw me at the last institute activity on friday and excitedly asked if i was here visiting, and told me they were so glad to see me! After telling them I was still a student they looked at me apologetically and surprised. They explained they never see me, and I just said "its true, I am invisible." So the real reason is that I have all art classes, all of which are off campus, one scene painting class, in a out of the way basement workshop, and a current events class, an evening class so  nobody's around. In contrast to last year where i seemed to be everywhere at once on this small campus, now im still everywhere, just out of sight. Its kind of a relief, but i do feel out of the loop on campus life, like im the typical senior "keep- to- herself- locked- up- in- a- studio" art student. But I have been having a great time. My various Responsibilities are still there but i feel as though i have just a lil bit of extra time to myself to have fun and to also get out of the house, something that never happened last year.
A couple weekends ago was homecoming weekend, and all the legends from my freshman team came back and surprised me. I had a blast with them, reminiscing and talking like old times. I am officially the last person around that any of them played with still at SVU, if they come back in future years they wont know anyone. I guess thats part of why they all chose this year to come back, and Im so glad they did. Among that group are some of the best examples ive ever had, not just as legends on the court but as people with priorities and high standards. They always seemed so graceful and set in what they believed. Now I feel like I'm too old for this place, like I belong more with those older alums than with the current students, who all seem so young to me. I guess i can officially say i have senioritis!!!!
Anyways, thats enough of my self pondering. I have art to show you!
First off, scene painting has turned out to be one of my favorite classes. Its a whole new way of painting. The goal is to get the point across realistically from the back of an auditorium, say 100 ft away. You have to take into consideration where your light source is and plant shadows within your paint. The colors have to be extra intense to show at a distance, and detail is not as crucial. The trick though, is to not make it look sloppy and cartoonish to the people in the front row. Its a lot of fun to play with texture. So far we have done stone, brick, texture studies, and now we are working on marble. So when you (mom and dad) build your dream home, I know all the fun wallpaper techniques :)

Printmaking is a challenge, and a lot more particular than I feel comfortable with. However, it fun because its a mix of painting, drawing, wood carving and engraving, and you get to work with antique presses and tools. Its an art form that is getting lost in today's contemporary art world. The oldest books used printmaking to illustrate text, and old newspapers used it for political cartoons and news. its been around for at least 1000 years. Its a big process but very rewarding because your can make as many originals as long as your woodblock holds out.

Aside from art classes, its totally fall here, and the colors are beautiful! Tonight I hosted a team party at my house and we carved pumpkins, one of which we ding dong ditched to coach's house :) Oh, and for the first time in my life I had a very successful thrift store shopping trip, and picked up what I think is my new favorite skirt, and several business attire items for work. I think I'm like Dad, I really like dressing up. Its feels good to look professional. :) Haha

Where in the world is Ausfart?

My very own four leaf clover! Cara's mom could pick them out so fast!

The Joyner Home

German Pics are UP! I had a great time! Castles, rolling hills, lederhosen and dirndls, trains, cathedrals, and field after field of sunflowers, corn, and hobs(what they make their beer out of). Bavaria is the southern state of Germany, where I spent most my time. The town i lived in was called Rechberg(bErg means hill or mountain). It maybe was home to 300 hundred people. It had a restaurant called The RechbergerHoff which was the village's biggest attraction. It served the best champignion(mushroom) schnitzel! I crave it. In germany and I hear other european places, they serve spaghetti and lasagna icecream. Its cool. Of all the flavors i liked stracciatella best, I think Maria suggested it.

 

THE GERMAN ALPS

The most beautiful lake i have ever seen,nestled in the german alps. The water was crystal clear, almost tropical looking.

WalHalla( W is pronounced V)

Its like the german parthanon, full of ceramic busts of famous germans. Built by order of King Ludwig I. It was undergoing some preservation when we went.

 

Awesome architechure everywhere. Every little town has its own church that looks lik this, a lot have the bulbs on top. The pic on the left is a huge building, I think a theatre.

German people have the best taste in flowers and lanscaping. They all keep their lawns in impecable neatness, and most homes have beautiful flower boxes in their windows, I lovedthat.

this reminds me of peter pan, it was part of a huge Poseidon fountain by a palace of Loopy Ludwig II. They called him loopy cause he liked swans, didnt like girls, was way into fantasy stories(built the chitti chitti bang bang castle) and kept to himself.

Summer and Rain = Soggy Tan Jasmin

Going for an old mystery movie classic look haha

So heres some selections from a recent excursion i went on. I hiked down to the maury river flood wall and started shootin. The sun was out and I got some great looks. I'm learning a lot about the virginian wildlife and its very interesting. I saw a mallard duck, an american mink, a blue heron, a huge wolf spider, several kinds of butterflies, crawfish,  and a Harrier hawk. oh and a zillion kinds of insects. I've decided birds are a horror to take pictures of, they are such spazzes!I've heard tell of a Barred owl living on campus, so i really want to get some pictures of it. Anyways, im out minding my own business and outta no where these storm clouds show up and its starts raining cats and dogs. If only my camera was waterproof, I would have had a field day! Oh well i got some good shots before the downpour got too bad. 

My next project is called Fireflies. coming soon!

When the Sun Sets in the East, It Means Business

Yesterday i did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I packed up my camel-back with my camera, tripod, bug spray, and pop-tarts, put a bandanna around my head, and took a hike. I climbed up behind the school to the highest wooded hill within walking distance. After about a half hour a was far enough away from civilization to really start noticing the beauty around me, as cheesy as that sounds. I pulled out my camera and started snapping. About 347 snaps later my camera died. I really need to invest in multiple extra batteries if I am ever going to take a s many pictures as I want.

Anyways, I found some interesting things, no surprise, about photography and nature.
 1) Its hard to take a picture of wind. It was very gusty up there and at one point there was a young tree being whipped around so violently I thought it might uproot. I thought wow, if only I could capture that intensity in a picture. I have to say even though i tried multiple angles and shutter speeds, I failed to get a "windy" picture.


Random, but Can you see the rabbit face and ears? ----------->

2)Patterns make cool pictures, and if anyone knows patterns its God. Every living or once living thing has patterns, and it was fun to find them. Trees, insects, rocks, you name it. Circles, stripes, lines, and other shapes were everywhere.


3) Butterflies are very proud creatures and will pose for you, but they will not stick around for second chances. I spent about an hour in the dirt and leaves following butterfly after butterfly.

 Can you find the butterfly?

 I learned patience and am realizing the art of quick adjustment. I also was able to start anticipating the butterflies movements. They are pretty smart. To keep from getting blown away by the wind, they would face directly away from the wind current and close their wings tightly.

This makes them almost perfectly 2-dimensional and streamlined. The strongest wind didn't effect them at all! I quickly found out that the perfect time to capture a picture of them was at a particular moment right after the wind died down. Every time, the butterfly would shake and then spread its wings down to their full extension, just once, then fly away and find another sunny spot. It was a great convenience too, that the wind just happened to be coming from the east, so the setting sun shown fully on the back of the wings so you can see the color.

Going off of that, I give you...
4) Nature is full of visually dramatic images without the aid digital enhancing. My goal is to learn to take great pictures that don't need to be redone once I upload them to my computer.The experiment of the hike yesterday was to be at the highest point of sight, overlooking the valley and take pictures of a Virginian sunset, using the the sun as dramatic lighting for my pictures. Boy did I get a show!

I wish I had ten clones of me running around that hilltop snapping pictures of everything that cast a cool orange shadow or lit up when hit by the sun rays just right.

The colorful part of the sunset only lasted maybe 10 minutes and every time I thought I got the best, most dramatic and colorful shot, the clouds would move slightly or the sun would drop another couple inches and the whole view changed.