Monday, June 3, 2013

Unincorporated

One of the photographs from the series


This series of photographs portrays a way of life that is not so familiar to most people in the United States. our countries' big cities are booming now more than ever, and the energy, sparkle, and glamour of these metropolises are attracting the younger generation at a fast rate. That being said, the 15 photographs of this series depict where and how I grew up, and they are extremely personal. Unincorporated represents some of the people that mean the most to me, and it reflects ideas that I will forever embrace.

The photographs were taken at a variety of Wisconsin towns within the past 3 months. Ten different towns are represented including Hortonville, Oshkosh, Mountain, New London, Reedsville, Crivitz, Shantytown, Winchester, Shawano, and Readfield. At least one photograph from each of these locations is included in the series.

I should also mention that I chose to display my photographs on white pieces of cardstock with the titles handwritten. This gave my piece a more personal feel, which I was going for. The titles described who the subjects in the photos were and where they photographs were taken. All 15 photographs were layed inside of an old chest from my families tree farm.

I chose to get the photos printed from Walgreens because I had a 60% off coupon. They were printed on fujifilm crystal archive paper, and they turned out really well! Here is the link to my flickr set for you guys to check out.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Dolly Parton: The Queen of Country Music

Simulation plays a significant role in Dolly Parton’s life. Her image, drag queens that long to look like her, and her theme park are some examples of how her life is related to  Jean Baudrillard’s ideas in his book, Simulations.

Dolly Parton is i country music icon who has been center stage for the past half centry. She is considered to be amongst the top 5 music artists of all time within all genres. In addition, she has been the most successful modern country performer to cross over to the mainstream of American popular culture, and her song  “Here You Come Again” was her biggest crossover hit. Dolly has written over 3,000 songs, and she has also wrote the most recorded song in history entitled “I Will Always Love You.” The star has teamed up with countless stars including Kenny Rodgers, Elvis, and Whitney Houston. Finally Dolly is a fantastic businesswoman and a devote Christian. Here is a clip of Dolly performing one of her most famous songs Jolene. The video gives you a glimpse into what her personality is like and what her voice sounds like.

Dolly Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in a small town in the Smokey Mountains in Eastern Tennessee. She was born into poverty, and she was the fourth of twelve children. She wrote her first song at age five, and when she was 18 she took off for Nashville with only her clothes in paper bags. When she arrived in Nashville she was lucky enough to get an invitation from singer, Porter Wagoner, and that is when her journey began.

Simulation and hyper reality are present in Parton's life and work. Her image is the first area in which Baurdillard's ideas are present. Dolly is arguably as famous for the way she looks as for the songs she sings. She has fake platinum blonde hair, tan skin, and her makeup is over the top. There is also quite the contreversy over her bosoms. Dolly is quoted saying, "I may look fake, but I'm real where it counts." Her is a clip f her talking about her simulated appearance. Dolly's iconic image as graced the covers of thousands of magazines, and people simply adore her. Below is an image of one of her fan's stomachs that has Dolly tatood on it.


All of Dolly's drag queens also relate to Baudrillard's ideas. The reasons for hyper reality are obvious here. All of the drag queens attempt to simulate Dolly's look. Here is just one example:
 
 
Nestled in the foothills of Tennessee lies one of Dolly’s most prized positions, Dollywood. Dollywood is the final way in which her life and work relates to Simulations. It is a place where tourists can learn about mountain life, but more importantly, about Dolly’s life. The entire theme park is a simulation of her life. There are clothes that visitors can purchase that look like Dolly's. There is a replica of her log cabin home that she grew up in. In additon, tourists can even meet some of her family members, for many of them are employed at the park. Dollywood even has it's own currency! The Tennessee theme park gets an estimated 2.5 million visitors each year which adds to Dolly's half billion dollar fortune. Here is a link to the ever-so-famous Dollywood.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Distortion of The Real

This video is my take on Jean Baudrillard's ideas of simulation. In it, I suggest that women are constantly manipulating themselves in order to appear more attractive to society. They put on a mask, as Baudrillard would say. In fact, a new survey has found that over 50% of women are not happy with their appearance without some sort of cosmetic. Nowadays it seems as if makeup is no longer used as a tool for enhancement but, rather, a security blanket that conceals negative feelings.

In my video I had originally integrated numerous clips such as cosmetic commercials, sections from the TV series Toddlers and Tiaras, and a news report that told of a mother who injected botox into her 8 year old girl. However, this was too much footage to edit down to a three minute video, plus it got to be a bit congested and choppy.

Instead, I decided to start off the video with makeup tutorials that swarm YouTube. These exist to help girls achieve certain looks that they are so desperately seeking. In addition, I also included a slideshow of female celebrities. We are constantly having images of "perfect" women thrown in our faces, so seeing these people in the media obligates us to attempt these same looks. The black and white clippings are of myself covering up what is real and putting on a mask in order to appear more attractive to society. The audio used are sections of songs by Fergie and Madonna, which I thought both fit very well. The audio that concludes the video is just a segment from one of Jenna Marbles videos in which she discusses what a girl's makeup says about her. Here's a link to Jenna's YouTube channel.

Finally, here is a link to my video which I have posted on YouTube. I should also note that the audio in this YouTube video is a bit different than the original, for some reason the audio seems a bit muffled on the clips of the female celebrities. This is not the case when I view my video in Quick Time. Hope you guys all enjoy!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Bill Viola Convocation Reflection



Although Bill Viola is like super famous, I have to admit that he was quite the let down after the Lynda Barry Convo. I guess that was to be expected though since she was so darn good and entertaining. Anyways... I will sum up my thoughts on his convocation in two words: commencement speech. It totally reminded me of the oh-so-typical talk I heard when I graduated high school, and I'm sure what I will here when I graduate from Lawrence. He kept addressing us, students and talking about our "future journeys." He gave us a lot of life advice as well, such as learning from our enemies. To me it was all just a little too much and kinda weird. I also thought he was kinda corny, for he used phrases such as, "we are all artists because we are all creative."

Fire Woman (one of his works presented at Convocation)

I don't know, maybe I am just being a little too harsh because in the end I really enjoyed the message he was portraying. I enjoyed his insight on what creativity and inspiration are, and it was neat that he informed us on what inspires him. In addition, I was attracted to Bill Viola's work, and his video that he opened with, Fire Woman, was pretty impressive. In the end, I was able to get over his cornyness (I don't think that's a word), and focus on his message and his artwork. He truly is, as Rachele stated, a leader of artistic innovation.

Here is a link to his website.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Project 1 Reaction to "Simulations"

When given the task of capturing a photograph that explores the ideas of the hyperreal as describe by Jean Baudrillard in his book, Simulations I immediately thought of how women in American culture are a perfect example of what Baudrillard was writing about. Everyday almost all women in the United States start out their day by applying make-up and doing their hair in order to look more attractive and put together. They put on a mask in order to cover up their flaws or perhaps enhance their already existent beauty. However, in either case women are distorting what is real. Baudrillard uses the term "unmasked" to signify realness, and that "realness" is exactly what I tried to capture in my final photograph.

The first step that I took was to talk a set of 100 images to simply develop and expand upon some ideas I had running through my head. Here are 15 of those photographs which I have made available through my Flickr account. The first few are more literal in that I have no make-up on and my hair is messy. However, the silhouette images are more symbolic and portray the message that every girl is kind of in the shadows, for society sets unrealistically high expectations for women and their images. We never really see what women truly look like, and that goes hand in hand with what Baudrillard discusses in Simulations.

The second step was to narrow my 15 photos down to 6 and then print them on 8x10" pieces of paper. The following 6 images are the ones that I chose to print:

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

 Image 5

Image 6

From here I went on to chose 2 photographs that I would print on a scale of 17x22" and present them for a classroom critique. These are the two that I chose:

17x22" print #1

17x22" print #2


After viewing these prints I was really disappointed in how they turned out, for they were extremely pixilated. In the end I decided against both of these photos and ended up picking the following photograph for what would be my final image:
30x40" print

I like this image better because not as much of my face is visible, and I really like the whole "profile" look which I steered away from in my second 17x22" print. This final image will be printed on a scale of 30x40", and I am anxious to see how it will turn out. In order to get a preview of what the quality will be like when I print the final product, I printed the below image on an 8x10" print. I was happy with how it turned out, so my hopes are high for my 30x40" print. 

 8x10" preview


I also thought I would include my original of this photograph, just so you guys could see some of the alterations I made. Well, that's a wrap for this project. I'll keep my fingers crossed to see how the final print comes out!  


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Sonja Thomsen Reflection

Sonja Thomsen creating Trace of Possibility
 
          Sonja Thomsen's Shifting the Frame lecture given yesterday left me with a mixture of emotions about her work. I did not enjoy parts of her work, yet most of her exhibitions really sparked my interest and were appealing to me. I liked the ideas and concepts behind her work, and I also thought that her interest in time, light, and the act of making could really lead her in a successful direction. Here are links to Sonja's blog and website.

          Sonja started of the lecture by discussing how she was influenced by Charles and Ray Eames' 1977  Powers of 10 film which depicted the relative scale of the Universe. She then went on to give the audience a brief background of herself which included informing us that she was a liberal arts student studying Science and Studio Art. After her undergrad Sonja went on to the San Fransisco Art Institute.

          Throughout her  lecture Sonja discussed several of her completed projects. The first one she mentioned was entitled, Permission to Wonder, in which she peeled away figures from a series of photographs taken by the ocean. Questions such as how small does the ocean make you feel and how long has the ocean been around ran through her mind as she made this series. As viewers approach these figures in galleries the images start to fade. Sonja argues that the same thing occurs in our daily lives.

         Sonja then went on to show a photograph taken on Lake Michigan by Harry Callahan. She mentioned that the lake "is really part of her visual consciousness" since she grew up in Milwaukee and saw it nearly every day. Ronni Horn also influenced Sonja's work. Horn's work, such as You are the Weather, take a lot of time, and Sonja feels the same way about her work. The artist then briefly talked about her photographs of mud puddles and of bodies of water. I feel as if anyone can go to Mount Rainier or Lake Michigan and take the photographs she did. These photographs were one of her projects that did not impress me.

          On the other hand, her sculpture piece entitled, Trace of Possibility did impress me. I like the materials that she took advantage of and how they felt heavy and light at the same time. It was really fascinating how the piece could be seen as both a cave and mountain, and I particularly liked how she portrayed perception and depth. Trace of Possibility was inspired by her time in Iceland which she found to be a place of contradictions. For example, she mentioned how the country is white with snow, yet black from all of the lava. This piece was impressive to me because it was Sonja's first sculptural piece and she was able to hire an assistant thanks to a grant, yet still physically engage with her own work as she completed it.


Lacuna 2009

          I will now discuss why I absolutely loved her project Lacuna. Lacuna is a collection of 75 photographs that she constructed into constellation. She mentioned that the word "lacuna" means "gap in knowledge," and that it is a metaphor about memory and aging. Throughout the piece there are images of landscapes, friends and family. My favorite aspect of the piece was that there was interaction amongst the viewers, and that the piece changed and developed as audiences came through and interacted with it. In addition, I particularly liked how she said that her favorite part of the piece was being able to take ownership of the piece. I think Lacuna is her best project for theses reasons in addition to the fact that the piece reflects her theme of relating to time and space.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Reversal of Fortune





 Wisconsin Death Trip, By Michael Lesy
 
Reversal of Fortune is a short, silent film created in response to the book Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy.  The book is filled with black and white photographs and newspaper articles taken from the town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. They take place throughout the 19th century and are captured by a photographer named Charles Van Schaick. Lesy's strategic manipulations of powerful images and newspaper clippings depict several themes such as feminism, death, and everyday hardships faced by those who live in rural areas.
 
 Reversal of Fortune

For my silent film I decided to go with my first instinct upon paging through the book and hearing the music that would be in collaboration with my film. That first instict was a sense of eeriness and anxiety. Both of these feelings can be experienced when viewing my film. Another goal for my video was to portray the strange, dark heart of American small towns, for even if they appear to be safe and friendly, underneath their surface or somewhere in their past lie haunted stories and tremendous hardships that have been overcome.

I started out this project by looking up eerie video clips on YouTube to get some inspiration for this "eerie" aura that I wanted to depict. The blue saturated clips with creepy figures was the perfect clip to manipulate because it portrayed the thoughts racing through my mind as I was paging through the book and listening to the sample music played for us in class.

As I previously mentioned, I wanted to depict a sense of anxiety to the viewers too. I accomplished this in my film by varying the speed of the clips. For example, most of the blue saturated scenes are at a fast pace, while the water droplets are pain-painstakingly slow. The water droplets are meant to serve as a hypnotizer for the viewer. The three clips of them falling in slow motion are included to mezmorize the viewer for a few seconds, so that they can simply soak in the music that is being played and think about the clips that were just presented. The choppiness of the film also adds to the anxiety level that is supposed to be felt by the viewers. 

Although several of the clips in the film may seem random, they each reflect a vision I had as I read Wisconsin Death Trip. For example, the farm clips are meant to depict the Midwestern way of life which is what is demonstrated throughout Lesy's book. Farming in rural areas was very difficult, yet despite the struggles of that way of life, some people still choose to live this way today. My uncle is an example of one of these farmers, so several of the scenes are filmed on his land. 

In addition, I include scenes of sunny and wintery days just as the photographs in the book portray. I also mimic photographs in the book through my clips of the three children in the barn, for there are a number of youth subjects in Lesy's book. Finally, I include the dog clips because Lesy also includes a number of animals throughout his book. 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my film. I cannot wait for the collaboration on Saturday with the musical improvisations!

Evan Baden Reflection

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was an English poet that is best know for his crucial role in the Romantic Literature Movement. He was born in the Lake District of England in 1717. McLuhan references Wordsworth on the bottom of page 44 where he includes a verse from Wordsworth poem entitled Expostulation and Reply. McLuhan includes this exert from Wordsworth's poem because he sees Wordsworth as a radical thinker just like himself. McLuhan agrees with the poet's philosophy, and he expands upon it throughout his book. McLuhan sees himself as a reflection of Wordsworth in several ways.

Here is video which reads aloud Expostulation and Reply. Listen especially at the 47 second mark, for here starts the verse that McLuhan references on page 44.


The setting of the poem in on Lake Esthwaite, located in the Lake District, which is in the Northwestern part of England. The two characters in the poem are William and his friend Matthew. Matthew asks William why he is sitting near the lake daydreaming, when instead, he should be reading books to enlighten himself. This is an example of expostulation. It can be defined as an attempt (in this case Matthew’s attempt at it) is to reason with a person in order to get him to turn away from a course of action.  William’s reply to Matthew’s question is that he is, in fact, enlightening himself simply by allowing nature to stimulate him. This answer expresses a key principle of the Romantic Movement. A common idea of this movement was that nature and human intuition impart a kind of knowledge and wisdom not found in books and formal education. It was also common of the Romantic Movement for the artist to reveal their deep feelings and emotions through their works. Wordsworth is most definitely doing just that in this poem.

So you might be wondering how McLuhan relates to Wordsworth. Well, I would argue that both McLuhan and Wordsworth are very similar people. They are similarly in that they are both radical thinkers of different movements. They both post original ideas, and both are way ahead of their time. In addition, both McLuhan and Wordsworth think that people should learn in their own ways. McLuhan is afraid of what technology will bring for future generations, and he focuses on primitiveness in different sections throughout the book. In the same way, Wordsworth feels as if nature should be the leading force of growth. He thinks nature should be the teacher and stimulate man’s senses in profound ways. Finally, both are alike in that have high expectations for their readers. McLuhan’s book is challenging to read, as are Wordsworth poems. However, once the reader is able to grasp the message the authors are portraying many thoughts come racing through our brains. Because McLuhan and Wordsworth were so trusting in their reader’s mental activity we are able to gain great insight into what these brilliant individuals were thinking.

In conclusion, Wordsworth's verse of Expostulation and Reply are included in The Medium is the Massage because the poem reflects a radical way of thinking, and McLuhan is all about just that. Wordsworth brought many new ideas to the table through his poems, and McLuhan is looking to do the same thing through his writings. McLuhan is inspired by Wordsworth way of thinking, which is therefor why he is referenced in the book.

Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Amber




Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Mind the Gap



When we think of music in today's terms most people think of words that are in collaboration with musical sounds. John Cage, however, says everything we do is music. I definitely agree with his argument, and in fact, I had even considered this theory to be true before learning about Cage in class the other day. I have always been drawn to various sounds, and I have found certain everyday sounds incredible and noteworthy. I have a habit of recording these sounds whenever I get the chance. The most recent recording of an everyday sound that is music is the sound of the Underground Subway that serves as the lifeline for the city of London. The sounds of the Tube (as it is commonly referred to) produce something that is suprisingly similar to the music that we think of today. For example, the sounds it produces get louder and quieter, higher and lower, and longer and shorter. The sounds are acting in a sense, and Cage and myself are completely satisfied by this. Cage also believes that today's music is all too much the same. For example, a Taylor Swift song is basically always the same. Where as if you listen to the London Underground, it's always changing. It is chaos, and it is always characterized by it's unpredictability.When I close my eyes while listening to the unedited audio clip I can picture myself sitting on one of the seats listening to the gears change, while riding on one of the most chaotic transport systems in the world.

Tube map


 The artsy version (the one with an actual meaning behind the manipulations): Track 1

On this one I cut out a clip where the intercom lady announces which tube line the travelers are on, so that it would be somewhat of a surprise for the listener in the end.The video opens with the sound of the doors sliding shut. Then, as the train starts to accelerate, I edited the sound to the "deep voice" option, and, as the audio clip goes on, I include a "helium voice" edit. I did this to help the listener envision going into the pitch black tunnels as if they were really there. When I would take rides on the tube I often felt emotions of disarray when the train would run from one tube station to another. I wanted these sound effects to really exaggerate this feeling that I had. The "deep voice" effect that I chose almost reminds me of space which is where I sometimes felt like I was while I was traveling on the tube. The "helium voice" effect almost puts the listener into a whirlwind, which is what riding on the tube can sometimes feel like. As the train starts to slow down I take away the sound effects to bring the listener back to reality. This is similar to how the conclusion of a tube ride is, for once a traveler gets off the tube he or she takes an escalator up and steps out back onto the streets of London or the "real world."


The sound without effects prepare them for what is to come once he or she exits the tube station. I made sure to extend the length of the sound of the squeaking breaks to really get the point across that the train had come to a stop. I included the various sound effects in the end to serve as a reminder of how the London Underground is truly a masterpiece of subterranean construction, for when one is traveling on the tube, a whole different world is opened up that city-goers above ground often forget about. These strange voices symbolize and echo the different world that exists underneath the city of London that most take for granted. I also played around with the Graphic Equalizer to eliminate background sounds as much as possible in this version of the audio clip.

 The "fun/club" version: Track 2

This second recording is simply the more fun version of my audio clip of the London Underground. I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I felt as if playing around with the different effects bettered my knowledge of garageband.  I was able to make my own beats, make loops, and split up clips.








Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Back in the Sticks

I would first just like to start out by saying that this has been my favorite project so far in my Digital Processes class. I had a great time going out and taking shots, and I had tons of ideas running through my mind as I was doing so. I decided that my "anti-mainstream" focus would be on photographs that depict where and how I grew up. Back in the Sticks reflects some of the people and ideas that I embrace. Sure, the way of life portrayed in these photographs is not necessarily anti-mainstream to our country or the world, but I was focusing specifically on what is anti-mainstream to the typical Lawrentian. For instance, you very rarely see a Lawrence student walking around in scuffed up boots, a flannel shirt, and a camo hat. I think I can count on one hand the number of those students we have, here at Lawrence.

Moving on... all of these photographs were taken within the past year. Most of them were taken this past summer (2012), but the the last 8 photos of the book are the newest ones that I took for this project specifically. The photos are taken in various locations throughout Wisconsin such as my house, my cabin, Winchester, Readfield, and Rhinelander. The subjects of the photos are my friends and some of my family members. I should also mention that most of the captions for these photographs are lyrics from certain country songs.

The quality of these images is not the best, for I did not use the Sony camera that we were issued in class. The shots I took for this project were all captured by an 8 megapixel Canon. Below is the link to my Flickr account, where I have made available the 32 photographs in a "set."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92591427@N08/sets/72157632609044623/

Additionally, here is a link to my snapfish book, where you can view the (almost) finished project. Now all I have to do is wait for me book to ship, so I can see how it turns out!

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/fe/l=en_US/p/products/FlexApp/ordertype=PMB/orderId=13762904025/orderstatus=OLD/ownerid=14081302025/leadingolioid=174608220025/productType=photobook/s_c=0/s_se=FDR/s_pt=PMB


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Reaction to Lynda Barry Convocation





 

Wow! What a Convocation that was. Most definitely the most entertaining one I have yet to witness here at Lawrence. I absolutely loved Lynda Barry. Prior to her coming to Lawrence I had never heard of her, so before the Convocation today I quickly looked up some of her artwork and was immediately drawn to it. I loved the colors that she uses, the fact that she uses her own unique handwriting, and the storylines that her cartoons portray. My high opinion of Lynda multiplied upon hearing her speak today, for she had a fantastic sense of humor, and her many jokes had me laughing the entire time. I think my favorite joke was the one about the person peeling off the label of a beer bottle while listening to another explain his or her dreams. I also found her to be amazing because of the violent and difficult childhood she grew up with.

One of my favorite things about Lynda Barry was the fact that everything she said was truly original. For example, the statement about a child’s blankie serving as their first artwork, or that an image is a formless thing that gives us form. These are just two of her ideas that I really liked and agreed with. Oh and her “party trick” in the end was simply fantastic!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Reaction Video to Marshall McLuhan's Notions of Space and Time


This video is related to both Marshall McLuhan's notions of space and time and to one of his overarching themes of his book, The Medium is the Masssage. The video references McLuhan's ideas of space and time in that it reflects his idea that new information is rapidly being replaced by even newer information. The calm water in the video is being overtaken by the escalating rushing waters shown in end scenes. My video also reflects McLuhan's ideas in the first couple scenes. These clips depict a calm mindset. I thought this was appropriate because McLuhan suggests that taking our hectic lives away from all that we are exposed to each day is beneficial for us.

The video reflects McLuhan's argument in his book that over time, technology escalates and becomes somewhat overbearing and out of control. My video reflects this theory in how the river water  mimics what technology has become over time. The water starts out subtle and calm, just as technology and inventions started out. An example from the early stage of technology or communication would be the writing of letters back in the "olden days". As the video progresses the rushing water becomes more rapid and dominant. These middle stages are a reference to technology such as the radio and television. The final scenes of the video reflect the current stage of technology that our generation is experiencing such as the internet, kindles, and ipads. Just as the rapid rush and escalating sounds of the water seem to cause an overwhelming whirlwind, today's technology is also overwhelming and taking over the ways in which humanity used to live. This escalation of technology is exactly what McLuhan predicted in his writings.

For my video I simply shot a variety of scenes along the Fox River. As my journey carried on I ended up at one of the damns along the river where my final scene is shot. Some of the sounds on the video are the actual sounds from my footage, but I also added sounds from options that were on Final Cut such as the birds chirping in the background and differing sounds of water flowing. However, the final scene consists of only the original footage, which is an aspect of my video that I really like. I chose to use transitions because without them the video was simply too choppy.

This was my first video that I have ever made. Overall, it was a long, difficult process that I encountered many problems with. However, I am happy with the end result, and I look forward to bettering my skills in video. 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Sharing my first blog with the world!





Hello everyone :] This is my first official blog ever. Woo hoo! My name is Amber, and for one of my classes at Lawrence University I was told to create a blog that introduces myself, reflects my interests, and reveals the motivations for my art. So... here I am! Hopefully all goes well, and I am able to get the hang of it.

I should probably first start out by saying that, although I am a Studio Art major, I do not consider myself to be very artsy. You see, in addition to my Studio Art major I am also pursuing a K - 12 teaching certification. I am going to be honest and say that the teaching certification means a lot more to me, simply because I can see myself being a teacher significantly more than becoming an artist. However, I have always been drawn to art. I have been drawn to the artist's talent to produce beautiful pieces, the messages the works are capable of portraying, and the creativity it allows individuals to express. This last reason is the main reason why I love art so much, and it is why I decided to teach art rather than other subjects. I am excited to catch a glimpse into the minds of my future students, and that is the reason for my Studio Art major. If I am going to teach, why not teach something that I am passionate about, right?!

Ok, well now I will just inform you all on a couple things you might like to know about me...
1) I am originally from Appleton (yes I love it, even though most of you probably think it is unbearably small and boring)
2) I am a lady who needs at least 8 hours of sleep every night
 and 3) Just a unique fact about myself (because those are absolutely necessary when getting to know someone) Every time I put a piece of mint  gum into my mouth I automatically sneeze. Not fruity kind, just mint; It's the weirdest thing.

Alrighty, now just a few of the things in the world that interest me...
1) I am a proud lover of country music. Let the haters hate.
2) I love sports (LU athletics, NCAA, and the NFL) GO PACK GO!!!
3) Working with and helping children makes me happy
4) I love shopping, movies, and taking pictures
and 5) My family and friends complete my life


Ok, well now that you know a little bit about me I would like to inform you on where I get my artistic motivation. As I mentioned earlier, I am more so pursuing the Studio Art major to teach, rather than to become an artist. That being said, I have not really had that much experience creating a lot of works. However, when I begin to make my own pieces the following aspects will most likely serve as inspirations for me. Here they are...

Children:
Innocence
St. James's Park, London
The environment:
 The Chain of Lakes, Waupaca, Wisconsin
 The Fox River, Appleton, Wisconsin
 Hyde Park, London 

 Footpath, London
 Brompton Cemetery, London
 The Highlands of Scotland
 Fairy Glen, Scotland
 Pembrokenshire, Whales
 The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
Ireland


Works I had the opportunity to see while studying in London:

 Frieze Art Fair, London
 Frieze Art Fair, London
 Frieze Art Fair, London
Frieze Art Fair, London
 Gallery in London
Gallery in London
My travels:
 Chicago, Illinois
 Tower Bridge, London
 Santorini, Greece
 Venice, Italy
Chianti, Italy
Flowers:
 Hyde Park, London
 Regent's Park, London
Pembrokenshire, Whales


As I mentioned earlier, I am at the beginning of my art journey. I do not have any sort of portfolio, but I am hoping this class and others like it will aid in making that possible.

Thanks for reading! Bye for now,
Amber :]