Light and Color

The object I chose to take two pictures of was something that was already outside- a part of my parents' backyard that has a beautiful bush blooming with purple flowers. The picture to the left was taken at 2:30 in the afternoon while the picture on the right was taken at 7:30 in the evening.
The afternoon picture is bright and vivid, with hues of green, purple, brown and orange. Their values are lightened due to the sun’s brightness, which accentuates the yellow of some of the dry leaves on the plant. This further adds to the warmth of the orange and it actually warms up the greens (typically cool colors) giving the feeling of a hot, summer’s day. The greens in the afternoon photograph seem absolutely saturated with color. The contrast of the shadows cast by the plants and rocks are very striking, almost completely black. They create thick, dark outlines- separations between the rocks and plants which greatly define them.
Unlike the afternoon photograph, the evening photo is much cooler. The hues in the plants are still purple and green, but the yellow is gone and replaced with a very lightly tinted brown. The rocks themselves have lost most of their orangey essence and are instead much browner and even gray in some areas. The shadows cast by the rocks and the plants are much less pronounced. Their penumbral shadows stretch much farther than they do in the photograph from the afternoon.
The level of saturation in the orange rock is lessened and the dry leaves are a weak tan, leaving their boldness weakened in comparison to their afternoon appearance. The violet of the flowers is a much deeper shade, definitely darker in the hue’s value in the afternoon photo.
During the afternoon, the sun was shining directly on the flowers and rocks, creating a bold expression to me as I walked through my parents’ backyard. The flowers also happened to be my son’s favorite part of the backyard, which is another reason I found them to be suitable to be photographed.

Line and Space

In all honesty, I haven't necessarily "applied" what I've learned to daily life, but I've definitely thought a lot more about the art that I already love and I think about it a lot more. In my daily life, I have noticed some things though. The most obvious linear perspective I have learned to observe this week is one which most of us have in our own homes: the "TV room". In the typical TV room, the television itself is considered the "vanishing point" of the room and all things in the room are structured around and directing towards it. This includes couches, tables, and even dining tables if the dining area is adjacent (which it often is in this day and age).

Contrversial Art

“What difference does it make when you find one name? I mean look at all the f*ing names!”

Controversial art is a touchy subject. Many may be horrified by a piece while others smile or even weep. The differing in views can cause great debates that can involve a whole country. But art is meant to be controversial. Otherwise, it wouldn't make us think and feel. We would have no need to breathe it in and experience the colors or texture or form of a piece.

Art is the purest form of self-expression. Were we all to conform to a certain set of standards, we would all be stripped of our ability to express ourselves freely. And where would those limitations end? The government tends to steamroll every aspect of any issue of control. Were it to monitor what people do in the world of art mediums such as sculpture, canvas, and welding, then where would it end? Clothing could become an issue. Jewelry and makeup would follow. The world would very much become the living version of George Orwell’s 1984, complete with “Big Brother” determining what we wear, how we style or color our hair, and how we decorate our homes- all of which are forms of self-expression.

On a personal note, frankly, I think controversial art gives society something to talk, and even argue about. It keeps life interesting. I love pieces that evoke shock, revulsion, love, or other extreme motions. They force us to look at ourselves and our feelings about various subjects and realize our faults and shortcomings.

The main controversy I’ve focused on in Unit 3 is Maya Lin’s design of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. Her work held my interest the most because my dad is a Vietnam Vet who was overseas for two years (almost three) and it made an enormous impact on his life. When my brother and I were young, Dad took us to see the memorial in D.C. I was only 6 or 7 but I understood the magnitude of the sight and was moved by it.

Lin wanted people to be moved by her work. Not just because she created it, but because she knew that America had not yet healed from the wounds left by the war in Vietnam. The quote at the top is from one man seeing the wall for the first time. What he said and the emotion that sprang forth as he spoke caused me to burst into tears. I hadn’t realized that this was her intention, but now that I see how people have reacted to the wall, I am moved even more by her design.

The controversy of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial seeped into the pores of American households. It affected everyone from the veterans themselves to the politicians at the capitol. It may have seemed to be negative in the eyes of the many that choose not to delve into the deeper meaning of the memorial, but it was certainly a positive leap forward in the world of art, and in the healing process for the country.

I have in fact learned a lot about myself through this week’s assignments and the reactions I’ve had to the pieces of work. When I saw the image of the Holy Virgin Mary in such a deplorable state, I was very offended. I didn’t even want to know what the artist was trying to convey. I didn’t care. This forced me to look at myself and see how judgmental I really can be towards those with different ideas and backgrounds from me. It’s something that I don’t like about myself but this class and all that I am learning here is teaching me to have a much more open mind, not just when studying art, but in all aspects of my life.

Visual Literacy Reflections

I love art. I love to be visually engaged. But liking what I am looking at is simply not enough. I want to be able to draw meaning from a piece, to be able to walk away with a greater understanding of the world through what I've seen.

The knowledge I've acquired from Chapter 2 will definitely help me to gain insight into the art I love to view. Being able to draw my own conclusions and form my own interpretations of a piece has always been a challenge full of frustration for me. But as I slowly read and learn to develop my skils of observation, I am finding so much more joy in observing the world as a whole.

I had no idea of just how much the form of a work can play into the work's content. Sure you can see a picture of a man alone in a dark room and think that the artist is trying to explore emotions of isolation or lonliness, but there are other aspects of the work's form to consider. What is hte man holding? Wearing? What expression does he have on his face? If there is a window, what time of day is it and in what season? All of these individual factors(and more) come together to give the viewer an interpretation of the piece. Perhaps it's what the artist intended and perhaps not. That's the beauty of art. It is all up for interpretation and is meant to inspire different ideas and emotions. We just need the tools to figure out what.

A World of Art

I was reading Chapter 1 last weekend as my husband was driving our family home from a visit with relatives in Reno. Right as I was getting to the section about this painting, (Albert Bierstadt's: The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak,) we came over a hill and I saw sunlight move across the page and it looked like the sun peaking between parting clouds in this image. It was really an awesome way to see this particular painting for the first time.
Bierstadt painted on a large scale. This canvas was actually six feet high and ten feet wide. Looking at the painting as a whole, I saw it in all of its idealism, as a fantastic, utopian vision of the old west. The frontier was viewed with a sense of grandure and wonder which, to me, is really epitomized in this painting. I imagine the artist's vantagepoint could be from beneath an enormous old oak at the far end of the valley where this painting takes place. The crystal blue sky seems absolutely endless, going beyond the borders of the painting and leaving the viewer wondering what else there is to see in this world. We see the artist's vision of the Rockies stretching above the hills and trees that guard this valley. The colors are natural, earthy tones of green, gold and brown. A waterfall lies at the center of the painting, a beautiful landmark, glowing in the sunlight and feeding into a smooth, reflective lake which supports the tribe of Native Americans that live amongst the trees and along the water's edge. There is a large gathering, perhaps a family sharing time together, at the bottom, right-hand corner of the painting. This adds the human element to the painting, giving hope to the observer that it is possible to turn this untamed land into home without losing the beauty.
Seeing this painting today, I think of all the romanticism of the western frontier and everything it offered to our grandmothers and grandfathers. I'm reminded of my own great, great, great grandfather who was a miner in the California Gold Rush in 1849. He traveled the Oregon trail, exploring the west, and probably saw many parts of America that are portrayed in this painting.
I feel a lot of emotions when I see this painting. I think that, more than anything, I really want to go wandering through the national forests of America, to see if I can find a place as perfect as this. I love the hope that this painting expresses. I think that, especially with today's issues with pollution, deforestation, and overpopulation, a painting like this can really prove that there used to be a healthy, clean, lush Earth, and that we can find it again. This painting is one that reaches across generations. It was created almost 150 years ago, yet it can touch people in their hearts and make them want to explore what wild, unspoiled territory we've got left in the world. This is the mark of an artist who can truly stand the test of time.

About Me

Hey everyone! Well, to start, I'm 21 and a married mother of one. I work as a stay at home mother (definitely the hardest job I've EVER had!) and college student. My husband, Jon, is a truck mechanic (BIG trucks!) and our son, Jon Jr. (JJ) is almost 6 months old. His job is filling the family drool quota and being cute. He's also my permanent lap buddy, sitting here enjoying a teething ring as I type. We all love football, family, Hell's Kitchen, and Deadliest Catch.

I, myself, love art and museums, which is why I am taking this course. I've been to the Met, Frick, Guggenheim, and Crocker, to name a few. My favorite artists, by far, are Miro, Matisse, Kandinsky, and Picasso. I've seen a lot of others though like Munch and Rousseau, which I also enjoy.I love art, particularly abstract oil paintings and sculptures. I've seen some pretty cool exhibits and would love to learn more about the artists behind the work. I enjoy art, but I really don't know much about technique or artistic movements. I'm hoping to learn more.