Edvard Munch, "The Scream", was done around 1893–1910.  He was born on a farm in Loten, Norway, in 1863, and was the second of five children of Christian Munch, a doctor in the Army Medical Corps, and his wife Laura. The family moved to Oslo, then known as Christiania, a year later and had not been there long when the first disaster struck. Munch was just five years old when his mother died of tuberculosis. His aunt moved in to the family home to take care of the young children. Nine years later his elder sister Sophie succumbed to the same illness.  "The Scream",  by Edvard Munch is a disturbing icon of modern art that we all can identify with. We know what it is to feel as the subject does and his plight generates fear and sympathy in equal measure.  The painting screams the mood of severe anxiety that Munch was feeling and experienced at the time he painted this piece of work.  I can relate to this painting because I myself have experienced some sort of anxiety in this life.  He was a very disturbed artist who was a part of the expressionism era.
"My friends walked on and there I still stood, trembling with fear - and I sensed a great, infinite scream run through nature."
- Edvard Munch

reference:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/munch.html

andy warhol

Andy Warhol is by far my favorite artist because he could take a simple
image and add another dimension to it with just color. Andrew Warhola
(August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), known as Andy Warhol,  was
a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art.  After a
successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous
worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmaker, record producer,
author, and a member of highly diverse social circles that included
bohemiam street people as well as Hollywood Celebrities.  He could
manage people and relate to anyone and anything.  He was a very ecentric
person that didn't stick to just one genre.  I admire him for that because so
many artists are just a graphic designer, painter or sculpter.  I think his diverse
thinkingand his approach to things in the art world. 

grafitti artwork crimes

LAS VEGAS - Authorities are offering a $2,500 reward for information about vandals who
spray-painted graffiti over prehistoric rock art at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Nevada. The federal Bureau of Land Management and supporters of Red Rock Canyon say spray paint covers pictographs drawn by ancient inhabitants and petroglyphs scraped long ago into rocks at the scenic preserve about 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. Federal archaeologist Mark Boatwright calls the damage severe and estimates restoration will cost $10,000. Friends of Red Rock Canyon and the Conservation Lands Foundation are offering the reward. BLM rangers are investigating. Officials say a conviction under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act could result in five years in prison and a $100,000 fine. I am a huge fan of griffiti art, but disagree with the act when it is used out of context or destroying something that is pre-historic.  It suprises me that artists would draw over something where the ancient inhabitants already made there mark.

Blueprints Tutorial In Photoshop

This tutorial was really interesting and useful.  I enjoy using special effects in
photoshop to think outside the box when creating artwork in photoshop. This
just starts simply with an image then desaturating the image and going into filter
distort to then fine edges.  Secondly, you then go to adjustments and invert the
image to change white to black and black to white.  Thirdly, create a new layer
above your image and fill it with the color (#??????) then set the layer mode to
“linear dodge”.Create a pattern over the image and turn the opacity down to about
30% and change the blend mode to overlay.  I found this to be quite creative
because you can even add your own spin with blueprint rulers along the sides
indicating a measurement. Photoshop is a powerful tool in the digital aspect of art.

"Obscure-Jerzy Goliszewski"

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

"Obscure-Jerzy Goliszewski"

SPACES - Cleveland, 2220 Superior Via., Cleveland, OH 44113

Jerzy Goliszewski is interested in permeability or the lack thereof. There are typically elements in his work that invite the viewer into and through a surface or the viewer is reflected or repelled by the surface. His first project is visible from outside SPACES. The larger front windows have been skinned in a vinyl lattice that mimics front porch lattice. This helps obscure the view of the gallery’s interior from those standing on the street. Inside the space, light streams in and viewers get a mildly fettered view of the street as if they had scampered beneath a porch. I personally liked visiting SPACES this semester because this was by far one of the most interestingdisplays of Obscure artwork that I have ever seen. Jerzy did an excellant job creating a sense of abstract obcurity through the use of lattices. It was mixed media taken to the next level.

Portland Museum

Friday, October 29, 2010

                                                              Portland Museum of Art

                             "Debating Modern Photography: The Triumph of Group f/64"

       In the 1930s, a small group of California photographers challenged the painterly, soft-focus Pictorialist style of the day. This small association of innovators created Group f/64, named after the camera aperture which produces great depth of field and sharp focus. The exhibition revisits this debate and includes images by photographers in Group f/64 such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Sonya Noskowiak, and Willard Van Dyke, as well as images by such Pictorialists such as Anne Brigman, William Dassonville, Johan Hagemeyer, William Mortensen, and Karl Struss. Modern Photography offers a feast for the eyes while illustrating both sides of a high-stakes debate. Clean edges and bold forms of Group f/64 stand in sharpcontrast to the romantic, hand-crafted Pictorialist work that includes elegant portraits and tonalist landscapes. This exhibit was probably one of the most awesome, surreal shows that I have ever seen. One of my favorite artist is Ansel Adams. His work blows me away with his wide range of photography choices.

'Stark Arthology'

The Canton Museum of Art is featuring a new exhibit entitled 'Stark Arthology' that will be running from November 19, 2010 through November 28, 2010.  Stark Arthology is  an anthology of 69 local area artists, whose works have been photographed and analogued in the printed book.  The exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art launches with a debut of the publication as well as a display or the original works of art featured in the anthology.  The project was funded by a $6,000 grant from Arts in Stark.  The idea for the project arose from Jessica Bennett, the executive director of Indigo Ink Press, and her interest in the local arts community.  After releasing an invite to local artists for submissions, Bennett received a total of 162 different submissions and whittled the group down to 69 unique exhibits that are featured in the book.  This is a great success for local artists and promotes exposure of their works to members of outlying communities.

The book is being sold for $29.95 at local area bookstores, as detailed in the photograph below.  The Canton Museum of Art is featuring free admission to the exhibit on Saturday, November 20th and Sunday, November 28th.

Artists Protest Cuts by Playing Dead

During the last week of October, in Buffalo, NY, many passersby saw an interesting new type of protest aimed at local legislators.  Multiple artists lay on the sidewalks and streets playing dead, in an attempt to show those in financial control of local funding the type of impact that cuts to the arts scene would have on the community.  The cuts to the arts that the county has proposed would leave many local arists without a job or ability to continue sharing their visions with the public.

This type of protest can be much more effective than standing on streetcorners with signage.  This is a more visible display of how county funding choices actually do affect small community art organizations.  Responses from local councilpersons state that they are allocating 4.5 million dollars to the local cultural community and that not every small business can expect to receive funding.  However, it is still important for local artists to remind community leaders of the importance of individual artistic galleries and displays on the community around them.

Video footage of the protest and a written article on the event can be found here: Protest Has People Playing Dead

Portland Promotes Art Exposure

Portland, Oregon is leading the way in exposing its residents to art as opposed to empty storefronts.  With the continued economic struggles, many businesses and storefronts are empty these days.  In heavily populated urban areas, specifically the downtown business sector, there is a lot of foot traffic and wandering eyes as commuters pass by.  In collaboration with The Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Development Commission, several local artists have been given the opportunity to display their artwork in the windows of Portland Storefronts that are currently vacant.  As a public artwork display, there are no limitations on when the artwork can be viewed as it is available around the clock.  Currently there are five different artists with open exhibits, and the artists works travel across multiple different mediums.  This type of open public exposure to the arts is beneficial in the arts continuing to make an imprint on our society.

Link to article: RACC unveils temporary art installations in vacant downtown storefronts

New Study finds Lesbian Parents Safest

An article published in the Huffington Post on November 10, 2010 finds the "child abuse rate at zero percent in lesbian households." The Williams Institute, a research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law, studied and published these findings. The study is the longest-running type of its kind ever conducted on lesbian families, and has been ongoing for the past twenty four years. The data for the study was compiled from interviews of the 17 year old sons and daughters that were raised by lesbian mothers. The article was very interesting and found a rate of 0% of any child abuse, either physical or sexual. The results are staggering, when compared with that of 26% of children raised by heterosexual parents becoming victims of some type of abuse.

Studies and reports of this nature make me hopeful for more acceptance and tolerance in my future. My partner and I hope to begin our own family in the near future, and studies of this nature will hopefully increase the acceptance that our own children will need by that of their peers. Positive support of lesbian parenting, over time, should also assist in making it easier for homosexual couples to achieve second-parent adoptions more easily. I look forward to continuing to see these advances in my future.

Link to article: Huffington Post - Child Abuse Rate at Zero Percent in Lesbian Households

Road Trip from Oregon to Ohio

     The road trip from Portland, Oregon to Massillon, Ohio lasted approximately 5 days on the open highway involving a uhaul, two lesbians and a dog.  Traveling through the mountains of Cascade Mountain Range in Idaho and Utah, we crossed the continental divide as the snow fell softly through the air.   

      The road trip involved going through Oregon, Idaho,  Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio consisting of 2600 miles.  Amazingly, we only had to travel two interstate freeways, I-84 and I-80 for the majority of the trip.  We stopped for two random events in Nebraska: a wildlife safari and the grave of Teena Brandon.  The wildlife safari was a first for me and was certainly an event to remember.

The purpose of the road trip was to relocate my partner from Oregon to Ohio.  I was pleasantly surprised with myself being so patient on the trip, considering the fact that we both had gotten really sick with colds day two.  By day three, the dog was put in her cage due to misbehaving and thinking she could squeeze between a cooler and random bags.  I would definitely recommend caging the animal at day one so there is no confusion.

Overall, I enjoyed spending time looking out the window at various random things along the way and the company of my partner.  It was a long ,but fun trip.



Design Week

The First Annual Design Week at the Myers School of Art was held from October 29, 2010 through November 5, 2010.  Throughout the week, multiple different art events were held and students could attend the different workshops.  Multiple different forms of design in artwork were featured in full-length films, design-specific workshops, lectures and discussions.

The most interesting event that I attended over the week was the paper structure workshop held by Shawn Kathleen Simmons.  It was referred to as "Spell-Bound, the workshop where design and book arts collide."  The workshop went through fifteen different "folds" of paper, demonstrating different common folds used in print and design.  The first folding series demonstrated the accordian derivatives.  Accordion folds are the most basic, common and easiest of folds, requiring that you simply fold your paper back and forth.  The second fold series demonstrated the zine format.  The third folding series focused on the Concertina.  Concertinas are little versions of accordions that can allow for a lot of flexibility; you can attach/insert paper or objects on the front side of each mountain fold, on the back side, in between each fold, or you can attach to the fold itself with thread.  The concertina form can have covers built into the original form or they can be added to the spine after folding.  The fourth folding series demonstrated the victorian puzzle purse.  The fifth focused on flexagons and the sixth on slides.  The materials used to create these folds were papers of different weights and a bonefolder.  A bonefolder helps to strengthen the folds that are made in the paper and are used for scoring, making folds, and burnishing down areas of paper that need pressure, such as glued portions.  Bonefolders are made of actual bone and can be sanded down to be thinner, sharper, or fit an individual hand better.  I found the workshop to be useful for print design.  I thought that the speaker was energetic and was thorough with her demonstrations. 

Overall, I thought design week offered a variety of different events but I felt that some of the more specific events and workshops had more open spaces for students to attend.  The registration was too limited on some of the more interesting events that would have been nice to attend.

Steven Heller

by Steven Heller

An article I came across was on a website called (http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/graphic-content-hand-lettering/) and is discussing the aspects of typography and the theory of  seen and not heard.  The above piece of wok is done by Steven Heller who is known to be the "God" of graphic design.  Graphic Content/ Hand Lettering is the name of the article. Art Nouveau, Victorian, and or Art Deco Styles are where a lot of hand lettering is seen also.   With the popularity of comics and graphic novels, hand lettering of the comic strip variety has also emerged as vogue.  Hand lettering offers a dynamic way to use type and visually make the graphics and type work as one whole unit even though each entity serves its own purpose.

making inside environment with PS tutorial

     I was interested in finding some supernatural looking environment involving buildings and using a two point perspective grid for the initial layout.  I found this grid to be helpful because you can reduce the opacity of it in the background and use it as guide when you need to.  I have always wanted to learn how to paint more efficiently in photo shop  and learn the different techniques involved.  The two point perspective is easy to use with creating depth with the buildings being forefront and the buildings seeming to vanish into the skyline.  It shows how to use the middle ground and build different shapes in the them to create spaceship like elements.  The reasoning behind my curiosity is because of an upcoming project with type 3 for a PSA announcement with NRDC issues at hand.  The tutorial talks about what kind of brushes to use for the windows and effects involved.  I am excited to attempt the tutorial and see what comes of it. It takes 4 to 5 hours and the tutorial is 12 hours long. May the force be with me.

http://airage.deviantart.com/art/Inside-Environment-Painting-2-29149738

traveling to the west coast

     This past summer I took a vacation to Portland, Oregon. The west coast is beautiful and I felt at home in the progressive state.  They are more "green" than we are here in Ohio, the people are less judgemental about what you are wearing or what kind of car you drive and they have a saying...."Keep Portland Weird".  They do believe in same sex partnerships and recognize them as legal, but not "marriage" per say, is recognized. The whole state is in love with dark beer and I have never seen so many different kinds. I am now a Oregon Duck Fan.....only because of the Mrs. and I am love with how free they live their lives there compared to here in Akron, Ohio.  The arts there are unbelievable and I came across some really knockout artists and their work.  They are very abstract people and really take it to the next level in the world of the supernatural and the essence of what they think is beautiful or intriguing.  I loved the beaches with pieces of driftwood that naturally washed along the shoreline.  I had seen some of the most beautiful waterfalls, one imparticular, Multnomah Falls.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  I feel revived and refreshed coming back to Ohio, but I can see myself being a west coast freak all the way.