Logo

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

I will never be a graphic designer - this is not how I think. I had a harder time coming up with an idea than I did drawing it out. I chose this design because I do embroidery, belong to several guilds and have, on occasion, sold my work. So I thought about what I would want to represent me, what idea I wanted to get across and decided that I wanted folks to know that my stuff is hand done rather than machine embroidered and came up with the idea of an old fashioned embroidery hoop and material. I added my name so that it would double as a name plate at guild functions.

2. Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in the logo creation.

Not sure how to describe the process. Once I knew what I wanted it worked up fairly quickly. I used one of my embroidery projects as a model for the hoop and material and decided that I wanted the needle to help spell my name as if I were still embroidering it.

3. What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo? That it was not as hard as I was building it up in my mind to be.

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

The second video was ok...they seem to have their own way of looking at things to make their logos tho, like they can distill the concept of a company down to its most abstract form. The reading material I found hard to understand and the powerpoint was not helpful at all.

The first video angered me~ really angered me that these folks think we all have to abide by the tenants of their religion and think they have the right to impose laws on the rest of the world that are in line with their religion. I am glad that the cartoonist has the guts to say that he will not do things differently because if they win at this I fear for what The Islamists will try to impose next. Yeah, getting me on this soap box might not be the thing you want. Sorry.

Art Gallery of Ontario - Responding to Art Work Part 2

Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

The HMS Hogue - the largest of the Thompson Collection of Ships. This entire collection of ship models was impressive, 130 in all. This collection is unique in Canada for its size and variety. Many of these are the models built prior to making the actual ships. Ken Thompson, for whom the collection is named was the collector rather than the artist. It was housed in a lowest public level of the museum - in a darkened room in glass cases many of which were curved lines reminiscent of waves. For those that had backdrops instead of 360 degree access the backdrop was out of a "bluebox" like material. The HMS Hogue is the largest of these. The detailing on all of these was amazing, augmented with paint , thread for the lines and sculpture. some models even had carrying cases and the smallest was no larger than my thumb from tip to first knuckle.

Massacre of the Innocents - Peter Paul Ruebens-oil on canvas; this was impressive because it had an entire wall to itself and because of the subject matter. The colors and detailing were fantastic and one could almost feel the anguish of the families involved. It was oil on oak and no dimensions were given The entire room had just this painting, 7 sketches and a sculpture 6 of the sketches were by Ruebens and were anatomical sketches and the 6th was a study of a left thigh and knee and a right knee and a right hip by Michaelangelo. The sculpture was unsigned and unnamed.

I love this painting and the artist - This piece is painted on an armoire door and that in itself makes it memorable for me. Can you imagine having a Monet on your closet door? Impressive, indeed.




Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

Vincent VanGogh's Woman with a Spade Seen From Behind. I have always felt a connection to Vincent - even before the song about him in the '70. It is oil on canvas mounted on wood and 41.7 x 32.3 cm

Monet's Charing Cross Bridge; the colors are so different from what I am used to with Monet's pallet but I love it for that reason. It is oil on canvas and
73.0 x 92.0 cm.

Monet's Vétheuil in Summer-again a departure from what I am used to in Monet's pallet but utterly gorgeous. It is oil on canvas and 67.7 x 90.5 cm I really like the colors in this one.







Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?

This was big, it caught my eye and held it for some time. I walked around it and wanted to run my hands along it ( don't worry, I didn't!) I would love to know what he's pondering.

"Where I was Born...." I found this entire collection and the story of the college intern doing research who discovered it impressive. The day before I saw this (the 20th of September) we were discussing the contributions of interns at museums in my museums class. It really brought the discussion home to see this collection.
It was photographs on paper and board and of various sizes. I'd like to know more about what the intern was looking for when she found these and more about the artist himself.

The Shop Girl by James Tissot-it is oil on canvas and 146.1 x 101.6 cm; we saw this when we were on the tour. Both my mother, who had joined me on this adventure, and I were amazed at all the layers of detail he put in it- I don't know much about Tissot other than his birth and death dates, but I'd like to.

And I want to know more about this one...I found it while looking up pictures for the project since mine did not come out. I would love to see it in person someday

This is Tobias and the Archangel Raphael by Pietro Berrettini, who was also called Pietro da Cortona it is black chalk on laid paper and
23.6 x 16.7 cm. I would like to know more about it because it it so beautiful and I have never heard of this artist. Does he have more works out there?

All images by the AGO and I have used some of the info they posted with the works to supplement my impressions.

Memorial Art Gallery 9-25-2011 Responding To Art Work Part One

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

Impact - Martyr Dress #3 By Jennifer Hecker (Glass shards and caulk on a metal aperture) Size about an size 18-20 -seriously there were no dimensions given but it would have fit a full figured woman. This made an impact on me because it was made totally out of shards of broken glass and I wondered if she had worked with chain mail gloves ( such as they use in deli departments to clean machines with.) to protect herself or if she had gotten cut many times in the course of this project. It was strangely beautiful and I wonder what the artist is trying to say about dresses as Martyr dress #2 was made entirely out of eggshells - #1 was not present.

Impression Love's Mirror- Nicola Catalamessa-Papotti( 1831-1910) Marble. This made an Impression on me because of the base actually. It was about 8 ft. tall but the base was finely carved and the ribbons were so exquisitely done that they could well have been frosting on a little girl's birthday cake. The detail was wonderful and I loved sitting there and looking at it.

Impression - Fritz Trautman Galaxy Oil on Canvas - This made an impression on me because it was a teaching tool for Trautman's painting classes. I think it's ingenious, and gorgeous.





B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

Waterloo Bridge, Veiled Sun, Claude Monet. Oil on Canvas.

When entering the room I was immediately drawn to this, which is not surprising since Monet is one of my favorite painters. The blues in this are gentle and soft and it draws you to it - I think I went to this piece a dozen times in the 3.5 hours I was in the museum. I like it because it seems to engage you - rather than you engaging it.

Anne Gennet Pixley's Sample of 1819 - Silk thread on Linen. This piece was done by 10 year old Anne Gennet Pixley as part of a proper young lady's education. This is something that is still done, albeit not as a child's education, but by fiber artist of all ages. I love this type of work as I do cross stitch myself.

The Artist herself.

The conservation precautions.

This grouping made an impression because it is from three separate times and yet, looks so unified.

The tympanum is French possibly as early as the 1100's; it is a "Fragment of an Ascension"- and the artist is unknown, the piece is a Fresco

The Columns with Capitals and Bases are out of marble and are from Northern Italy and dates to the 1200's; the carver of them is unknown. The Standing Angel is called "After Jean Barbet" Called "Barbet's de Lyon" , French, Active 1475-1514. It is Bronze cast in 1926 for the Memorial Art Gallery it was part of the original decoration of the Fountain Court - the room where it is currently housed.

Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?

Abe Lincoln's Life Mask and Hands - Leonard Wells Volk-Bronze - 1886. I have seen a death mask before (E.H.Butler's) but never a life mask and I wonder how and why it was created.

Merry - Go -Round Goat, attributed to Charles I.D. Loof-Wood, paint, leather, metal, glass. I love Merry- Go-Rounds and I would love to know more about the person who made this and the Merry-Go-Round it was part of.

After "American Gothic" Devorah Sperber- 4596 spools of thread - to be viewed through a glass orb. This was just the neatest thing and I want to know what made her do this piece and how she came up with the idea. As viewed through the camera - when you view it without the camera it's just a nice jumble of colors


As viewed through the glass orb:

Art Making/Material Exploration #1: Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory Blog

1. Discuss what you thought about creating the Value Scale and Color Wheel.
Hated it. The Value Scale took me all day just to get it this far. I did upwards of 10 different ones. Cried, threw out a tonne of paper, and finally came up with this approximation. The second to last one was a real issue for me no matter what I did it seemed to be either the exact same shade as the third one or darker than the third one. This is not the first one I've done, but it was by far the hardest I have ever done. That said I think this was really valuable to as my biggest block to drawing more often is that I stink at shading.  Now just to figure out why and  how to fix it.


2. Which media did you enjoy working with the best and why? Neither. But then I don't think this is truly representative of working with these media - much more practice with each is required to make an informed choice.

3. What was the most important discovery in the creation of these studies? I discovered that I need more practice but I am not sure I have the patience for it. But when the semester is over I am going to try and figure out what I am doing wrong.
And that it's easier if you start with light and go to dark, even if it's subtractive theory.

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

I really did not like these videos. The first one was hard to understand as the sound is so low, even with my volume as high as it went and I still don't get why he made the grid. The second was too fast and it could have been better with sound.

Blog: Color Theory and Emotional Effects

Colour Video

1. Describe Color and it's effects on emotions. Use the appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.

Shade, tint, hue, intensity, value, even the words used to describe it are evocative. Colours can make a serious scene look ludicrous or tender or breathtaking - it can make an art work look playful or serene, flat or three dimensional and it can make the viewer feel sedate or agitated or anything in between in short colour can manipulate emotions and artists have been using this knowledge since the dawn of art.


2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you? Why? I am most fascinated by how colours work with and against each other - because I need this to make my own designs "work"

3. In the Color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?

What made the biggest impact on me were the quotes from Monet about working with bits of colour rather than objects to give the feeling he wanted, and Vangogh's quote about using unnatural colors to evoke feelings of dislike for a place. The idea that red evokes anger and blue can denote despair, etc. were not unfamiliar ideas to me - -but Mark Ruthko did take that idea a bit further than most and even on my computer his red painting did make me anxious.


4. In the Feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?

It was not the words in this video that had the biggest impact on me - what had the biggest impact on me was seeing how Goya used color differently at different times in his life and those techniques and choices of colour made the viewer feel differently about the art of Goya. I had never liked Goya, I always thought he was an angry, hate filled artist and I found his work disturbing..but watching this I saw his earlier works that I found more calm, almost fun.

Creative Process... I love taking pictures, and have been taking them since my parents gave me a Kodak Brownie for my 7th or 8th Christmas. I honestly wish I could have that camera back rather than digital cameras or the like. It told stories better than anything I've ad since. So I was looking forward to this and got right at the preparatory work. I did the readings, watched the video, and grabbed a pen, paper, my camera, my textbook and my best friend.

We went to Dunkin Donuts and planned out what I wanted to do with each element and came up with several ideas for each. Trisha often acts as my sounding board and note taker, and this time she decided she wanted to take her own pictures of the elements too...much fun ensued.

I am a big Frank LLoydd wright fan and It did not surpise her in the least that I wanted to do the entire project from his works here in the city. I found that I could not get access to parts of his buildings to take the necessary pictures,,so we scrapped that idea after taking some nice shots at the Darwin Martin House.

I bounced a few ideas off Trish as we went to Niagara Falls to take a few more pictures as we rode the Maid of the Mist. We stopped off at Old Fort Niagara, I am a member there so, I spend a lot of time there and take a lot of pictures. After climbing around there for a while we needed to sit -so....we drove to Greycliff and on the way we stopped off at Our Lady of Victory Basilica and took some pictures of the graves and the Basilica itself.

Then we drove to Greycliff itself and took some pictures of the buildings and grounds. At this point we had been on the road for more than 8 hours and were not done yet, so we called it quits for the day. By the time we went home it had been a long almost 8 hours of shooting pictures and driving around, and I still needed more pictures.


Sunday I took my mother with me for company and we took pictures in the church she used to belong to, around the Eastside of Buffalo and again in the Downtown area.

I think the hardest part of this, for me, was making the slideshow itself. I am fairly computer literate but I had a hardtime with the program and getting it to properly embed in my blog.

CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics

 I have never done a video review before so I'll do my best
:

This video was taken at what appears to be a conference of some sort. The location is unknown to me, it took place in June of 2009.  The topic is how our biology affects our ability to create.  The first speaker, Jean-Pierre Changeux was very difficult to understand as he had a heavy French accent and a tendency to  use French Syntax or insert phrases in French.
   This Speaker talks about how the brain organizes images and proposes rules about this subject and how art is perceived by both artist and viewer. I have to admit that this portion of the video was all but lost to me because of difficulty understanding the speaker.

Vilayanur Ramachandran spoke about the Science of Art and the Universal principals of Art. This section I found absolutely fascinating. The speaker spoke about each of these "rules"
Grouping or Binding
Peak Shift Principal
Contrast
Isolating a single cue to optimally excite cortical visual areas ( "Attention")
Perceptual problem solving
symmetry
Abhorrence of unique vantage points and suspicios coincidences
Art as metaphor
 and gave examples of each.

The video gave me a good deal more to think about in terms of aesthetics, art and the universality of the elements art. It also makes me wonder more about Picasso's later works - where they meant to disturb or did something happen like a brain injury that they were so different from his early works?