Recap of Week 4/18-4/22

This week went by super fast! Between the late start on Monday, gorgeous weather, and swimming for P.E.- it was a quick, fun week.

Art class was another matter altogether. I always enjoy it, but this week I felt completely blocked! I had ideas... but I just could NOT get them into my collage to make them look nice. Whenever I tried something new, it just didn't lay out the way that I had wanted it to. My first idea was doing a collage of the theme of my brother and I, but I just ended up cutting them differently than I had planned, and it being way too huge. So then! I was in a musical mood; so I decided to get a bunch of old, fun sheet music that I used to play and make it into an explosion of music. It ended up looking very plain and just not the way I wanted it to. Those were going to be for my competition, but I'm now just going to paint a landscape of some sort with watercolor... Blah... Goin' out of my comfort zone! But I'll figure it out...

As for my animal collage. (I'm doing a gorilla). I imagined it being a crazy green background, like the lush jungle that they live in. It's actually going incredibly well! Mr. Joseph has an incredible amount of random, awesome paper that I chose many things from. I have no idea what I would have done without them. I found the coolest greens, patterns, and bamboo looking stuff. I was so excited. I almost just want to leave it as it is; all bright green and wonderful. I don't want to take the focus away from the cool green patterns! I need to figure out a way to make a gorilla that can do the background justice. It will be a difficult task. But again... I'll figure it out...

I am in need of Sabbath tomorrow. So much need.

Week 8

This week has been one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I realized that painting in Art class has really helped me unwind, (and I am NOT sucking up).

I also learned that painting with acryllics is way more fun, and enjoyable than painting with water color (in my opinion). It is much more controllable and I like that. I also like being able to layer, and layer, and layer to my heart's content, and add fun textures. Landscapes are also more of my forte than portraits.

Also, I am very jealous of those going on mission trips, they will have a wonderful time, I wish I could have gone. I will be praying for them.

Week 7

Last week in art class, we finished up our seascapes in water color. That was fun, I enjoyed that a lot more than the portraits. Watching the guy paint is really fun, he makes me laugh, and he knows what he's doing. He told us about the backround, foreground, high ground, etc. That awakened my memories of painting landscapes in elementary school with my amazing, elderly teacher, Mrs. Cooper. Though she was often a little grouchy, she could paint better than anyone I knew. (I tried to post a picture of this wonderful lady, but the URL was blocked :/ )

I also learned that there would be a Colorblind Soldiers concert that I would not be able to attend since I will be in California. I am saddened. It would have been an enjoyable time.

Week Five

~ In the Baroque period that we have been focusing on, they keep talking about the physical art- drawing and painting. My favorite part of the baroque period is the MUSIC! I love playing baroque music on my violin. Just knowing they used an entirely different bow than I do now amazes me, they had a whole other sphere of playing than I am even capable of copying on my french bow. It's awesome.

~ My artist that I have, Lavinia Fontana, though there wasn't much information about her, I learned a lot. She was a total punk without trying to be. She was a crazy feminist without trying to be. She became one of the most famous painters of that time, people flocked at her trying to get her to paint them. She painted noblewomen, Popes, scholars, it was awesome! She was the first woman to be accepted into an exclusive art club pretty much. Amazing. I admire her and her eye for detail.

~I learned that having school spirit is awesome. And it puts me in a good mood :)

Lavinia Fontana Essay

Lavinia Fontana was born in Bologna, Italy; which was one of the major art centers of the world. She was born on August 24, 1554 to a famous painter, Prospero Fontana, who painted at the School of Bologna and was her art teacher. She became a painter, as her father was. She was one of the most sought after painters of the time. She mostly worked She worked with the famous, the noble, and the religious persons of Europe of that time; such as Pope Clement VIII. She also worked with two other famous popes; Pope Gregory XIII and Pope Paul V. Her most famous paintings were of noble women. She married at the age of twenty-five, to a famous painter of the time, Paolo Zappi; they worked together, but he ended up taking care of their eleven children more, leaving her to paint her genius.

Female painters at the time were not uncommon. But the Lavinia was more than just a female painter of the time; she was a phenomena. She was famous all throughout Europe for her portraits and was incredibly sought after. She was the first woman to be accepted into the prestigious Accademia di San Luca; which is an organization of painters in Rome, where she traveled sometimes to paint. onuncommon thing about Lavinia was that she was not in a convent while painting; because many women painters of the time were nuns in Roman-Catholic convents. It was very common for women of this time to paint just plain old portraits of people and themselves; but she took it to the next level by painting the way that men painted. After she painted regular paintings, she started painting more and more religious symbols and mythological themes. She was kind of a risqué woman of that time. I like that about her.

She was taught by her father, and adopted his style of painting, which were portraits. Her main forms of portraits were portraits of others, though she did do one self-portrait.  She also dabbled in religious symbols, still in portrait form, and mythological ideas, they say that she was a very good interpreter of these things. Her most famous paintings were of scholars of universities and the noble women of the cities. She was so incredibly sought after, that the rich overly paid her to have a painting done of them, or their family; such as the detailed portraits of Gerolamo Mercuriale, the Coozzadini family, a Lady with Lap Dog, and many, many more.

The Baroque period was mostly about religious art. The Roman-Catholic Church, in response to the Protestant Reformation decided to hire many artists to paint religious pictures as a desperate attempt to bring people back to the church. That was a lot of what Lavinia Fontana painted! She painted many religious paintings such as Consecration to the Virgi; Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Peter Chrysologus, and Cassian; Holy Family; Birth of Virgin; and Jesus among the Doctors. A woman painting for the Roman Catholic Church was pretty unheard of at the time, and she was VERY sought after from the church. She moved to Rome just to paint for Pope Clement VIII.

She also had an eye for detail. The baroque period was all about detail, and she was all for it. Detail and still live were a huge part of the Baroque period. If you look at her portrait of a noblewoman, all the tiny little sequins on her dress are visible.

Lavinia influences art in today’s culture because she was one of the first feminists in a way. She went against the norm for women of her time, and did her own thing and thrived in it! So many women of today wish they had the power to change art as she did; but it’s practically impossible. She showed the world that women can do amazing things without beings judged by her sex, she was judged by her talent.

I really like reading about Lavinia Fontana because she was a woman painter of the time. And she ended up being extremely successful! I find that incredible cool because usually only men were famous. She showed the world and future generations that women can really make a humungous difference in the world today. I also think that it was so awesome that she could continue her career in painting while raising such a huge family! She could have just quit her career to care for her family, but she wouldn’t have it. She knew that she could only be happy by having them both; a successful career and a huge family.

Symbolic sides of colors

White:   emptiness,      invisibility,   cleanliness,  goodness


Black:   the beginning,    the end,   evil,   regrets,   mourning


Grey/Brown:   earth,   aging,   dirtiness,   original


Yellow:   happiness,   sunshine,   new life,   optimism,    


Orange:   energy,   enthusiasm,   randomness,   health


Red:   trials,   saved,   classic,   love


Green:   envy,   nature,   growing,   life


Blue:   water,   cold,   relaxing,   calming


Violet:   royalty,   wisdom,   boldness,   inspiring

Week 1. What I learned.

-I learned that thanking people~ in the simplest way, in the form of a card; can really mean a lot. They feel appreciated, noticed, loved maybe. It's a pretty awesome feeling to give someone.

-I learned that masking fluid is the rockin-est thing ever in water color painting. His flowers are also just wonderful. The masking fluid saved him time and energy, and also made it looked more polished. (I also learned that I am quite fond of his style of shirts)

-For the card I'm making for our latest guest, Ben Ashlock, I'm mostly using writing in the form of art. I'm writing about the power of writing. I wrote a pencil as my symbol- the base of my idea. I love it.

-The music we played today in class was quite wonderful- the jazziness is something one does not hear often. Good stuff.

-I have once again been reminded that post it notes are wonderful things.