Changing reality with art

I am working on a project for 2D design using photography, making the ordinary extrordinary with photography. I have not used Photoshop for more than "camera raw" to improve the look of my photos although it has sat on my laptop for sometime. While snapping over 450 photos (and only having a handful of usable shots) I thought about our photography lecture and how these artists expressed their view of the world through a camera lens. As I began playing with Photoshop however, I found that that view can be enhanced, skewed, or even fabricated.

I took a picture of my kids at Keaton Beach. It was a beautiful evening, perfect weather, but look what I was able to do with Photoshop! I took a benign event and made it dramatic! I have found this to be another tool in my arsenal for making beautiful art, real or fictional!

Unique style and fingerprint

Last week I asked my son to begin teaching his brother the drums, and to help his sister fine tune her guitar skills. He is so incredibly gifted in music that it makes adult musicians jealous. He is now scoring independent films for a student in Jacksonville, so one would think he would be secure in himself to teach, right? Well, not quite. He was resistant and agitated about the idea, fearful that they would become better than he is. We got into a conversation about understanding that no two artists are alike and every artist handles the same subject matter in different ways with different styles.

To test this idea, I gave each of my kids a 12”x12” canvas and gave them the topic “The Lion King” (this was after many other ideas that were scoffed at). I asked each of them to paint their depiction of an element in the movie, in their own style. Matthew, my 10 year old was determined to do an “impressionistic style” landscape, his favorite style, with “Scar”. Mike and Jacqui painted“Timone”, and Ashley used mixed medium for “Scar” (paint and gum wrappers). The differences are obvious in their work, not just in different characters, but in the style of their brush strokes, choice of medium, and color. All I have to say is point proven!

Photography...capturing amazing moments in time and dressing up reality

Today I took my family to Keaton Beach to take bunches of photos for an upcoming 2D project. I went just before sunset and shot about 350 pictures. I captured some really cool pictures of my kids by asking them to move around and goof off while I experimented with my camera settings....

While getting some awesome footage of my kids, I also learned of how the camera can fool someone into thinking a location is really beautiful. If you aren't familiar with Keaton Beach, it's off the coast of Perry. It is where the water meets the land...that's about it. There is a sign that warns people not to swim in the water because the environmental conditions are hazardous to human health. You would never know the "beach" here is sub par after viewing the pictures I took:

Now I fully relate to the old saying, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."

Ok people,
What do you think when you see these pictures? How many of you are thinking "I really need to get out there and exercise"? How many of you are thinking "They must really work hard to look like that"?

How many of you are saying "How dare they wear that!!! I am offended!"?
Sounds like a crazy question, huh? Tomorrow I will be 38 years old. I feel like I am in the best shape of my life, and I work VERY hard at it. I recently did a blog on my body as the medium for sculpture and I am very proud of that. In a time where everyone is blogging or Facebooking about losing weight and the need to be healthy, I feel like I am so often penalized for it. Back to my question, how many of you judge these women down for wearing a sports bra to run and not some frumpy t-shirt or sweats?

A few days ago I went to pick my husband up from work to run. He works at the hospital in Perry and I brought him his clothes so we could hit the track at the Sports Complex. Today he tells me that I am not allowed to pick him up in "inappropriate clothing", women in the business office complained to administration! I was wearing what the first pic portrayed, capris and a sports bra...we went to run outdoors in 87 degree weather! At first I was flattered, they are that jealous to take the time to complain. Then I was hurt and offended. Why would they go out of their way to complain? I get the same attitude when I run at the track. Women walk that track with hand-weights wearing baggy t-shirts and long baggy shorts. They pass with a scoff as I run by them. I smile as I pass, but they have already passed judgement. Hello? Everything I read says wear cool clothing that breaths, dri-fit fabrics preferably and to prevent injury WEAR A SPORTS BRA TO RUN! I know I shouldn't care, but it still bothers me. The ironic thing is I was asked to come speak to the hospital's wellness committee to help staff get into shape, and they asked me to donate art for an event!

I used this to vent, but I feel like I needed to. To tie it all in, this week is Vernacular Art. These artists used their art to express themselves, to deal with things. How on earth do so many artists produce works that are sure to offend and yet do it proudly? These artists have critics stand and applaud. Just once, I wish I had critics that would stand and applaud me for my efforts rather than mumble "Hussy" while passing judgement :(

Here's a picture of what I wear when I run, I am holding a 3D Foundations project...

Inspiration for Art

Last week I had a lecture on collecting. The thing that fascinated me was not the collections themselves, but how they were displayed. Some of the pieces seemed to be nothing without the creative way in which they were displayed. I showed my 10 year old son a piece that displayed toys such as cars and planes on a painted scene. He is so sentimental and was so inspired by the piece that he asked to use my paints and make his own. Then he placed his favorite toys on the painting. I am so excited to see kids get excited and inspired to produce their own art. Here's Matthew's piece:

Fun with Conspiracies

I remember growing up in the late 70's and early 80's, legend was Kennedy was not killed by a "lone gunman" and Lee Harvey Oswald was definitly framed. The more documentaries I saw, the more I was convinced as well, but who did kill JFK? Popular concensus was our own government (which I am also leaning toward), but what do you do? Many adults said they were going to stay alive long enough to read the classified info on the case once it was declassified (50 years). The suspicous thing was that once the time came for the docs to be declassified, there was a mysterious fire and the documents were gone....y-eah, sure.

So what do we do when we feel we have been taken for a ride by a government concocted BS story? We make a game out of it! I recently acquired Adobe Photoshop and need to learn how to use it. I thought it would be fun to experiment with some Clue game cards and make a Clue "Who killed JFK" game. I have worked on a few cards...what do you think? These aren't the killers, they are the possible conspirators (except poor Oswald), after all, anyone who wanted JFK dead was too important to do the job themselves, right?

Self-generated assignment...unconventional art, myself as the medium

In two weeks I will be 38 years old. I have always used my body as an outlet for my creativity. I do not have tattoos( I have too short an attention span for art and get tired of things quickly, tattoos are too permanent) but I use my makeup and hair as an excuse to express myself artistically. This is not a new concept that I am expressing, but I have realized a way that I have used my skills as an artist to sculpt my body. When I hit 20, my body was in bad shape, I put on 20+ pounds and my metabolism had slowed tremendously. I had four kids after that and my energy level went downhill, along with my self esteem. I decided when I hit my mid 30's to do something about it - it was now or never! I began to run and bike, not much happened, I lost a little weight and felt a little better, but I thought I could do more. I realized that as an artist, I could shape my body ANYWAY I wanted to! So, I did and I am continuing to. It is a slow process compared to sculpting clay, but the rewards are well worth the patience.

Using weights and varying the repetitions and heaviness of the weight, I have been able to cut my size of my legs, bulk my shoulders, cut and shape my arms (which was my worst feature), and slim my waist and hips. I have literally made myself the sculpture. I have posted pictures above, one of me two years ago at a size 11, and one of me now in a size 3!