Depression, Torture, and Anger

All three are emotions with the potential to destroy the human heart and consciousness however, they also have potential to create some of the most beautiful art. The reasoning behind this is simple; anyone can fake happiness but only the truly talented can demonstrate pain in its most raw form. The easiest way to represent pain is if one has already experienced great pain, rather it be the loss of a loved one or an impossible obstacle like a life threatening disease, etc.When gazing upon art that represents pain the viewers is sometimes struck with a sense of personal, inexplicable loss. Everyone is happy for at least some part of their life, but pure pain and suffering isn't part of everyone's life. Granted, everyone still faces sadness and loss but real suffering is reserved for those who were either brave enough our unlucky enough to be confronted with it. And that is why art that shows such a strong emotion has such an overwhelming effect on the viewer; its something he or she has not yet (and maybe never will) face.

The other side

Doors are part of everyone's life. we all open them daily but in the process of doing so we never stop to consider "what if this door leads somewhere new today"  or when stumbling onto a new door, most people don't consider the possibility of wonderland on the other side. The project I am currently working on is doors and the hints they give to tell you what's actually on the other side.  None of my doors hint at normality; there are demons and angels, vampire vibes, and of course multiple doors that find their way to wonderland. Who's to say that a door should lead to a supply closet or a house? Doors represent the unknown, all we can ever do is guess as to what's actually on the other side. Most of the time we only just rely on our memory to the last time we opened that door unless it's a door you can see through. This brings me to the disconnected piece out of my ten sketches I did for this; What happens behind closed doors? This sketch is of french windows with sheer curtains drawn and all the viewer can see is the silhouette of the couple. This sketch hints at what's behind the door but leaves the whole story to the viewers imagination. So all doors demonstrate the unknown, and I want the unknown to be something fantastical.

Art for Life

Yes, art has been known to stand the test of time but the form of art I'm referring to is the kind that stays with you until death... Tattoos. Whether it has a meaning or is just nice to look at, its not hard to find a person with a tattoo. It doesn't matter whether one approves of them or not, the tattoo is quite quickly becoming part of  the American culture. Its a way for everyone to connect to art; one can find an artist, a jock, a business, any kind of person with a tattoo. Why us this so? It's a form of art that both represents the artist and the person who is wearing it. If you want wings you can have it, if you want wonderland to exist you can carry it with you forever, tattoos are supposed to be with the wearer for ever so there are no boundaries and nothing that imagination can't stop.

Thoughts on Face Hunter

FaceHunter is a fashion blog started by Yvan Rodic in Paris in February 2006. He was a natural born fashion photographer with his eye for trends and his habitual talent of photography. Today he is considered to one of the most influential men involved with the fashion industry. When he first started people loved his democratic views on fashion, and pretty soon he was traveling world-wide to such places as London, New York, Berlin, Stockholm, Geneva, Zurich, Copenhagen, Reykjavik, Oslo, Gdansk, and many others.
While he may be a street style connoisseur, he is much more than that. He is a traveling artist on the prowl to find global trends, current cultural happenings and fashion. With his blog, he blends together world cultures with his fashion tuned eye and seems to knock down global differences; after all, everyone can relate to fashion.
Photo by: Yvan Rodic
Photo by: Yvan Rodic
Yvan's goal is to create a unified world through his pictures. By taking pictures of all different kinds of people dressed the way they want to be perceived, he can create a new world online. A world that speaks to everyone about everything. Fashion is a representation of each society; its poverty levels, the racial majority, and most importantly, the uniqueness of each society.  

Fourth Piece-There is Hope Yet

Nope, this does not mean I figured anything out for my fourth piece. I know there's hope though because at least now I have a theme (actually two potential ideas). First is being in touch with life’s mysteries. One of the biggest mysteries of life is "what is the meaning of life". With this i have an idea of the tree of life with a keyhole in the middle and a deer standing by with the key around it's neck. Am I grasping at straws with this idea...potentially, but that's okay because at least I like it. If the artist doesn't like her own work, then what's the point.
The second potential idea, is being in touch with inner child. With this I had the idea of a young deer and a young boy standing face to face in a floral meadow. Why a floral meadow? In my head there is nothing more innocent than a floral meadow. They're peaceful and beautiful so what could be more perfect. I want to give the two subjects the idea of understanding. The young deer can connect to the young child, and the child can relate to the deer because both are in touch with their inner (actual) child.
I'm still debating between the two. I'm leaning more towards the inner child one however, because my idea is "the Deer as a Spirit Animal." This means I should connect it to a human. I can also try to balance out the four pieces. Two with human representations, and two without humans.
The main question for me here is whether I want perfectly balanced aspects, or mostly human aspects.

Time + Hard Work = Success

With this most recent deer project...I am quite behind. Am I slacking? Not anymore, but I was. "It's okay. I got time," I would tell myself. Now with four pieces to complete and only one of those being 100 percent done, the stress has set in.
 The nurturing piece features antlers gently cradling a sleeping baby. This one is nearly finished but the baby's face escapes my artistic capabilities and poses to be a rather cumbersome road block. Seeing as I need to take a break from the nurturing piece for a bit, I have moved on to the piece that demonstrates power. This one is a blue deer (the color representation of power) standing, full of pride, on top a hill. This one is nearly finished and just need the background to be painted.
The finished piece demonstrates grace, and this one shows a deer/ballerina majestically leaping through the air. It's done in gouache on wood and turned out better than I expected . It shows my artistic flare and also the concept I was trying to achieve.
With success...must always come failure. The fourth piece is not even mentally created. Will I settle or give up? Of course not. Granted I'm running out of time, I will add more time to my schedule and work harder. This way I'm bound to come up with something I like and also something that shows the idea.

What is a Deer?

Deer as a Spiritual Being

Yes, a deer is an animal that exists in most wooded areas; this is true. There is so much more to it though than that, and this is why it will be the focus of my subject concentration project. As a spirit animal, the deer represents gentleness, ability to move through life and obstacles with grace, being in touch with inner child, innocence, sensitivity, intuition, vigilance, ability to regenerate, and the ability to be in touch with life's mysteries. With some of these essences, ideas come very quickly to me, but others I have to ponder more.By focusing on such particular parts of its spirituality it helps me to create new ideas that otherwise wouldn't  have come to me. Such as the ability to regenerate. With this idea I can go in two direction: a metaphorical one or a physical one. I don't yet have an idea for either, but through consideration and progress on the other essences I'm sure ideas will come to me.
The idea of moving through life and obstacles with grace is much simpler to create an idea for. What better to represent grace than a ballerina. All I have to do for this essence is combine a deer and ballerina together and voila.
For the most basic essence, spirituality, a project is already underway: A wispy deer with golden antlers and done in majestic colors all painted on velvet. This project is almost done but it still needs more "magesticness" to be added. This may be done by painting in sparkles to the surrounding or maybe if there's room I can fit in little fairies (this may very well be over-kill though).
As a concentration subject, the deer as a spiritual being was a very good choice because it allows me to go beyond the deer and move into other realms of intrigue.