My studio cubby desk
Our first day we had a portfolio presentation where everyone showed and discussed their 10 images that were used in their application. After seeing the art the first 5 students produced, I started to pack my backpack and head home because there was no way I belonged here. But I turned on my heel after realizing, "I'm here to learn". So I sat down and became comforted realizing that everyone's art was beautiful in a huge range of variety, and I was here to develop my personal skills. First step: acceptance...hi my name is Jillian and my art is not as developed as all of yours, but my techniques and perspective will evolve--sit down in confidence. The picture above is my studio cubby with my desk of materials I bought in the town Quimper. We drove a half hour to get there, and expected this grand Art store because alls we had been hearing was "you can get that at the store in Quimper"...lies! It is more of a craft store with a corner of art, few selection, and expensive. Oh well! It was cool visiting the fabric store, I was able to find a cool embroidered canvas like material in the scrap section that I plan to create a beautiful painting on. Then we went to the Casino--aka Mall/massive hardware store like Home Depot/ big supermarket like Walmart (which by the way I heard "DJ got us fallin in love by Usher" here and went, wtf?)
Collaboration installation project one seen from inside of the tunnel out
I'm super stoked for my classes. Being out of school for a month has been wonderful, but coming back to doing only art and French is spectacular! The theme for this semester is Alias so the concentration is expanding all the students out of their own to adopt different personalities/personas to inspire new perspectives and techniques. These are my classes/descriptions:
Critical Studies: A mix between Upper Division Art History and the philosophically written part of art including statements, etc. Our professor for the first part is a writer who is going to have us read Whitman poetry and adopt his style.
Materials of Drawing/Painting: Redefining the boundary of what limits/separates drawing and painting as a practice, and instead of just thinking in context of a piece, to think back on what the materials/processes used say and influence about the work as a whole and in specificity.
Figure Study: haven't had it yet, but in her introduction she discussed first learning the history of classic figure art creations through Greek Roman and Renaissance hitting the high points, to contemporary. My goal is to better my art on realistic-looking people. I had this class yesterday, we had to create paintings and drawings using only natural materials. I carved in a leave and painted mud on another leaf.
Installation: an introduction to installation which is an art form that creates a space that envelops the viewer with sensory images, sounds, and displacement. I had this class today and we created our first project. First: our homework assignment was for everyone to bring 5 objects in separate plastic baggiest that reminded them of home, and 5 more that reminded them they "weren't in Kansas anymore". Second: in class we pinned them all on a wall as a collage separating the two categories. Third: Broke into 4 groups and each rearranged the objects into different installations. The above picture shows what my group created--a tunnel with home objects towards the end and French ones near the opening. My 5 objects from home included: lotion because CO is so dry and here is so moist, alarm clock on 12 hour system because here is military, perfume for what my room smelled like, a "lose weight" article because everyone is so healthy here and therefore no diet propaganda, and my cellphone that is closed off. My 5 from France: a dead and still beauitfully intact blue-jay I found on the road, a seashell I found at the ocean, an article from my French cosmo, my French-English dictionary, and my address here in Pont Aven.
French level 1: self explanatory. I already took this Freshman year of college...but like I remember anything from that except for tuna= thon because it's like thong without the "g" lol
A part of my group at the Port
I know I mentioned almost everyone is from either Cali or the East Coast but I forgot to say there is a student from Montenegro, Romania, Canada, and India plus a couple who are Chinese. I almost feel alienate because everyone has a huge portfolio of art they have been building up since they were little. They all go to specific art schools instead of general colleges and can recall contemporary artists and discussions that go whoosh over my head! But like said earlier, I am here to learn. Thank goodness they are not pretentious like the art kids in school back home.
It's never been my thing to have 3 hour critiques where we spend half an hour reading into one person's piece of work and coming up with random relations to society and politics from a single line or stroke, but that is the art world and I'll either acquire it or just deal with it. This semester is about Alias and learning to come out of one's own and gain new perspective--much easier said than done. Alls I want to do is draw/paint on my own, which I will do but I have to realize I paid and took the effort to invest my self in education so I better come out learning what they're teaching me instead of being introverted. It's definitely going to be one of those intense and hard, yet greatly evolving and improving semesters that I will look back on for epiphanies in my career and life.
One of the books in our Lounge area for us to read/practice our French
called...Gnomes that Kill...bahahahahahahaahaha!!!
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