aurel schmidt.

Today was the busiest I've been in weeks. Though I still have time to blog! It is like when I do nothing all day I can't even find the motivation to blog, but when I go out and actually see living creatures besides my dogs, I feel like I can do anything!

Back to things that are actually interesting...

When trolling the internet for something thoroughly time wasting, I found the drawings of Aurel Schmidt. Lies. I found a picture of Aurel Schmidt and thought she looked like a kookier version of Chloe Sevigny, and my interest was peaked. So I looked her up and apparently she is this New York scenester. Who happens to be an awesome artist, in my humble opinion (I accidentally wrote onion the first time. Wow.).

Anyways her drawings are really intricate, yet someone they have a great texture to them. Many of them have a sort of sinister look to them, in the vein of the Chesire Cat. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about her shapes coming from objects (cigarette teeth, flower eyes, etc.). On one hand I think it is really cool how it is different up close. On the other, I feel like that is a little over done, and at this point, a little gimmicky. I don't know, what do you think? What would Cher think?

http://www.blog.designsquish.com/images/uploads/aurel-schmidt-face.jpg

http://www.fecalface.com/artists/aurel_schmidt/aurel_schmidt_maggot_mouth.jpg

http://moversnshakers.squarespace.com/storage/aurel_schmidt_peacock_low21.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1263771628601

http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/supernatural_aurel_schmidt_1_low.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg62/witchyhoy3/new3/12_Aurel_Schmidt_pink_eye.jpg

Aw, man. Oogie Boogie all the way.

a retrospective of a retrospective.

But wait, now that I'm writing on this, that makes three degrees of retrospection. Gah, that is way too confusing. Let's just move on shall we?

This is really late because I actually went to the Davis Museum's retrospective of El Anatsui's retrospective (When I Last Wrote to You about Africa) about a week ago, I have been just too busy to get it up here about it. But finally I have some pictures.

First of the all El Anatsui's work was great. I had never heard of the Ghana-born artist before, but he makes really dynamic pieces of art out of all sorts of materials including recyclables, clay, and wood. If you get a chance to see any of his work in person, really do it because so many of the aesthetic details cannot be captured through photographs.

You probably wouldn't have known that that was made of trash, but it was. Also can I just say that the Wellesley Davis Museum's showing of When I Last Spoke to You about Africa was the US debut of the retrospective. Yeah, we're kinda important. (It is Spring Open Campus so I'm in plug-Wellesley mode a little bit, don't mind me.)

My main motivation for going to the show was to see the marvelous designs of my friend and floormate Wendy Chen. She submitted a dress to a contest for recycled fashion that the Davis was hosting, and holy crap, it was awesome. All the entries were really impressive, but I have to say that Wendy's shined the most. But maybe I'm a little biased.  See for yourself.

And now presenting...drum roll...Wendy Chen!

That's right. That bodice is a keyboard. Whaaaaa?

Sorry the colors are a bit off, my camera apparently takes super saturated pictures indoors and when I tried to combat it I went a little overboard.

big pic | small pic

catching up.

So I mentioned before my trip that I have been painting a mural on my bathroom wall at my dad's house. Now that I finally have the pictures on my computer, I can show you!

My sketch. I don't think I'm going to include the bird but I really like it. Maybe I will put it somewhere else.

I would say the whole thing is about 3/4 done because I have to do touch ups and the like.

Close up.

I considering doing another part of the wall with contrasting colors, maybe orange or lime green. Or I might just keep it simple. Any thoughts?

Also I am procrastinating pretty heavily now (avoiding writing a film analysis) so I will have some things to share coming up. 

Ok, ok, I'll give you a taste.

what a tease.

So this entry is really just a teaser for what is to come. I will be showing off some pictures of my about halfway painted mural. Yay! Though I have to say that whenever I see the word mural I immediately think of Jerry and his murinal....poor Jerry.

Anyways I'm going down to New York City tomorrow to see some fancy pants Broadway show, How to Suceed In Business Without Really Trying, so you will get my thoughts on that. I am really excited. I remember watching the movie when I was younger and loving it. I've always thought it was a shame how not that many people know of the show compared to the popularity of something like Oklahoma! Oh god, Oklahoma! (The exclamation point is in the title. I am not really that excited about it.)

And then Saturday I leave for my trip with the family! Cross your fingers for pictures. I just got a new charger for my camera but who knows, I think this camera has it out for me.

That's it from me for now. Play me out, Old Crow.

monsters and mayhem.

So I know that I keep saying that I am in love with people, but I got a lot of love to go around. The list is pretty long, but add Al Pacino anyways. I had to watch Dog Day Afternoon for my screenwriting class, and I totally loved it. Al Pacino was absolutely amazing as Sonny. Funny, frantic, intense, kinda weirdly sexy. Just awesome. And also Chris Sarandon. He was very good as well but I don't think I've ever seen him in anything except The Princess Bride so I was kind of like what the hell is Prince Humperdinck doing in this movie? And oh my god he was also Jack Skellington? Whoa-ly crap. Apparently Chris Sarandon has been keeping himself busy. All the things that Wikipedia can teach you.

Anyways I just had to share my excitement before I got down to business. The business of showing you what other people are doing.

Here are so really cool post-it drawings by John Kenn. I love how he takes such a seemingly mundane medium and makes it seem so magical (and Gorey-esque).

More you say?

casey hansel!

So I have a confession. The artist in this post (aka Casey Hansel) and I are pretty tight. As in she was pretty much one of my best friends in high school (hence the exclamation point). So this doesn't really do much for me on the credibility front, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding.

For as long as I've known her, Casey has been really artistic (both her parents are art teachers so it is kind of in the genes). She made a dress out of caution tape in middle school. Middle school. Um, awesome. But I think that her work really took off with the idea to make a dress out of trash bags. Now I have no idea where this desire came from, but based on what came out of it, I would say that this was her best idea ever (and that is saying something. Nutella cake anyone?).

So whether you are totally into saving the environment (I'm looking at you with the hennaed hair), or just intrigued by my masterful suspense, you can check out Casey's stuff below.

Said caution tape dress.

Said trash bag dress. Made of purple trash bags and pop-tops. She wore it to our prom. It was amazing.

Made of balloons (!).

This newest addition is made of newspaper, duct tape, and trash bags.


Learn more about Casey and her awesomeness here.

See what else she can do here. Shoes anyone?

new masterpieces.

So this post has been a long time coming. I mean it has been what two, three days since I last posted? FIVE!? Geez. How lazy am I?

But at least I kind have a valid excuse (besides being a college student). I am in DC visiting my mom in her brand spankin' new apartment (kinda hate myself for using the phrase 'brand spankin' new' but I'm just going to go with it). It is really nice (besides the shower curtain I knocked over) and I hope she will love living here.

It is certainly nice to visit for a three-day weekend. And so is DC. I am obsessed with the fact that so many of the museums are free here, namely the Smithsonian. We went to the Museum of American History yesterday, which was closed when I was here last, and I was totally geeking out. In addition to already being an American History freak (hello American Studies major), I love American culture. Seeing MJ's hat, Kermit, and Dorothy's ruby slippers all in one day? Awesome. And we saw Julia Child's kitchen. Inspiring.

Speaking of kitchens, the only real problem with my mom's apartment is that the kitchen is pretty much miniscule. It is barely the size of the kitchen in my dorm, which is kinda sad, but my mom assures me that she has plans to remedy this. It was big enough for me to make brownies in it last night though. Bon Appetit Magazine assured me that these brownies would be the "Best-Ever Brownies" (which I imagine being said in a gaudy announcer voice). Wrong. I mean they were good, but definitely not the best ever. I think I needed more browned-butter.

Anyways, enough about me...

...more about Georgina.

Seriously this girl is awesome. She takes paintings (not necessarily famous ones) and creates an outfit inspired by the composition and coloring. It is such a surprise and pleasure to see what she comes up with next and I highly recommend you check out some of her stuff.

get your art on.

well it's not always sunny in philadelphia.

Today at the extremely early time of eight thirty (ok well early for the on-break college student) my dad picked me up so that we could embark on our journey to pennsylvania to see some relatives. It's the first leg of my two week trip down the east coast. It took us about six and a half hours to get down here and thus we barely made it in time to see the Rodin museum in Philadelphia. It was my first time, as far as I remember, visiting the museum, and although I knew I had heard of Rodin I don't think I could have really identified his art. Well, consider me a convert. Although I only had about forty five minutes to pursue the small museum, I really liked what I had the chance to experience.

This is one of my favorites. The picture doesn't really encapsulate all the struggle and pain expressed in the actual sculpture, but it gives you an idea. The positions of the fingers are just extraordinary. It seems like the pose is so impossible it can only happen when you are doing it subconsciously because of pain. The extremity comes across as meaningful instead of over the top. I also love the texture of the hand. A lot of Rodin's work is rougher, which I think really gives the pieces a lot of visual depth.

After spending some time at the museum, we headed over to the Hyatt to meet up with my grandparents and watch the eagles just barely lose to the cowboys (bummer).

We had dinner at a really lovely Greek restaurant right around the corner called Estia. I have always been a big fan of Greek food so it wasn't really a stretch for me to like the place, but it was still really enjoyable.

How good do these eggplant and zucchini chips look?

Overall, it was a great day and I am so thankful for having such a wonderful family. (The picture is of Phyllis and Rick, my pseudo-grandparents)

hand