Banksy NY

Anyone keeping up with Banksy in NY?
http://www.banksyny.com/

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Enjoy!
-Jeanette aka Girl Clark Kent

"Drawing With Fire"

For my painting independent study, I have come to the point where it is time to transition into creating a new body of work. I decided to put the plaster down along with ditching the canvas and sticking to wood surfaces for my next body of work. I have been recently inspired by 3 different artists. Illustration artists Paula Bonet and David Santiago with their work heavily figure based on wood and mixed media. I have also been inspired by Matt Wisniewski work of manipulated digital photos meshed with human figure and often landscape.

Field Study: Jessamine County, Kentucky archaeological dig

Students in the Curatorial Studies class were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Stephen McBride and his colleagues—Cathy, Todd, and Sarah—this past Saturday. We went down to Jessamine County to participate in a field study -- literally, in the field. We went on an archaeological dig. Through this work, we learned about the importance of material culture that is underground, as so much of our work has been spent this semester on those objects already in archives and collections.

Dr. McBride establishes context for the site. 

Dr. McBride gives instructions as to our teams and parameters of the dig.

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

The show is up!!! If you haven't seen it yet, stop by the Cocenhour Gallery in the LRC and take a look, leave some comments too, I read them all and love to get feedback ;) To all of you that went to the opening or visited on your own free time, thanks so much for the support, I really appreciate the compliments and feedback. If you ever want to chat with me about my exhibit, or anything else art related, send me an email, I don't mind if you pick my brain. And if you don't like my exhibit, you can always check out Shelby Eden's exhibit about her experience as an art instructor for elementary kids. Her exhibit  features all of her students' work, you should stop by and see it!

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Happy Tuesday!

I hope that everyone has had a chance to stop by the LRC to see my senior art exhibit! As well as Maddy's! If not it would be awesome if you could stop by sometime this week, we both worked really hard for months on our exhibits.

The reception this past Sunday went really well! Many people came to see Maddy and I present our exhibits and I even had a few special guests come, my students!! It was so great the kids and their parents got the chance to see their work displayed in an exhibit, I know the students all felt like superstars.

For those who haven't seen my exhibit here are a few pictures!

Gallery 108 Space

The connections of the present

So often we talk about how facebook and other social media build separation at the same time they build connections. But I have to say although I dont participate in facebook as much as I did when I first got on 8 years ago but I have to say I love being on Instagram. You find so many amazing people doing amazing things. I have come into contact with people from all over the world just by digging through images and hashtags.
     Instagram has also proved to be a great networking site. I have come into a number of opportunities that I would never have otherwise been apart of. One of which was posted today. I was interviewed by Mckenna Wooley for her blog.
Make sure to check out the interview and her site HERE.

If you are not on instagram (which most of you I assume are) I would encourage you to try it out. Its free and fun as an alternative form of "research". You can find me @spellcheck and @lineschiselsandbrayers.  Happy hunting.

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall! Thank you to students, colleagues, and friends who make working at Georgetown College a treat. When I came to campus on Weds. morning, I was greeted by a white bag and a delicious cinnamon roll from Frank's Donut Shop, compliments of our visiting photo prof, Kyle. White bag in hand, I scurried over to the Mulberry Cafe to grab a fresh cup of coffee and to enjoy the morning with coffee, granola, a cinnamon roll, and beautiful fresh fall flowers — all before classes began.

Share some Fall happiness with your friends on campus!

The text on the bag reads,
"For Dr. Decker From Kyle (and Frank) Have a Great Morning!"

A children's outdoor gym or abandoned park?

So, the other day I was taking a few of my students to the park to get them to socialize so that they do not end up becoming an anti-social adult like me. Anyway, while we were there and I was bribing them with chocolate to interact with the other children there, I noticed that there was another park a bit down the hill. I decided to go and see what it contained and why there were no children there at all. The kids were only too happy to join me as it would mean they wouldn't have to be near the other children anymore.

When we got down to the abandoned park, I noticed that it reminded me of a gym. I mean, it looked almost as if every piece of equipment looked as if it were made for the purpose of getting kids to workout while having fun at the same time. It seemed to work as my kids were having the times of their lives playing on the equipment. I even joined in. It really was a workout.

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Fall Senior Show: Sunday October 20th, Reception starts at 2pm in the LRC, there will be food AND it's NEXUS approved!

It's almost here!!! Installation starts tomorrow!!!! It's all a little exciting and surreal, I feel like I should be completely overwhelmed with last minute tasks and suffering the effects of procrastination, actually I feel really good about how I have paced myself within the previous weeks. I am sure there will be some problems with installation that may come up, but overall, I am feeling prepared for what is to come within the next five days. 

Well I guess to update you on what I am doing, I am pretty much almost done (hooray!), so I included some detail photos of my final products that will be on display, just a heads up, everything is not included so if you want the full experience, come to my show on October 20! 

Thanks for keeping up with my blog thus far, and sometime next week be looking for some post-installation photos. 

-Maddy Fritz

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Happy Tuesday!

This week is the week that I have been working towards for months! I can't believe it is finally here. As the installation process is beginning this week for the opening on Sunday, I thought I would share some visuals of what I will be working on this week!!

Foam Core

Internships — Come hear about them

Two Events This Week!

Tuesday, October 15^th from 11:00am – 1:00pm students undertaking internships and independent studies will present their works-in-progress in room 104 and the painting studio. If you are interested in learning what your peers are doing on campus and off, please come to these presentations. All are welcome!

Also, if you are seeking an internship, visit the Jones-Hall-Nelson Suite this Thursday: 

Internship Fair

Thursday, October 17^th from 11:00am – 1:00pm

Jones-Hall-Nelson Suite

Come chat with organizations about their internship opportunities

Check out who’s coming and what they offer here.

Scrap vs potential

I admittedly have a problem. But it was given to me by my mom. I grew up in a home where nothing went to waste. Objects went through countless lives and forms before being laid to rest. Growing up in a military family and moving a lot we had a lot of boxes. So every move we made entire cities of cardboard. One year it was shop themed, with a paper store, a butcher, a bakery, and even an eraser store. One time it was a castle with mazes inside, and one time it was space themed, I think that was the international space station year. Anyhow I have this problem of seeing potential in anything. I look at leftovers or remnants or even mistakes and think of how they can be brought to some use or some form of glory.  In terms of mistakes I always reflect on a number of practices and lessons I have learned but two immediately come to mind. One of my early professors in Art (George Ferrandi) posed the question in a course, "What is more beautiful? The perfect porcelain doll, or a porcelain doll that has been broken and put back together?" There is also a tradition in Japan of fixing broken pottery by filling in the cracks with a laquered resin sprinkled with powerdered gold or silver. Known as Kintsugi (japanese for golden joinery), it is the idea that repairing something by bringing attention to the fault offers not only an interesting object for reflection but also heightens the value of the work through its flaws.

Kintsugi  

Kintsugi 

So this brings the question of everything we use and what is to be done with what is not done with? Scrap, trash, or potential? 

Opulent Cathedral

I recently visited Almudena Cathedral. A bit of background: though the cathedral was not finished until 1993, there were plans and talks of building one dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena as far back as the 16th Century when the capital of Spain was moved from Toledo to Madrid. The reason being is that there was no cathedral in Madrid and, as the capital, that simply would not do. The goal was to make the cathedral the largest ever. Construction was halted for a
very long time and resumed back in 1950.

All of the doors of the cathedral portray some religious content, whether it be images of Communion or images of Christ on the cross. Inside, the building is simply breathtaking in its beauty. The ceilings are colorful and there are altars for saints I had never heard of. There's an altar with God and Jesus sitting next to each other on thrones. There is a high altar that has a massive staircase leading up to it. All of this matches the image that the cathedral is supposed to display: holiness and magnificence.

However, the world of today has definitely intruded. There are places where you have to pay a Euro to 'light' a flame. That is, to turn on a mini lightbulb on a fake candle. They don't give back change. There are signs that say no tours during mass as well as signs that encourage visitors to leave a Euro a piece.

These don't really detract from the beauty, though. They are just things I remember.

Sadly, I'm not sure if I would go here to pray. There is just too much activity for my taste, but with the economy of Spain failing, I can see the need to optimize any opportunity that is found.

Pix from Homecoming Reception—Friday 2:15 in the Cochenour

Thanks to everyone who joined us today. Here's a few photos from our event. 

Homecoming Reception—Friday 2:15 in the Cochenour

Organized by my Fall 2013 Curatorial Studies course, this year's Archives show features an accurate history of Homecoming since its introduction in 1923, the evolution of Songfest, a tribute to an individual who embodied the “Spirit of Homecoming,” Coach L.E. “Brad” Jones, and many artifacts that date back to the youngest days of the College.

“90 Years & Counting: Homecoming Through the Ages” offers a glimpse into the past and present and invites you to share your memories with us.

Please join us on Friday, October 11th from 2:15-3:15 for the reception and discussion with the students who researched and created this exhibition: Steven Faulkner, Caity Hagan, Sarai Kidd, Abigail McPeek, Shelby Riddell, Joey Schulte, and Kendall Wills.

Thursday, 11 am NEXUS in the Chapel

You won't want to miss it! 

And, head over to the Art Building for pizza after the event. 

Read the story here!

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Short and sweet post today, my Senior Thesis work in 15 words:

Using design as a platform to support artists and create networking opportunities with their audience. 

11 Day Countdown. Get excited.

-Maddy

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great fall break. For this week's post, I have been challenged to describe my senior thesis work in 15 words.

My work in 15 words: 

Teaching students fundamentals of art, with the ultimate goal of fostering creativity and making connections. 

Also, here is a preview of the outcome of one of last week's lessons! 

Exquisite Corpse Project

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

"Your senior show is in eighteen days!" my mom said super excitingly on the phone Thursday.  Now just shy of two weeks away, I am spending my extended Fall Break weekend tying together all the loose ends of my senior show. 

Balancing the time I spend on each aspect of my senior show is what I have learned is extremely important. The final big picture includes more than just my body of work. Things that I have been working on besides my body of work include the overall display, marketing strategies, professionalizing my résumé, and preparing for my defense.  

The Cochenour Gallery (and the Gallery 108 space) in the LRC is where Shelby and I will be displaying our senior show.  The two walls that face each other are over 22 feet long.  I personally have never installed my own exhibit; I have had some experience installing work in Dr. Decker's curatorial class, which installs the annual homecoming exhibit (which is currently on display in the Cochenour). It is important to know the space you are installing in. For instance: the Cochenour wall I am installing my work on is 22 feet and 4 inches long, by 8 feet tall. However after analyzing the space more in-depthly, I noticed that there is a baseboard that runs around the gallery, and the light source casts a shadow around the top of the wall, also the walls were not built to hold a lot of weight, so it is important to research and talk with Jeanette Tesmer (gallery director) when hanging anything in that space. Always double-check your installation space!

For any opening date of an exhibit, marketing is important to get people to show up! Shelby and I have been working on a press release, invitations, and social media will also play an important role.  

I am nothing

I always like ever now and again to be reminded that I am nothing. I see things like the following two videos and it reminds me how much of a novice I am.
A 240 year old writing automaton. HERE
and a mind blowing work below

Variations on a Theme

This week's post is a follow up to last week's. Since then I've been able to finish off this current set of prints, press and flatten them, and scan them on my antique flatbed scanner setup (as evidenced on my Instagram blog). In the end I produced multiples of 12 different photograms with a final total of 39 unique prints. The results have been quite nice in a number of the pieces. I've mentioned before that the mordançage process can be a bit unpredictable (although with more and more practice I'm developing a better feel on how to create certain results). As evidence I wanted show you four variations stemming from the same original photogram. With specific timings, manipulation, and chemistry combinations, a wide range of final prints can be achieved.

In the coming months I will be continuing to work in the darkroom to extend on a series of mordançage photographs in anticipation for a show at the Jane Chancellor Moore Gallery in Frankfort, KY in December.

Senior Thesis: A Weekly Update

Happy Tuesday! Fall Break is here (:


Last week, my senior thesis mate, Maddy gave an excellent update on my lessons from last week! (Thanks, Maddy).

This week, I wanted to share with everyone my lesson from this past Thursday and give you a preview for my lesson tomorrow. Last week after meeting with Hannah Davis (for those of you who don't know her, she teaches ART234 & ART336, she's spectacular, you must meet her!) I realized that I really wanted to incorporate more art history into my lessons. Yes, in the past few weeks I have always used fine art examples when discussing various principles and elements of art but for these next few lessons I want to focus more on artists, their styles, and which movement they belong to. So, for my first art movement lesson, I chose to teach the students about Impressionism and Claude Monet (Thanks to Leah Castleman and ART313 for giving me the idea for this lesson).

The first item on the agenda for this past Thursday's lesson was to explain to the students exactly what Impressionism is, so I gave each student a brightly colored piece of square paper and had them write the definition of Impressionism, and give an example of an Impressionism artist that we looked at (for this lesson Monet & Degas...but mostly Monet). Once the students understood, we moved on to their favorite part... the project!

For the project, I passed out four of Monet's landscapes and I asked the students to identify what type of landscape that work was (seascape, cityscape etc.) Once they did this, I had each student pick a work they would like to replicate using tissue paper (in many different colors). The works they could choose from were: Water Lilies, Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies, Sunset Over Venice, and Impressionism Sunrise. 

Here are some examples:

A students version of Water Lilies using tissue paper

Claude Monet's Water Lilies