September 11, RIP San Bruno Victims

When I think about 9/11 all those people who, to quote my friend, "lost their loved ones in such an awful way," I feel like I don't even deserve to feel sad. I mean, compared to all the victims of 9/11, I really don't know what sorrow is. Tragic events bring about incredible reactions in terms of emotion, violence, change, and even art. Historical events or even news headlines, whether good or bad, have sparked some amazing thoughts in artists' minds that have led to mind-blowing statements and masterpieces. Creativity cannot be tamed, and inspiration, especially from tragic disasters, often lead to some of the most captivating pieces. Here are a few art pieces inspired by 9/11 that I found captivating:

9-11 by Barbara Perlmutter

September 11 by Joni McPherson

September 11 by Chawky Frenn

Recently, as you may or may not have heard, there was a massive fire in San Bruno, CA from an explosion due to a gas leak. Over 30 houses were destroyed and about a 100 were damaged. I was watching it on the news live and seeing those flames roaring in the darkness with newscasters and people just standing and watching, I felt so helpless. If the people right next to it couldn't do anything, then we just have to watch until help comes. That's the exact way I felt when I got up on the morning of September 11, 2001 and watched the destruction and horror of 9/11. 4 people have been confirmed dead from the San Bruno explosion/fire and 2 people (correction: 6) are still missing. To have something like that happen so suddenly, so spontaneously and spread and destroy so quickly is truly terrifying. You hear about these disasters all around the world but then it happens so close, and you think, wow, that could have been me. I felt inspired by the San Bruno fire so today I decided to dig through my garage, find some paint supplies, and paint what I saw when I thought about San Bruno. My final product was a simple watercolor painting of fire surround by darkness, infused with hazy gray smoke drifting up into the black hole of a sky.

RIP Victims of the San Bruno fire

To all the living victims of the San Bruno fire: My family, friends, and I are thinking continuously about you and praying for your recovery and help through however long this difficult and painful journey will last, whether it ends in finding a new place to start over, or move on from losing parts of your past.

Impressionism

Hello!

It has been much too long.

A few weeks ago, I saw a pretty spectacularly amazing exhibit of Impressionism paintings at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. All of the paintings were from Musee d'Orsay, an amazing museum in Paris. The paintings ranged from the incredibly realistic and wondrous works of Manet to the well known scatters of brush strokes of Monet. Only one letter different in names, but quite different and distinct painters and styles. I got to see Whistler's Mother, or so it is known as. It was a nice painting and I appreciated the simplicity and details, but I have to say, it was slightly boring. I would have to say that of all the paintings, numbering over 100, that I saw, Manet's Fifer and Monet's Magpie and Saint-Lazare Train Station would have to be my favorites. Morisot's The Cradle was also up there. And props to her for being, if I'm not mistaken, the only female impressionist painter on display. Well, maybe there was one other, but still.

The whole night really made me want to roll up my sleeves, get a little paint on my nose, and paint a masterpiece. Oh if only I was a painting prodigy. Oh well, at least I can appreciate the works of true master painters. It really is amazing how talented some of those painters were. So many, like Morisot, painted some of their most well-known works in their 20s. That is just incredible. In addition to seeing the masterpieces that truly blew me away, I got to learn a lot about Impressionism as well. I think the story of how it began sort of symbolizes the Impressionist movement. It began when one critic called Monet an impressionist painter after his painting Impression: Sunrise. However, the critic meant it in a derogatory way. But Monet did not see it as an insult, but as a compliment, and he and his fellow painters embraced the term Impressionist as they began their fantastic movement that greatly contributed to the history of art.

Well that's enough of an art history lesson for one day.

Here are the paintings I was talking about:

Manet's Fifer:

Monet's Magpie:

Monet's Saint-Lazare Train Station:

Morisot's The Cradle

Farewell for now,

artsy_brainchild

Louis Kahn

For a recent project, I had to research Louis Kahn, a well-known American architect. Here is the genius:



I was supposed to focus on how he used concrete in his buildings. When I saw some of the works he did, I was really interested and it sparked some interesting thoughts about the materials that can be used to build buildings and create our living environment. Concrete is extremely difficult material to work with . . . trust me, I know. The toughest part is removing the mold or formwork. While researching Louis Kahn, I learned that he planned the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, which I have been to. It really is an amazing place. Here are a few pictures of the institute:

It's just amazing to think what one person, even with the help from tons of others (that's you contractors, builders, concrete mixers, etc.), can do. Louis Kahn didn't leave a mark on the world, he left it with works of genius, brilliance, creativity, and passion.

Now let me leave you with a few wise words of his, my favorites:

“A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.”

– The Brilliant Louis Kahn

Sleepy Train of Thought . . .

I was lying in bed the other night, not quite tired enough to fall asleep, and came up with this. It's not at all close to being finished or anything, but it's a "rough draft" I guess you could say. I didn't want to forget the lyrics while I was sleeping, so I turned on my light and wrote them down on the back of a receipt - all that I could find.

Here are the lyrics, since the picture's not the clearest:

Late at night is my favorite part of the day

Lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling

Thinking about me and all that I want to be

I close my eyes

I hear you singing softly

I shiver once

You touched me more than you know

Driving down the West Coast, just me and my thoughts

The sun is too bright, it's burning my eyes

The radio's all static but it's better than silence

That's it and I would appreciate if no one copied these lyrics

© 2010 artsy_brainchild

Oldschool Arts and Crafts

Today in the art room there was a big bin of that string used for friendship bracelets so I decided to make one. It reminded me of arts and crafts that I used to do at summer camp. When the counselors were out of ideas to entertain us they would just give us a bunch of string. And when I was a counselor last summer, I did the same thing.

Here are some pictures of making the bracelet and the finished product:

Words of Wisdom For Your Mind to Eat Up

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting,

growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making

mistakes, and having fun.”

— Mary Lou Cook

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go

after it with a club.”

— Jack London

“The world is but a canvas to the

imagination.”

— Henry David Thoreau

My Favorite Toy

So . . . what is my favorite toy? HOLGA. If you have never heard of a Holga, then google it right now. They are just about the awesomest (if that's a word), coolest, most amazing cameras ever. The Holga is actually entirely made of plastic, including the lens thats the reason that it takes really artsy, unique, sort of vintage looking photos. The light leaks just add to its awesomeness. Here are a few of my favorite photos that I've taken with my Holga: