Gallery Visit

Standing Mother and Child

1. 'Standing Mother and Child' was created by Elizabeth Catlett in 1978 and is on view at the Orlando Museum of Art, as all the works following. This sculpture is made of bronze with bronze patina, and stands at 16 1/2 inches tall and is 3 1/2 inches wide. This sculpture made an impression on me because I love the media that was used, it gives it such a rich look. This piece is also timeless and lacks boundary of cultures. It reflects the tenderness and love of a mother, who could be any mother.

The West Wind

 2. This beautiful marble statue is dated back to 1874 and was created by Thomas Ridgeway Gould, an American artist. The dimensions of the statue are 48 x 22 x 17 inches. I also love the marble media used on this statue because of the richness. It makes her dress appear to be smooth as butter, as the artist paid great attention to the detail of every ripple in the dress, as if it is being blown by the wind. This classical sculpture suggests a sexual intent with such a gentle, whimsical feeling. 

Lily Pond

 3. Frank Weston Benson created this painting in 1923 using oil paints on canvas 44 by 36 inches. 'Lily Pond' gives such a feeling of piece and tranquility, and displays the simple beauty of a scene in nature. The reflection against the water was done so perfectly that it doesn't even seem to be an painting, rather a photograph.

Marilyn Monroe

4. This Marilyn Monroe was made by Andy Warhol in 1967 using screenprint on paper, 36 x 36 inches. I have always admired pictures of Ms. Monroe, I myself have a very large portrait of her. I love her image and what she represents to me. Marilyn was not your average size '0' model, which is what I love about her. I believe her size was closer to a '16'. In this portrait Andy captures her essence and uses the pink overall coloring to connect her femininity.

For My People: Playmates

5. This is another piece from the collection of Elizabeth Catlett,an American artist, created in 1992. It is a lithograph on paper that is about 26 by 23 inches. This is entitled 'For My People: Playmates', as part of her African American collection. However, to me this reminds me of the simple pleasures, and innocence of childhood. Two siblings, possibly, enjoying games to use up their time. I used to play games like this as a child with my brother and it is a time that is truely missed.

Summer Landscape

6. Carl Wuermer is a German/American artist that created this oil painting (36 x 36 inches) in 1930. This animated looking landscape, done in a palette of green and brown hues, reminds me of the relaxation of the countryside that I miss here in the tourtisty city. It tells a story of sweet serenity and a life revolved around simpler things in the middle of a beautiful countryside.

Serenade

7. This is also from the African American collection at the museum, by an American artist named Romare Bearden. It was made in 1941 using gouache and casein on Kraft paper, which is 30 1/2 by 47 inches. The picture illustrates two African American men who have what seems to be unhappy expressions upon their faces. However, the guitar the one man is holding suggests a time of rejoice and happiness,as does the title, but their faces suggest otherwise. I would really like to know what they are thinking or what is going on to make them feel that way.

The Four Seasons: Summer

8. Jennifer Bartlett, an American artist, created this with silkscreen on paper (33 1/2 by 34 1/2 inches). Dated to 1941, this work entitled 'The Four Seasons: Summer' has a lot of different figures and variation. I would really like to know why she used a deck of cards, a butterfly and then such a grave symbol of a skeleton, among other things. There are so many random things all thrown together with a title that doesn't really explain much. I think the relevance is in the the eye of the beholder for this one.

Inch by Inch

9.  This work done with acrylics on canvas, was created by Edward Ruscha in 1988. This seemingly supernatural figure of a woman leaves much to be pondered. Who is this figure? Did she appear to the artist or is this just an extension of his imagination? And why is that small box on the right hand side that doesn't seem to belong?

Graphic Design Logo Project

Initial Sketches

Logo #1

Logo #2

Logo #3

Logo #4

Logo #5

Final Logo

1. I created this logo based on the dream I have to establish a company for women's shoes. I played the name for the brand off of my middle name, Alexis, and my last name, Colucci.  I wanted to use a silhouette of a woman wearing high heels so I found the outline of the woman online-http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1606-113271. I traced the outline, shaded it in, and made the shoes red for emphasis. I love the way that the red shoes look on the black figure. It has a classic appeal that encompasses my personal style. Once I had the lady in place, I started playing with the style of placement of the letters around her. I originally thought plain type would look professional, but decided to go with the almost-cursive style to make it look more eloquent. Purple is my favorite color and it complements the red in the shoes so well. The idea of the 'x' and the 'i' in red were given to me by a friend. I discovered that the smallest things, from placement to letter styling have a huge affect on the overall appeal of the logo. Moving things just a quarter of a centimeter and making the font just a bit thicker really changed the look to make the work look more finished. The videos also had some helpful advice in creating the logo. A lot of times the simpler the design the better. And the logo really has to capture the essence of the company it is representing to leave an impression on the viewer. Also, that inspiration can come from anywhere!

Value and Color

I was familiar with both the color wheel and the value scale from a drawing class that I took in high school. I had made the exact same value scale before. I liked working with the paints because I haven't painted in so long and it gave me a chance to again. I think that the most important thing and the most interesting was that the colors that we know as being secondary are actually used to create secondary colors. I thought that the traditional primary colors, red, blue and yellow, were used to create all other colors. It was interesting to see that cyan, magenta and yellow work much better.

Project 1

Understanding the principles and elements of design helped me to take beautiful photos on our scuba diving trip this week. I had a bit of a different experience then most students had because we used an underwater camera for some of the pictures. A lot of the time I would know what I wanted the picture to communicate, but it would not come out as planned. I can see a lot of the elements and principles all around me, but it was at times difficult to get the photos to reflect the same image as I imagined. We took lots of pictures to capture the shots, and it was very interesting. It was a nice way to incorporate real life experiences into the art work.

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1.  The way that light refracts produces such a visual phenomenon. Deep reds can set an emotion of anger, while blues can give a calming feeling. Yellow is thought to arouse happiness. Green is harmonious to nature and the environment.
2. Color can be used in costume to produce feeling of royalty and nobleness.  Deep purple and gold truly have this effect. This is interesting because colors alone can give these notions of status.
3. I found it interesting how they described light that is reflected from water making color mobile. The subtle movement of the water and its reflective surface creates such beautiful patterns naturally that artists try to recreate. This pattern is such an intriguing image, but at the same time calming.
4. I like the thought that darkness in color alone can produce a menacing feeling. Light and darkness of a color is a strong tool for an artist to use that can completely alter the emotion of a picture.

Video Blog

1. Many different philosophers views on aesthetics were discussed in this film. Plato's view as art being imperfect copies of ideas of reality, Aristotle's Poetics, and the idea of pity and fear; Hutchinson's theory of beauty, order, harmony and design; Kant's appreciation for the genius of the artist; Sheiler's idea that art gives us more humane, moral capacity, and many more. Art is the expression of emotion, in so many words. There has been an explosion of excitement about aesthetics in the 20th century. How the use of language ties into art. There are no necessary conditions to qualify something as art. One's inner sense of beauty determines the aesthetic view. Art is not necessarily beautiful. The second films discusses what Changeux and Ramachandran view as artChangeux discusses the way that art is a science and how it is connected to our brain's activity. He also defines aesthetics from a scientific perception. Ramachandran discusses how our brain's interpretation of art and the world around us has developed over history and throughout our lives.
2.The German philosopher, Alexander Baumgarten, who introduced the term aesthetics had the most important theory because it was the first theory. He came up with the term in the early 1700's, which led to a snowball affect. Now, people not only realize the impact of a visual perception on our emotions but it has become a major focus in the art world. Although people may have known before that there is an emotional connection with artwork, Baumgarten made it a main focal point when discussing art.
3. I think it was really interesting how Changeux really broke down art like it was a science, and is something that can be defined. Other philosophers discussed art as something that is not defined. He discusses art that has been discovered through history and really makes it such as discovering dinosaur bones or something! The scientific processing of visual images is really interesting as well. I like how Ramachandran discusses how elements such as symmetry can have a neurological effect. Also how beauty registers in our brain and how that may change over time.
4. The videos relate to the readings in the text by discussing aesthetics in more depth.  It discusses the history of the formation for the theory of aesthetics, from many different philosophers that the text does not make mention of.  Each philosopher's view helped to shape the theory of aesthetics.  The videos discuss the idea of aesthetics being and inner sense of beauty tied to a feeling about what we are viewing. The idea that beauty and art do no necessarily go hand in hand began to develop and is now full fledge today. Art is all around us, from music to television to ordinary objects. All of these idea's about beauty, aesthetics and art have also been discussed in the text. The neurological perspective of art gives all of this studying about art a biological connection and importance in the life of humans.
5. I feel that the videos put more history to the world of aesthetics by discussing many different eras, parts of the world, and intelligent people who had a piece in shaping our understanding of aesthetics today. It gives an in depth understanding for the connection of beauty and aesthetics in the art world. Also, how we know what is art, even though some of it may not be 'beautiful'. It gives an interesting twist by putting art in neurological terms and making a biological connection. I feel that this gives an actual need for art in our lives. It helps to understand how something is viewed as beautiful from a neurological sense.