Tag Archives: art
dear the end
my first attempt at animation
i’ve been wanting to make a stop-motion video ever since my friend by r. made this one (seriously, one of my favorite blog posts of all time ever); and recently, inspired by (carrie)meghan’s “about me” gallery, i’ve been wanting to re-do my “about me” page. today’s project was my little attempt at combining both of those goals.
i spent the day making a little video (animation, not stop-motion…one day i will graduate to stop-motion :). you can check it out on my “about me” page. it is by no means amazing. and since it’s so short, it gives very little information about me. oh well :) i had a much more elaborate story in mind, but drawing all those copies took forever, and i lost a lot of momentum. i saved the storyboard and my drafts, though, and i’m going to keep at it, working towards the full story. until then, this will do :)
here’s a few pics from the progress (drafts and sketches)
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a sprint to the end: day 5 in dc
all good things must come to an end…but never let it be said that i didn’t go out with a bang :) tuesday, my last day in dc, was as eventful as i could make it. my flight didn’t leave until 4pm and, considering travel time etc, that meant i had till 1pm to romp through the city.
i started out by going by my Senator’s office to see if I could get a pass to go on the floor of the Senate chambers (as I had done in the House on Friday). No joy. The Senate was in session and so the chamber was closed to visitors. Oh well, I tried :) Plus, I’m always happy to hear that Congress is working.
from there i trekked to the national gallery of art—mostly as a token visit. I tend to have about a 30-minute attention span for art museums. I like them, and I always try to pass through them if I can, but I can’t spend much time there. The National Galleries were full of amazing things (I’m sure) from all over the world, but I focused my visit only on the American artists. Mostly Wyeth, Copley, and Singer Sargent. I blitzed through–thoroughly enjoyed it–and booked it out. It was 10:30 am.
From there I went to the National Museum of American History. Let me just say that this place is A W E S O M E. I mean truly amazing. i saw some of the first ladies’ gowns, the actual flag that hung at fort mchenry and inspired “the star-spangled banner,” a real ship from the revolution (the gunship philadelphia; they had to insert it into the museum via an unfinished wall; later when the state that donated it requested it back, the smithsonian institute informed them that there’s no way to remove the boat now. the museum was built around it); a house that five american families (from the mid 1700s through the great depression) lived in; grant’s carriage; and several other exhibits and displays. way way WAY cool. there was a lot i didn’t see, but i definitely enjoyed all that i did.
in summation, here are some of the pics from the day:
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giddy with getty love
when i was in high school, some friends talked me into going to the getty center with them, and i remember being incredibly underwhelmed by the whole thing. i recall being disappointed (there had been a lot of hype when it opened) and unimpressed.
apparently, either things have changed there or i have grown up a lot (i know. both of those options seem so unlikely…it’s hard to choose).
i went recently with some friends and i was blown away. i kid you not. the place is utterly amazing. it manages to be both soothing and stimulating at the same time; relaxing and inspiring; invigorating and calming. i do not know how they did it, but they did it amazingly well. i’m not normally a super big fan of modern architecture; give me the old palladian symmetry and georgian columns and i’m happy. the getty center is very modern–lots of right angles and squares…everywhere with the squares. well, we went on the architecture tour and were informed that one of the reasons the getty is so comfortable is because the squares are all 30 inches x 30 inches. apparently that’s some magic number for humans spatially. it sets us at rest. i don’t typically buy into that kind of stuff, but i was so darn comfortable there, that it was hard to argue against it, either.
then there were the gardens — i don’t want to say too much about these because i wish you would go and see them yourselves… let me just say this: they unfold before you. you think you have seen the gardens, and then you walk a bit more, and a whole new vista emerges; and then you walk some more and there is another new scene. it is truly enchanting. the central garden was designed not by a landscape architect (as these things usually are), but by a painter/sculptor. apparently, the getty foundation people wanted the gardens to be done as a painting or sculpture–and they tell you straight up: this garden is a sculpture. the story behind it is kinda cool, too: the painter/sculptor (R. Irwin) didn’t know anything about plants and horticulture, so they got a horticulturist to work with him. Irwin would say “i want something red to be there” and the horticulturist would go and plant a bunch of different red flowers in a nursery. then when they had bloomed, irwin would come and point out the one he wanted in the garden. you’d think there’s be a more jarring effect, but no the garden is sublime.
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then there’s the art. perhaps the most awesome thing to me (for no apparent reason) was that you can take pictures of the art (not flash photography, but just regular digital cameras are fine). its like being set free in a candy store. as soon as i figured that out, i just took pictures of …. pictures :)
by far, this was my favorite painting there:
it’s by Manet, and it’s a painting of some French national holiday, festival, etc–celebrating French patriotism… and then Manet offers a reminder of its cost by placing a disabled veteran in the foreground.
tempting as it is to post all my pictures on this blog, i know that will get old. they’re on google+ though, so head over there!
christopher (awesome) stott
i saw an article this week about the paintings—that’s right, paintings—of Christopher Stott (click for his gallery). i’m not sure i can express how Absolutely Enchanted i am. i love love love. #wishlisted
anothernicole | anothershop
i’m sort of addicted to making my scrabble sentences now, and so i’ve decided to start selling them on etsy. unfortunately, they’re a little expensive to make and mail, but if you are looking for a unique (AWESOME :p) gift, or if you know anyone else who is, come take a look! i have three unique sentences now, and i’m working on a fourth one. enjoy!
