Natalie in NYC

I have figured out how to log onto this tumblr again.

just wanted to say, since creating this blog,

I’ve graduated university (with honors!), found a job right out of college, moved to nyc, and am living as an artist in the east coast. :-)

Friday, August 4, 2017

Last day in New York! What should a girl like me do? Only one thing of course, visit the Met one final time! I went though the early European - Renaissance, Baroque painting area. Truly amazing. I saw so many Rembrandts, a few Vermeers, and so much more! I was really hoping to see Caravaggio but I only saw two and they weren’t more known works. Oh, well..

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Last day of classes (drawing class) and last day with my favorite teacher Yun! I will forever miss this class! Just kidding, no I won’t. But I did learn a lot!! My teacher said I improved a lot! And I’m so happy! He’s so encouraging and thoughtful. I want to continue my studies with the figure, and master it, and then properly make my exit and find something new and different to make. I will dedicate the next 6 months to this study and get proportion and gesture down!

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

I visited an artist’s studio/home today. Wow, what a place! This artist is much more famous and successful in her career – she has her studio incorporated into her studio apartment, in Williamsburg Brooklyn! So crazy! I love it! I’m not sure if I would be able to have my studio in the same room that I’m living in. Although the chance of saving money is very, very intriguing – I’m not sure I would be able to live like this. My worry not being able to physically step outside much because I would stay at home all the time. I am also very unmotivated at home. I will work on this!

Afterwards, my class and I were able to check out my teacher’s studio, which is equally cool! It’s a small, yet spacious place with tall ceilings and a very large window! I would definitely want this studio if I were an artist in NYC. My only concerns are money and rent. A second rent does not seem very nice to me. I am already struggling with one rent living as a student in Santa Cruz, how would I be able to survive as a working artist in NY?

After class, I went to the Frick museum where I saw so many amazing works!! I love the Frick!! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take photos (except for the indoor sculpture garden), so I can’t document my visions, but it was all great.

Then, I finally checked out Grand Central Station and oh my god, it was like walking through a dream. It was so cool. The lights were dim, so maybe that is what helped bring an atmospheric feel to the place.

Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

I had my last sculpture class today. It was fun and I’ve finished my man! If I had more time, I would want to make it look more finished and “polished”. My teacher asked if I liked my sculpture, I said I liked it more than the week before, however I can’t say that I love it. I think there’s room for improvement but I am not too sure, anatomically (and technically) where else to go besides smoothing out the rough spots. 

Monday, July 31, 2017

Studio visits and critiques this day!! I was SO NERVOUS! It’s ridiculous how nervous I was! It really affected my speak – but for good reason! The surprise guest critic was Alyssa Monks! (Look her up y’all, she is an amazing artist and I am unworthy beside her). She told me that I needed to just get the basics down - torso, pelvis, and head. Everything else is just details that I don’t really have to worry about – especially since I told her about my push and pull with beautiful traditional painting of the figure and rejection/rebellion against it. She also really liked two of my funky works – one of which I believed to be unfinished and was actually chosen for the final exhibition!

After waiting for what seemed like forever for this actually nice critique, I joined my class to paint one last painting. I tried to focus on getting the proportion and gesture right, but again my teacher took over. Once I got through and let the lines go blurry, she said it was very “alien”-like, not so much in a compliment, and told me that she noticed that I don’t “commit” when I’m drawing a line. I’m not too sure what she was trying to say about my style, she didn’t quite say it well. I think she was trying not to sound too mean, but I got her point. Someone once told me that if you do one thing one way, you usually do it to everything. So thinking along these lines, I do find myself looking over things when I look at things, sort of a weird eyes shifting sort of thing (for example: I will look at a page full of drawings and skim through it and miss looking at some pieces). What I’m trying to say is maybe I just look over certain parts when I’m trying to look at the big picture, and in turn, fail to look at the big picture. Sigh. One thing that was said that I believe is a solid piece of feedback (from the critic) is to just keep drawing and draw some more.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

I woke up late today and took my sweet time to get to the studio. I just felt like i needed to slow down, even though tomorrow a juror will come to select works for our exhibition.

I wish I had more time to work on my work, because I think my better works take time to not only paint, but to develop in my head. (My most recent and successful piece at UCSC took 4 weeks to plan, design, and at least 3 more additional weeks to paint). 

I met this lady today who told me she went to the same school as I go to! She also majored in art and also had Frank Galuszka as a professor. She’s now a tattoo artist who got really mad when we were discussing art and the high class snobbery that happens in the art world. She mentioned Shepard Fairey and got really offended when I said he was a sell out – and told me some real personal things like how she was living out of her car for a long time. Despite my uncomfortableness and sorrow, I can see now what she meant. Sure, Fairey may be doing things that I myself as an artist do not feel authentic to do (in regards to the integrity of my art), but it’s a real hard world out there. I guess she sort of opened my mind a little to the harsh realities, reminding me that sometimes people have to do what they have to do to live.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

I mainly worked in the studio today. I finished my self portrait....to an extent. I think the biggest issue with this piece is the fact that I didn’t use a mirror, like I usually do. I kept forgetting to and when I remembered to go get one, the prop room was closed! I guess I’ve learned my lesson. Despite the fact that it looks a lil funky, I like it more because the colors speak to me a whole lot more than the previous colors. I even added eyelashes. They were too bold so when I tried to wipe them away, I got a sort-of Twiggy look, which I dig.

After painting for awhile, my housemate and I decided to check out the free ferry to Staten Island! When we got off the metro stop, we were right in the heart of wall street! I didn’t see the Bull but I saw Trump tower! Pretty disgusting. I took photos. The entirety of the area seemed very deserted and reminded me of the Purge: Election Year.

Friday, July 28, 2016

I went to the Met! I was supposed to meet my class in a classroom by 42nd street but I don’t read instructions right and went straight to the Met. Oops. So I walked around and enjoyed the Greek and Roman Art, Egyptian art; then my class came and we went to the roof of the Met! Amazing views! Apparently the artist commission for the rooftop is super competitive, but the one they chose for this year (the youngest artist chosen), did super great, creative work. I saw Artemisia Gentileschi!!! Love her!!! After eating and returning to the Met, a smaller group and I speed travelled through Islamic and Middle East art, Chinese art, Indian art, and lastly Japanese art. All super cool stuff! Truthfully, I don’t think I would have gone to these places on my own, (I usually take my sweet time in museums), but being able to go with my teacher, who made us rush through a lot of it helped alleviate some of the anxiety I had to go in the first place. I definitely have a deep appreciate for the intricateness of this work! 

Upon seeing these ancient works, I realized that I have only ever seen Indian work in the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland and through Lara Croft: Tomb Raider video game. Man, I need to go out more!!

Thursday, July 27, 2017

I had drawing class today where I drew a large-scale drawing from a live model! So scary! My teacher, Yun, is amazing though and told us to take our fear and turn it into motivation. So I tried and look at what I’ve created! He helped me a lot with gesture, however I had proportion (mostly) down. Yay!

Afterwards, I went to the Brooklyn Museum where my teacher gave us a guided tour of “The Dinner Party” by Judy Chicago. Amazing. Wow. I can’t believe no one is talking about this today! (They probably are but I haven’t been paying too much attention, sorry).

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Painting class today! Same stuff - drawing a painting. I thought for sure I had proportion right (and therefore my drawing came out well!), but I was wrong!!! My teacher erased it and redid the figure, telling me I didn’t have gesture quite right and the “gravitational force” that the model had with her pose. She also told me to try a different method different than contouring the figure, to take away the whites so that the dimensions and figure can come out slowly. So I tried that and now I can see where I went wrong. I like to think that I had proportion right (or close to being right), which has been my main goal in this program. However, I am finding that proportion isn’t everything and that the most important thing is actually gesture!!! Gesture is personality. Gesture is unique! Gesture says a lot more than proportion can. Gesture allows proportion to be wrong and for the figurative artwork to still look great. My drawing teacher last week said I needed to work on gesture next (after getting proportion pretty well done), so I see now that he is righter than right.

The painting with a foot is an close up of piece I am working on! The floor was fun to do, like what artist Monica Cook said art should be... fun!! It’s a kooky piece that people are saying really is “me”. Which is weird because I normally don’t see myself as a super weird/cool person. (I’ve been living in Santa Cruz, I’ve seen some people...)

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

hello! Today I had sculpture class where we are creating a (clay) figure from a live model! I’ve never done this before! It’s sort of challenging, but also seems easy at times, –– but also really fun! I hope to perfect him next week so that he can become my next boyfriend. It’s going to be great.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Today I had a day off! Being the studious student that I am, and taking into account we have an exhibition during week 4 (our final week here), I mainly worked in the studio today. I’m not sure why, but lately the project that I’ve been working on has been coming along so, so slowly. Maybe it’s because I’ve been working on an 18x24 piece, which I consider medium small (but really more small). It’s been a bit difficult. At UCSC, I have been able to save so much money by creating my own painting supports of all sizes, (4′x4′, 4′x6′, 2′x3′, etc.), and here in NYAA during the summer, I have had to buy my own supports and man it’s so pricey here! Luckily there’s a wood shop at NYAA, but unluckily, it’s always closed due to summer hours! Yikes! How will I live as an artist outside of school? I know there’s those little saws they sell at hardware stores. Maybe I can just buy wood the size I need, the glue, staples, etc, and be my own handyman.

After a few paint strokes and long hours, my housemate and I went to the cute part of Chelsea where we saw a bakery to go and eat at! So cute and so, so good. We had small, but delicious waffles.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Today my class met and walked all over the Lower East Side to look at a bunch of galleries. Usually we meet on Mondays, and even I know from working at the Sesnon Gallery that Monday is honestly the worst day to schedule a class in which our main focus is to gallery hop.

So we settled to meet on Sunday instead, which is a step up, but definitely not the best of days. I saw some really cool, contemporary art - better than the first time we gallery hopped. Maybe because we went to less galleries this time and saw a lot less art, giving me the ability to appreciate what I could see a lot more. Also, the people sitting in the gallery offices were so much friendlier, so much nicer. I don’t understand the cold-hearted attitude some workers seem to have. (Maybe this is just the California in me expecting a cheesy grin at the front door).

What I appreciated about the art this time was the fact that even though a lot of it is really hard to understand, I still find cool ways to appreciate it! There was this one gallery with an exhibition called “The Secret Life of Plants” and this exhibition was really well put together. You can tell what the premise was about, and there was even one piece with a thick, black line of paint right in the middle that caught my eye. The gallery paper told me it was made with acrylic but I know better than that... there was clearly glitter on it. Ha.

Saturday, July 22

I went to the Met today! It’s huge! It’s amazing! So much art! It’s frightening! (There’s so many people here!!) I decided to pick a “section”, and only take 2 hours here, because I really wanted to spend time in my studio. I went to my favorite era of paintings, 19th and 20th century European paintings! (Including impressionist/pre-impressionist painitngs!!!)

I saw so many Van Gogh's, Picasso, Matisse, Degas – so much great art and so many artists! There were also just so many people in the museum that I put my headphones on, without music, just to drown them out a little.