sunsetlanealice

November 26, 2014

            From October 13th to November 15th, the Gallery at UTA hosted an exhibition featuring the works of two artists. One is an art professor here at UTA, Philip Van Keuren, and the other, artist Liz Ward. Although their mediums are vastly contrasting, their work can be united under their common objective to illustrate “symbolic meanings from both the built and natural world”, as explained by gallery curator, Benito Huerta.

            Keuren maintained a dark, gloomy, and whimsical aura through each of his black and white photographs delicately placed on the white wall and lit up by both natural and artificial light. The two photographs attached below describe two very different, yet complementary ideas. The one to the left contains a sort of eeriness about it as the branches fade in the distance behind the one main log in the center. At the very center of the tree trunk appears to be a growth of some sort that has developed through age. All life experiences some sort of change over time and we all will develop something new through life whether that something is wanted or not.

The second photograph to the right is of a vase of flowers. The negative contrast between the flowers and the background add a sort of curiosity to the piece as we might expect to see the opposite. However, this photo illustrates the idea that there is always something beautiful blossoming and radiating even in the darkness. And once that light comes through, the darkness in the background becomes harder to see.

Philip Van Keuren, Dyptich, Photograph

To accompany Professor Van Keuren’s photographs were the whimsical watercolor paintings of Liz Ward. In this one particular piece, she has worked in several overlays of paint to create layer and texture. The cool blue resting as the base of the entire composition sits in tranquility to support the winding and floating figures painted in the foreground. The piece carries the idea that there should always be a steady and solid support beneath us even when we want to be carefree and adventurous, because without the blue support, the painting would not have been nearly as strong.

November 26, 2014

For this project in my Art Essentials class we were instructed to view a film from a particular list and critique it based on certain criteria that was given to us. I chose the film "Running with Scissors".:

             Having chosen Ryan Murphy’s psychotically enthralling “Running with Scissors” as my film to be critiqued, I feel it is only right that I organize each aspect of the film in chronological order as it appeared to me and then analyze them accordingly. I will begin with explaining the story itself and then I will move on to sound, acting, Mise-en-Scene, and editing.

            This captivating and twisted film manages to capture multiple meanings and slip them through to the viewer throughout the full 116 minutes. The common threads that seemed to be continuously woven throughout the movie included breaking free from oppression, struggling with “not fitting in”, and pursuing your dreams because, just as Agnes said it, “Dreams get you through the hard times.” This film is not only a coming of age story, but explains so much more of what any person feels throughout their life, whether they are young or old. Augusten’s life, like many others’, was confusing and unpredictable. Although he had a beautiful relationship with his mother in the beginning, he was forced to live without her, endure her psychotic episodes, and eventually he had to make the choice to leave and start a new life of his own.

            The sound plays a huge part in capturing the story. In the opening scene, we see nothing, but we only hear Augusten speaking. This immediately solidifies who the protagonist of the story is and where the viewer should be focusing most of their attention throughout the film. While there is a heavy use of music filled with metaphors and irony galore, there is also a significant amount of silence. An actor might be standing completely still for one moment while upbeat, contrasting music is playing in the background, but then the scene will quickly cut to silence and background noise. One particular scene that caught my attention was when Deirdre and Norman were driving to the Doctor’s office for the first time. They were filled with hate for one another and calling each other names meant to bruise; however, in the background we can distinctly hear a song playing, “the things we do for love”. The irony is heavy and the metaphors are dense.

            Murphy couldn’t have cast any one character better. Each actor brought something completely new to the table. Not only did they each look their part, but they were all able to transform physically and characteristically throughout the entire duration of the film. From beginning to end, we were able to see the breaking and creating of their personalities and what it meant for each of them to go through this psychotically tiring time. Each actor contrasts and complements the other perfectly. For example, Deirdre was consistently emotionally unstable while Augusten only broke a few points in the movie. Even as a child, Augusten’s face was static and observant as his mother traipsed around the house in her flowing, bright clothes.

            Judging from the use of color, patterns, and silk in the female wardrobe, this film appears to be set in the 1960’s. Deirdre appears to be driving an old yellow Volkswagen or Mercedes hatchback, which would be consistent with the 1960’s setting. There was also a subtle use of highly saturated colors in specific objects. As the story became more dark and the character’s problems unfolded, the wardrobe became more dull and the props seemed much more alive. Finch’s bright pink house with white pillars and Deirdre’s luminescent green handbag captured my attention in the subtlest ways possible.

            Lastly, the editing was extremely precise. There was a heavy use of various editing techniques including time-lapse, cut scenes, framing, and color balancing. The time-lapse scene outside of the cinema helped the viewer better understand that a significant amount of time had passed without missing a beat. The cut scenes easily transitioned the viewers’ eyes from one setting to another, allowing them to need a shorter adjustment time between tempos. There was also a subtle use of framing in which the cinematographer used household pillars and gates to frame the actor’s faces and draw the eye towards the most important area to focus on at the time. The color balancing had to be edited in such a way that they were able to incorporate both dull colors and highly saturated colors in the same frame.

            Overall this film was extremely well executed and kept me interested the whole way through. The director had a keen sense of timing on each of his scenes so that the viewer didn’t have time to get distracted between cuts. Constantly incorporating something new, I never was sure what to expect.

Running with Scissors. Dir. Ryan Murphy. Sony Pictures Classics, 2006. Film.

"Running with Scissors." IMDb. Accessed November 21, 2014.

 Scott, A. "Mom’s Wacky, Dad’s Distracted, Son Survives." The New York Times. October 19, 2006. Accessed November 21, 2014.

For the "Best of Essentials" exhibition, each participant created a postcard sized piece of art to be featured on the wall for one night only.

The piece I submitted was titled "I Can Fix It" and was made up of thread, dried baby's breath, sharpie, and Einstein Bros. Bagels packaging paper. It included the lyrics to a song called "I'll Drown" by the Icelandic based artist, Sóley.

Allison Staud

"I Can Fix It"

November 21, 2014

For a recent project in my Drawing Fundamentals class, we were instructed to create two compositions: one imagined and one real. Below is my imagined creation in which I have merged both space and sea. 

Inspired by a recent trip to the beach, I immediately knew that I wanted to recreate the radiant bioluminescence I experienced on the evening shores of Florida. I was curiously captured by this life as it washed up on my legs and sparkled behind my finger strokes in the sand. Although, in actuality, the light form is entirely made up of tiny dinoflagellate plankton, I represented it as an octopus swimming amongst the cosmos; almost as if the bioluminescence were actually a reflection of the stars on the night water.

Allison Staud

"Bioluminescence"

November 14, 2014

I love pretty words... I love finding them, absorbing them, and singing them aloud. But I only love it when they are carefully considered... If they're hollow and momentary, it means nothing... Until someone has dwelled on and prayed over their words, they are merely fleeting and void.

So consider this: Your words are like smoke and vapor that vanish in the air. They gather and disperse in a moments time. They float and disappear, never to be retrieved. So be careful which words you choose to release for they can't be salvaged so easily.

You're invited to the "Best of Foundations" exhibition at Gallery West on November 12, 2014 from 6-8pm. Each student from the Art Essentials class at the University of Texas at Arlington will be showing a post-card sized reflection of their work.

Looking for internships can be difficult depending on your field of study. As a film major based in Fort Worth, Texas, internships for film production are few and far between. Fortunately, I was able to find a couple of internships on internships.com that were of interest to me. One of them in particular stuck out to me as a good opportunity. The company, Jennifer Brown-Thomas (JBT), is currently offering an internship for individuals interested in film as well as business, fashion, and literature. The thing that interested me the most in this opportunity is that they seem to be interested in building up passionate individuals and giving them an opportunity to really delve into their area of study. “Founder Jennifer Brown-Thomas is making her way to the top and is looking for a small team of elite individuals who are looking for school credit or experience in expanding their horizons in any of the aforementioned industries.”

Although the day to day activities will differ based on each individual, responsibilities of this particular internship include: Fundraising Event Planning, Blogging, Networking, Assisting with Productions, and Getting creative. In order to obtain this internship, the individual must be creative, passionate, and must have a love for one of the offered areas. They must also be comfortable working on a computer and making phone calls on behalf of company needs. Overall, JBT is a thriving, fast-paced company seeking out lively individuals who love their work to shadow Jennifer Brown-Thomas or another team member throughout the day.

By this point, you will want to have built up some sort of resumé to present to the company in order to give them reason as to why they should award you with this internship. Not only is it important to gain the experience from an internship, but an internship is also an incredible networking opportunity. Most of the time, you will be working with companies that are already producing the kind of work you are interested in. Being an intern under them is only opening up more opportunity for you to obtain professional work.

Materials Used: Card stock paper, X-Acto knife, glue, matte board.

As a part of my 2D Design class, we were required to complete a project that used geometric and abstract forms to visually define 19 different terms and concepts. The entire piece had to be made out of card stock paper -- There was no pen, pencil, marker, etc. involved.

For this project, we were advised to come up with a specific theme for the entire composition. The theme I ended up going with was a suggestion of artwork that you might find in a variety of Dr. Seuss books.

I began with basic sketches of what I would design and then chose a color palette. After cutting out a few of the shapes I came up with, I knew it didn't quite look right... That's when I decided that I would attempt to cut out a slightly larger black base for each shape in order to give it that thick black outline seen in each of Dr. Seuss' pictures. I also added in thin black cutouts to different shapes to give the illusion of value and depth.

Each 4X4 square took a steady and careful hand to make sure that they were exactly as they should be with no rough or funny edges. The project in its entirety took a total of 23 hours for me to complete.

The finished product:

Allison Staud - 2014

Andrea Rosenberg

"Untitled"

2014

mixed media on paper

courtesy of Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas

Andrea Rosenberg’s “Untitled” immediately strikes me with its vibrant red background. As soon as you turn the corner, you first recognize the painting by its color, that is until you notice that the red has been layered on top of other pale blues, aqua greens, and pastel pinks. The mixtures of faded shades of grey paint positioned on top of that scarlet red give it the essence of billows of smoke rising up from below. On top of that grey, she placed three-dimensional, polygonal shapes through loose black contour lines.

Although the mixed media paper serves as the primary background for most of Rosenberg’s work, she seems to have added in a secondary background by using the layered red paint that almost entirely frames the diamond shaped silhouette of grey. 

Her open-ended, abstract style gives the piece an almost other-worldly feeling with its wispy brushes of grey and white and loose lines of black. Each section of the piece has an organization to it. The red follows the outline of the off-white paper, the grey sits directly on top of the red as if it were rising out of the image, and the black lines follow the general diamond shape of grey paint, giving the two-dimensional image a three-dimensional feeling.

As this specific work is different from the rest because of its vibrant background, it gives the viewer a sense of passion. The red plays out almost as a war cry as the grey smoke-like figure dances around as if it were the product of some sort of explosion, spitting out smooth texture and polygonal contour lines.

Brimming with curiosity at every adventure that peers around the corner, I ardently chase unexplored territories, searching for the wonders that have gone unnoticed.

My name is Allison. 

I have one dog, too many cows, an inventive older brother, a tender-hearted mother, an ingenious father, and a Turkish puzzle ring I go nowhere without. Although I am studying to attain a degree in film-making, I have an unceasing desire to dabble in and create art in all of its various forms and to explore the endless wonders of the universe.

I was created to create.

Ten years from now I hope that my journey will have inspired multitudes of people to pursue their innate cravings to explore the world around them and to discover the creator that resides in each of us.

Inspiration