Post 25: Explosion of the extinct once again.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I see a phoenix, part of a Xerces butterfly and a winged horse. Can you see what I see, too? I feel illusionistic, spacey and maybe even weirded out. Now, I wonder what that's about.

Post 24: Everything's bigger in good ol' TEXAS.

I would like to visit the state of Texas for three reasons: the big amounts of food, the interesting cultures and hot weather. One thing Texas is known for is their love of barbequed foods and big portions of it. In fact, they sometimes even supersize doughnuts (as shown on Man v. Food), and pizzas. Also, Texas' rodeos and events are all worth going to see at least once in a lifetime because they are full of fun and excitement. Lastly, since it is located in the southern area of the USA, it is much hotter than Chicago during this time of year. I would love to get out of this bone-chilling cold and relax with a plate of barbequed goodies in the sun.

Post 23: No one said ALL landscapes were pretty.

Disclaimer: The image of a shack in the foreground of a beach landscape greatly pertains to a story I'm currently writing for survey lit. So I decided to write a mini-story based on it! :)

Cedar hesitated a bit as he answered Kavana's droning question, "when can we hang at your place?". He looked into her glistening brown eyes and sighed, unsure of how to break the news to her that he lives in an abandoned shack. He's already told her too much. Too much about his brother, his drug-selling lifestyle and why he chooses to be reclusive. However, it still hasn't led to a common conclusion of a few insulting words from her. This surprised  Cedar, as he expected her to call him a dork, weirdo, loser, or his favorite--freak.

Now he's done it. He's said it. A little place on the shore, he says. Her eyes grow wide in surprise and curiosity. Kavana doesn't realize how nervous and regretful her new friend is, about how embarrassing his home looks compared to her normal house on a block of 8 other houses. Nevertheless, she insists that he show her his home, which is nothing she would have expected.

After traveling on foot for half an hour from the high school, Cedar and Kavana reach the shack. He points to it ever so reluctantly. Instead of screaming at him for what a bum he is, she gasps in surprise and runs up the stairs to inspect the interior. Instead of gagging at how dark and dreary it is, she jumps in excitement and begs Cedar to let her decorate it for him and his brother. She says she's always wanted to be an interior designer. This would be her first big project. What do you usually do here, how do you like waking up to the beautiful sunrises each morning, she asks as she continues to walk up and down the shore line with Cedar, now holding his pale, rough hand. A fifteen year old boy shouldn't have such rough hands, she adds.

"It's alright living up here, I guess. No heat or running water except for the restrooms and showers further down the shore. I've only been up here for 3 months, so I can't say how well this place would hold up in winter. Winters in Connecticut are the worst, so we'll see. Anyway...I do what any normal dude does here. Eat, sleep, play with my bro every now and then, swim and stuff. Are you serious you don't mind this place? You have to promise me you won't tell anyone, either." Cedar said softly, which made Kavana almost strain to hear him. She agreed to keep it a promise and told him her plans for it in the future.

Post 22: Kazuo Ohno

Kazuo Ohno was a Japanese performance artist who lived to be 103 years old. He used to dance the Butoh style dance, which consisted of emotional and experience-influenced dances. He was drafted into the China and New Guinea war and was captured as a POW for some time. After he returned to his hometown, he continued to pursue his love of dance and did many performances in Japan. In 2001, Ohno lost his ability to walk, but continued to make performances by doing slow, intricate movements with his hands and arms. He died of respiratory failure in June 2010. I chose to research him because he seemed to be very interesting, due to the fact that he was in the army for a long period of time, and used his experiences to create famous performance pieces.

Post 21: Inkblot

In this inkblot, l see a woman with a white shirt on, laying back into the darkness as her feet/boots go into the foreground of the image. In the foreground, I see black pants and black boots with 3 thick ridges in them on the soles. Towards the middle, I see the woman's torso, and she seems to have no arms. Further back, I see the shape of her face and the shadow underneath her chin. The black spots around her torso looks to be the darkness she's leaning into.

Post 20: DaDa picture

The picture above represents Dadaism because it is technically non-art, because it is not visually appealing. I chose this artwork because it stood out from all the others I glanced over online. The artwork is of a man's face being constructed out of random objects like a question mark, a different pair of eyes, a pasted-on mouth and a barber's razor at his throat. The artwork represents Dadaism because its dark, ominous and has an odd meaning behind it.

Post 19: Portraiture Experience

During the beginning of the portraiture project, I found it somewhat hard to find 12 people who inspired me because it was such a vague assignment. I eventually found these people and took some time to evaluate what they inspired me to do. On the other hand, the drawing step of the project was pretty easy. I expected it to be the second hardest part to do, right behind painting. After the pictures were completed, I learned how hard it was to create shades of brown. However, the painting step was the most difficult one, in my opinion. In the end, I learned a lot of new things and I'll be taking what I've learned here into future projects.