the very last time log

So do you remember me telling you about that horse a couple entries back? Well, we definitely got into a fight... we fought for 51 hours this week... and then I won.

Yep, 51 hours. I know I didn't need any more hours to be up to date in this class, but I really wanted to stick to my contract and have 3 pieces to show on critique day. So I plugged away this week and am now matting my pieces the best that I can (considering how I don't have a mat cutter). I still need to mat four more panels and write my assessment, but I thought I had better post before Jo Carol drinks her 6 a.m. coffee and checks my blog. I will probably post my assessment later and also take pictures of my drawings to put on here.

Good morning, Jo Carol :)

time log 12: 18 hours

Still working!! I am finished with my first panel of the second piece and am starting the second panel. I have so much to do next week, but I am looking forward to finishing two pieces and having three total for the critique.

thinking

I haven't posted in a while except to post my hours, so I thought I would take a little time to write what has been on my mind lately. It is funny how I crawl into bed at night so exhausted from the responsibilities of school and yet I lay there and my mind wanders around and envisions paintings and images quite extraordinary, emotional, mystical, thought provoking, and expressive. I find that I have been painting in a more mature way this semester, painting from a rather emotional and expressive standpoint and yet asking myself logical and well thought out questions along the way, making conscious decisions rather than arbitrary ones, honing in on a talent that I have just begun to discover. It is something that causes me to question my major sometimes. I mean, all this preparation to be an art teacher, and yet, is this really what I am called to do? Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to inspire my students someday and give them a glimpse of the freedom and satisfaction found in making art. I truly feel that teaching is more than a job. Being a teacher is putting oneself in a position that directly affects the lives of those who are on the line between loving something and hating it. A teacher has the power to influence a student to fall or climb either way, and what a responsibility that entails! I want to be the kind of teacher who inspires students to love art and throw themselves in it. I want to stay passionate about what I do as an artist so that my passion will rub off during the times when nothing else will. Above all, I want to stay an artist. I want to continue painting in such a way that expresses what is important and meaingful to me. I want to grow. I want to challenge myself constantly. I want to teach, I do. It will probably be one of the biggest challenges of my life to teach high school, but I am up for it. I am willing to embrace it, embrace the mistakes, embrace the students who I inspire. I have been thinking so much about this lately, my mind has not had a minute to rest. I feel like David now.

time log 11: 3 hours

So I have been researching the Romantic period for my art history project this week . . . and I stumbled upon THE perfect something to tell you about.

It is Gericault's Mazeppa.

Tied naked to a horse, Mazeppa became a symbol and an interpretation of the sufferings of the artist, of the man of genius who endures so much for the sake of his art.

Sigh.

That has been me this week. I finished a painting. One painting. In addition to an art history test and project, one painting. Sometimes I won't let myself finish something just to finish it. I have to push everything else aside in order to do my best. Unfortunately, drawing got pushed aside this week. I am determined that it won't happen again next week.

Hanna will get into a fight with her horse and win. I promise.

time log 10: 4 hours

Not as much as I wanted to this week, but what I have so far has given me enough incentive to keep going. I think I am really going to like this juxtaposition much better than the images in my last piece. Our midterm was exceedingly helpful. I was pleased to get the feedback that I did from my first piece, especially the suggestions concerning contrast and composition. I think this next piece will be much better in terms of imagery and the limited amount of information that the viewer will be allowed to notice right off the bat.

But now onto my painting... this horrible, ugly monster who has kept me from drawing! Ugh :)