Charles M. Reid

on wednesday vaughn took us on a little field trip downstairs to hear an artist talk about his artwork.  the artist was Charles M. Reid, an alumni of texas a&m commerce.  he said most of his work was influenced by biology and the human anatomy, but he was also very intrigued with words in artwork. i really liked the majority of his work because it was so colorful and "playful," as he put it.  he used words in his art, but in a very different way than i had ever seen before.  he would actually obscure the text, so that the outer outline was all that could be seen.  this idea made his work very mysterious, which is great right? yess or well it is to me. i like the fact that everyone could come up with a different idea about what the actual words were and i found myself desperately trying to decipher the words.

i really liked that towards the end of the discussion, he began to talk about selling your art. he said that if you couldn't sell your art, no one could.  he also spoke on the fact that if you truly believe art betters people, then why wouldn't you be active in getting it out there for people to see. 

overall,  i really liked his work and what he had to say.

get your folk on

a good buddy of mine showed me this video yesterday, and i was blown away. the band is Split Lip Rayfield (odd, i know) and the song they are performing is entitled "sunshine," and well it sure puts a smile on my face :) i especially like the gas tank stand-up bass and i am especially interested in how these fellows are able to play so fast and sing at the same time without losing track!!! i believe these four gentlemen are very talented and i look forward to discovering more about them.

self portraits

this is me in my eyes. hope these photos tickle your fancy :)

                                                

just a few things that say a little about me

me, native american (moccasins)  photo junkie (great grandmother's duaflex camera), who loves owls (owl pillow), has an obsession with wanting to fly (bird), needs motivation and self confidence (see you at the top by zig zigglar), and wants to live peacefully like Christ (peace pillow).

 if i had to pick a favorite (above)

 soaking up the rays that i love

 you can find me on the rooftop

me and my baby girl, howlton, and had to take a feet photo (those are my fav)

how symmetrical am i ?

                           shaved down the middle look.     normal.            super 70s.    

just a little photoshop filter fun

motown comes to the white house for black history month

it's black history month, and president obama has invited special guests to perform some motown hits to celebrate.  not only will they be celebrating black history month, they will also be honoring motown's fifty year legacy.  

the artist i am looking forward to hearing the most is smokey robinson and i am also pretty excited to see what sheryl crow and jamie foxx have to offer.  there are several other well-known artists and performers paying tribute to motown, a few i am not so pumped to hear, buuut i am trying to keep an open mind and hope they prove me wrong. all together, i am pretty stoked to watch this concert.  i hope you will be able to watch it as well.

the event will take place on february twenty-fourth and pbs will broadcast the show nationwide on march first.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/16/white-house-to-host-concert-in-honor-of-motown-black-history-month/

art school charged with violating facebook's terms of use

(this is a random image, not the one under scrutiny) 

i read an article tonight about an art university that got a red flag from facebook for uploading nude drawings. this is my summary of the article. i have provided the link to the actual article below if you want to read up on the subject for yourself.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/art-school-runs-afoul-of-facebooks-nudity-police/?ref=technology

the New York Academy of Art is a graduate university that got a little "spat on the hand" from facebook  because an "inappropriate" photo was uploaded.  in reality this photo was not of a vulgar nature, it was actually a drawing of a woman's upper body. because of this incident, the university was unable to upload any photos for a week. facebook is important to the students and faculty of the school because it is one of the main ways for artists to share their works with others.  upset by the whole situation, the university made it the topic of one of their blogs. long story short, facebook said it was a mistake and that the thousands of images a day the reviewers see can sometimes cause them to make mistakes.  the university seems to think that facebook is attacking artists, but others believe it to be uncommon.  Simon Axten, a representative for facebook, said "if we're censoring, we're doing a terrible job at it. we don't censor art and have no intention to."  

this makes me sad

today i went out to fetch the mail as usual, and sadness came to my face when i saw the latest issue of Rolling Stone my roomie/bff received.  why did this sadness overcome me? beacause JUSTIN BIEBER was on the cover!!!! what the heck Rolling Stone?? now, i will admit this is not the first time Rolling Stone has let me down like this, nor will it be the last, but geeez...Bieber?? and the title, "Justin Bieber: Super Boy?" i just can not see how some little boy that's a total sell out deserves the title super boy.  

i really hate to be so negative and harsh, but i just wish we could search for some real talent to tell the world about, instead of just glorifying what is already shoved in our faces a million times a day.

i spoke my piece

feel free to speak yours :)

alphabet assignment

the idea of this assignment was to photograph three different sets of the alphabet. one set would be normal, another squared, and the third would be mixed with black/white and color, and at least one of the three had to come from one place.

this was a quite difficult task, but it was fun to explore my surroundings :) i believe i had the hardest time finding the letter "m."

                                                              this is the alphabet squared

alphabet taken from at one place. my house.

black and white alphabet with a touch of color 

the wild wardrobe of elton john

i was browsing the rolling stone website today and came across a collection of photos documenting all the wild outfits worn by sir elton john throughout his career.  there were definitely some interesting ones! i love how creative and far out he took his clothes. he was so flashy and glamourous :) oddly, this type of creativity is not always appreciated by me, for instance, this lady gaga character is very similar to elton, in the ways of fashion that is.  has anyone else made this comparison? i honestly can not believe it has taken me this long to see the similarities.  anyway, i really love elton john's music and his magnificent costumes as well. i just like how he is not afraid to push the limits or think outside the box, not only in fashion but musically as well.

you can view the photos via the link below
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/photos-elton-johns-outfits-through-the-years-20110202/1986-0111938

portrait assignment

this assignment required me to take portraits of two class mates and another person of my choice.  i had the pleasure of photographing mister garrett simon, mister cortney battle, and miss danci jordan smith. below are just a few of my fav shots that i edited using a sweet photo software called lightroom. hope you dig em :)

danci jordan

these were my very favorites

cortney battle

garrett simon

texture assignment

here are some textures photos

  parking lot

wooden guitar

 mushroom decoration

 my cat's fur

 a friend's jacket and a dirty rug

 beeeeeads

 storage box made from keyboards

 bathroom rug

 bird decoration 

itchy lace jacket

photographer Robert Mapplethorpe estate divided between two L.A. museums

I just read this article today about Robert Mapplethorpe's estate being divided between the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Getty Museum. His works are worth over $30 million dollars and includes his polaroids, editioned prints, negatives and films, contact sheets, drawings, assemblages, and collages. Most of the estate was given to the museums by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and the rest was bought with funds from the David Geffen Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Mapplethorpe is one of my favorite photographers from the 1970s.  He is known for his portrait, nude, and flower photos. I especially favor his portraits, like the one above of Holly Solomon in 1976.  You should explore his work and maybe it will inspire you too :)
http://www.mapplethorpe.org/
to read the article click on the link below
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/news/2011-02-08/getty-mapplethorpe-estate/