Cave Art and Why it's the Beginning

How many of you have seen cave art?  Good, most of you have.  You may not know where or exactly when, but you've seen it.  Do you appreciate it? Do you respect it as having high quality? Do you accept that there isn't a lot of realistic quality to the subjects? 

I introduce cave art as the first lesson in drawing one courses for numerous reasons.  Discussions range from early human records, minerals, animals, and the urge to create with the importance of historical records. 

• Do you like the art work you see on the cave wall?
• What do you think they used to make the different marks?
• How did they make the color? 
• How did they apply the color to the cave walls?
• Pigments, and minerals discussion: Science hallway
• Historic implications and timeline comparison: History Hallway (Math Hallway?)
• Line Quality, 
• Composition, artist intent, etc.

For years I began Drawing 1 classes with the cave paintings of Lascaux, France.  Now I've changed to the movie by Werner Herzog "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" 2010, the cave art of Chauvet, France.  Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the result of Herzog's exclusive access to the recently discovered Chauvet caves in the South of France, and their truly extraordinary cave paintings, dating back 32,000 years.

But, the Lascaux story must be told to students first (Finding Lascaux). I still begin the school year with the story of the discovery of one of the most famous caves of art and how some teenagers and a dog were the ones to do so.  

Finding Lascaux
Four Boys and a Dog


In September 1940, four boys and a dog set out on an adventure in Dordogne. The boys - Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas – where intrigued by an old legend about a tunnel running under the Vezere River linking the old Castel of Montignac to the Manor of Lascaux. According to the legend, this tunnel would lead to a second tunnel and a treasure hidden deep in the woods of Montignac.

Robot the dog with two of the four cave's discoverers




Finding Lascaux

FULL LASCAUX WEBSITE

This is the best cave art "MOVIE".

Cave of Forgotten Dreams. 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Mankind's Lost Masterpiece

The Art of the Chauvet Cave

I play the beginning of the movie on Netflix in class and don't provide much information prior. The documentary speaks for itself.  Even with Werner's weird accent.  The beginning of art.

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Twisted Sifter is a site that posts a lot of art and photography about random and amazing things.  There always seems to be something new and interesting to look at.  Don't worry, there are tons of links to follow to find out more about what is shown in pretty much every article.  Here are a few of the links that are really worth sharing.

First is a gallery of 40 different fore-edge paintings, something that I had never heard of.  I know the edged of pages in books were commonly gilded, but I was not aware that some books even have paintings hidden in there when the pages are fanned.  It's really amazing stuff.  A piece of art, hidden where almost no one will see it.  Check it out for yourself: Twisted Sifter Fore-Edge Painting Gallery.

Is that not awesome?

Next is a gallery of Alex Seton's marble carvings of common clothes items.  These sculptures use marble, a very hard but beautiful rock, to represent soft materials such as cotton, denim, and more.  Twisted Sifter Marble Clothes.

No, this is not the Invisible Man.

Finally, here is a link to gallery showing Yang Yongliang's matte paintings evoking ancient Chinese art.  Personally, I think they would have been a lot cool if they were ink drawn and not photo manipulations, but they are still impressive nonetheless. Twisted Sifter Modernized Chinese Art.

Just some impossible mountains

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As some of you may know I am now employed as a Graphic Designer for Eastern Michigan University for their advertisement, websites, and social media.  My job involves creating, designing, printing, cutting, delivering, laminating and matting amongst other things for Eastern Michigan Universities Residence Life, Dining Services, Website, Facebook, Twitter, as well as any events happening on the campus.  Its all a lot of work and new to me, but I am learning a lot at a very fast pace.

I have my own desk, my own dual-monitors, and the power to pick my own work schedule to accommodate my needs and more.  The perks seem endless and range from a free Meal Plan so I can eat every day (including summers and weekends!) and free prints every month in our awesome printing lab for my personal work, to the massive amount of work experience on a professional level in a professional setting that will empower my portfolio and resume.

Now I know all this sounds nice, but it didn't come to me easily.  I had to learn typography, graphic design and illustration aspects I didn't have any knowledge of before this summer, work my ass off all summer making a portfolio with Illustrator (which I had never used before), I had to go through an extensive interview unlike anything I had experienced, and I had to make some connections and network myself around campus to get my foot in the door.  I feel pretty lucky in all honestly to have this job, but I guess I made my own luck.

I just started working here but the assignments are already rolling in rapidly.  I will be sure to update a portfolio once I have a new body of work ready and continue to post progress with my job and new experiences as a graphic designer.  I honestly never really saw my self being a graphic designer, but if this is where the money is at it might need to be where I continue to focus my time.

As well as working professionally as an artist for a multimillion dollar corporation(I just like the sound of that and I cant get enough of it), I have been active on campus designing things for different student organizations that provide a heartbeat to the life and spirit of campus life.  I am the creator of the current official Inter-Fraternity Council logo on campus, and have designed a lot of shirts and flyers for other orgs. Its such a cool feeling walking around campus and seeing stuff and being like "oh I made that, and that, and that one too". Its insane. I love walking around seeing people I dont even know in shirts I designed.  I plan on continually being involved both socially and artistically in student affairs and will also keep documenting my progress on work I make on the side.  Drawing was my first passion, but graphic design has recently been extremely rewarding to me so I really need to continue to pursue this direction.

At my interview they asked me why I wanted this job, and I just told them I wanted to leave my mark here at EMU.  They told me afterwords that was all they really needed to hear after seeing my portfolio. So to any highschoolers questioning their likeliness to find employment as a young artist, just know that its possible if you bust your ass and go for it. read more

1st Day of Art Class Sch-peel and the Problems With Society

Last Thursday at the football game I saw a sophomore girl who I had seen on my class roster that I had checked.  I said "Hey I see you took drawing, I'll see you Tuesday (for the first day of class).  She replied, "Ah no, I switched out. I decided I can't draw".  Me, "What??? Is this something your parents had said? like they can't  draw,  so you probably can't". She said "yeah actually they did."

Then and there I went into my first day of class sch-peel (since 1997 it seems) with my survey questions:

Can you speak German?  If you take a German class for 20 weeks, will you learn some German?
Can you play guitar?  If you took guitar lessons for 20 weeks, would you learn to play some guitar?

Math, Science, History, do students walk in with a PRECONCEIVED ability for the class?  "Oh I don't know anything about history; I'm going to do terrible." Of course not.

ART IS NOT GENETIC! 

Seriously parents, you are such a detriment to us art teachers!  Parents, just because you may not have done well in a certain subject, or skill, don't tell your child,

 "I was awful at art; it's OK that you are probably too." 

Anyone can learn the skills of art, like any other course.  From these technical skills if someone enjoys them, works at them and masters them, they may want to continue on.  Those students who enjoy it, and continue on, learn to see things differently and creatively. It doesn't just happen or is given to them.  

My 1st Day Sch-peel

First:  My Name, written the same on the board, every time, year after year,  Mr. Rheault (Row), telling them to always make people pronounce your name correctly. You'd be shocked at how many students just say "that's fine" on mispronouncing their names.  No it is not.  Yes some are difficult and thus a nickname is formed (that will be stuck with them through life probably).

Dry Erase Board

Second: Attendance, always precious attendance. "1st Day Present" selected from the pull down menu on every student. The roll call even brings students personalities to light.  I ask them to say "Here" in a resounding voice I can hear to match the face with the name.  Just that act can establish a certain personality, the student with the attention seeking answer or the shy don't acknowledge me answer.  You can imagine all the responses I've heard.

Third: Class Survey, "Raise your hand above your head". The all important grade survey. Seniors can't wait to hear it on the first day "How many Seniors?" Oh how they smile and you can see how proud they are. It's probably the first time in front of other underclassmen they have been called out to be acknowledged.  This is a deserved life moment all students have earned - except for the kid who's not sure because they didn't have enough credits as a junior. Juniors, sophomores, and then I say "The all important number I'm looking for, freshmen". That's another story in its self.  I go on to ask each student "How many have had an art class in this school before?" "What were those classes?" asking each student. And for those that haven't, "What assignment do they remember from middle school?" This includes freshmen. Trying to jar loose some prior knowledge.

Then it gets good.  Standing by the classroom door, "How many of you either in halls talking to friends or just prior to walking in the door said out loud or to yourselves, I can't do this, I'm terrible at art"? Along with, "I can't even draw a stick figure"?

Today one class of Drawing 1 students had six students raise their hands without hesitation that they just did this. 

And there it is!  How has this happened?  I then make the point that if we all visited an elementary school 2nd or 3rd grade class, none of those kids would say they are terrible at art. Hell no, they would be jumping at the chance to be in an art class that very moment.  So what happened?  Our society, and obviously teenage peer pressure pushes young adults from taking risks and expressing themselves personally.  They don't want to be judged by others; they don't want to be criticized or compared.  The comparison in art to masterpieces or high level works cannot be attained by a beginner.  Students think that if they don't do perfect art, they can't do ANY art.  Why is it not the same as a beginning foreign language class, a history class, science class etc?  We offer art classes to learn, not to showcase talent.  (I showcase the hell out of talented by the way.)

Sch-peel Continued

Your homework, I say, "Tonight over spaghetti dinner, which many of you will have tonight, when your parents ask about your first day of school, and they will by the way.  Oh and what an opportunity this is for you.  Look them in the eye, talk about each class you have, take advantage of this opportunity!  They will tear up, actually tear up!  'My child is talking to me' they'll say to themselves, maybe a raise in the allowance even.   

Tell me if your parents interrupt you, mid forkful, and say "I can't even draw a stick figure." 

This is how I draw/teach stick figures by the way.

FYI I can no longer teach my unit on Figure Drawing/Stick Figures.  So many class days have been cut out with assemblies, tests, and whatnot, I removed this unit.

Another Tangent

I usually also discuss another aspect of the quote:

When I am introducing myself to other adults, with an extended hand to shake even, on contact, the other states with a big smile "I CAN'T EVEN DRAW A STICK FIGURE".  This happens all the time to those of us in certain positions, English teachers get "I can't write/read" or "I hate reading/writing" or "Are you going to correct the way I talk?"  Good times.  

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So here is my latest finished piece.  Created using Photoshop CS5.5

Tyrant Lizard King

24"x18"

Head detail

Check out the rest of my work on my blog.  Just click here! read more

     My first year at EMU studying art I wanted to just work outside of my comfort zone.  My goal was to try new things with art, ignore artistic insecurities, and realize that if a piece is making me uncomfortable or stressed, its probably a good idea to keep working on it.  This goal became really important during my last assignment of my drawing 2 foundations course, the final exam.  Our final was a non-representational piece; it needed no form or subject, just experimentation documented artistically. It was simply, "Make a mark, and push it to the limit".
      Now there were many ways my classmates went about doing this, from eating berries and spitting them on a canvas for 3 weeks,  to sitting in the building's restroom covering their nipples with paint and stamping them hundreds of times, to covering an empty studio upstairs with paper and dipping a yoyo in paint just to play with it for a few hours.
     I felt all those things were a bit too overcomplicated for my tastes, I wanted to make something complex with something simple, or at least that is what I got out of the point of the assignment.  I also wanted to stay true to my goal of working out of my comfort zone, and I wanted to do something giant.  With those goals in mind Lateralization just kind of came to be.  After a week thumbnailing, planning, measuring, testing patterns, testing compositions, testing sizes, testing the muscular endurance of my non-dominant right hand, my final plan finally came together.  I wanted to take a risk, and I figured what is more risky than doing your final exam in your college drawing class with the hand you have no idea how to write with.
    Before starting this experimental project, I made myself some rules. First, I would not be allowed to fix any mistake in the pattern, start over, go back or change things. Second, once I started a panel, I had to stick to only that panel until it was done. Third, I had to use the same cheap, $0.20 ball point pens (which I ended up using over 20 in the end). Fourth, I had to make it giant -- no giving up halfway and cropping it down.  If I was going to do this it would only work if I did it big. Fifth, no cheating.  I set these rules up and followed them so the art project would be a true experiment and a proper representation of what I wanted to show.
     In the end I got my A, although I was pretty nervous going into the critique. After all, drawing lines over and over isnt nearly as radical as nipple-stamping,  but the one thing I knew i had on my classmates was difficulty of process (who honestly wants to use their bad writing hand that much?) and time put into it, I put in three times the work hours anyone else did. I think my final product was immense enough to draw attention from afar, intricate and detailed enough to draw people close, and experimental and scientific enough to make it stand out for this assignment.  I have never learned more about risk taking, experimentation, pushing yourself through frustrating work, and concept in any other assignment, and I left that class feeling much more equipped.  Over 20 shitty ball point pens, over 120 hours of monotonous and carpel-tunnel inducing work (that I brought upon myself), and about  a million questions of "what are you doing and why are you drawing that many lines over and over" from all my non artistic friends all came together to teach me a lot and make me really happy to be studying art.

Oh yea and I got asked to place it in a gallery in Ann Arbor. My first ever piece to be held to such an honor.  Here's their website link.

7.5 Feet Tall!

artist statement:

My work is 1980 sq. inches of pattern created using both of my hands and ballpoint pens that documents the way each side of my brain works as well as investigates the relationships between pattern, texture, and negative space.

I wanted to push a simple medium and process to the limit to find complex results while simultaneously forcing myself to work outside of my comfort zone.

Using ballpoint pens and simple patterns like the alphabet or vertical lines repeated over large scales I completed my first goal, and by forcing myself to complete the right-half the piece with my non-dominant right hand I vanquished any confidence and control I had in the outcome.

Through hours of monotonous repeated patterns, experimentation with relationships of negative space, and attempting to mirror my right-brain’s work with my left-brain I made some surprising discoveries; Work with my non-dominant right hand would be more horizontally linear due to increased concentration, tension, and slower work methods, and work with my left would be more skewed horizontally due to the absence of concentration required when using your dominant hand.

An obsessive and rhythmic relationship with the patterns creates a visual diagram explaining the way each side of my brain handles measured and excessive tasks. read more

So I've always had a soft spot for photo realistic artworks.  It amazes me how well some people can interpret the colors and shapes that make up everything that we see then reproduce them in such a skillful manner.  Having said that, this post is two fold.

First off, I want to post a link to one ridiculously talented young man and his work.  Check out the rest of the site while you are there: it's chock full of great photography and interesting tidbits.

Joongwon (Charles) Jeong's Paintings

A self portrait.

Iron Man... Er... Robert Downey Jr.

There are some great crops and progress shots as well.

Secondly, I want to see what other people think about photo realistic paintings and the like.  I ask because I had a run in with one of my college teachers and his opinion during my final semester and quite frankly it shocked and appalled me.

We had been given time in class to look up style references and inspiration for an assignment so I was having a conversation with a friend about artists and styles we liked.  I had just found Jeong's work that day and was talking about how impressive I find that kind of rendering.  Apparently my teacher had overheard us and butted in, saying how he felt that photo realism is nothing to be impressed by.  Anyone could learn to be a photo realist and, according to him, it takes very little artistic skill and/or talent.  Suffice to say, we got into a bit of a heated debate, the two of us, and my teacher eventually backed down when he realized that I know a bit of the history of hyper realism/photo realism and am able to back my claims and opinions up.

Honestly, I am disturbed that a teacher at an art college would so proudly tout such a claim.  Furthermore, his claim that anyone can do it applies to almost ANY art style.  With enough time and practice, any artist can replicate any other artist's work.  There are no exceptions.  However, with this replication, you don't gain understanding.  Any artistic endeavor involves an understanding of your medium, your subject, and your message.  It takes a lot of work and a lot of know-how.

In order to paint a portrait like Jeong's up there, an individual needs to understand what makes that face.  From the colors visible in the skin to just where to render out pores and where to only hint at them.  If every detail was painted out as it exists, the painting would not look real.  It would look quite grotesque.  Now, that could be another very interesting take on the painting, but it would not be photo realistic.  So photo realism involves not only the understanding of what is there, but the understanding of what to leave out.  Beyond that, it involves extreme and precise control of color, value, shade, and texture.  Focus and a balance of hard and soft edges are paramount.

There is so much that goes in to a painting like this that I am hard-pressed to find a way to not think of it as art, and impressive art at that.  It might not be some people's 'thing'.  I can understand and support that.  However, in my opinion, making the brazen claim that this is not art and is just pure mechanics is down-right ridiculous. read more

Alright, so I have neglected to be very active on The JAR lately and I feel bad about it... So, since I have something new that I am working on and can show, I decided to reveal some of my imperfect, ever-changing process.  Please, bear with me on this.

In reality, everything starts on paper with random, unfocused sketches and doodles.  None of which are pictured here.  I have a few pages of heads and faces that I was playing with before becoming interested in one that had an old, worn, and rather royal feel to it.  So I drew it some more in different angles and positions until finally deciding on a simple profile.  I wanted to keep it simple since I intended to try out some new brushes in my work.

Once I had a rough idea, I jumped into Photoshop and continued where I left off on paper.  I redrew the head again using my pencil drawing as a reference.  Only this time I planned out a body for it as well.  I had trouble deciding on a pose and what style armor he should have.  At one point I played around with a sci-fi theme but I quickly dropped it.  Eventually decided on something more basic like what a barbarian might wear.

Two of the better body sketches.

Once I made a decision, I then worked on refining the pose.  His balance was off and the legs seemed somewhat stiff and unnatural.  Adding more/darker lines to what I liked and whiting out areas that I didn't want worked well for me here.  I also noted what I need to take reference for, namely his hands and ears among other things.

Refining the sketch.

Next it's time to work out a color pallet.  From the beginning I wanted something cool and blue so that's where I started.  I tried out several shades and hues before settling on a muted teal as a base.

Picking out a base tone.

From there it was a matter of deciding on a skin-tone and other color shapes.  I liked the idea of red skin in an icy environment.  This stage is very rough and messy.  Staying inside the lines is not a priority: I just want to work out what colors work well and where.  Once I have a basic understanding of what I want I then start laying in blocks of value.  I decided that a gradient going from light to dark helped focus the eye on the sword and his head as well.

Playing around with shapes and colors.

In order to help me pay attention to value groupings, I place a black/white filter over top the image and periodically turn it on to get an idea of what the image would look like as a greyscale.  I also add a dot of black and white and move it around for comparison.  Proper value depth is a problem of mine that I still struggle with so I tend to check this often.  I also regularly flip the painting horizontally.  This is to aid in spotting defects in the painting such as poor figure balance, lopsided anatomy, or a lopsided composition in general.

Value comparison.

Finally, this is where the painting stands as of this post.  I recently edited a brush to give me two-tone and really speckly strokes to help add some texture since most of my paintings turn out looking really smooth like clay.  It's not a perfect integration yet, but I rather like it and think it's something that I am going to stick with.  Now it is time to take a break from working on his head and move to other areas to help prevent the risk of over-working his face.  I still need to add the darkest-darks and lightest-lights to the painting.  Those will come later.

Where I am as of this posting.

Head detail showing texture brush.

Alright, so here is the 'finish'.  It is pretty likely that I will go into this again some time in the future, but for now I am moving on!  Check out this and other works of mine on my blog: Zachary Wojnar Illustration.

Final result.

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Some of you know who I am but those who don’t my name is Sara Mardeusz and I am a 6^th year student at Michigan State University.  I am going for my Bachelor of Fine Arts and next spring is when I graduate… finally…  Throughout my time at MSU it has been a hit or a miss with classes.  Originally I went to school for zoology with a concentration in zoo and aquarium science because I love animals (who doesn’t?). After 4 years of passing and failing classes it was about time for a change.  So in short I changed my major to Studio Art.  I have been happy ever since and made some money out of it.

            When I took my first art class last summer I knew I made the right decision because at the end of the semester I 4.0 all of my classes.   When I talk to people , people think that art is EASY… I hate to break it to them but it’s not easy at all.  Just like any other college course you have to put a significant amount of effort into your work because your grade will reflect.  With that being said people tell me that I look much happier doing what I am doing, which is true! A person should be happy doing what makes them the most happiest because your overall outlook on life is going to be vastly different. 

            Now here is the big question that I get asked a lot: “What are you going to do with your degree?” and my response is this “I really do not know”. Which is a sad response to hear but its an honest response.  I have been looking at trying to find jobs that I qualify for but with having no luck I have not found anything so the hunt is still on!  Sometimes it’s discouraging and it sucks but I had some luck recently though while taking my comics and visual narratives course.   At the end of the course our final project was taking all of the comics we made during the semester and compile it all into a comic book which is to be sold on such and such date.   When that date came it was one of the best days because I sold out on my comics and made some money! This is a really great feeling! Also one of the MSU Alumni directors also came that day and he was trying to recruit a few people to help him with a comic related event.  He did not go into detail that much with the event because he is still trying to plan it out.  Just hearing this was making my day even more because it is a potential job opportunity.  I emailed him the next day saying that I am interested in what he is doing and he emailed me back saying he will keep me inform of any and all plans.  I am so excited!


 I hope this upcoming and last year will go well! I want to go out with a bang!

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Recently I read a rather popular book that I'm sure you've all heard about, at least in passing, anyway. It's called "Warm Bodies" and it's written by Issac Marion. There was a movie made based on the book and it was recently released on DVD/Blueray, etc. Actually, I was able to watch it today and while it was a little different from the book (they can't all be spot on) it was just as awesome.

I believe art can be found in anything, not just in traditional forms such as painting and drawing, but in stories, movies, nature, even human beings. Art can be found anywhere. This time I found art in a rather unlikely place; a book about zombies, apparently. It should be noted that I don't like zombie things. I don't like gore, I hate it when people are hurt, I hate it when innocent people and animals are subjected to awful things, even if it's not real because somewhere in the world, something awful is actually happening to someone or something. There is more than enough real horror in the world. Zombie related things have no appeal to me. But, this was different. This book, it's so much more than that. It's not about the simple gore one might expect from something zombie related. Some things are inevitable when death and zombies are involved but there was so much more, something much more important in this piece of art. I don't know what other people got out of it, but I took a lot away from this novel.

Zombies are everywhere. Not the traditional zombies that feast upon brains and human flesh but zombies none the less. Some people shuffle through their daily life, waking up to drag themselves to a job they hate, barely grunting passing conversations with co-workers they barely like, dragging themselves home to spouses they don't particularly love and maybe even children they're not particularly sure they wanted. They watch their TV's and stare at glowing technology screens, ignoring each other for the most part until they can drown themselves in sleep later that night only to start it all again the next morning. Everyday in the world, there are people like this. The zombies have already arrived, they simply aren't the kind we expected, the kind that were depicted in the popular 80's horror flicks that sometimes were more funny than scary. I'm looking at you, "The Return of the Living Dead." But they're there, they're here and they're just as horrifying. Warm Bodies shows us what it's like to be human; there are some of us that are too far gone, skeletons, their own self gone, completely cynical in the world to the point where they see no good in anything, anyone, and anyone who thinks differently will be berated and beat down in hopes that they'll "see the truth" and join the ranks of hallow adults who don't remember what it was to sit down and lose themselves in a crayon on a piece of paper, who look at these things as childish, beneath them, irrelevant, a waste of time.

Art is never a waste of time. Never.

Then there is the living. Bright and vibrant, kind and just, loving and understanding. The truly living can be hard to come by. Sometimes I think there are barely any of them left and other times people surprise me, giving me a little bit of hope for the future of the human race.

Then there are the zombies like R, the main character in Warm Bodies. These people, they remember, even just a little, what it was like before. But they're shadows of their former selves now, staggering through life, trying to connect with other people, trying to do something, to find out, what's wrong? Why did this happen? How do we go back to how it was? Before the weight of the world began to come down on our shoulders? We look at the living, we look at those who are too far gone; we're caught between. We want so badly to join those blossoming with life but is it inevitable that we turn into the others? The ones with no flesh of a personality left? Do we give up and join them? Or do we keep fighting to join those who are alive? Is it worth the fight? It's hard to say, because damn it, it's a hard ass fight. There are ups and downs and sometimes we can feel lost, as if we're spiraling towards that awful, subhuman race of people that rejects simple happiness. Then something happens. It could be incredibly large or the tiniest thing in the world, but something happens and we're brought back, close to the warmth, like a kind, comforting hug during a desperate time, a warm hand in the darkness pulling us out of the deep, dark well and back into the warm, safe light.

What keeps us alive? What keeps us from turning down that dark road or falling into that deep, dark well and staying there at the bottom? At the bottom of that well, so far from the surface we can't even see the sun anymore. It's a fight to come back from that, sometimes it's a fight to stay out of the well, or even just to stay away. But, even sitting on the edge of the well is better than lying at the bottom. The world can be a harsh place, horrible things can happen. Turn on the news, look around and see how people treat others, there are examples of hatred and just plain meanness in many places. But keep your eyes open, don't put the filter of "everything's bad" over your eyes. Keep looking, keep watching and you'll see something beautiful. It may be something huge, a person saving a life, something seemingly small like kind words or actions toward a random stranger, or even just the beauty of a lone flower in your yard that you didn't plant and have no idea how it got there. There is passion in life and passion is the striving force behind one thing in particular; art.

Without passion there wouldn't be the Arch de Triumph, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's David, Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Picasso's "The Dream," Edvard Munch's "The Scream," Saint Saen's Danse Macabre, Francesca Lia Block's "The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold," Marina Abramovic's Rhythm 0 or even video games from the Professor Layton series (have you seen those hand drawn backgrounds?), to the 8-bit emotional and visual freakout that is Yume Nikki and the subsequent fangames inspired by it; even in their simplicity there is no mistaking the artistic passion that goes into some of those 8-bit games. Even cartoons are full of outstanding art, from The Misadventures of Flapjack with it's hand created, watercolor backgrounds to the colorful, whimsical world of Adventure Time complete with stories that squeeze at your heart as tears squeeze from your eyes (I Remember You, Simon and Marcy, I know those of you who have watched those two episodes know what I'm taking about). Every form of art has the passion of all the people behind the piece. Without passion, we begin to turn. Slowly we become those shuffling people, trying to make their way through life, trying to remember what it was like before, when things were different, when there were less things missing inside us.

Now I'm not saying we stay in the positive, living area constantly. We're human, our emotions fluctuate at the drop of a hat. Some days we'll wake up, get out of bed, look in the mirror and be Stewart Smalley.

Other days, we'll wake up and be like this.

We are human. Our emotions are broad on the spectrum, but feeling is good. Feeling means we're alive and we need to be alive. Being alive comes with happiness, anger, disappointment, joy, fear, terror, anxiety, depression, grief, amusement, wonder, every emotion one could think of and then some. Even if things hurt so much we're unsure how to go on, how to keep moving, as long as we're breathing and taking the tiniest steps each day then we're still moving in the right direction. Art imitates life, art will encompass all the passion of every emotion inside us. Emotions are passion, passion creates art, living creates emotion, emotions create passion.


Keep creating. Stay passionate. Stay alive. Never give up.


~Olivia B. read more

Doing a give-a-way for a free portrait session! Hoping to bring more fans/views to my photo page!

 Head over to www.facebook.com/AMARIEHPHOTO!

Like my page & share my contest image!

Thanks friends.

xox

 

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These next two weeks of June, I'll be teaming up with a non-profit called Soldiers' Angels to provide much needed sun care to the troops overseas.  My goal is to send 50 care packages to Soldiers' Angels by June 30th and I am asking for YOUR HELP to sponsor these 50 sun care kits!!

For just $20 one soldier will receive a powerful Mary Kay SPF 50 sunscreen and a SPF 15 lip protector; with temperatures well over 100 degrees these items are essential!  Since I keep ZERO profit from the sale of these items, I will be matching each kit with a package of facial cleansing cloths.  These kits are 100% tax deductible and each payment received will be provided a Tax ID # in return. I can't even imagine the conditions overseas and the amount of sun protection needed on a daily basis, together WE can provide our US troops with these essential items, they DESERVE it!

To sponsor your kit today or receive more info on this AWESOME cause, please contact me at:

 

Sara L. Troia

Mary Kay Cosmetics

248.787.2687

saratroia@marykay.com

 

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SARATROIAMARYKAY

WWW.MARYKAY.COM/SARATROIA

 

 

 

 

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