A Site for Keeping Up with the Hartigans
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Sunday, September 23, 2007 ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! I KNOW! I SAID WE WERE DONE. I GUESS I WAS WRONG Guess what's gonna visit my house again this week?That's right! THAT DAMN CEMENT TRUCK! O.K. I'm not going to complain because I'm so stoked to see this project in it's completed stage.     
posted by me |
7:19 PM |
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YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN - ALTHOUGH, I'M STARTING TO WONDER SOME The rants and babbling of a 40 something year old returning to college.CHARCOAL, NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, OR ANYONE PMSing. I've decided I do not like working with charcoal. I have been assured by students who have taken drawing 101, that I will eventually come to love the messy, uncontrollable, effing little black sticks from hell. That "eventually, my mind and hand will become one with the {pain in the ass medium} charcoal and love working with it." So take a good look because these will be the positivly last pieces I do in charcoal. AND, I'm pretty sure that when I'm a famous gallary owner that these pieces will fetch a fine penny as they will be my only works done in charcoal. So they will be considered rare.     Fine! They will be the last pieces I will do unless my grade will be affected by it. I swear I'm getting worse as the semester progresses. Charcoal sucks. I'm going back to starting things on fire. posted by me | 7:06 PM | 3 comments Saturday, September 15, 2007 YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN - PART II The rants and babbling of a 40 something year old returning to college.Just completed week 2 at the U. It honestly feels like I’ve been in school for months and I cannot believe how much of my time it consumes. With my annual “girls weekend with mom and sissy", dance class and the Big Party coming up (124 guest at present time), I’m really freaked out. But I’m not complaining, I’m having a really good time. My drawing class this week left me feeling frustrated and uneasy. It went something like this: Lynn gave us each an item. He said we had 5 minutes to sketch the item and then shouted, “GO!” Pacing nervously around the room, he’d mumble at us ”see the 'essence' of the item. Concentrate on defining it quickly.” I got so frustrated trying to divide my concentration between what he was saying and what I was supposed to be doing, I finally decided something had to give and just ignored him. The more he paced and spoke the more wigged out I got and the harder it was for me to do anything. “Use another media!”, “Excellent!”, “You’re being to literal!” he continued to shout. And then suddenly he’d boom “STOP, TIMES UP! TURN THE PAGE! PASS YOUR ITEM TO THE RIGHT! YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES! GO!” Gads, I practically pee’d myself. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew he had a point to make. Done with sketching boot camp, he had us put them up on the wall, he proceeded to critique, explain, expound and crucify. His thoughts spent, he set the assignment. "I want you to take your sketches home and make a collage of all of your drawings." That was it. That was the assignment. To take this mess:  And turn it into a collage. So I began to think about the day and what he was saying. Suddenly it all hit me. We were supposed to ignore him and concentrate on sketching. Everything he was saying was subliminal, on purpose. By the time I got home and reviewed my sketches I could barely remember what the items were, let alone recognize them. So I showed them to the family, who surprisingly could tell me what each item was. I taped them all to the wall and set to work. After a productive evening, I managed to ruin my first drawing by spilling India ink all over it. But by Saturday afternoon (and skipping dance class) I managed to get it done. I took the "essence" of each of the items and made a collage. And here it is:  I hovered over that drawing for the better part of a day. Finished and satisfied with my attempt I took a deep breath and looked up to find the entire room covered in all my art supplies. All I could do was laugh. Apparently I’m a messy artist. Who knew?  Surprisingly all this stuff fit right back into my Kitty Box. ***snort*** “Kitty Box”. Here’s John’s interpretation of my sketches.  Pretty damn clever, no? Especially seeing as he never saw any of the actual items and is just going by my sketches. OFF TO HOMEWORK PROJECT #2- SCULPTING! Beaner likes playing with fire  I never thought I’d like this class, but I’m having a blast! I love playing with the torch! Although I did have a melt down moment or two.   I ONLY STARTED MY HAIR ON FIRE ONCE TODAY!!! YAY ME!    That's what's going on...I'll post the final project once I'm done. UPDATE: FINISHED SCULPTURE 
posted by me |
10:00 PM |
4 comments
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 AT SOME POINT YOU WILL IGNITE, CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. So, it’s been a week since school started, and it seems like it’s been a month, the amount of homework is incredible, and I have a tendency to freak out about it. My day today was very eventful, it involved an acetylene gas leak and a fire, complements of Moi’.The funniest part of the deal was the fact that the first day of class the instructors went through a whole routine that went something like this: “You will get dirty in this class. You will leave here smelling like an electrical fire and you will most likely at some point ignite.” At this point ears perked some and people became much more attentive. “When you return here Monday, only 100% cotton clothes are allowed. Synthetic fibers have a tendency to melt to your skin, smoldering cotton is easier to extinguish. Your hair must be tied back, because burning hair smells ucky. Do not wear perfume, do not go out this weekend and drink 150 proof alcohol or come in with a severe case of flatulence as you will ignite. You’ve been warned… oh and bring a sharpie.” Nobody ever said anything about what would happen should the person who used the station before you torch the gas hose, which caused a tiny hole and gas to leak out to the point of making you high as a kite but still coherent enough to question said smell, yet still not think twice about clicking the sparker. I hope this doesn’t count against my final grade. posted by me | 8:08 PM | 2 comments Sunday, September 09, 2007 YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN - PART I The rants and babbling of a 40 something year old returning to college.I probably had this coming.  Well, as you all know, the house is done and on the market. Unless you want to hear about us scrubbing toilets and keeping the house in “showing condition.” There’s not a whole lot to post about as far as what “We’re up to” in regards to that. So, project done and with much encouragement, I decided to go back to school. That’s right, I’m a college student. Me, a 40-something year old in the middle of a classroom with a bunch of 19-25 year olds. This should make for some great blogging. I only took 2 classes (sculpting 101 and drawing 101 ***snort- ‘101’ *** always thought that was a joke.), I mean c’mon, I’m 40-something, and you can’t expect me to keep up with the 20 year olds right? O.K. fine, I could probably kick most of their asses. My first day went pretty well. It wasn’t until I got home, realized how exhausted I was, and the extent of everything that I ended up muttering to myself “what the eff was I thinking?” The homework alone from the first day wasn’t exactly huge but in the scheme of things art, sculpting and drawing does take time. When the drawing instructor said “You have 5 days for this assignment, it’s the most time you will ever have for one of my assignments.” and I thought “who needs 5 days” and then spent every available minute of 4 days after that trying to complete my assignment, did the panic set in. And that didn’t include the on going assignment (both classes), the reading assignment (both classes), the research assignment (both classes) or the just plain “Make damn sure you’re wearing 100% cotton clothes on Monday so when you catch on fire your clothes don’t melt to your skin…oh and bring a sharpie.” sculpting assignment (I’ll save that story for another day). In any case, I’m hanging out at the U of M. It’s crazy, it’s culture shock and I love it. And like I said, this should make for some great blogging. Keep tuned in…. I’m sure you’ll find it as amusing as I do. In the mean time, this is my first drawing assignment: “Find something in your daily life that is banal.  Create a counter argument about what makes it unique.“  I’m pretty proud of myself actually, I think I did great. posted by me | 9:19 PM | 3 comments Sunday, September 02, 2007 GOD MUST LIVE HERE Every year we take the kids to this wonderful world of Art in the Park.The kids at the Art Park 2003 (it's the earliest pic I have)  It's inspiring and wonderous. Within minutes the kids will have gathered pine cones, acorns, sticks, sand, what have you and turned them into some sort of imaginary weapon. They will then act out tales and adventures through the woods, fighting beasties and foe, saving fairies, protecting each other and living, for the moment, in an amazing world of fantasy. Never could you escape more from the world than to spend an afternoon wandering the trails of this park.  This is Mr. Anthony Caponi, and this park is his home. A visit to the park will always find him somewhere doing something. And if should you stumble upon him and ask "Do you ever rest, do you ever stop?" he will reply "From playing?! My dear, why would I ever stop playing?"  And he will always tell you a story. For instance: "My wife, she makes me wear knee pads now. She says "You know, you're not 70 anymore." And presenting you with his most humble smile, return to his art. He doesn't remember me like he used to, but he is to this day one of the most wonderfully inspiring sculptures/artists I've ever met. As I am back to being a "college student" in the field of arts and my first class is sculpting I thought it only fitting to pay tribute to the man and the park that has been an inspiration to both John and myself for many years.  Throughout the Art Park you'll find a numerous works of art. Some clearly placed in the gallaries in the woods,      and some a little more hidden.  So, you must keep your eyes open or you will miss everything that is amazing. After awhile you might find that everything you look at in the park, turns into art. Everywhere you turn the sun, the wind, the trees, everything is a beautiful work of art.    Today we had a guide through the woods. We have no idea what his name was, so we just called him Chuck. In case you can't figure it out, it would be the big black lab that decided we needed guidance.  Every time we seemed to come to a dead end on the trail, Chuck would guide us out. It was rather strange and we questioned his route at times, but it was comforting all the same.  Eventually Chuck left us in favor of lunch, we missed him the rest of the day. There's also a stage at the park, where Shakespear is performed and should there not be a performance at the day and time you are there, feel free to use the stage for your own little performance  The rest of the day       F.Y.I. This is the tree the kids were sitting in in the first pic. It was felled by the storms that blew through here this summer. Kinda sad actually. My Favorite story of the Art Park: I had taken the kids to the Art Park for our annual trip. My middle child, Aron, was 6 at the time and we had spent the day wandering and playing in the trees and woods with many adventures, sword fights with sticks, fairy hunts and tales. At one point the trails in the woods opens to a clearing on top of a large hill. That particular day the lilac and honeysuckle hung thick in the air, a morning rain left a mist that captured every rainbow it could, the grass was thick and green and the trees sang and danced in the breeze. My son walked out onto the top of the hill and gasped "Wow.... God must live here." And the rest of the day was heaven. (And if you know me at all, you understand what this story actually means). So that was our day at the Art Park. If you decide to visit, please make a donation. I think Anthony might need more knee pads. posted by me | 7:36 PM | 0 comments |
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