Memorial Day

Idle Chatter

Unlike the last post, I don't have anything that I totally need to blog. So, I'm going to fill this space with idle chatter:

• I just filled my gas tank, $3.75 per gallon. I even walk to work two days a week. It's not helping.
• It has been raining entirely too much here, and it's cold. It's actually warmer in the state of Alaska today.
• I got some nifty new books to read since I shall have plenty of down time over the summer: No Country for Old Men-Cormack McCarthy, I figured The Road was so good, this must be too. I haven't seen the movie because that would ruin the book. Remember Me?-Sophie Kinsella, chick-lit. That's all I can say about that. And finally, for some light reading, The Judgement of Paris-the revolutionary decade that gave the world Impressionism-Ross King. It's a big book, I'm kinda scared.
• I have to pick a class for the fall semester. I know I'll have to take a "theory" class and that will be such a thrill-kill compared to my Museum Studies class last semester. But, I guess it's a necessary evil. Oh, I have a 4.0 average thus far. Yea, I know I've only taken one class but it may be my last chance to say that!
• Cider House Rules was on t.v. over the weekend and I got to watch it. I had forgotten what a great story that is. Go rent it! Or better yet, read the book!

An American Idol

Totally by accident, I had a brush with an American Idol! We were at a local club this weekend and unbeknownst to me, Blake Lewis was performing there that night along with some other bands. You may remember him as the "beat box" or "wicky-wicky-wicky" singer from last season.

Blake technically was a loser on American Idol last year, the year of Sanjaya. I got to say hi, and pat him on the shoulder as he walked by. And afterwards, I said those infamous words, "I am so blogging about this." I know, I'm a dork.

Three Contemporary PA Artists:

It's true, I've officially finished my very first master's class. Last night was the final night and pretty much all we did was turn in our class project.

You may remember that this class was Museum Studies. So, the final project was to design an exhibit, draw the floor plan to scale, write a script (that the document that identifies labels to objects within the exhibit and shows word for word what is on the label or the introduction), and finally the elevation plan (which is a scale drawing of the wall from floor to ceiling with all the artifacts flush to that surface.) Lucky for me, I have my trusty, handy-dandy partner Nittanybri and his one month trial of Auto-CAD to thank for getting my drawings done quickly and very professionally. I'm so getting an A!!

The nice thing was that there was no constraints like how much I could spend on the exhibit, the room space and the staff it would take to install such an exhibit. The exhibit could be imaginary as well. I couldn't do an exhibit about aliens that landed in my backyard, because that's never happened to my knowledge. But I could have done an exhibit on the works of famous women artists from late-Renaissance Italy.

So, I took the low road along with some shameless self promotion and did my exhibit on "Three Contemporary Pennsylvania Artists, a contrast in color and design." The artists are my father, me and my friend Renee. Here are some examples of the paintings from my exhibit:

This is a painting of my father's that actually did hang in the PA State Museum back in the 60's. His work is quite similar to that of the Impressionists; perspective, thick paint, choppy brush strokes.

This one is mine. The quality isn't that good because of the glass on the front. This is a watercolor. And it's too difficult for me to critique my own stuff so I won't.

This one is Renee's. Don't you just love the colors?? Her paintings are very abstract and full of color. I think my paintings and my fathers compliment each other and Renee's provide the contrast.