June 9th - Poem

My autobiographical poem:

I am from South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Italy.

I am from spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, chicken parmesan, egglant rollatini, linguini and clams, struffoli, pepperoni bread, and italian cookies.

I am from "Salute!" "I get better looking everyday" "I love you" "Time for Ninano" "What's for dinner?" "Fungia face" "Time for R and R" "Thats what I was thinking" "Just like your mother."

I am from Steven and Rozanne, Eugene and Anne, Dominick and Anna, Paul, Tommy and Michelle, Thomas, Michael, Maritta and Bobby, Paula and Eddy, Melody, Drew.

June 8th - State Museum

I really enjoyed looking through all of the portraits mostly because they were everyday people in everyday situations. It was just natural photography focusing on the average individual which was refreshing and interesting to look at. The photographers seemed to capture the person exactly how they are portrayed on a daily basis.
I think my favorite portrait in the room was the little boy wearing the over-sized cowboy hat and holding the baseball glove. What I liked most about this picture was that it was obvious the child was in the middle of laughing. Laughter is the best thing out there, and as soon as I saw the portrait I couldn't help but smile, which really made me like that portrait the most. Being a physical education major, I truly enjoy and appreciate watching kids grow and explore their imaginations through sports and being active. Because this boy in the photograph had an over-sized cowboy hat on and was holding a baseball glove it was obvious he has a strong imagination as well as a love for sports. Two important messages that I hope I can pass onto my students when I am a teacher.
I also liked how the picture was in black and white. Sometimes I think that a black and white portrait can provide more meaning and emotion. Even though there isn't color it in, it seems to leave a greater impression on me. I think the picture just meant to portray children having so many different personalities. One day they might want to be a cowboy and the next day they may want to be a baseball player. I think that the photographer did a great job of conveying that message.

Monday June 7th - Kandinsky

Kandinsky's artwork is definitely abstract. As an observer I think you really need to look for his hidden messages and common themes. Through his work it is obvious he felt very strongly toward painting the village on the hill, the two saints, the angel and the horn, and the horse and the rider. I feel like most of his work symbolizes destruction, however I think he includes the saints and angel for prayer and hope. I like how he used so much color in his work. Because there is so much going on in the paintings, the color is spread across the entire painting. Even though most of his paintings represent a destruction and are hard to look at and find the hidden figures, I do enjoy looking at his paintings to find the common figures he puts into his work.

Tapestries

First Tapestry

Fourth Tapestry

I took two pictures because the exhibit was pretty crowed with a tour group when I got there. I was not allowed to use a flash so they might be a little dark. These are pictures of the first tapestry of the story and the forth one.

Museum Tapestries - Assignment #4

I have been to a couple museums before as a child on school trips but have not been to one in a while. There was some sort of gathering going on at the museum when I walked in, so there were people, and food and live music. I thought the museum itself was very clean and modern looking. Everything had their special rooms which seemed very organized to walk through.

I thought the tapestries were really incredible to look at. The images almost looked as if they were painted on. There happened to be a tour going on when I walked into the room so I was able to listen to the story of Romulus and Remus and also find out a little bit more about the tapestries. The guide explained that if there were 30 people working on the tapestry at once that it would take around 2 months to complete, which really puts into perspective of how much detail went into all of the tapestries in the exhibit. The eight tapestries went through the story of Romulus and Remus which I have never heard in that much detail. The story actually started with the story of the brothers, Numitor and Amulius, and how Amulius made Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, a priestess so she was unable to marry and have children to take over in Amulius position. Rhea Silvia however met the god Mars and conceived the twin boys, Romulus and Remus. Servants were ordered by Amulius to kill the twins, but they couldn't and sent them down the Tiger River to be found by a she-wolf. The she-wolf nursed the two boys until they were found by a Shepard and his wife. The story continues that both boys were very heroic and protective of their parents. One day Remus was arrested for fighting and was brought to Numitor where he figured out that the two boys were in fact royalty. The two boys fought about who should rule the new city and went on top of two separate mountains waiting for a sign from the gods. Remus received the first sign by the gods of one vulture, and when Remus went to tell Romulus he saw the Romulus received the second sign of 12 vultures. A war broke out between the followers of Romulus and Remus and it ended with Romulus killing Remus and creating the city of Rome. The story ends with Romulus stealing women from the Sebines in order to start up his civilization.

I never heard the full story of Romulus and Remus so it was very interesting to listen to the full story of the brothers. The tapestries were said to be made in the 1500's making them 400-500 years old. The guide explained that they were hung inside of castle walls and that the tapestries were made in Brussels. Two of the tapestries that were hung were copies of the originals.

Architecture - Assignment #3

Wednesday's class was very interesting. It was really cool to discuss the architect vocabulary words in class and then be able to see them while walking around Columbia. I think the Trinity Cathedral is going to be beautiful once it is finished. I love how the builders are trying to restore the church to make it look nicer but keeping its old gothic style. Inside the church there were really dark beams forming the vaults. I thought the round stained glass windows on both sides of the church were really beautiful. I think once the apse and choir sections are finished and the pews are put in, the different sections of the church will be very welcoming and extraordinary to look at.
The African American Monument was extremely interesting to walk around and look at all the details. What I liked most about the monument was how much detail was in the one monument. It went through all the history with just enough detail to really leave an impact. I also liked how it wasn't a flat monument and that the images stuck out to really show the emotion that was put into the design.

Music - Assignment #2

The boomwackers in today's class were a lot of fun to play with. I think they are definitely something someone at any age would enjoy making music with. Since I will be a physical education teacher I don't think I really would use the boomwackers in my class, but they are something I could pass on to the music teacher because I know the students would really have fun using them.
I spoke a little bit about music in my first post, but music is always around me. I only played the piano for four years when I was younger, but listening to music is like a hobby to me. I listen to all types of music constantly throughout the day. I love how music can put you in different moods and also help enhance an emotion. I listen to a lot of different artists, but some of my favorites include Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews Band. It is really hard to say who I would pay a lot of money for to see in concert because there are so many musicians I would love to see.