Complicated

Complicated

What if life was complicated by much simpler things?
A loose thread on a button or maybe a little static cling.

Would your mind be less prone to wander among a forest of cares and woes?
Could you take the time to wonder just how the flowers grow?

Would there be time to live each day more fully,
Walking with friends or conversations with your family?

Would you talk with God about your dreams, hopes and fears?
Could you give him your heart and trust him with your tears?

Treasure the simple things that sometimes complicate a day
Live your faith in your heart, in your work and in your play.


Randi RauhTyler©

Back In The Day

My favorite saying, referring to the fact that everything was "back in the olden days" which I have become a part of. My children and grandchildren marvel at "back in the day" statements that means a story is coming about what they have that I didn't have. My students marvel that "back in the day" means a story about a time when I was probably their age or younger and how different it was to create something then and how I learned to do it now.
When my grandchildren enter college I wonder what the phrase will be to refer to "back in the day" and if they will have to refer to when something was done in my day is now done a new way.
Change and creativity go hand in hand, we reinvent ourselves every day by creating change. What will be simple at one time becomes complicated in another. How did I eat before microwaves? How long will I live with new health care treatments? Will I be cloned and live over and over again? Will I have new ideas with each age but remember all of my past? You are what you learned, and some lessons are harder to unlearn. Did I pass on the lessons that I wanted and unlearn the ones that were not good? Will my children feel that I have passed on to them the lessons that were good?
Always questions, very few answers. Philosophers have delved into the same questions and have continued to come up with a new answer for each age, but it is always based on the same Back in the Day questions. The more complicated we think we are the more simple we become because we all carry a back in the day lesson and philosophy that has been passed on to us that we pass on to others. So let us not remain "back in the day" but have new knowledge and creativity to share.


This is from the discussion we are having after the Noble Savage one in Art History:
In our last discussion the phrase "the simple life" came up, and this idea ties in with this week's discussion, as well. With Chapter 30, we begin the Industrial Age. There were a lot of changes going on during this period... when I prepared this discussion, I was listening to a song called "Heavy Horses" about how farmers traded in their draft horses for tractors. The singer was lamenting this: when they adopted the tractor, the farmers exchanged the friendship and partnership with their animals for efficiency. It still amazes me how much the world has changed in a short time: both my maternal and my paternal grandfathers arrived in Oklahoma in covered wagons. The world is still changing quickly today. Is it possible that we are living "the simple life" right now? What kinds of things do you think you will be telling your grandchildren about when you describe the them what the world was like when you were young?

The Great Pumpkin King

My DeWitt classes are busy trying to prepare a pumpkin for Fall Fest. I selected a fairly large oval shaped pumpkin to let them create something unique and representative of the class. Originally only my Illustration class was going to create the pumpkin, but after the pumpkin went through many persona's it was decided that the Computer Graphics class could also participate.

Some of the persona's that this Pumpkin went through were: Grim Reaper Pumpkin, (looked like a big orange handgranade) Count Pumpkin Vampire, The Crate Pumpkin,(didn't really fit in the crate) and of course the Amish Vampiric Pufferfish Pumpkin (oh that Pufferfish is legendary). They settled on the Great Pumpkin God (presumably of Art) and then made it a Great Pumpkin King. Since they were not going to cut the pumpkin, but paint it, then they had to decide what kind of face this GPK would have. I had my Art History book with me and we looked at the old south pacific type gods and because at this time the Pumpkin was sitting on top of a pillar with a Hawaiian straw hat on and looked like Jimmy Buffet who had been stung by a pufferfish.
This somehow translated into a Tiki type god, and it needed minions to worship it. So many little pumpkins would be sitting at the bottom in veneration of the GPK, but we didn't have many little pumpkins, but we did have pears. Well since we didn't like the pears we let them be the enemy and gave the decoration of the pears to the Computer Graphics class. They would create masks for the pears to wear on the computer and carry little toothpick spears to fight the little pumpkins and overthrow the GPK.
Our legend was complete and I wrote the following for our GPK:
Every year at Harvest time the little known group call the Illustnation elect a new Great Pumpkin King. They enshrine the king and do battle with the Compuartis rivals. Who will win this years battle and will precious juice and pulp be spilled in honor of GPK?
After all this creative thought was complete it was on to painting the GPK. They used bits and pieces of every ones individual designs and everyone took a turn at adding their particular style to the GPK. We lost the hat and did straw and feathers and curly cue pipe cleaners for his headdress. The computer class found awesome pictures to use for their masks and altered them appropriately to be used on their pears.
When the scene is complete we will have pears and pumpkins fighting each other below the GPK in all his splendor. Pictures will be coming then~

The noble savage disscussion

The noble savage disscussion question:
A theme popular with Romantic artists was the idea of the "Noble Savage". The assumption was that people who lived in more "primitive" societies, being closer to the land, were somehow more "pure" or noble than people in Western cultures. Delacroix felt this way about Arabs (there are still Bedouins today living a nomadic lifestyle), and many American artists felt this way about Native Americans. The idea is so popular that Benjamin West even included a Native American in his Death of General Wolfe (even though the Indians fought on the side of the French, not the British). Do you think this sentiment exists still today? Can you give an example of it (in any form of art)? What, if anything, might be problematic with this view? Or do you think that this might be a positive way of thinking?

My reply:
I think this is a psychological viewpoint. Many artists delve deeply into the psychological (including filmmakers) and a purity of non-jaded persona is always considered closer to God or the pure essence of nature. Many of the paintings we have seen are related to that purity or pursuit of nature in one way or the other.
All of the books and movies that deal with the pre-history era (caveman or prehistoric American) make those that delve into the creative those that are set aside from the others as more intelligent and closer to the gods. In Stephen King's novel the stand, those that are by other standards defective (old, deaf, and retarded) are those closest to the "good side". Recently I viewed M. Night Shamalan’s movie "the Happening" and here those that did not interfere with nature were those saved or less susceptible to the neurotransmission.
Since our culture is based on the idea of fertility and closeness to the goddess of the earth, or Earth Mother, we seem drawn to those that do not appear as we do and live a simpler life that is obscure to us as we work harder and harder to have everything instantaneously and have are needs met.
More contemporary artists are always drawn to the human condition and lack of depth in our culture. When we honor wealth, fashion, or lifestyle there is always an artist to show us how transient these items are and the need to return to purity. On the other hand most of those in advertising are determined to feed us our trivial desires and raise them to a cult like worship. When we buy into these new icons we then are met with the desire to return to something simpler in time or circumstance.

Have an opinion?

officially the worst grandmother in the world :(

I did it, I am now the worst there ever was
How could I miss Layla's birthday and make it in my mind 20 days later. She is three, but that doesn't mean I can gloss over something now. They have been through so much with the after effects of Ike and now I miss her birthday.
Well, either I'm getting senile, missed my thyroid meds, or am just an idiot.
Help me world, this was a major mistake.

Art History Debacle

It went like this…we have a Term Paper to do, and this is what the assignment reads:

The independent project will be a short (roughly two pages) term paper. The subject of your paper will be a single work of art chosen from one of the non-western chapters, or a contemporary artwork from any culture. The paper will be published for others to read and study. They will take a quiz (written by you) over the material. You can (and should where possible) include pictures.

My first email was: I was looking at the assignment and note that you said "or a contemporary artwork from any culture". Does this mean the work must appear in the book? I would like to do mine on either Victor Vassarely or Leonado Neirman. Would this be appropriate?

Now as a side note, Vassarely is considered the “father of Pop Art” he died about 9 years ago and Neirman is said to be the Pollack of Mexico and is still living.

The reply was: Because the other students will be taking a quiz over all of the papers, they need to be able to look the artist up in the book. I may approve an artwork that is not in the book (if for some reason you feel you can discuss it more fully) but the artist and an image by the artist must both be available in the book. I am sorry neither of these guys appear in the book. Try again, I am sure your next choice will be perfect!

So I scoured the book looking for someone that could be good and I could refer to my original choices with so I sent this: Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950 Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956) | I feel I can contribute more insight, and stay within the books description for this painting. Will this choice be ok?

BUT NO, now I am totally confused because this was the reply: I hate to turn you down again, but I cover Pollock (and that particular piece) in the lecture. If you would like to choose an American (or other western artist) you should look for some one who is either living or very recently deceased (say, no more than 5 years ago). Next time, before you email, line up a few more choices for yourself-- hopefully, I won't have to say no to all of them! I pasted some web addresses below- with luck, they help your search without making it more cumbersome...http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/ http://www.artnewsonline.com/home/ http://www.artsjournal.com/

I sit here thinking “what lecture” we don’t even have that assignment yet. Didn’t she say NON-Western artist? So who do I chose and why? I think she should just choose for me, obviously she has something in mind and I don’t have a clue. And those websites she sent me to, not an artist noted on it, let alone if they are in the stupid book!

Soooooo, I am depressed, frustrated and all around pissed! I really would have tried to keep it to 2 pages, and make the test logical, but now I am bound and determined to find someone totally obscure in that book that she won’t use.