The Semester is Finally Over

Wednesday was the last day of my classes for this semester. It went pretty well since all we had to do was turn in our portfolio in intaglio to be graded and collect our trade portfolio in which we made a print for everyone in the class including our teacher and the TA. Last week, we went to my relief teacher’s house to do our final critique and potluck. I ended up making a piñata out of some test prints that I printed on newsprint for one of my 5 variable multiples that we needed to do for our final. We ended up hanging it outside and a few people were able to smack the crap out of it. I think we all had a good time. I wish I could post some pictures of it but I was only able to take some film photos and not digital since my phone was freaking out on me. Luckily my teacher did take some photos so here they are:

Lookin’ like a goofball.

Our relief class along with our teacher Sandra Fernandez and our TA.

GPOY.

I will be heading back home for a week but when I come back to Austin I will take photos of my prints and post them on here later. Bye for now!

Two Weeks

Throughout this Spring semester I’ve been trying to get myself to post onto this blog but surprisingly I’ve spent most of my time at school trying to make tons of prints and such. I stupidly decided that it would be awesome to take four studio classes at the same time (three printmaking and one painting class) and it was the worst idea ever. (Also, I decided to do that again for NEXT semester, hooray!) I have about two more weeks until classes end and I’m racking my brain with projects and trying to catch up on deadlines. Most of my things are due this week and it’s killing me. I’m honestly scared that I’m not going to pass any of my classes but none of my teachers have told me I’m failing or anything.

I actually had a really bad individual critique the other day in intaglio and it really tore me apart. Apparently I don’t have enough work and it didn’t seem like I put too much effort into it. After that critique I went to the 4th floor deck and had a mental breakdown. If only my teacher knew how many hours I spent in the studio outside of class and how much more time I put into intaglio than I do to any of my other classes. I know I’m a lot better in relief but my heart is (or now was) in intaglio.

I’ll be posting some of my work soon from the fall semester and this current semester. Soon I will be starting to put my senior portfolio together. Which by the way, I got a scholarship! All I need to do is send my acceptance letter and I’m hopefully getting $1,200 to use towards said portfolio. And you know what that means? NEW PRINTMAKING TOOLS! 😀

Hopefully this summer I will be able to get some serious sketches going on for the coming fall semester. I want to have some more serious work and I really love what I’m doing. Printmaking is absolutely wonderful and I hope I can continue with it after I graduate in December (if all goes well).

Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow.

Quick Thoughts on Art and Critiques

One thing I’ve always loved about my art classes is critique days. Many people dread it but I honestly find it invigorating even though sometimes there are some people who absolutely nothing good to say about your work. Sometimes it is even hard to even hear certain things because they may be true.

My artwork always tends to be personal because I know myself better than anyone, and when someone notices that and actually appreciates it, it really makes me feel good about myself even if some of the subject matter is about something negative. Most of my art teachers tell me that they like that my work is personal and not generic.

I believe that sometimes artwork shouldn’t have a message of some sort but should just appeal to your own self. When I make artwork about my life or even about my thoughts I feel like I’m allowing someone to see things through my own eyes. Sometimes people forget how others can perceive things differently and how different a person’s lifestyle is from their own.

I don’t know.. just some quick thoughts.

Note to self: write about Warped Tour, the Sketchbook Project, David Byrne & St. Vincent, and Motion City Soundtrack.

T-Minus Two Weeks

There are two more weeks left in this school year for me. Part of me doesn’t want to the semester to end because it will mean that I have about a year left to complete my bachelor’s degree. But the other part of me just wants a big break to see my old friends and family back home and hopefully I will be traveling around in June. My sister has a conference (or something of the sort) in Dallas in June for her job so my family and I will be there for about a week. Hopefully we’ll be able to go see some art museums and the zoo. And if we have time and the universe allows us to, we are also planning on going to the beach.

Today while conversing with my mother, I was able to convince her into giving me her record player if I could get it to work and could replace the needle. Though the only problem with that is that I have to examine the contraption in person to figure out with needle it needs and since I am an impatient child when it comes to something that I want, it will feel like an eternity before I can claim it as my own.

Also, today while conversing with a stranger over instagram, I learned that there is a place where they develop black and white film at a good price here in Austin. Since I don’t have the tools and a dark room to develop my own film, I haven’t been using my lovely SLR camera. But now with this news, I plan on taking tons of photos over the summer.

 I have about two months that I’m going to be off from school then I will be back in Austin in July to take an art history class for the second summer session. Here’s to hoping that I will get to do most, if not all, the things I want to do. But before I can even think of those things, I need to survive these next two weeks and get all my projects done by this upcoming weekend. Wish me luck.

John Cage’s MUSICIRCUS

As of late, I’ve been trying to get myself out of the apartment and enjoy all the art and music events that are going on around Austin. Last week I went to the VAC’s opening, a few days ago I went to a lecture series by some art critiques, and today I went to the Blanton Museum’s SoundSpace event which was in celebration of John Cage’s 100th Birthday (even though I think his birthday is in September) in which they performed John Cage’s MUSICIRCUS. According to the program they gave us MUSICIRCUS was first performed in 1967 and it is “a cacophony of concurrent performances, determined by chance distribution.”

If you don’t know what chance music is, then I suggest that you read up on it as soon as possible. Honestly, it’s pretty self-explanatory, but just in case you don’t have time to read or have no idea what I am talking about, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

“Aleatoric music (also aleatory music or chance music; from the Latin word alea, meaning “dice“) is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work’s realization is left to the determination of its performer(s). The term is most often associated with procedures in which the chance element involves a relatively limited number of possibilities.” 

John Cage was a music theorist, writer, philosopher, artist, and one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He was known for his experimental music and for his creation of the prepared piano (and of course several other things). One of his most famous and most controversial pieces was entitled 4’33” (pronounced “four minutes, thirty-three seconds”). Since there is no video of him performing this piece, here is someone else playing it.

A good piece that you can see John Cage perform in is in his performance of Water Walk which was aired on television back in the day.

John Cage was such a strange individual and many people don’t understand why he was and still is such an influential composer. I think it just takes a very open mind in order to enjoy his pieces. In all honesty, I enjoy listening to his stuff on occasion and absolutely enjoy reading about him and his work. I’m pretty sure John Cage would be my perfect match.

I wanted to record some video of today’s performances but my camera on my phone was acting funny so I was only able to take some pictures. But here’s a video of someone else, just to show which piece opened and closed today’s performance. It’s entitled Suite for Toy Piano, by John Cage.

Anyways, here are some photos from the event:

At this point of the performance they started talking about moustaches and this guy (above) put on a fake moustache. After that, they all began chanting “moustache.”

Also, here’s one of my favorite art pieces at the Blanton.

Honestly, it was such an entertaining event, I wish they would do this again.

Austin, you’re weird, but I like you that way.

♥

Goodbye 2011!

2011 was a very difficult year for me due to some unfortunate events but honestly, it was also a very productive year for me! In January, I got my design book into the student art show at my local community college. I also joined a class where we designed and repainted famous artworks onto trashcans for our campus (which I am very proud of and that you can see here). The art fraternity I was in also went on a trip to San Antonio to go to the McNay Museum of Art and the San Antonio Museum of Art, which turned out to be a very fun trip. Even took a trip to Austin with my mother to see the Sketchbook Project exhibition that I was part of (which you can see here too). I also got accepted into the University of Texas, moved four hours away from my hometown, and successfully passed my first semester there. I even got some artwork displayed and received some positive critiques. All in all, it was a very busy year. It had it’s ups and downs, but you know what? I survived! 2012 actually seems like a good year for me. A good year to expand, learn new things, and see things in a different light. I’m honestly hoping that things will continue to go well for me and for my friends and family (so cheesy, but true). I guess this post was mainly for me to put my thoughts out and release the old stuff to make room for the new! 2011, nice knowing you.

Why hello there, 2012!

Oh, yeah! Did I mention that I got an iMac as a Christmas&Birthday gift? I will probably be posting some digital artwork now that I have photoshop and a large space to use.

Hope you all had an amazing year and are also looking forward to 2012 like I am.

😀

Overview of the Past Half Year!

So today I finally finished my first semester at the University of Texas and I must say it was quite an experience. I meet some new people, hung out with old friends, and even exchanged ideas with other artists. I know I have posted in a long time and it’s mostly due to being loaded with homework and the fact that I couldn’t access my flickr account so I could upload photos for the blog. So here’s a basic quick overview of what went on the past few months.

My classes were interesting to say the least. All of my teachers were unique in their own way and had a lot to talk about certain subjects and even included their own opinions which I didn’t see as much as my past professors in my hometown. Though out of those four classes, two of them were always a delight to attend, and of course they were both about art.

My art history class was always very interesting due to the fact art is already interesting enough but also because my professor was such a unique individual. He was always energetic, optimistic, and very entertaining. Even our TA who taught our discussion class was very passionate about art history and was also very optimistic. I must say that I’m going to miss that class a lot.

But the of course, one class that I will terribly miss will be my digital art class. I seriously had the most fun and was the most stressed because of  this class. I’m glad to say that I actually learned a lot about many different programs such as Premiere,  Illustrator, and AfterEffects. I even got some artwork displayed in one of the hallways in the ART building at UT, so I’m actually very proud of that. Plus, Neal is such a cool guy so his class was very enjoyable.

I also went to Wizard World Comic Con here in Austin with my friend Javi a few weeks ago so that was kind of fun! We even got to meet some cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Here are a few pictures from that event:

Thor called me a mortal!

I even made a TARDIS bag for the event!

One thing I’ve been doing a lot since I moved here to Austin is baking and actually cooking meals from scratch. No idea where  I got this inspiration to cook from but I’m glad I’m actually being productive in some way. So of course, here are a few things I’ve cooked and baked:

And I even got to make a sugar skull for Dia de los Muertos with a $1 skull mold I found at Michael’s:

I went back to my hometown last week for the Thanksgiving break and I must say that I really missed my family. Next weekend I’ll probably be back in my hometown for about five weeks then it’s back to school again.

Future Post: Personal Reaction to Melancolia

So here’s pretty much just a heads up and a self-reminder to talk about a print entitled Melancolia, by Albrecht Düror.

Good night for now! 🙂

One Month Living in Austin

It has been a month since I moved here to Austin and I must say that things have been going pretty smoothly. Last weekend I had an extra day off due to the Labor Day holiday so I decided to go visit my family in my hometown. My parents (even though they are separated) came to pick me up and took me home for the weekend and my mother and sister brought me back this past Tuesday. The visit went well, but I realize how much better I am here in the big city even though I do miss my family more than you could imagine. Maybe I have some unresolved conflicts in my hometown, but after the euphoria of see my family diminished, I felt down and depressed for reasons known and unknown. But now I’m back in Austin and I feel just fine. Really, I do!

School has been pretty fantastic. My classes are actually very interesting and so are my teachers and the teaching assistants. I’ve gotten to know a few people, so that’s a good start. Homework has been moderate but at least it hasn’t been boring. For one of my assignment, I had to read the play Twelve Angry Men written by Reginald Rose. I must say it was pretty interesting, so I encourage you and highly recommend reading it.

At my university they have “landmarks” all around the campus, such as statues, paintings, etc. Well, there is a television in the ART building that plays an old but famous visual art video and every month they change it to another one. Last month’s video was called Vertical Roll by Joan Jonas and I must say that it makes me so ill. I really don’t like to talk about it very much because I have this feeling in my gut that makes me cringe every time I think about it. So here’s a link to the art piece that I found on YouTube, maybe you’ll understand why:

In the ART building there are these wooden stairs that you are allowed to sit on to watch the video. Above that area there is a speaker to listen to the video that is playing. When there’s a lot of activity going on in the building you can barely hear it, but when it’s quiet, it is quite loud. So after sitting there for an hour for your next class to start, the banging really gets to you. Anyways, they finally changed it this past week and it is so much nicer compared to Vertical Roll. This month’s video is I am a Victim of This Song by Pipilotti Rist.

The song is actually a cover of Chris Isaak’s song entitled Wicked Game and I’m assuming it is a parody of his music video. In my honest opinion, this is not one of her best works. Though one that I absolutely adore is her piece entitled, I Couldn’t Agree With You More.

I find her just absolutely stunning in this piece.

I always hear so many negative comments about her art pieces but despite my “hatred” for visual art, I’m actually attracted to her work ( and especially her later pieces that are just so visually pleasing). So with that note I shall end this post with one of her more appealing pieces.

UT Summer Transfer Orientation 2011

About a week or two ago was the University of Texas (at Austin) summer orientation for transfer students. I received an e-mail that I had to attend since that was when they were going to talk about financial aid and that’s when we were going to register for classes. I had mixed feeling about going, but I was excited.

My mother, my sister, her kids, and I left to Austin on Wednesday (the 22nd of July) to make sure I was at UT on time before orientation started. We got to Austin in the evening and really did not feel like doing anything after going on a four hour drive, so we stayed in the hotel for the rest of the night. My sister, her kids, and I went for a swim in the hotel pool while our mother stayed in the room and watched a live broadcast of the LISD board meeting. After all off us showered and washed off all the chlorine, we wanted something to eat. Luckily there was a Chilli’s right next door, so we ordered our food and walked over to pick it up. Since I had orientation at 9:30 in the morning, I ate, brushed my teeth, and headed off to bed.

The next morning I got up extra early to get dressed and have a good breakfast. Since we also had to beat the traffic, we left about an hour earlier just to make sure I was on time and at the right building. My mother dropped me off in front of a random build and I had to find my way to the right one. I called up my friend Noe to see where he was since he was also transferring to UT. Noe was at the front of the line while I was at the very back. Luckily they were going by letters so it cut the lines way done.

After signing in, getting our packets, and our name tags, we were free until noon to roam the campus and finish up our business with any pending college (for lack of a better term) stuff. I called up Noe again and we headed across the campus to get our UT IDs, which took a process of two hours due to everyone heading the same way. After that, we headed to the opening ceremony then to our respected areas. We went our department meetings and meet with our adviser who gave us a packet that we needed to sign and which included our degree audit. After that we were free until 6 PM for our wing meeting. I decided to leave for lunch so I called my mother to pick me up so I could eat and rest since I had 3 hours to kill. So we picked up McDonald’s and went back to the hotel.

Once back at the wing meeting, they showed us how to register for classes and we were free again until the next presentation. They told us that it was optional so I ended up calling my mother again to pick me up since I was just not up for staying another four hours (until 11 PM). Since my family was at the mall, over 20 minutes away, I sat down on a bench outside and drew on my Moleskine until they called me to see where I was at.

We went back to the hotel and my sister, the kids, and I went back to the pool for an hour or so before they kicked us out of the pool because a pipe burst.

After showering, I was too tired to do anything so my family went out to eat while I watched Scrubs on the telly. Luckily they brought me back food (eggs, hash browns, bacon, and pancakes) before I fell asleep.

I didn’t have to go in so early in the morning since everything was optional before noon, but I had to attend a meeting for my mother’s sake about financial aid. I convinced Noe to go so I wouldn’t have to be alone. After that meeting we turned in our transcripts and then went to the student services office so Noe could ask about a scholarship. After that, we had to find our way through a small map and walk across campus to meet with our advisers. Luckily I am very good with maps so I found the shortest route possible.

After meeting with Ann, my adviser, I headed to the first floor to the computer room to wait two hours to finally register on the computer since registration didn’t open until 1 pm. Throughout that time, those of us who got there early planned our schedules and were able to register for our classes 15 minutes before 1 pm. Since we registered early, we were out before 1 pm. I called my mother and she picked me up. Sadly we had to come back to Laredo early because one of my uncle’s from my dad’s side passed away and the funeral was in the evening. We stopped for a quick bit at Luby’s in San Marcos and hauled us back to Laredo.

Even though I really didn’t have  time to do much in Austin this trip, it was somehow surprisingly fun. I am unbelievably excited to attend UT and get my Bachelor’s of Fine Art. Even though all these thing are happening, I still cannot believe that I leaving my hometown and going to an amazing city.

I am excited beyond belief.