Twelve Animals by Kentaro Nagai

Rat

Rabbit

Rooster

These are part of the Twelve Animals series of illustrations Kentaro Nagai, a graphic artist. She used the world map to create the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. 

I found this on StumbleUpon and I really started to think of my half successful lithograph with the cow brains and mad cow disease. I feel like this would be a perfect medium to attempt this concept again with a better outcome. I'm liking the idea of using a pattern to define the positive and negative space, and it seems like a great concept for a series of work. 

:)

Personal Research.

I was just watching 48 Hours Mystery. This was about a man who served in Iraq, came home, and beat a woman he was fighting with to death with his bare hands. He attempted to justify his case saying he was psychologically damaged because of the war. I understand this, not that it justifies anything. Anyway, while he was talking about it, he was explaining something that happened in Iraq. Apparently, there was an Iraqi man who was suspected of some sort of malicious act against American soldiers. When the American army heard this, they shot him (brutally) until he died, drug him into the middle of the street, entered one of the head injuries, and removed his brains. If this wasn't enough, they put him on the back of a military vehicle, and paraded him around his home town, saying "This is what you get when you mess with us."

Okay. Personally, American's should get off their high horse. Every human has the capability of emotion, and I don't think that anyone considers human nature as much as the apparent importance of destroying the enemy. Or is that human nature in itself? Can everyone take a minute to imagine if the tables were turned? Seriously. Imagine that you are a possibly innocent human, regardless of race or location, or war, and someone had blamed you of something you maybe never said or did. Now imagine that you are not only killed because of this, but all of your friends, family, and anyone you cared about or anyone who cared about you, had to see you obliterated with bullet wounds and your own brains dug out all over you. Being paraded around like a trophy.

This is what you get when you mess with us.

Art Therapist?

I couldn't decide if this job sounds really horrible or really awesome.

The Art Therapy job that I researched involved children needing special education.

You are responsible for developing individualized goals and objectives for each referred student, based off the student's emotional, perceptual, cognitive, physical, and social level of functioning. (This, I would like. It just means that I would have to really get to know each student, and work in depth with a few people rather than work briefly with a plethora.) You have to maintain up-to-date documentation of contact, incorporate the student's art therapy goals and objectives in the individualized education and treatment plan, and perform administrative tasks suck as maintaining materials, equipment, requisitioning supplies and organizing art therapy room.

Qualifications:

Master’s Degree in Art Therapy is required. Professional Credential of Art Therapist Registered (ATR), awarded by the  Art Therapy Credentials Board, is required.   Experience with ED/LD/DD children is required.  At least two years experience  in art therapy with children is required.

Art Therapy seems extremely cool for the right people. I can't tell if I would like it or not, though.

CRAZY QUILTS.

My mind is blown here. I've never even thought of the option of painting or otherwise marking on quilt squares. For me, it seems like your own included doodles would be so much more meaningful than the quilt by itself.

Did anyone else notice that dog? This is so cute! I've never even attempted quilting, just because I hate patterns and repetition. I think I would really like to do something like this, though. 

 Detail:

:)

Mrs. Stamper got me into crazy quilting. 

I pulled this off wikipedia because I didn't understand what specifications a quilt needed to have to be considered crazy:

Regular patchwork combines the pieces of fabric into a predetermined and regular design, but crazy patchwork uses irregular pieces of fabric on a foundation fabric or paper. This may create haphazard-looking and asymmetrical designs, or the designer may use some control in placement.

Patches can be hand appliquéd onto a base fabric. This method gives the most variety as every patch is unique. There are also block patterns designed for crazy quilt that can be sewn by machine.

Sometimes part of a crazy quilt is haphazard while other parts are placed in a planned pattern. A common example of this the placement of patches is a fan pattern.

The patches and seams are then usually heavily embellished.

Because crazy quilts lack batting as well, this can be considered a two dimensional project in my portfolio.
It seems like you can have a lot of freedom in the process of making one, and there isn't really a specific right or wrong way to do it. I think this would be a fantastic project to work on over the course of this nine weeks, in addition to other smaller projects.

Personal Research Article Brief.

http://www.NaturalNews.com/026719_drugs_drugs_illness.html

This is crazy! So, even though I have extensively researched insanity, I've never taken the time to research in detail treatments for the insane. Sudden Cardiac Death is horrifying to think about. Virtually, there are no symptoms, and you're pretty much sol when it comes to stopping it. Antipsychotics DOUBLE your chance of going into cardiac arrest. Doctors are prescribing these drugs to children as young as two years old for easily treatable ADHD or ADD, rather than schizophrenia, which is what the drugs are mainly intended for. This is hard for me to grasp. I'm just not comfortable being in an environment where prescriptions are handed out like free candy, when those same prescriptions can be so detrimental to your health. And, even more, handed out by doctors. (I see doctors as "Health Kings," sitting on a throne of bones or something.) It would just be so difficult to already be fighting mental illness, and then have to combat side effects of the drugs you're taking to fight. I'm pretty certain I'm going to do my next project on this, ideas are running through my head rapidly.

Caves. (Article Brief.)

Go to this link, read the article and listen to the audio track.

I was greeted by an eager Mrs. Stamper on the telephone.

Okay, cave drawings are awesome. We've gained so much knowledge of prehistoric times by analyzing these drawings and we (obviously) continue to gain even more. I am so baffled at the idea of "prehistoric daycare." These parents were hunters and gatherers, and their children stayed in caves while they hunted for foodstuffs. What did they do in the caves? Art. I can't grasp this concept at all! I immediately get a certain image in my mind when I think of the Prehistoric Era, and it does not include a daycare center. Especially a daycare center with arts and crafts time. The specific cave from the audio track is in France, and the narrator says it takes a good forty-five minutes to get through. FILLED with children's artwork from the Prehistoric Era. Am I the only one wanting to board a plane right now and go see this first-hand? There is so much to learn.

91.3. You learn a lot more here than 96.9.

Historical Artwork

Arthur Vachell - Costal View

I was roaming through a historical artwork site. This was my favorite piece. 

Vachell was a watercolorist that lived in England in the late 1800s. The use of color gives an overall calming effect. The emphasis is placed on the rocks, due to the contrast and low value of their surroundings. The waves and rocks also make the piece symmetrical. Extremely low intensity, which almost makes the piece look gloomy.