we are magnets

i visited the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Fl a few weeks ago. it was bigger than i expected, and i was very excited when we reached the Pre-Columbian and African sections. it was a delightful surprise. it was also incredible to see Bouguereau's in real life. i took Beginnings of Modernism which was mostly French 19th century art and now seeing an example in real life, things definitely clicked. it was a lovely day and museum. if you're ever in town, i recommend it.

what made me come on and blog about it was that i was cleaning and came across the flyer and the sticker i was given at the front desk. and i always want to buy souvenirs from museums, but they can be a bit pricey. i don't remember how it came about one day, but i guess because i love collecting magnets, i thought of this little craft. it's really simple. all you need is scissors/exacto knife, glue and an old calendar/advertisement magnet or magnet tape. the awesome thing is that you can make your own magnets out of the stickers that museums give out as admission. or you can take a flyer and cut out the name or logo of the museum and glue it down on a magnet. i also have a magnet made out of a promotional button. i just took out the clothes pin with a plier and stuck a square strip of magnet tape to the back. foam figures make for cute magnets and you can make your own animal or letter magnets. the possibilities are almost endless. i think what i like most of this craft is that it only take a few minutes, it's relatively inexpensive and you can have a fridge full of souvenirs and new magnets.

hope you had a lovely thanksgiving holiday. i shall be back shortly, end of semester is approaching and i'm swamped with studying. but blogging makes for great study breaks and procrastination minutes. sending some creative thoughts your way,

-Genevieve

dream a little dream of me

i volunteered and walked around the Downtown Festival and Art Show in Gainesville, Fl this weekend. it was wonderfully inspiring. i helped out with the artist check in, and i just imagined being older and having a booth. it's a dream to one day have a studio in my house, not because i want to make art to sell, but more for my personal hobby. i would love to have my own place where i could just get lost in art. i'm very realistic and i can see myself in the near future when i'm faced with the real world start to plan for things like this, along with retirement. i'm not a studio major, but i love art. i took studio classes over the summer and i miss them dearly.

i enjoy having dreams, but i enjoy them even more when i make them a reality. i can be stubborn and i work very hard, and my mentality is that no one is going to give you anything. you have to fight for what you want and not be afraid to work hard for it.

rereading this i feel like it makes me seem as if i was helpless growing up lol it's not the case. it's actually quite the opposite. i'm very blessed and have had much given to me. but this doesn't mean that i believe in taking the easy road. i could work a lot less, and it would be ok in society's terms. but i'm a dreamer and a doer.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that i'm not a studio major, but i'm an artist. and just because i will work very hard in my early years not in a studio, doesn't mean that i can't be an artist, too. that's the funny thing about dreams, you have to convince yourself that they are attainable before you can really make them happen.

i hope you have a wonderful and productive week,

-Genevieve

here comes the sun

why hello there. in the midst of my non-stop studying and working this past week, i of course found some precious minutes of procrastination. i'm very interested in the relationship between our lives or work with the space in which we spend it. i love looking at how people's desks at home or work can be a reflection of the personality or point in their life. it's not so much if it's cluttered or clean, but the pieces and elements that string together to form a description. anyway, i sometimes love realizing the mix of things that have found their way to my little corner of the world. here is a few shots that i took while being in front of my computer. i was particularly interested in objects that can be viewed in different ways and can be placed outside of their typical use. enough speak, here they are:

(post-it inspiration was inspired by the post-it guy)

there is always some humor in anything that i do. i believe we shouldn't ever stop laughing. people that think i'm serious and shy, don't really know that inside i'm probably thinking of something funny or sarcastic. i'm a kid in an adult body, and i'll probably always be that way. the first image entertains me because instead of having a symbol of religion, i have a coffee bean. the toy is actually on my desk, i have a ton of knick-knacks and it's a recent acquisition. i have a billion post-its on my desk all the time for reminders and inspiration, i poke fun at my collection. i see figures and shapes in objects and always want to somehow use them for something different than their purpose.

this week has been one of the best weeks this semester. my dreams and aspirations have taken shape and i couldn't be more happy and relieved. i thought that school was going to make it very difficult and unpleasant, but life has a way of surprising you.

With hearts in our hands,

Like loaded guns,

We’re taking a chance,

We’re the lucky ones,

This moment is yours,

This moment is mine,

And we’re gonna be fine yeah,

We’re gonna be fine

-The Lucky Ones - Brendan James

this song has been stuck in my head a lot lately. it fits my mood perfectly.

hope you are having a lovely weekend, i might come back later and post something else. i feel that i'm already behind for november. oh how time flies. later gator,

-Genevieve

in your head, zombie, zombie, zombie

happy halloween! i decided that my costume this year would be a sleep deprived-caffeine crazed college student zombie in the library...except i don't eat human brains, just books. hope you are having a lovely holiday. heading back to eating books,

-Genevieve

today, they begin with you

i've been reluctantly pulled away from the blogosphere lately by school work. i'm currently in the process of writing a research paper for early renaissance in Italy that is due next week, studying for a french and finance exam next week and working on a project for finance that is also for next week. it seems that next week will be one of the harder weeks that i have and will face this semester. but once i get through it, things will calm down until finals. this semester has been flying by. i felt like i just started and then i began to look at the calendar and realized that i'm half way done. only november, two weeks in december and i'm on holiday.

the passage of time is so strange sometimes. i miss being a kid and seeing time as so substantial. hours felt like days and months felt like eternities. now it feels like a miracle if i can focus on one thing more than an hour. it's quite comical because during the craziness of school, all i want is a break. i want things to pause and relax. but once i do get this peace during holiday breaks, i feel so confused and bored. i make lists for fun things to do, like book lists and crafts that i'm going to do, and many times i just sit around feeling so tired of doing nothing. i don't love that i do this, and i'm certainly not proud when i get back to school and think of all the things that i could have done.

but, there is no time for regrets. literally. if we focus on what we didn't do or what we could have done, we don't see today or tomorrow clearly.

there is this wonderful quote that my friend has hanging in her room: "keep calm and carry on"

i feel that this embodies exactly how i'm feeling at the moment. things get better. there is no need to freak out. there is maybe a need to drink more coffee and loose a bit of sleep. but nothing that i can't handle.

"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." - Ella Fitzgerald

this quote combined with one of my favorite songs by Edith Piaf - "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" which translates to "No, I don't regret anything" makes me remember that i am doing exactly what i want to do. nothing comes easy, but it's worth it. the lyrics are lovely and very inspiring.



i hope you had a nice week, and if not, well the weekend starts today. and today is the beginning of always. au revoir,

-Genevieve

renaissance remembrance

i had my midterm in Early Renaissance in Italy yesterday. it wasn't so bad, it was nice walking out of an art history exam and still being able to feel my hand lol i'm eternally grateful to my professor for not making the exam too stressful. i felt much more capable of writing good essays. for the big essay, i chose to write about the Arena Chapel aka the Scrovegni Chapel aka Giotto's Grotto as one my past professor's liked to call it, in Padua, Italy. it's nice writing essays when you know what you're talking about. it was actually an enjoyable experience. i hope to one day be able to visit it, maybe i'll get lucky and go on a day that isn't so touristy.

ok enough about talking, here are some images:

1. looking east 2. looking west 3. Last Judgement on west wall 4. Betrayal of Judas on south wall 5. Lamentation on north wall (1305 for all)

tried to find the best quality, i think the last is not the one my professor used for sure. these are a couple of the more famous ones of all three registers that go around the chapel.

it's practically the weekend, so excited. ciao!,

-Genevieve

happiness is a lifestyle

i have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and maybe it's just pure procrastination from school but i' feel like i've lost the start of term energy. it's halfway through and there's so many things to do that it feels like i don't have enough time. this feeling is strange because i know that things get done. somehow i get through them and before i know it, i've completely forgot about all the hurdles that i've jumped. in the end, it's the little things that make me smile. it's the little things that make me appreciate everything i have and everything i am working towards.

ultimately, happiness is a choice.

things could be going completely wrong, but nothing lasts forever.

Don't watch the clock, do what it does. Keep going. -Sam Levenson

sometimes that hardest question to answer is 'am i happy?' i guess the only way i can check is by asking 'am i doing what i love?' and then that seems to answer the question. and at the moment, i couldn't imagine doing anything else.

this woke me up in the library this morning:

the sun is shinning on my end and i hope it's shinning on yours, too.

-Genevieve

dissecting fine art

i came across this website online and i'm beyond words. awesome doesn't begin to describe it. as an art history nerd, i'm very excited when i come across great quality images. especially since most of the physical art is not readily accessible to me as i'm learning it, it's wonderful when professors take the time to get great quality images. when doing research it's also exciting to be able to zoom in and try to see something 'up close', when you're not even really in front of it. after i saw this website, i truly hope that this is the future of images and that the study of art history will benefit from both the improvement of images and digital technology. both can lead to wonderful things in the world of research. anyway, enough about my nerdy musings. go check it out for yourself:

http://www.haltadefinizione.com/galleries.jsp?lingua=en

enjoy! be back soon,

-Genevieve

oh oh, i want some more

as promised, here are some of my favorites from the slides i memorized for my history of photography midterm. i was away this weekend because i went home. although, i have internet and i take my books with me, the best advice is: 'when at home, do as the cat does'.

Negre, 1851

Southworth & Hawes, 1852

Marey, c. 1890

Man Ray, 1824

Rodchenko, 1928

Rodchenko, 1933

i'm sort of in love with Rodchenko at the moment. i love his experimentation with angles. he photographed with a Leica and shied away from the 'belly button' way of holding a camera. he was pretty bad ass like that.

i hope you have a wonderful start of the week,

-Genevieve

college student caffeine compulsion

it's amazing the amount of energy and amusement that a double latte can have on me. although i am colombian, and i have a pretty intense tolerance for caffeine, if i go a few weeks without any espresso, it's like bam! energy. and then certain things just seem funnier than usual. if sleep deprivation is mixed in, well what some consider as mentally insane would begin to describe it. either way, i have 5 hours straight of lecture on tuesdays and i'm usually pretty mellowed out by the end of the day. after my last class i'm looking to take a nap, but today i grabbed a vanilla latte before my last double block and history of photography was pretty incredible. normally art history courses are in a super dim classroom so that we can see the slides on the projector. the windows have black curtains, it's a warm and cozy atmosphere because it's about 30 of us or so and if the professor has a soothing voice, it is very common for people to doze off. i think the professors are used to this by now, especially for afternoon classes after lunch.

however, today i was wide awake and taking pretty extensive notes. we whizzed by early 20th century photographers Rodchenko, Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, Atget, Steiglitz, Weston, Strand, Modotti and Ansel Adams. i can actually say that i didn't doze off once and that none of my notes have little jibberish lines. i will definitely post some images of these photographers in the coming posts, there was a lot that i love.

the following is a cover of The Smiths' "This Charming Man" by Stars. it's my current addiction. i love the original, as well, but i think that the cover is a great cover. sometimes covers don't do the song justice, but i think this one is awesome.

Be a coffee-drinking individual - espresso yourself!

this quote was too good not to share. maybe it's the coffee, but i find this incredibly hilarious. in a corny, older-person-trying-to-make-you-laugh kind of way.

ok, i'm going back to studying now. use this energy towards my exam coming up. hope you are having a good week,

-Genevieve