# 23. Cat

Inspired by a tattoo I saw on the show NY Ink. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s a show about a new tattoo shop in New York City. The owner and top tattoo artist is the same owner from the original show Miami Ink. Some of the tattoos they do are absolutely amazing. In a way it makes me want to pick up a tattoo gun and do the same. Except I don’t have any tattoos nor do I want any tattoos all over… oh well. I still like the style either way.

This piece is actually a new art folder to keep my collage stuff in. At first I was only going to have one cat created with newspaper collage (like the one on the left). But when I drew the outline on the folder to help organize where all the pieces would need to go I thought it would be cool if I colored it in with bright colors like a real tattoo. Torn between the two I decided to do both. Although instead of using the Daily Oklahoman newspaper I used one I found from the middle-eastern language.

# 72. Mischief Managed

Over the weekend I watched the first four Harry Potter movies. I’ve never really been a huge fan of the Harry Potter saga nor have I read any of the books. Up until this weekend I had only seen one of the movies but I have been a little curious about what the story is all about and why people are so excited about the final movie coming out. I’ve always been more of a Stephen King fan myself. Anyway, there was a marathon on t.v. so I took the opportunity to learn more about the famous wizard Harry Potter. They actually weren’t too bad. I watched the third movie Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban and got the idea to make this. In the movie Harry Potter acquires a magic map of the Hogwarts School and where everyone in the school is located. With a few magic words the map would disappear and of course those words were “Mischief Managed” How suiting.

# 8. Innocence

Ain’t it cute! It’s supposed to be a baby tiger but it’s kinda hard to tell since it’s only a pencil drawing. It would look better in color I think. I need to invest in new prisma pencils and paints.

I’ve decided we need more parks and small cafes in Oklahoma. One of my favorite things to do while I’ve been in Spain is to sit on a bench in the park and work on a few sketches. A couple of times I sat at various cafes and sketched the Spanish architecture around me. All the parks, plazas, and cafes around here gives the city a really nice relaxing atmosphere. I'm going to miss it. Oklahoma bound tomorrow!

Dali Goal Complete!

I had a post several months ago about wanting to visit the Dali-Theatre in Figueres while I’m studying abroad in Spain. GOAL COMPLETE!! And let me say the museum was incredible! I talked about 5 Dali artworks that I really wanted to see. I ended up getting to see 4 out of 5, but I also got to see sooooo much more!

1.    Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder (1933)  sadly this painting was not on display at the museum. I looked everywhere for it with no luck. Either the museum has it on loan or it’s tucked away to be displayed another day. However, I did get to see Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon (1941).

2.    Galatea of the Spheres (1952). You’re allowed to take pictures in the museum but you aren’t allowed to use the flash. Sadly a few of my pictures came out kinda blurry because of it.

3.    Surrealist Object Functioning Symbolically (1974) There’s a room in the museum that is set up like a bed room which I assume was Dali’s ideal surrealist bedroom. It had several surrealist paintings, the bed post was made of a fish tail, and there was a gold statue of money bones in the corner. Anyway this piece was also in the room inside a cabinet

4.    Face of Mae West Which Can Be Used as an Apartment (installation) (1974) In the museum there are several installation pieces. There’s actually another one kinda like this but the mouth is a doorway. The whole museum is kind of like an installation piece really. It use to be an actual theater but it was heavily damaged in the Spanish Civil War. The Mayor of Figueres gave the building to Dali in the 1960’s so Dali could have his own unique place to display his work. It took him about a decade to put it all together. He left the structure of the building alone. You can see where the stage and balcony seats were. Like I said, there is no other museum in the work like this one!

5.    Dali Jewels I actually didn’t get to see the entire Dali Jewels collection because I just didn’t have enough time. However there we a few of the jewel pieces in the basement

The whole museum is covered in Dali artwork. In the hall ways they display many of his sketches and if you look in each corner he has some odd surrealist statue or weird collaboration. I really wish I would have had more time to explore everything. I could have easily spent an entire day in the museum. Also, I didn’t know at the time but it doesn’t surprise me that Dali is actually buried in the museum as well. I can only assume Gala is buried along side him.

Here are a few more pictures just for fun.





# 27. Foreign

So I’m currently studying abroad in Spain. Sadly it’s a business program not an art study. Anyway here’s a sketch I did this week. Basically it summarizes a lot about my time in Spain thus far. A historic city where even the broken builds and walls are beautiful, it adds character. The wall is came from a observation in a park, I even included the graffiti.

I really wish I could stay longer and study more European art. While I’ve been here in Spain I’ve found myself to have a new appreciation for the Spanish artist El Greco. I’ve seen several of his painting in the Prada museum in Madrid as well as the monastery-palace El Escorial, and the famous “Burial of the Count of Orgaz” in Toledo. I’m probably drawn to him because, at his time, he was a very unusual artist. I find it amusing to overhear people look at his paintings and others artists of the 16^th century and say, “Why is this one so important? They all look alike.”…. Some people just don’t get it…. NO! They are not all alike! During the 16^th century you were taught to paint in a certain way. “This is what you paint, these are the colors you use, and this is the technique to do it!” In a way the man tested the water to create painting that expressed a story in a different manner. (Ha Ha art joke there, mannerism). Basically, he broke the traditional rules of painting and I like it!

11. Memory

Last night my business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi had our senior farewells. We have 19 graduating seniors this year and I'm really going to miss all of them. At farewells it's tradition to tell stories about their favorite deltasig memories. It was a good night.


The drawing is the Delta Sigma Pi Coat of Arms. I actually created it as a gift for one of our graduating seniors. Below is the complete and framed version.

PTBAD!

26. Tears

So I read an email this morning that really hurt my heart. Disasters happen, people die, and others come together to help those in need. I was born in Oklahoma, and I live only a few miles from what they call “The Tornado Alley” (Moore, Oklahoma). I remember the May 3^rd tornado in 1999, and it was devastating but at least tornados are something most Oklahomans are knowledgeable about. The May 3^rd F5 tornado resulted in about 36 casualties. What happened Wednesday night killed more than 300 people. However, it is one in particular that leaves me with a heavy heart.  The tornados went through Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama and ended the life of a fellow brother of Delta Sigma Pi. From what I’ve heard she was a business student that wanted to go to law school and had a bright future ahead of her. As a senior I've had a lot of time to think about gratuation, and it beings me tears to think of graduation invitations never to be sent. Such a tragedy…  I didn’t know Brother Ashley Harrison personally but I do know one thing; the world is better because she dwelt upon it. Her family will be in my prayers.