Diminish

 One day tons of these small fluffy clouds were covering the sky; it was odd but very pretty and gave the illusion that the sky was absolutely humongous, I know it is but it looked a lot larger than regularly.

I'm really interested in clouds and plan to study them on my own time. I find them beautiful and fascinating in a kind of weird way. The skies here are so gorgeous.

Hemophilia

Allison Harvard was runner up on the twelfth cycle of Americas Next Top Model. I absolutely loved her from the beginning, with her large eyes, quirky personality and odd fascination with nosebleeds. I have an eye fetish, you could say, and her eyes are like heaven.

Allison grew up in Houston, Texas and currently lives in Brooklyn. She not only models but is also an artist; her artwork is featured in the novel “The Story Told at Night” by Lisa Kuznetsova.

After the show, Allison signed with Nous Models Management in Los Angeles. I haven’t really seen any modeling of hers recently besides on the internet and even then there’s only a small amount of work or information about her.



I pray the lord my soul to take.

“Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

-        A classic childrens’ prayer from the 18^th century

St. France's Cathedral

Last Tuesday the 19th, some of the art students, including me, went on a feild trip to Santa fe. It was enjoyable, though I was pretty familiar with everything they had to offer. One of my favorite parts was when we went inside this beautiful church to draw. Our original intent was to draw at the Plaza but it was too cold. I loved the weather though, overcast and what looked like a chance of rain, beautiful.

Second picture April 2011

I've never been a huge fan of churches but I've recently been interested in Christian artwork. Stepping inside this church it was absolutely gorgeous. I've never really seen many older fancy churches and now I want to visit others. I loved the amazing size of it and all the beautiful stained glass windows. I wish I would've gotten more pictures but I had little space left on my camera.

April 2011

The church is called St. France's Cathedral and was dedicated in 1886. the cathedral was designed by French architects, carved by Italian stonemasons and built by local New Mexican residants.

April 2011

The stained glass windows were inpmorted from France in 1967.

April 2011

I can feel a hot one.

I could feel a hot one taking me down

For a moment, I could feel the force

Fainted to the point of tears

And you were holding on to make a point

What's the point?

I'm but a clean man, stable and alone man

Make it so I won't have to try

The faces always stay the same

So I face the fact that I'm just fine

I said that I'm just fine

I remember, head down,

After you had found out

Manna is a hell of a drug

And I need a little more, I think

Because enough is never quite enough

What's enough?

I took it like a grown man crying on the pavement

Hoping you would show your face

But I haven't heard a thing you've said

In at least a couple hundred days

What'd you say?

I was in the front seat, shaking it out

And I was asking if you felt alright

I never want to hear the truth

I want to hear your voice, it sounded fine

My voice, it sounded fine

I could feel my heartbeat taking me down

And for the moment, I would sleep alright

Invading with a selfish fear

To keep me up another restless night

Another restless night

The blood was dry, it was sober

The feeling of audible cracks

And I could tell it was over

From the curtains that hung from your neck

And I realized that then you were perfect

And my teeth ripping out of my head

And it looked like a painting I once knew

Back when my thoughts weren't entirely intact

To pray for what I thought were angels

Ended up being ambulances

And the Lord showed me dreams of my daughter

She was crying inside your stomach

And I felt love again

-Manchester Orchestra

Penetration

 My favorite sculpture of the Baroque period is definantly Berninis' "St. Teresa in Ecstasy". It screams dramatic, extravagant, rich and complex, but has a silent modesty and innocence. I'm overwhelm by this strong climatic emotion then there's this settle pure-ness underneath. It leaves an immense aftertaste...

The first time I saw this masterpiece was on a Power of Art video, (I love these) and I fell in love immediately, with almost all of Berninis' work.  http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Nl2o3vu96QM/

The sculpture is based off of St. Teresa who was a founder of a strict order of nuns. She claimed to be subject to religious trances, like hallucinations, in which she saw visions of Heaven and Hell and was visited by angels.

Teresa wrote about one of her visions:

"Beside me, on the left hand, appeared an angel in bodily form, such as I am not in the habit of seeing except very rarely. . . . He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest rank of angels, who seem to be all on fire. . . . In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire.  This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out, I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease. . . . This is not a physical, but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it-even a considerable share."

Odd

Just a couple of months ago I came across a new show on discovery channel ( I love this channel, you actually learn something when you watch) The show was called Oddities and I was almost immediatly inspired. At the time, they were having a type of marathon and so I got to see episode after episode.

This is off their homesite: "ODDITIES dives into the weird world of strange and extraordinary science artifacts through the eyes of the proprietors of Manhattan's Obscura Antiques & Oddities."

The shop is filled to every inch with everything unimaginable, taxidermy, teeth, real human skulls, 19th century medical supplies, masks, and more. most of the stuff has at least a slightly morbid flair.

After that marathon there were maybe two new shows and then it just stopped. I'm guessing they weren't getting enough veiwers which is a real dissapointment because this show was unlike anything I've ever seen on tv before. I would literally eat it if I could, or was that crazy, which I may be.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/oddities/

Update 04/19/2011
The show is back on the Science channel every Sat. around 10:00pm.

Beauty

"You therefore, if you desire to compose a fine figure, must take the head from some, the chest, arm, leg, hand, and foot from others. . . . For from many beautiful things something good may be gathered, even as honey is gathered from many flowers”

-Durer

Burning

March 2011

Taken early just last week, it was about 6:40 in the morning and was gone in twently minutes.