End of a Quarter

Girl With a Pearl Earring

(detail)

Oil on Canvas

c1665

Jan Vermeer


"I read once that every four-year-old is an artist. Then they go to school and are taught certain standards for art, so not every child remains an artist."
Bill Johnson

"The thing of course, is to make yourself alive. Most people remain all of their lives in a stupor. The point of being an artist is that you may live."
Sherwood Anderson
from a letter to his son, April 1927



Our 2nd Quarter ends this week. The last lecture of the quarter- Jan Vermeer.

For an interesting look at Vermeer's work
click here.



The photo students completed their Droste effect images:

Revealing The Truth from Tadao Cern on Vimeo.

Creativity, Anti-Creativity and Masterpieces

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world;

the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.

Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

George Bernard Shaw

This week we looked at the work of Jan Vermeer and pondered the question, "What is a Masterpiece?"
Here are a few student responses-

"... something alot of people can relate to."

Zach

"... the best result."

Katie

"... a true form of beauty."

Izak

"... makes you think about the world around you."

Michelle

"... a thing that changes people's viewpoint."

Will

"... something extraordinary in the eyes of the maker."

Emma


"... something remembered beyond you."
Eric


"A masterpiece will blow your socks off."
Will


"...isn't done overnight."
Mitchell


"... happens when you've outdone yourself."
Austin C.


"... highly controvised, but changes the way we think."
Austin N. 


"Me!"
Riley

"You know when you've encountered a masterpiece because it stays with you the rest of your life. It's like chewing gum on the inside of your brain and it sticks there, becoming part of a private reservoir of things that take you away from yourself and your environment. It's just you and the masterpiece and the mystery. It grabs you.

Often you don't know why."

Anne Richter

Here are a few end-of-the-year masterpieces:

Self portrait

Cyanotype

Jamie White

Cyanotype
Izak Gainor

Serigraph with gold leaf
Mechal Harward

Mixed Media

Rachel Levi

Ian's Tree

Crayon

Ian Easterbrook

Digital Photo

Lyndsey Kenewell

Dr. Frankenstein

Watercolor and Ink

Rachel Levi

"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece."
John Ruskin


A short film by
Alli Meyer

Seeking Friendship from Good Day on Vimeo.

An interesting video on 'Anti-Creativity':