Wednesday, May 23, 2012

My End of the Year - 1st Year Show....by McKenzie

1st Year End of the Year Show!!!!  .....by McKenzie

So I haven't even shown y'all pictures of my school yet, so we'll start there.

Here's the front of the school...the new part.

And here's the old front part.  They've basically just meshed the 2 buildings together which then turns the interior of the school into a maze.  I feel truly accomplished that I can find my way around now.

Old part

Original entry

A typical painting studio (I don't work in here, but in the drawing studios)
So the end of the year show's are really stressful as we're also completing our assessments for the year.  We had to do formal powerpoint presentations this time, explaining what we've been working on all semester, etc.

I guess I'll just show you what I've been working with all semester so you can maybe understand my final piece a little bit better.  I got interested in colours and shadows and playing with this idea of mine about "Social Planes of Behaviour".  Basically the idea that the further (vertically)  a person is removed from the ground plane, like where public transport and pedestrian walkways are, the less social space becomes for people.  So below is my first attempted installation to try to say that abstractly.


My 1st installation project ever



I didn't really think that this project was really working, but I really like the shadows and colours cast on the wall by the pieces of acrylic that I used.  So then I started doing the below experimentations.










And then after taking tons of photographs, I tried pencil to render the shadows.  Didn't really like that either.  It started to look too realistic.
So then I tried etching the shadows...kinda of liked that...but not quite there.









And then, finally, I decided to render the shadows using graphic line weights and abstract them.  So here's what I came up with:
My final piece as displayed


The left side of the display


The right side of the display


So there you go!  My shows should be around the same time every year so it would be great if everyone could come for my final 3rd Year Show!!!!

Hopefully soon, I will also post about the trip to Paris and Spain that Whitney and I took...it was AMAZING!  I definitely need to get on here more!

Love you guys and can't wait to see all the Tennesseeans for the 4th of July this year!

Love, 
McKenzie





Friday, May 18, 2012

Better weather and Kenz finishes her first year

The weather finally broke, which is to say the sun came out for two days. I decided to take advantage of it by strolling around the city. It was nice because, despite the sun being out, it wasn't too hot. I hate walking in hot weather, but I enjoy it if it's still sub-65 degrees outside. 

The Imperial War Museum

The southside of the Thames River
Everyone was out enjoying the weather. Rightly so - it was a Sunday afternoon. It was as if, instead of a Sunday drive after church, everyone took a Sunday stroll. I walked north from our place towards the Imperial War Museum and found lots of couples taking in the sun while picnicking in the park that surrounds the museum. Afterwards, I just kept walking. I found myself all the way at the river near Southbank. 

Southbank has the National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, the British Gallery, a public skate park, the London Eye, the London Aquarium, and countless restaurants. And a ton of tourists. And they were all out, walking slowly and stopping for no apparent reason. That's the thing with tourists - and I know I'm becoming one of those people that I get scared of when I'm visiting a new city (the type of person that scoffs at tourists stopping to take pictures, pulling out maps, or just gawking at some landmark) - they just stop. In the middle of the sidewalk. I invariably run into them because I'm absentmindedly walking myself, expecting the flow of foot traffic to be orderly. It's my own fault. I mean - part of why I was so excited to move here in the first place was because I'd never lived in a city that other people go to for vacation or for tourism. And now I have the audacity to complain about tourists? Shame on me. 

Usually I remind myself of this fact and get over it pretty quickly. 

Good skaters were out putting on a show for the tourists

I've seen this guy before. He plays a tuba and fire comes out the top. The amp he is sitting on plays accompanying music. 

Then, on Tuesday, as per usual, the sky opened up and a flash hailstorm happened. And the rain came pouring down exceptionally hard. I should've known better than to think we'd have a whole week of sunny weather. 

Aldwych

hail pellets
But then, on Wednesday, this fitful toddler that is London's weather decided to have a good day. I got down to Croydon for my first round of the disc golf club's summer league play. I hadn't been down to the course for two weeks, and immediately noticed that Spring has sprung down there. The trees had all grown their leaves, the grass was several inches tall, and the stinging nettles had returned. It made for an entirely different round of play than I'd gotten used to during the Winter. 

The bend at hole 9

The tee for hole 9 is 200 feet behind me, the hole is past that tree, up the hill another 100 feet, and to the right. It's a par 4. 

The grass here appears more green than the grass in America, but I could be wrong.


As it turned out, there was a travelling carnival (they called it a travelling amusement park, but it only had one major ride so I refused to call it that) just on the other side of the course. We were playing disc golf with a pop/rock soundtrack all evening as carnivals now usually have large PA systems blasting obnoxious Top 40 songs from their main attraction rides (in this case, just the one - so at least we didn't have competing soundtracks from different rides).  

Halfway down the fairway of hole 17
The evenings had been quiet, because Kenz was in her last week of school. She was burning the candle at both ends, trying to finish her work before Thursday. 

Kenz's socks. C'mon. At best they reflect the amount of work she'd been putting in. I think I know what to get for our 2nd year anniversary...

The Tulips finally kicked the bucket. Our vase came from the McDonald's Happy Meal collection. 

Then Thursday came! Kenz had her first year art show, along with all the other first year students, showcasing their most recent work. Kenz had to make a presentation in front of other students and her tutors, complete with a 15 minute power point slideshow. We're pretty sure she passed - she said she would've been pulled aside and "talked to" if she didn't pass. 

I got to the show Thursday evening, and met a proud Kenz, beaming, glowing, excited to show me what she had done. It was a trip to get to re-enter the school building only having been in there once before, about two weeks after we had moved here. The first time we "toured" the school, it was for the MFA art show and we got lost in the building. To be fair, the building is kind of a maze and we were on our own; we didn't know where to go or who to ask for directions, so we just meandered around, looking at all the students' artwork, and subtly trying to find the exit. I think we were both intimidated, anxious, and wondering what the hell we had just done with our lives.

This time, however, Kenz knew every nook and cranny of the school. She grinned as she took me to her exhibit, introduced me to her friends, showed me their work, took me to her locker, and introduced me to yet more friends. It was fantastic and had me overwhelmed. There were so many people there - and so much artwork! I felt like I was in a museum and at a performance art show (mainly because of art students' penchant for trying to stand out, wearing provocative or ironic clothing - each trying to look unique and different, but all looking kind of the same when clumped together. Maybe I'm just being cynical). It was a treat to see that she had a 'home' here - to see her in her element, happy and proud with the decision she had made to pursue this dream. 

I was happy for McKenzie, the woman who - 13 months ago - said, "Would you be okay with me applying to this art school? Fair warning: it's in London." She's done it all on her own - from applying for admission to applying for visas to booking tickets, helping find a place to live, helping find another place to live, and finishing her first year of art school! She faced fears of not being good enough, talented enough, fears of not following through, not being willing to practice, practice, practice, turning in work she may not think measures up to her own standards - all of it. I'm lucky just to get to be along for the ride. She's freaking amazing. 

The sign on the door. The degree is a BA in Drawing. Get it? They're minoring in being clever. 

The first half of her exhibit

The second half

One of my personal favorites

Obviously I'm not the one to ask about the meaning/experimentation behind this stuff. And now that she's done with school, we should pressure her to get on this blog and post an explanation of it! c.mckenzie.gibson [at] gmail [dot] com - in case you've forgotten. Get her an email that says, "We need you to explain your work!"

The artist!

Kenz with her school BFF, Alejandra. Look how happy Kenz is! Ha!

As I left, I reflected on the mixture of feelings we had when we arrived, during the riots, to this strange land with strange customs and strange people, with no one but each other and, well, simply terrified. It was cool to juxtapose that with what I'd just seen at Camberwell College of Art; as Kenz's face can show you, those feelings are long gone now - almost unrecognizable. We've made a home here and she's thriving in school.

All in all, quite the week. And to think - I was scared I'd run out of things to post about. 

Congratulations, McKenzie, you've done exceptionally well this year, completing your first round at Camberwell and putting up with me the whole time. 

Happy Campers

P.S. How has she celebrated her first day of no school? In classic McKenzie style - she's slept 17 of the past 24 hours. She's still asleep, and will sleep through the night. I assume she'll get up tomorrow at about 11am or noon - that'll mean that she will have slept for about 30 of 36 hours. I'm cackling as I type this. Who else do you know that can do that?!

Have a good weekend!

Friday, May 11, 2012

NBA, Art, and Spring

I think I wrote last week that we'd had one day of sun in about fourteen days of rain. It's been much the same for the past week, however today the sun broke through the clouds. It's glorious. I got down to Kenz's school this afternoon to help carry some things home from her studio. I decided to walk the whole way, because it's just so nice to be outside in the sun. Usually I loathe the sun, because it comes with humidity, unpleasant sweating, and sand. Today, though, I enjoy it. It reminds me of a series of cliches, all having to do with appreciating the thing you've been lacking...

I've been walking a fine line, trying to balance real life with the NBA Playoffs. My friend, Joey, got me the NBA League Pass for Christmas, which allows me to watch all the games online - either live or on replay the next day. I have been watching most of the season on replay, but since the playoffs have started I've spent a few nights up super late, yelling at the computer screen. I know the NBA isn't very popular, so I won't go on and on about the Playoffs. We had Owen over last weekend, though. His girlfriend was out of town and he wanted to come watch a game with us. He thinks American sportscasters are pure comedy; he loves their catchphrases and usually repeats them, laughing to himself. 

Owen intently watching the Celtics beat the Hawks in game 3 of the series. 

We found some Cholula at the grocery store and got him a bottle; he loves it but can't find it in Hackney. 

Kenz has until Tuesday to finish the body of work she'll present at her first year art show. Her last critique is this week as well. And she's got an essay due. By the end of the week, she'll know whether or not she "passed" and can move on to being a second year art student.

All that to say she's quite busy, spending all day in the studio. She's zonked when she gets home in the evening. 

One more week!
"The phone looks weird with 3D glasses on!"
The only other notable thing this week was a guy who fell asleep on the bus and began snoring with the ferocity of Paul Bunyan. I could hear him despite wearing headphones, listening to music.



Ahhhh, London; the stuff of dreams.


Have a good weekend!


Friday, May 4, 2012

Picture Post!

It's late in the afternoon and I'm trying to finish cleaning the house before McKenzie get's home, so this'll be a shorter post. Those of you that follow me on any type of social networking site have probably seen most of these photos...

This guy was hiding his laughter on the tube; he was listening to something funny on his iPod. 

As I mentioned last week, we went to see Master Class (a play about the classes Maria Callas used to put on after she lost her voice). McKenzie didn't like it, but I was floored. I thought it was exceptional. 
This is the set of Master Class

Saturday Afternoon, we went to a pastry shop for our friend, Dom's, birthday. We didn't know anyone else there for his birthday, but it didn't matter. 


Later that evening, McKenzie and I went to see the Avengers Assemble (we had it a week before the States!!). We went to get some dessert at a frozen yogurt shop in Leicester Square (we didn't actually have any pastries at the  birthday party - we had opted for actual food). I went to the restroom while Kenz was ordering and when I came out, the attendant looked at me with a face full of pity. "What," I said, as he turned his gaze to my wife, sitting at a table already:
The "EXTRA EXTRA LARGE" is 3 scoops. Kenz got 4 scoops. 
And she hat gotten it for herself! She hadn't even planned on sharing it with me - I had to get my own. I got half that amount.

We saw some new leggings while waiting to purchase our tickets:


And, of course, McKenzie had to have popcorn at the movie as well. We found a piece of popcorn hidden in her scarf while riding home on the bus...

When we got home, McKenzie complained that her tummy hurt. She's like a child. 

Monday evening had me down in Forrest Hill. My friend, Jim, took me to a small road that serves as an artist's community. There are several studios and whatnot. There's a section of a building - the one facing the main road - that they all share to feature their work. We got to see someone's rendition of the periodic table:





I went for a jog (you read that correctly) the first day the weather broke. I found this building tucked away in my part of town. Everyone says Camberwell/Peckham/Walworth is ugly, but every now and again I find a little gem like this one:


I was watching this person walk through the tube station with this chair, and happened to get on the same train as them. I got to watch her face go through the thought process of, "well, I've already got this chair - may as well sit on it while I'm on this train..."

I'm now regularly sleeping with five pillows.

Went out to Bermondsey today to meet with a friend and run some errands. We stopped for Vietnamese coffee at the Caphe House (see what they did there?). The bottom half inch is condensed milk; the coffee drips down from that metal thing on top. Once it's done brewing, you stir it up and it's all sweet creamy goodness.

DELICIOUS
 I just saw this walking back home this afternoon. Don't ask me:
Those were women packing the car, FYI sexist. 
We stopped by the London Glassblowing Studio in Bermondsey and got to watch some people doing some crazy magical stuff. If I hadn't been on the clock, I'd've stayed there the rest of the day to watch them work. The one guy I have pictures of invited us to look closer at his work and explained a bunch of stuff - answering questions and all. Kenz and I'll def be back there asap.





And I got Friday flowers for my gurl...



Y'all have a great weekend!