My Museum Visit<3

The photo on my Left shows me at the J. Paul Getty Museum on the foot hills of the Santa Monica Mountains.  My older sister told me all about this Museum and how we had to go when I visited her. When we got there, we decided to walk around ourselves and take our time, rather than going trough one of the many tours they had set up for everyone. Some popular tours were the Architecture Tour, the Garden Tour, and the Collection Highlights Tour.  I saw many amazing pieces by famous artists like Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin! After walking around most of the museum, i became really inspired draw! Conveniently located right in front of me, was a table set up with pencils, paper and a beautiful classical sculpture, waiting to be drawn! It was a great experience and so memorable! We left the museum shortly after that because i tripped down the stairs, too busy laughing at my sister who had a band aid stuck to the bottom of her sandal, to look where I was going! It was pretty funny! =)

The photo to the left probably looks pretty familiar to most of you who visited the Tech Museum when Leonardo Da Vinci was there! I went with my mom, my sister and her boyfriend and we went through the tour they had set up there. This is a photo of my in front of a gigantic sculpture of a horse's front legs! The Exhibition was amazing, and i really hadn't realized how much of a genius this man really was until this visit. My absolute favorite part was downstairs where his two paintings were. The paintings were absolutely gorgeous! We were talking to the security guard and he told us that the Italian Police came with the Paintings, and the people in the plane that they were in had no clue until after they landed that the paintings were there with them! He told us that when the Tech called the Italian Police to ask when they would arrive, they told them they couldn't give them any information. He said that he was expecting them to come in a swat truck, but they showed up in an old beaten up meat truck because it was all under cover! The paintings were in metal boxes and when they came out of the truck, the SWAT team jumped out and surrounded the building! Haha! The story was CRAZY and i was soo glad we spoke to the Security Guard because he made our experience so much more memorable!

Undirected Blog #3

The image below is the"Eagle Brooch" from the Early Middle Ages made by the Visigoths. The bird is represented in flight with its wings spread out and it is covered in colorful gems. The eyes pop and the beak looks like a hook! The image of this eagle was very popular in Western art. It's meaning has evolved over the years from an ancient sun symbol, to a symbol of Rome. To the Visigoths, who adopted Christianity in 589, this would represent Saint John.



The reading and my blog has mentioned that the eagle was once a symbol of Rome, which i find interesting because now the bald eagle is a symbol of America and all of it's freedom! It was accepted as our National bird with the Great Seal of the U.S. in 1782. This image also shows an eagle with it's wings spread out as if it were about to take off, just as the Eagle Brooch. Like the visgroths, we wear bald eagle pendents, earrings and even pins! Our meaning of patriotism has nothing to do with their meaning of religion, but they look very similar!

Undirected Blog #2

Today i went to the Getty Museum and noticed a particular piece of art that reminded me of the reading for this week! It was a painting done by Ricci of Perseus in battle using his "secret weapon"...Medusa's head. The painting was an image of Perseus holding out the freshly chopped, hideous head toward his enemy, Phineus. The enemy was shielding his face to prevent himself from turning to stone! Around him were fallen soldiers, either enemies that were wounded, or turned to stone. It had a triumphant feel, yet some sort of darkness as well. In the end, Phineus, and his pleading soldiers couldn't escape the stare and were turned to stone. I was drawn to the vivid red color used for Perseus' clothing, and noticed his shade of color was slightly brighter than others, which for me, escalated a feeling of real victory for Perseus.
The image below can be found in our textbook in chapter 5(Greek art), page 119. When i originally read on Medusa, i became interested in the story, so i felt really fortunate to be in the presence of the piece at the Getty! This particular relief was found at the Temple of Artemis on the island of Corfu. It is now located in the Archaeological Museum in Corfu. It was carved out of a slab of limestone and was a little over 9 ft. tall! Greek art and mythology is a huge interest of mine, so this story and image easily caught my attention!

Undirected Blog #1

This picture on the left is an example of a typical home from the Northern coast of Scotland in the Neolithic time period. The type of construction used is called Post-and-Lintel and Corbel. This particular picture is a re-creation of a room in the Skara Brea Village (see page 15, image I-15). This room was built by layering stone. What appealed to me most about this photo are the walls. This interior looks very modern to me for the time period it was created. The sharp edges and angles look very contemporary and similar to the picture on the bottom left. Although the walls were created by different material, they both produce the same look. The sharp angles and staircase on the bottom photo remind me of the shelves in the top photo. Although the rectangular shapes seen under the staircase are not used as beds, they look very similar to the beds on the top photo. I find it really interesting that we are using the same styles as our prehistoric ancestors did thousands of years BCE. I wonder if their architecture has influence in our modern day buildings!

About Me

This is my four year old kitty named Mitten. We adopted her from the Humane Society when she was about eight months old. She was found on the streets of Tasman Drive. Her origonal name from the shelter was Georgia...and i had to change that. My family and i thought Mitten was an appropriate name because of her surprisingly large paws! This picture emphasizes her paws and the meaning of her name. I also have a dog named Brandy who we rescued from an abused Shetie center. She was four when we took her in, and is now ten years old. My family love our animals so much and i don't know what i would do without them! I have had such a passion for animals since i was a little girl, and have dreamed of becoming a Vet. As i grew older, the idea became a little less realistic only because of the negative parts of the job. I could never put an animal to sleep, even if it was the right thing to do! It would be just too hard for me. Now i am thinking about Architecture. I think this could be a great future for me because i LOVE to draw and design. There are a few downfalls, now a days, a lot of people design using computers and new technology. This is only my first year at West Valley, so i still have some time to decide what my future will hold for me.

This picture was taken at the Santa Teresa Historical Park. My mom and I went to a photography class and sat through a two hour lecture on different cameras and angles...which was not what we expected! After the class was over, my mom and i decided to take a walk around the historical park and take a few pictures (we thought the class would include taking pics!). As we explored, we learned that the land was actually a Native American Cemetery! The tribe that had lived here was called the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. I wondered how a national park was built on top of this land, a worker there explained that it is not a recognized tribe becuase they don't have a full alphabet! My mom and i left the park with a lot of great pictures like this one. The woman in the picture is my mom! She is the hardest working person I know. My mom and dad came to America from Iran when they were about 18 years old for college. They didn't have any family here and literally worked their way up from nothing. My mom is now a special education teacher and my dad is an electrical engineer. This inspires me to do really well in school and get an amazing job in something I'm really passionate about.