Eve

Monday Feb 14th:
Well...V-day came and went again. I didn't do much except Photoshop tutorials at my internship...then I discovered this that night:
http://owlcitymusic.com/vday/
http://owlcityblog.com/2011/02/14/dear-taylor/
and I may have screamed a little.
and I may have listened to the song five times (or more).
and I may have become a little jealous
because I may or may not have a thing for the unashamed Christian, writer of amazing music, creative, silly, and insightful Adam Young of Owl City.
and the cuteness of the whole ordeal was too much. :)
haha! Yep, that's how I spent my Valentine's Day. Kind of lame, huh? But it's okay...I made up for it by going to Paris over the weekend. :D

Tuesday at the internship James had a slightly different project for me to do.

He had an imitation sculpture that needed repairs and maybe some new pieces added.

The sculpture was based off of work done by Daisy Boman....something like this:

Little white square men helping each other over a canvas.

Sculptures like that + kids = broken sculpture. :)

So my job for the day was to glue the pieces back on and create new little men. 

I even made a ladder for them to climb up! It was nice to spend my day working with my hands. :D

Today James showed me the finished product after he sprayed it white...pretty cool. I'll have to put a picture up next week.

Wednesday:

Day of Museums.

And Sore feet.

Assignment 3: Making Sense of it All: The Museum of London

So as the title of this assignment says, I needed to go to the Museum of London. I found my way there after getting off at St. Paul's tube station. The entrance to the museum was a little different. I went up this escalator in a separate building and then did this walk about thing to the building. But on the walk I could see down into a "courtyard" (?) with the old wall (Barbican?) remains. They were working on the gardens at the time, so it looks like it will be really pretty when it's done. When I got inside I was struck by how contemporary or modern technologically the museum is. It was really attractive to the eye as well and they made even mundane exhibits seem interesting. I liked how it was really interactive, too. The museum was very easy to maneuver and was not confusing to get around. I like that it started at the beginning and took you chronologically through the history of London. Art museums, in comparison, normally have artworks from all different periods all clumped together. They started with the first remains and tools that they have found in London. I'm wary about these kind of exhibits because normally it's all about the Big Bang, "we evolved from apes" rubbish...I believe we were created intimately by the greatest Artist of all. :) But nonetheless, the bones and weapons were cool to look at. Further through it took us through the age when Romans ruled, the Middle Ages, the Great Fires of London, and the rebuilding/industrial period of London until now.  I'm always intrigued by Roman times and Medieval stuff...I guess it fulfills my desire for adventure and fantasy. :) So it was really cool to see the exhibits and models of what things were like in those times. I particularly liked seeing what they wore (fashion!) and a model of a room they may have lived in. To be quite honest, I didn't have a lot of time to spend in this museum because I had to get to my art class...so I didn't spend much time reading everything. I liked this museum, it was very well organized. :)

Now for what you've all been waiting for:

Eve.

haha! okay, maybe not.

We met at the Victoria and Albert Museum...and to start off I was actually a bit late (misjudged how long it would take to get there from the Museum of London...oops). And they had already started walking through. So another girl and I frantically ran around trying to find the rest of the group...and eventually just called our prof because, well, those museums are rather large. :)

So to start off we were in a room full of Victorian things. I laughed that they had a hoop skirt and other garb that you could try on for fun...because I own a hoop skirt at home. lol. We then overlooked a room with reproductions of famous artworks from Italy. The room was being renovated, so we couldn't go in. But from another floor we could look in and there I saw him. DAVID!! I knew he wasn't the real one, but being able to see his actual size was really cool. I can't wait to see the real one in Florence. :) He's kind of my favorite male statue...those strong hands. :) :) They had some Raphael works, which was cool to see as well. 

My favorite room while walking around was the one will all the marble statues. It made me feel like Elizabeth Bennet walking around Mr. Darcy's gallery at his home in Derbyshire (or is it Pemberly?...I should know this stuff) from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! lovely. :)

When were were looking at The Muse, I saw a statue of a nude lady that particularly struck my attention by her beautiful simplicity and graceful pose, as well as how pure white and smooth marble she looked (compared to the others). However, I didn't get a look at her up close until we got free time later.

You might not understand the importance of the fact that this statue caught my eye. Do you know how massive these museums are? If you were to try to look at absolutely everything, you would be utterly exhausted with aching feet. There are thousands of pieces in these museums...it's really overwhelming. So Instead...I have gotten used to just browsing through the rooms...looking for famous work, of course, but also things that jump to my attention so that I don't spend hours in just one room.

She was absolutely breathtaking!

I had to smile when I saw that the title of this statue is "Eve." 

I've been reading a book called Captivating that is all about how God created women: their passions and their desires...and why they are essential in this universe.

In a recent chapter it described Eve's story: She was the last to be created... the climax of creation in a manner of speaking. 

And she wasn't just created as an afterthought...a tag-along for Adam.

She was his helper, lover, mother of creation (well, humankind anyway), fleshly beauty, and absolutely necessary to this world.

Females in general are noted for their beauty as the fairer sex. And think about it! The top desires of the woman's heart are to be beautiful...

...to be found captivating...

...to be desired

...and loved unconditionally.

Eve, the 1st woman was just that. A reflection of her creator: Beauty.

And this statue spoke all these things to me loud and clear.

Beauty

Grace

Elegance

Humbleness

Purity

Youth (young flesh as the 1st woman)

They say a picture can say I thousand words. But to get the full effect, you must see her in person.

She hangs her head with her hair softly draping down. The sign said that her thoughts are inward in shame, but at the same time she radiates with a fierce courage and wisdom. 

I LOVE THIS STATUE!!!

I stared at her, walking around to different angles for a few minutes. Did I mention that the marble that she is made out of sparkles slightly?

Have I described her well enough? haha! I feel that I need a much more divine, colorful language to do so. She is captivating, mesmerizing, enchanting, and almost hypnotizing.

I do believe I have found my favorite female statue. :)

Intimate experiences like this with artworks are rare...but wonderful. :D I hope everyone experiences this sense of awe and connection with an art piece sometime in their life. 

Artist was Thomas Brock. 1847-1922

"Eve is self-absorbed...her left arm placed protectively across her breast."

I found this quote about her:
"I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity,
and her flaming self-respect, and it's these things
I'd believe in even if the whole world indulged in
wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be...
I love her and that's the beginning of everything."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Stunning. Simply Stunning.

I walked around the museum some more and found some other very cool paintings. Mmm, that was a GOOD museum trip. :)