Friday, November 25, 2011

The End

Well it is Friday night and I'm in my hotel room near the airport. These last nine week have been an amazing journey for me. First off I got to see Italy A place I have wanted to see since I started learning about history and mythology well over ten years ago. Second I got to spend the whole semester studying art and learned a little bit of a different language. Third I have meet a lot of new people that I can now call friends. From the students that I know by sight but have never really talked to at Rocky to the students that came from different colleges and lastbut not lest to the people at the villa who not only made me feel welcome in their home but also took the time and engery to get to know me, and yes I even began to use my facebook account. And finally I have proven to myself what all my family keeps telling me is that I'm stronger than I think. I know that over these past nine week I have been more homesick than I have ever been before and have spent hours on Skype with different members of my family, but I have made it through and did not come back early. So I guess this is goodbye on one more chapter of my life and the start of a new chapter even though I have no clue what that will be I'm looking forward to seeing what is to come.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Just Some Words

Right around 4 days tell I leave Italy. I know that I will put up at lest one more post on friday, to recap my feelings on this trip and what I have learned not only about art but about myself. I have finished my printmaking and have been critiqued on it, now I just have to wait for the rest of the class to go. One thing I have noticed is that I have become faaster at typing so that is a plus.
I said in an earlier post that I have not worked on my journel since we got to the villa, but my life is not that interesting and ever major thing that has happened I have put up on my blog. I also have a hard time writting about what I have been up to and when I do its sounds like a boring list like the local newcasters tell us about on TV.
The next bit is for Mark who when I sent him an e-mail about my essay said that I should have started the e-mail asking how he was doing and then telling him how I was doing. My Mom did come over for the break and we had an amazing time seeing Roma and Paris together. We also did a lot of shopping and had fun eating the different kinds of food, though no snail in Paris. Like I have said eariler I have gotten really homesick, and as bad as this sounds I think that I miss Josie, my cat, more than I miss my dad. It has gotten really hard to concentrate these last few days. I have no clue if it is because I have ADHD or with the end in site I just want to get home. I think that is most likely the latter.
I'm still having a hard time with my essay. Part of me has no clue how I'm going to get it done. I wish that it as a history essay vs an art history essay. And also I cannot seem to find any paintings of Romulus and Remus as adults done in the Baroque period or really any of them as adults.
We meet a local artist today who did printmaking. My favorite part was that she had like 10 cats and one of them reminded me of a kitten that I watch over when I house sat over Easter break.
Thats all for now I will try to update this blog again before Friday, but I don't know if anything is going on durning the next few days.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

This is going to be different

It is 11 at night and I can't get to sleep so feel free to skip this post because I have not slept good in last few week and I'm homesick, well maybe not so much as homesick as I miss my Mom and Dad and Josie, my cat who always sleeps with me.
Being here has been amazing, I have gotten to see pieces of art that I have only seen in book in person. Also being a history buff you can't beat the history and mythology of Rome and Italy. At the same time I really miss Dr. Small who was one of my favorite teachers ever, he taught me about Greek and Roman mythology and now it is hitting me that he is dead because their is nothing more that I would like to do than sit down with him and talk about the different myth that came from around here.
Also I'm trying to get my thoughts in order to write the Art History essay and I'm worried that it is going to be more an essay on the myth of Romulus and the founding of Rome than it is going to be about the Art its self. But as someone who studied history and Mythology for FUN it is hard to not use the history of the Rome in more ways then just the Art. So far I have found a painting that show Romulus and Remus mother with their father Mars called 'Mars and Rhea Silvia' by Peter Paul Rubens, I want to talk about her and her life and then the birth of the twins. Then I plan to use the She-Wolf and talk about the twins growing up and also use 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' by Pietro Berrettini and talk about how Romulus violient nature could come from his father Mars the god of war. Like I said I worried about this essay turning into a history essay vs. art history.
I'm starting to get tired and I don't even know all of what I said so good night.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

These are the some of the drawing I made for the printmaking class.




The book is because of my love for reading.

The heart of stone because sometimes I wonder if I have one.




The sleeping cat because my best friend in the world is my cat who likes to sleep all the time.



The cancer ribbon for my mom who is in remission.







The sun and there is a rain cloud that didi not show up in the photos very well. For a long time I have been battling depression and the rain clould stands for that and the sun is because over the past 2 or so year I have been gettin better.













Monday, October 31, 2011

I'm in Paris as of today tell Wednesday night. Today my mom and I went to the Louvre Museum. I got to see the 'Mona Lisa' in person and also Jim this is for you I saw 'The Raft of the Medusa' I still remember you talking about it in the design class. We also went to Notre Dame and I decided that I like the Gothic architecture then the Baroque architecture. For me it is because I have always loved stained glass, but I can see the differents between the different styles. I will put some photos soon.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I know I have already updated my blog today, but I wanted to ask about the journal that goes with the blog. I really bad about writing every day in a book so I have been trying to update my blog at lest twice a week. I have not written in my journal for a while and I want to know of the journal is something we turn in, because it seems really personal for each person. I also know at the end of the day when I'm here in Italy all I want to do is relax and read a book or watch something on my laptop. If someone will tell me one way or another about the journal I would really like that. I also put up things on my blog that I would have written in my journal so you wold be reading the same thing twice.
These are photos taken in Assisi and Siena. I will be travling all of the next week so I don't know when I will be able to update my blog again but hopfully soon.










































































Sunday, October 23, 2011

In the past week it felt like we did nothing but travel. On Tuesday we went to Perugia and saw the archaeological museum. On Wensday we went to Assisi and saw St. Francis' tomb and the tomb of St. Clare. Assisi was my favorite place we saw this week. I loved who the city was made out of stone and even though it was small it was more beautiful then any of the other cities we saw, or maaybe I liked it more because it did not smell like Florence and Rome. I still cannot believe how many church I have been to since I came to Italy, for me this is really weird because 1) I don't go to church and 2) I'm Jewish, but it has been wonderful to see all of the paintings and the architectural work that went into these buildings. Lastly on Friday we went to Siena, the city was nice and the fact that it is one of Italy's best preserved medieval towns was neat for me to see. All in all I did not find Siena as beautiful as Assisi. I will try to put up some pictures soon.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Trees

After beeing in Rome and Florencefor 2 weeks I forgot how much I like trees and open spaces. These photos from the medieval garden help calm me down,











































Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

I ment to update Wednesday after we went to Museo Archaeologico. I know we are in Italy but at the museum there were some Egyptians artifacts that included some mummies, so I would like to talk some about that. This was the first time I have seen a mummy in person and I could not help but feel a sad for these people that lived so long ago. From my understanding the Egyptians spent most of their life perparing for the afterlife. They believed that the soul could not move on to the afterlife unless they had the right rituals done. Even thought they removed the organs they were still keep near the person when they were in tombed. So for people who believed so strongly in the afterlife, how do you think they would react to being put on display in a country that was not even their home? Or how wold they feel about their resting grounds being disturbed? I know that these people have been dead for a long time but I believe that the afterlife is whatever you believe it to be. So I wonder if these people are feeling unrest in their afterlife because of what has been done to their body in this life?

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

I still can not get over seeing the paintings that I have studied from books in person. At the Galleria degli Ufizzi today I got to see 'The Birth of Venus' for someone who has studied myth for so long it was like seeing the Holy Grail. I also saw some of Da Vinci originals in person. I can't wait to see the 'Mona Lisa' over the break with my mom. At the gallery I saw a painting of 'Cupid and Psyche' that has always been one of my favorite myths. That all for now I will try to post some pictures later.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Was having some fun with my camera. So this photos are weird.






















\








Thursday, September 29, 2011

I have been trying to upload pictures to this blog but my coumpter will not let me. So I will try agin later, but for now I will write a little about what I have done this past week.
So far I have found it very easy to talk to people even though we do not speak the same language. I have also found the people here very nice.
For me it is amazing to see some of the art I have studied out of books in real life.
Well that is it for now hopefully as time goes on I will write longer post.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011































Here are some photos that show how neat Roma is. This pictures were taken in the middle of the city.