Portfolio-Lauren McFarlane

Another Tattoo Idea

This is something I would like to have done down my side. It is my 11 favorite words written in Italian (also my heritage). It says "life love family friendship sun earth happiness passion freedom discovery existence"

vita • amore • famiglia • amicizia • sole • terra • felicità • passione • libertà • scoperta • esistenza

Tattoo Ideas

So I've really been wanting to get a tattoo lately. And I've been overflowing with random and unfinished ideas. But I sat down and took the time to sketch a couple of the ideas and here is what I came up with.

The tree is in the shape of an Ankh. The Ankh is the Egyptian symbol for life, and the tree with the inner circle can also represent life. Inside the circle-like shape is the Egyptian eye. The Eye of Hours, as it is called, means "the green one" which symbolizes me very well (because green is my favorite color, the color of my eyes, and the color of life). It also means protection. This is mostly a representation of life and my Egyptian heritage.

I would want this tattoo on the inside of my wrist. I have always associated birds with freedom, and I have always dreamt of flying.

Future Project

     Our next project has not been completely revealed yet, but I do know it has to do with sculpture of the human body. This is exciting and scary to me. I have never been good at this in the past, but I do have some ideas of the direction I want my project to take.

     I want my sculpture to portray love and tenderness. Its hard to go any further than that without the project guidelines, but at least I can start thinking about it now. This next project will definitely be a challenge! Bring it on!

Midterm

     I turned in my midterm today. The assignment was to make a sculpture out of soap (or spam for other students) in two days. I had enough time to do one practice round, but I really wish I would have been able to do another. Two days seems like a long time, but no when you have to work and go to other classes. But I finished in time and turned it in.
     I was fairly happy with the outcome. Working with soap was harder than I expected. It is nearly impossible to do any additive work, but I managed. I ended up making a nose. I looked like a nose for the most part, but was a little flat. I could have made it better if I'd had more time to practice the technique.
      The title of my piece was "Who Nose." I got the title because I feel like my idea of creating was kind of random, and who knows where it came from? But i replaced "knows" with "nose" to make it a little more clever. The feedback I got from friends and a few classmates was kind of up and down. I didn't get any feedback or critique from my teacher which kind of sucks, but at least I got full credit for doing it!

Patrick Demarhelier-Photographer

     Patrick Demarchelier is an extremely well know and successful fashion photographer. He has done photo shoots with Kate Hudson, Keith Richards, Nicole Kidman, Leonardo DeCapprio and many others. His work is commonly featured in many prestigious magazines, such as, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The Rolling Stone. He recently did a photo shoot for the popular show, America's Next Top Model.
     Patrick was born in France, (just outside of Paris) in 1943. However, he moved to the United States in 1975. He received his first kodak camera at age 17 from his father. He then began taking photographs of friends and shooting at weddings. He also learned to develop film.
     While living in New York, Patrick worked as a freelance photographer. He worked with several different photographers and soon drew in some positive attention. Many magazines were after his work, including Elle, Marie Claire, and 20 Ans.
     One of his more well know attributes, is that he was the first not Britain to be a photographer for a royal family. He was the original photographer of Princess Diana of Wales. Patrick has shot for almost every major fashion magazine-national and international. He has also been referenced and featured in films, such as The Devil Wears Prada and Sex and the City (the movie). Patrick Demarchelier is an amazing and successful photographer.
Here is some of his diverse work: 

Marc Adamus-Photographer

Marc Adamus is an amazing photographer. He takes beautiful photos of landscapes all across the world. However, he based out of Corvallis, Oregon. His love for nature is obvious in his photographs. He will even spend months living in a certain habitat to search for the magical shot that will capture the essence of that particular wilderness, no matter how treacherous that area may be. That is a true artist to me. Any person who dedicates to their work that much, is so much more than just a photographer.

     Marc Adamus's dedication and proved very worthy of success. His photographs are extremely well know. They have been published in simple publications like calendars and advertisement. And they have been published in more popular media like National Geographic and several others. Many believe he is the best landscape photographer of his generation.

Here are some of his photographs:

Marc Adamus is known for his ability to capture amazing lighting and color. 

This is quite obvious in the Photos above.

My Project

     So i presented my project on tuesday, and I think it went really well. My classmates and teacher seemed to like it. I hope I get a good grade on it! I will post pictures soon!

Anika Smulovitz

     Anika Smulovitz is a jewish artist.  She is a professor of art metals at our own, Boise State University. Most of her artwork, is a combination between "contemporary society" and religion/culture.
     She was born in Eugene, Oregon. She acquired an M.F.A. and M.A. in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin along with a B.F.A. in Studio Art from University of Oregon. She has been a professor at Boise Sate for seven years and will be temporary chair while the current department chair takes his sabbatical. A large reason she chose to get a degree from University of Wisconsin is because one of the professors there was Jewish as well and did Judaica.
     The artwork from her latest Exhibition is called "Contemporary Judaica." In this body, and most of her other bodies of work, Anika uses symbols to express and explore the relationship between contemporary society and religious faith. This pieces can turn out more subtle or they can really force you to question the boundaries of faith and culture.
     Anika Smulovitz has artwork in a permanent collection in the Jewish Museum. This artwork would be two of her Torah Pointers. After her work was chosen for the permanent collection, Anika decided to make Contemporary Judaica her main artistic focus.
     Personally, I found Anika Smulovitz's art very beautiful. Her metal work is so flawless. Her work is simple, yet cultural. To me, it looks like she took a Jewish symbol and tried to form it into an everyday object. One piece in particular that I loved, was a piece called "The Key to the Tree of Life." It is a long, thin, bent key in silver metal. The curvature makes it look especially elegant. The top of the key is a detailed leaf. And the bottom has carved-out symbols.
     Overall, Anika Smulovitz is an incredible artist. Her work is of a unique style and idea. I think that everyone can ask some great questions and possibly draw some conclusions from examining her work.

Artist Statement - Habits

     My project is made entirely out of flour tortillas and flour. Along with fishing line and black paper and fabric used for the presentation portion of the project. Each tortilla has been bitten into a snowflake and hung from the ceiling. On the floor beneath the snowflakes are the bitten out pieces of tortilla on top of black fabric, along with some flour.
     The meaning behind this piece is personal to me. It is based off an eating habit that I have. Every time I eat a tortilla, I bite it into a snowflake. The flour on the floor represents the tortilla changing back into its original form. Similar to how I change into the childish form of myself when I make tortilla snowflakes.
     The title of the piece  is very straight forward. The piece is based off a habit that I have had since I was young. So the piece is entitled "Habits."

My Project

     So my new project idea that I have already started on is a bit odd.... but humorous at the same time. Since we are supposed to make something out of an everyday object, I decided to base mine off a habit that I already have. This would be an eating habit.... Every time I eat a tortilla (I eat them plain sometimes) I fold it up into fourths and bit out pieces to make a snowflake. I then unfold it, giggle at my childish creation, and eat it.
     So for my project, I have decided to make mass amounts of tortilla snowflakes. But instead of eating the bitten out chunks, I will leave them on the floor below my hanging snowflakes. I will also have flour on the floor with the bitten out pieces, as if the tortilla is deteriorating back into their original form.
     The piece will be titled "Habits" and will include a video. The video will be an edited, sped up version of me making the snowflakes. I will have it on a loop with no sound, displayed next to the project. This will be incredibly awkward to film, but i feel like it with show the childish nature of this ridiculous habit of mine.
Here are some pictures of my progress:

A stack of tortilla snowflakes.

The bitten out pieces.

What they look like laid out.