For this weeks art walk I was lead by guide, Valentina Rodriguez who took us the the USU, and ended at the Brotman Hall water fountain. I golove got what activities were offered at the USU and actually went back to spend my break hour there afterwards.
Momma was craving a dessert so I delivered! But our family’s idea of dessert always includes fresh fruit. I was aiming for a rainbow parfait; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. I went out and picked up fresh raspberries, bananas, kiwis and blueberries (I left out grapes because they were over priced at the market and oranges would have even to much citrus since the vanilla yogurt we buy is really sweet already). In between each layer of fruit I added a layer of yogurt. I topped it off with some cool whip, and instead of a cherry, a blueberry! The kiwis were perfectly ripened, which was great because I wasn’t sure how to pick good kiwi out (I guess it’s like picking out avacado). The flavor a went perfect together and the color was fun. My momma was impressed with me and satisfied (mission complete!)
I have a time lapse of myself making my fruit cups, but the time lapse videos are not supported on WordPress. Disappointing! But if you’d like to check it out you can add me on Instagram: @hmervosh
Artist: Andre Ritter
Exhibition: Fuse: Join to Form; Single Entity
Media: Metals, aluminum
Gallery:CSULB School of Art, Gatov Gallery West
Website: N/A
Instagram: N/A
Andre Ritter is a spring 2015 CSULB graduate with a BFC in Metals. Aside from creating, Andre is a father of two- an 8 year old and 10 year old. The exciting thing about Andre that he is inspired to keep art in our schools as many schools are removing art programs with increasing budget cuts. To make sure his kids have an education with art he devotes his own time to establish an art program at their school where artists come to the kids and show them their own artwork. Just like we do every Thursday! Between being a father, an artist, and directing an art program Andre’s hobbies include beach volleyball, comic books, and The Walking Dead (I’m sure he’s watching the newest episode tonight!)
Andre’s primary media consists of metals. However in his headdress the most attention grabbing media are the tall blue and green feathers. The base of the headdress is made up of aluminum metal pieces, but the use of metal does not take away from the Pacific Islander vibes. There are circular, rustic metal pieces that surround the base of the headdress that make the piece look like an authentic Polynesian artifact. The lamp was composed of aluminum, which one wouldn’t think of as authentic Polynesian materials, however the designs in architect and neutral tones give pacific island night vibes.
Andre’s art is Polynesian influenced. The headdress was influenced by more traditional pacific island culture- the side of the tropics most people don’t vacation to. The lamp shares a Polynesian architect style while giving off dim light; the purpose was to keep the piece authentic and soothing.
Coming from a Hawaiian background I enjoy seeing others captivate more than what they see on television. Andre’s industrial pieces remind me of being a kid when my family had all these scrap pieces of metal in the garage. My parents would let me glue them together and make metal animals. I personally related to Andre and his art, and I really admire him as a person hearing how he is rallying together artists to keep art an interest to children and a focus in our educational system. Andre is so deeply passionate about what he creates and speaks to it.
I give street artist creds because I had expectations of how difficult using spray paint could be. I experimented on a card board box with a metallic blue and golden yellow paint. I found them on clearance at Michael’s, the craft store, for $4 each. I held the can a little to close to the box to get clean starlight lines, however the grooves on the cardboard box distorted how the paint laid. The blue was fine, however the yellow cap clogged. I started using the blue cap for both colors until that too clogged. Unfortunately I couldn’t clean the caps- I used a safety pin and soap to clean it, but no luck. I didn’t get to finish my name entirely the way I had hoped. My family and I are emptying out our garage and they gave me the approval to experiment with paint on the walls so I hope round 2 goes a lot smoother!
Artist: Joshua Vasquez
Exhibition: Vida/Morte
Media: Clear Plastic Trash Bags, Red Rosin Paper, Ink Markers, Various Discarded Flowers
Gallery: CSLUB School of Art, Gatov Gallery West
Website: http://www.joshvasquez.com
Instagram: @Joshybehr #VidaMorteArt
In a solo exhibit titled Vida/Morte, Joshua Vasqez reveals a 6 month project of his own artwork. Joshua Vasquez is a 5th year undergraduate of the Drawing and Painting Program at CSU Long Beach School of Arts from Downtown Los Angeles. He graduates Spring 2017. Josh enjoys all forms of art, but favors using ink marker with his trash bag canvases. He has held a passion for art since a young boy, but never went after the idea of pursuing art until 2 years ago. Before pursuing art, Josh majored in communication studies.
Josh’s work depicts flowers and skulls-life and death. The room was dim, only illuminating his pieces on the wall and floor, evoking a sense of darkness. It was interesting to look into his piece, Los Ojos– composed of acrylic on red robin paper, layered with discarded flowers, because Josh successfully captures life and death in a single artwork. When asked why he uses simply black and white, he answered that the discarded flowers are his color. His black and white pieces on the walls, composed canvases made up of clear white trash bags and black ink marker embody more death as they depict human skulls and a cow skull. A fellow art appreciator was quick to ask Josh what he was attempting to encompass in his wall canvas because they were so different from the pieces on the floor. Josh responded that he depicts many skulls, however in a single piece-Rosado, he describes envisioning a rose. The soft, circular strokes were inspired by rose pedals. When Josh was forwarded with questions about his inspirations, influences, and drive he was short and hesitant. His hopes are for his admirers to draw their own personal conclusions to the meaning. I admire Josh Vasquez’s art and how he does not only embrace the beauty of life, but his art forces the observer to feel the beauty of death.
I can’t say my experiences have influenced my views on Joshua Vasquez’s art, however I am visually attracted to the dimness of the room and how it compliments the neutral tones from the red robin paper used in his flower-centered pieces such as Los Ojos and La Flor Muerta. His use of trash bags for canvas is intriguing in itself because I had never seen such resourceful innovation in art.
I use snapchat on the daily because it’s a great way to keep in tune with friends without mass text messaging. It’s simply fun. The new filters that give you a fat face or barf rainbows are my favorite snapchat features. I don’t typically draw with the pencil icon because I have fat oily fingers (gross), so I prefer looking like a fool in filters. (Above left) I used a pin head filter, but feature glitched and resulted in me looking like a piece from Picasso. Possibly my favorite. (Above right) was an eerie feature overlapped with a blue-tint filter, so I look straight out of a horror film. (Below) The other two photos are from Regan Cameron’s snapchat. I like that she enjoys the same blue-tint filter as I do, but she has dainty fingers so her drawings come out better than mine. (Below left) The telephone snapchat features yours truly. Very creative Regan(;
I have never handled plaster before this, and I was really nervous to mess up. Reality, the most difficult part was discouraging my dogs’ participation. Once I made my mold, I mixed my plaster, but the first go I didn’t mix enough. My goal was to achieve and preserve max detail. After I poured I left my masterpiece to sit- the best part ab0ut doing this from home was having plenty of things to occupy myself with in the meantime, like Netflix and my dogs. I had let it sit for well over an hour before digging up my creation. I was really excited to see how the shape turned out, hoping my mold held up from pouring. I was surprised how well the sand held from looking at my mold. You can see my nails and even the shape of my knuckles. Excited to show my parents, they’re response was “Creepy”. And from my dogs facial expression she was quite confused. For the record my fingers aren’t crooked.
I had a lot of fun brainstorming possible landscapes, but most of my daytime is consumed with work hours so I was limited to indoor lighting. My bathroom is the most illuminated room in my house. Photo creds to my little brother-Drake, the only artistic mind I trust in my household because he gets me. And shout out to his attention to detail after telling me to close my eyes, followed by knocking shampoo bottles over my head **insert O.K. hand sign emoji**. I was skeptical about creating my death scene, but in the process I had a lot of fun and laughs making this morbid selfie with my brother. I wish we had more time and daylight-when you get us together the possibilities are endless and interesting.
huntermervosh 