I thought the arboretum was very fun. On one boring afternoon i was going to take my friend Caroline there, but we went to the creamery instead because it started to rain. It was full of lush wildlife and lots of flowers and plants that I could take pictures of. There was just an atmosphere of serenity that surrounded the place and filled it with pleasure and excitement. Every time I tried to leave there was something that always caught my eye at the very last moment that made me stay just a few moments longer. I got pictures of sunflowers and pretty orange flowers too. 

            My favorite thing about the garden was that It was so big. I would maybe get lost in it, but it would make it a fun adventure. I could easily spend a whole afternoon taking pictures and posting them to Instagram. I personally am a nature lover. I like being outdoors. It is very enjoyable for me to sit outside and smell the flowers and air all around me. 

   When if first got to the Arboretum, I was lost. It was really confusing and I didnt know where to look. I was following a path that was not leading me in the right direction. Then I cut across a huge field and made my way over to where the rest of the class was. When I got there, at first, I still was not impressed yet. As i was told to go check the place out, that is when the fun began. It was almost immediate. I turned the corner an saw the most amazing blue and pink flowers. They were the first ones i saw. They were so florescent and bright that it was impossible to miss. I kept walking and saw a patch of sunflowers which reminded me of home because my mother planted sunflowers in our garden when i was little and they are still there. As I kept walking more and more plants just flashed out and caught my eyes. Some of them I had never seen before, others just looked better than they ever could. Even though I was walking with my classmates, i felt like nobody needed to talk. Occasionally there would be the mumble of how much someone liked a particular plant, but for the most part for my group, it was just a peaceful stroll through a beautiful place. 

     When I was a little girl, my grandma would take me to this place called Linden Hall. It was an all girls private school, but on the weekends nobody was there. She would take me to the back of the school where there was a huge pond with cherry blossom trees and horses. Linden Hall also had a garden. It was nowhere near as extensive and full of variety as the Arboretum, but it was elegant in its own way. It was so beautiful in every season of the year. The Arboretum reminded me of Linden Hall and i will most certainly go back.

Grey Horizontal

The piece in which I found most interesting would be the one done by Will Barnet with oil on canvas in 1961. This piece was named Grey Horizontal. This painting depicted a woman who looked like the guardian or care taker for the little girl beside her in the picture. The older women looked as though she was sneering over something she had just done to the little girl or told the little girl to do. By the expression on the older woman’s face, it seemed like she was gloating. The little girl was not looking straight forward. She was holding a cat in her lap and seemed to be looking at the ground with shame or some sort of upsetting feeling. All three of the images are positioned on a grey piece of furniture, which seems to capture the mood perfectly.

The year of 1961 seemed to be gloomy. There were wars on the verge of breaking out, the Soviets split East and West Berlin, people trying to test and promote integration measures (Freedom Riders ), and there was just a mass of seriousness among the world at that time. In Grey Horizontal the woman and the little girl are white in skin color. This most likely means that their lives, maybe not the best, were better than the everybody else's lives around this time. Although there are no outstanding aspects to the piece that can converse with the time period, I would not doubt the significance in the gaze on the faces of the two females.

Pathos is shown pretty big in this painting. The little girls fixed stare on the ground makes us feel as though she has gotten in trouble for something. It is apparent that the women beside her is in charge as she lay casually on the grey furniture with a gloating expression. I value discipline and obedience to my elders. If the little girl did in fact do something wrong then I feel it was right for her to be scolded or put on punishment.

The ethos is a little bit harder to grasp but some background info on the artist gives a more clear answer. The artist was born in 1911 in America. He is well-known for his paintings of people and animals in watercolor or even in dreamlike worlds. He studied at the Art Students League of New York with Stuart Davis (another famous artist). He worked really hard and eventually became the official printer  for the Art Students League.

Grey Horizontal to me, is claiming that kids are inferior to their elders. I would agree with this claim in most cases. It might also be claiming in itself the power of color. There is basically just different shades of brown and grey in this piece and yet the contrast in them is compelling.

My experience at the Palmer museum was very nice, it being my first time there. I was very fascinated with the fancy art, like the chinese dynasty statue and all the glassy ones, and also ones that looked like they were used for cooking and cleaning in like a tribe. I would go back there just to see things that I am sure I missed. It was a lot to take in all at once, in a good way.

My blog represents me as a lax person that goes with the flow in most cases.

I chose green and brown colors because they are mellow and chill.

My blog picture 1.16.11 is the date that my brother passed away in a car accident.

I have been given more reason to express because of him. 

I have not added too much detail to the blog for the simple fact that I am unsure what everything means :)

Mad love means "lots of love" in teenage terms, sorta!