"History is about research and analysis, it clarifies and classifies, whereas poetry describes the mess that historians try to clear up." -Walid Bitar, History and Poetry.
Poetry is an interesting form of art. Instead of visual elements such as a painting, or a drawing would use, poetry uses words to paint the picture, or share an emotion or story. It, like all art, can either amuse or entertain. It can be simple in words, or it can be more "upgraded" in it's use of language. While some may say one poem is not as good as another poem, I think any sincere tasteful poem is a good poem. I feel like a grandma in not liking "distasteful" poetry or art, but there are things out there that i think I would rather pass on. I wanted to share one of my own poems from when I was in High School. In my life, poetry has been more of an outlet and expression a lot of the time. This was a poem I wrote my junior year when one of my best friends was about to graduate. I added more to it later though.

"Time"
What day is it? What month?
How did this happen...time went so fast.
I look at the pictures and I'm different
Than who I use to be
I was so young, but I felt so old
Getting older every moment
Every moment...a memory
Don't forget me, for a minute
lets stop running and just fall down
Crash into the earth and be on solid ground
Together
All the moments I'm not with you
All the memories that we won't have
I don't want to regret so please
Be with me...as time goes by
I can't stand the thought
Of not having seized the moment
All the moments we could have shared
That could be memories...
Let's be together
For a moment

Performing Arts

When we think of performing arts, what do we think of? When I think of performing arts, I think of "performance".(Excuse my obviousness). Performing that includes using our own bodies. Usually this means being visible to the audience in some sense. We are apart of the art. I grew up in performing arts, in a sense. Although I've made the occasional drawings growing up, I am more familiar with things like dancing and acting. While we could sit and draw someone, or even draw "something", we can also put on a performance piece and express something with our bodies and ourselves. I think that one can like both aspects of art. We can enjoy the stillness of the Mona Lisa, although her eyes might creep us out as they follow us about, and we can also enjoy the show "Wicked" and television show "Glee". One of the differences between the two includes interaction. A performing arts piece can be more interactive with the actual person while an artwork can allow the person to view the piece without necessarily viewing the artist.

Transportation.

While there are many technical elements to art, for me, apart of the beauty of art is it's ability to help, encourage, question, and basically, impact it's viewer. Have you ever had a drawing that transported you somewhere that you liked? At times we can get so lost in the rough patches we go through, that even a simple painting can give us hope by transporting us to a place, or a memory.This is an oil painting that I found at www.oilpaintingsgallery.com by John Atkinson Grimshaw titled Humber Docks, Hull. It is a landscape painting in both the realism and naturalism category. Look at how he makes the water sparkle!This painting reminds me of going on vacation to places like California. There is something about water and nature that I really like, and it's painting like these that can remind us of those places that we really liked.

Dance

How many of us dance? Perhaps, it's not a professional ballet performance, but instead just a head bop in our car on our way to school, or from school. Dancing to me is a form of expression, it is a skill, and it as an art. Dancing, like drawing, can be simply done for fun or for performance. For me personally, it is a release. I use to dance for a bit, and you have to practice a lot. That is, if you want to partake in a dance class. Sometimes people don't have to be apart of a dance class to get really good, just like artists. Some practice on their own and get good that way. Although they may be lacking in technical elements and in areas that are understood by most "dancers" or "artists" to be good skills...they can still do a fantastic job at what they do. Dance can be fun...but it really can be a lot of hard work for those who want to advance in it. Dancing is like art in motion.

Graffiti (part 2)

Detail of wall painted by PERSUE x ENUE x JAES at the Writerz Blok, San Diego
(http://chriskeeneyphoto.com/blog/2009/05/culture-shock-san-diego-graffiti-life-photo-shoot-at-the-writerz-blok/graffiti-art-writerz-blok/)


So, what else is there to this thing called Graffiti? Well, the word Graffiti itself is simply the plural word for a latin word. This term, according to what I read, was used for writings on walls in Rome that took place way before teens started to write on subways and other things in the 1970's in New York. It was here that our modern Graffiti form originated from. There are female and male writers. One common thing that a writer will have is a tag. A tag is something that you use as your signature, it's like your writer identity. These will usually have about four or more letters. Well, there is just a little more information on the subject of Graffiti.
(some information found at "Graffiti Intro", http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti_intro.html)

Graffiti: more than an "art"?

"Many writers object to the terms "graffiti," "artist," "spraycan art," "graff," and other common terms used to describe the imagesThe best year we show at Art Crimes and those who make them. Although these terms are weak or have undesirable connotations, we think the currently preferred term, "writer," does not adequately set graffiti writers apart from book authors or journalists, which causes some confusion outside the community. Phase 2 prefers "style writing," which is a better but lesser-known term. This site uses "graffiti," because we think this word still has the most recognition and precision and using it makes Art Crimes more findable with search engines." -Art Crimes
When I searched for information on graffiti art, I came across an interesting website called "Art Crimes-The Writing on the Wall" at www.graffiti.org. Here you can find tons of artwork and and those who make them. As confirmed by the site's "About Us" page, grafitti art is mostly done illegally. While there may be some markings here and there that we see on public walls around us, and while there has been a word for it called "vandalism", not all "artists" use spray paint to simply disrespect a business by spraying it's walls or to "tag" a fence as their territory. In fact, there are many true artists who do not wish to be called artists at all. They prefer to be called "writers".
There is something in me that has started to adore this type of "art". As I began to just dip my pen into the ink...so to speak...of really learning about this "writing", I found it interesting and something I might start to like. I think apart of that reason is because it can incorporate writing and because it is so different from other art forms. I read a quote from one of the first founders of this "art".
"The best year for graffiti was 1973," he ruminates. "Styles were coming out. We got into this thing with colors. First it was two colors, then three colors, then four. What makes me a powerful artist, " he states, " is that my paintings are alive, strong and very bright. The color combos make it. Balance: each color as strong as it is enhances the color beside it, going back and forth. Giving style and balance and movement, that is what makes a good artist." -from (http://www.bronxmall.com/tracy168/past.html)

Like all art, I think there are definitely some works of graffiti that I might not respect very much because of the content, and with graffiti art there are many times when there is a message and a point that will cause it's viewer to agree or not. However, this art from that started in the Bronx, has been used to bring positive messages, and bring attention and remembrance to very important moments.

Shades

In 6th grade I had an art class, I believe, almost every Friday. One class I started to draw the building from outside. Our teacher also had us draw something inside of the building as well. It was a nice day and I remember that the sun shined brightly.
What I would like to point out is how on the outside I could see more easily and quickly the contrast between the light illuminating the building and the shadow cast by the place that the sun was not reaching. Have you ever tried to draw something on a bright day and noticed this? Or have ever just been walking on a summer day and seen the contrast from the shade under the trees and the open areas where there was NO running from the sunlight?
On the inside of the building there were lights and shadows also, but in being outside on a bright day I could really see contrast between shadow and the light compared. Inside where I drew it was much dimmer. I think that is part of the reason that adding shades to a painting or drawing can help make it more realistic. It's a simple thought, but true. In real life there is shadow, and when we draw these small aspects of what we really see into a picture, it can bring that picture to a new dimension. What would the Mona Lisa be without shading? I wonder, if we took shading out of some of the most renowned paintings in the world, would they still have value to us?