GEORGIA


> A few random sketches, the bottom being the view off the back deck at my aunt's house.

Georgia was a definite change of pace, attitude, and scenery. It's a bit ironic, that when you live in Florida, you have to head North before you really feel like you're in the south (the ten commandments, posted at every mailbox), but nonetheless, I think it was a good vacation. I met a lot of real characters up in Georgia, from the 11 year-old who volunteered to help my mom and I pseudo-bartend the party for my aunt's studio, to the guy who makes pumpkin pie fudge, to the woman my cousins called "Crazy Cathy," who lives by herself in a 6000 sqare foot house (painted purple, no less), complete with two kitchens, 5 bathrooms, and an elevator. And while the repetition of quaint country stores got old really fast, it was something different, something not Florida.


> My aunt, sitting on rocks by the waterfall. Still needs some work, this was a quick attempt to get things down before we ventured back

On our first full day there, my aunt, cousin, mom, and I took a 5 mile hike that showed off a few of the many waterfalls around there.

> Waterfall at Raven Cliff, I had to go to great lengths to take this picture, going down a pretty steep 20 foot cliffside. My mom and aunt wisely just stayed on the trail

It was nice to see hills, mountains, tall tall trees and get a better sense of nature, even if the bugs drove me crazy. Last night I had to kill a pretty big centipede before getting to bed. So, as nice and relaxing as the country can be, I'd be happiest in a place where the bugs aren't constantly after me.

And finally, to give me a break from my break (it's frusrating when vacations stop being fun) Kyler drove over from Atlanta so we could chat and get some food. I miss having such good friends around.

Tomorrow I get my wisdom teeth out, and then I'll be kind of out of it for a few days. I plan on watching LOST and enjoying a pain-killer induced bliss.

SKETCHBOOK

Time for a real post I suppose?
Here are some recent sketchbook pages.

From my 2nd semester figure journal.


Same. I do not have much patience with pencil, unfortunately.




I drew this page my first week home from school, the only thing to do was watch WWII documentaries




Being in Port Richey has a strange effect on my aesthetic. I feel like at Ringling, anything goes. Weird is the norm, almost. But when I come home, everything becomes kind of bland. Drawing is less of an impulse, and more of a conscious choice, that I have to sit down with the intent of drawing something specific. It's a shame that Ringling's school year is packed into a very fast 8 months, 8 months of intense work that leaves little time to really utilize everything else that there is on campus. FEWS, the library, personal projects, all have to take the backseat to class work.
And then, an excessively long summer to go to the other extreme. Plenty of time to do all those things you wanted to do, but no more models, no wonderful library, and the worst- very little motivation. I'm really glad I'm working at Precollege this summer. I know it will be closer to the balance I'd hoped for- Ringling's atmosphere and resources, with time to actually use them. We'll see.

I'm going to Georgia this weekend, my aunt owns a store/gallery up there, as well as a house that is apparently up in the mountains. I'll be packing my easel and paints, and hopefully I'll knuckle down and get some landscape paintings done. Because really now, how often are we given the opportunity to paint anything even remotely close to a mountain in Florida?