Leaving Cortona

Well the time has finally come, it is time to leave Cortona. A day that once seemed so distant is now a reality. We've all been talking about what we've learned on this trip and what it's meant to us, and I think it's a consensus that we all learned and encountered things that were totally different than what we expected. My patience has been tested on multiple counts. A week into the trip practically every piece of technology I had on me died or otherwise malfunctioned. I lived in a room with two other people and was otherwise surrounded by people all the time...typically not very quiet people. I did more work in 7 weeks that I typically do in a full semester with limited resources and once again, a lack of technology. I felt what it's like to be completely out of control: I spent the whole first week in Cortona shivering all the time because i was so cold, and in a small town with limited resources and a Georgia summer wardrobe, there was little i could do. I was used to being in the US where everything is at your beckon call, any problem could be solved within a few hours and things move at the speed of light. here i was in rural italy unable to change anything about my situation. the rest of the summer was spent perpetuating more of the same: lack of space and privacy and lack of contact with friends and family abounded. then the work came and because life and school have no boundaries between them here, I was just as stressed out in Italy as I often am at home during busy school times. every night i brushed my teeth while looking down on the camucia skyline and couldn't believe that another day had flown by.

now on the other side looking back at the summer, it has been such an amazing and in some ways wayward journey. thinking back on being at the atlanta airport leaving the states it feels like yesterday, but when i think back on all ive done it seems like forever ago. getting caught in a rainstorm on the way to dinner, dancing all night on the fourth of july, two massive hail storms, tails of the bro cave, "collaborations", late nights making books, hanging out with my cat and dog friends, awkwardly taking our clothes off at capri, drinking cocoa in the piazza and countless trips to snoopy's.

there are so many things i enjoyed about being here that i know i cant have in the united states. i loved not driving a car and being able to walk everywhere. i loved eating foods without tons of preservatives and chemicals all over them. i love being able to look out my bathroom window at something so beautiful. i loved not having to listen to the news, feeling disconnected from the horrible things going on in the world and i loved feeling completely safe walking home alone at night. i loved being immersed in art, it was intense and a lot of work but it helped me focus and it helped me find good directions to take. yes, i actually even loved doing my laundry by hand and drying it on a line outside, even though bugs sometimes pooped on it. i loved being in an environment that allowed all the disciplines to intermingle. i loved being able to focus on one thing without interruption for more than five seconds. at this point as much as i miss home, im scared to go back, and to be exposed to the antithesis of all these things ive grown to love. i feel like all the work on myself and my art could be easily crushed in a matter of days once exposed back to the reality of what is my real life.

we cant ever really say for sure what we will do with our experiences, how we will put them to use after they are just words on a page or pictures in a book. but this summer i have hiked mountains, created italian pastries, led karaoke, learned the art of bookmaking (and actually might not be bad at it), eaten my body weight in gelato, explored foreign cities, held onto my precious relationships. ive been discharged and recharged and now its time to go home.

its unrealistic to say that i will continue my experience after i go home, but if there's one overwhelming thing ive learned this summer, it is that life is unpredictable, uncontrollable and excellent. so tonight ill brush my teeth overlooking the skyline of camucia one more time, and know that in the end i know nothing and that is how life should be. its the not knowing that keeps it interesting, keeps you on your toes and keeps you moving.

and THAT, is my road, man.

Exhale yay!

I think I am finally nearing the end of the death trap of work that has been this trip thus far for me : )

Our show is Friday which means the majority of our work is done! Tomorrow I shall tun in my piece for the show and my Art History paper and all will be well! I'm really feeling like a huge weight has been lifted and I can finally get to enjoying the trip!

I don't have any cool pictures to post due to technical difficulties as usual, but I do have a great link for you:

http://www.youtube.com/user/NikuInMeatspace#p/u/3/6taZcZXe4fk

This is my friend Hannah's Youtube channel. She's done some awesome (and hilarious) video blogs of our journey so far. I would recommend Revenge of The Italian Cigar because you get to go on a walk through Cortona! Thanks Hannah for being awesome and posting cool videos!

So now that I have regular access to the internet again (for now) I was able to catch up a bit on some of my favorite blogs, over half of which are food-related. I ran across this post on one of my faves, sprouted kitchen. As I've mentioned before I think this trip is coming at an opportune time for me, as I sit at a crossroads of school ending for good and whatever happens next. It freaks me out, but I'm not scared, just concerned about choosing the wrong thing. For my last book project which I turned in today (yay more weight off the shoulders!) I wanted to encompass the two sides I feel tugging at me when it comes to my future. I have dealt with the idea of duality a lot in my artwork, so this was something that went along with that and that I really wanted to tackle and create in a visual form. The more I sat with thinking about my future the more I realized that I don't have a good grasp on how I feel about it, what I want from it or what I'm planning to do with it. I started thinking about my teachers: all this summer we have had faculty presentations once a week where teachers on this program present their own work and give us a little autobio of their artistic life. After seeing several of these presentations I am coming to realize that absolutely none of these people took an even remotely straight path to where they are today, and over half of them thought they didn't want to be where they are today at the time. A great example of this would be Lanny, our GD department head and professor of the computer apps class. He has previously taught everything from pottery to jewelry making even though neither of those things are remotely his specialty.

So I digress. It seems that no one here can keep themselves in a straight line, and I'm coming to realize that that's probably how life works, a series of happy accidents and chance encounters leads you to where you need to be. Working hard will get you there, aside from that there's not much else you can do. With this new found enlightenment, I made my book. A different book than I had originally intended, but a much better one. And back to the Spouted Kitchen link, what a lovely story. I love the idea of making every year the best year of your life. Perhaps it is time I start thinking about things that way, and what about you? I leave the art school today feeling lighter, thank you Italy.

Some teasers from the latest book, where I (a career expert obvi) dispense ill-fated career advice to you, the eager reader. Don't be too quick to judge, this advice has obviously worked for some.

Sample Page




Cover Design
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZOzW-5QrQ4UUPWkiEc79GZW2E7J5803V5amsb6vf2XjlVnSffLQb3mnl21uGPTRIxyMVAk0M_RJuRUPROFO7nRZ1tnFCpI4bRTtBzP4hcLN2BeyI_E7yOED9TSnr_mY972TYVG4gh_E/s1600/careerbook.jpg">

Artwerx

I've wanted to post what I've been doing for quite some time because it's obviously why I'm here. I really want to post bookmaking pics but I don't have those right now due to obvious techno issues, so for now I'll just post some GD stuff.

Project 1 Face Stencil Graffiti (still not done lol)


Project 2: Create a logo design for the UGA Studies Abroad Cortona program to be used on landscape architecture plan renderings. (As seen before spelled incorrectly lol)



Project 3: Create a poster design advertising the final show for the Cortona Program (in Italian)

I went from this:


To this



And finally to these:



Yes this is folded paper and yes it took me over an hour per letterform. Hopefully going to do a more seamless version down the road since we were on such a time crunch for this round.



That's all for now. Hopefully soon I will have pics of books, way more exciting : )

The Mostly Images Post

Ok so I am literally eye-high in work, but I wanted to blog, but I have no time to write. So I thought I'd post up some images! Yay enjoy!

The more you look, the less you see, so close your eyes and start to breathe.

Wow what a busy week! We are in the throws of the semester to be sure. Everyone is getting ready for the end of the semester show, which I can't even believe we're talking about the end of the semester at this point! I've been working hard on a new book and two submissions for show posters, so I've been a busy girl! Almost missed the weekend trip to Arezzo because of all my work, but I was able to go check it out for a few hours before heading back. Tonight I get to eat a hamburger at Lanny's party he's throwing for us. You don't understand how excited I am to eat not pasta. Rumor is that there will be tea as well. I also found some chocolate chip cookies this week which is both good and bad news. It's getting really hot here which is certainly bad news. I really really want to get some pics of my recent work up here, but I keep shooting in RAW out of habit and the computers here wont take my raw files. I'm a techno nightmare these days.

Above is a picture from last weekend when we had Saturday free and I went with Lily, Melissa and Amanda to Florence. The picture itself is not of Florence, it's actually the view back toward Cortona in the direction of our school while we were waiting for the bus at about 715 in the morning. Florence was wonderful. We climbed to the top of the Duomo (all for Steve of course) and then spent most of the rest of the day shopping in the leather market. I really loved Florence and according to some I didn't even see the pretty part of it. It's nice to be back in a city after being in a small town for so long, but then again it's also nice to come back to the small town at the end of the day. Ultimately I call the trip a success because it was the first time we left Cortona and didn't get hailed on.

My next challenges are mastering all forms of the book in the next three weeks, walking more so i can therefore gelato more, finding a gift for my parents, paying off my greek bill once and for all, finishing up a wedding album and two print orders, finding something to wear to the final show (any suggestions?) and figuring out how to stop creatures from pooping on my laundry all the time.

Ta ta for now!

By the time I recognize this moment, this moment will be gone

So the pictures above are all super old, but that is the pace im moving at these days lol. All of them are from Vico on our second morning there, heading to the bus to go to Pompeii.

The top picture is of deliciousness. Yesterday morning I diverged from my usual morning walk and went to a cafe that Lanny recommended for hot chocolate. You can probably tell from the pic (sorry, cell phone pic) that it is think, you have to eat it with a spoon, it's almost like when you make pudding and it's still hot. It is rich and made with more like dark chocolate, and it is amazing. I want to live in that glass. I also think people in American NEED to know about this. I guess I'm going to have to open a cafe...

This weekend is Fourth of July weekend, I can't believe it's already here. Summers at home make it feel like forever to get to the Fourth, this year it's gone by so quickly. Tomorrow I am headed to Florence for the day to buy gifts and scout out places for Jordan and I to go upon our return. Sunday there is a huge antique market in Assisi that I'm going to try and hit, buses permitting, and UGA is hosting a pig roast here at the school on Sunday complete with karaoke, which is always a horrible idea. Somewhere along the line I have another book to finish, looks like I'm going to have a fun Friday night!

In other news, I'm going to try next week and get out and do some night photography. I've never tried painting with light and I think here would be a super cool place to give it a try. I've already been looking at cameras haha, the one I have is probably going to require some repairs soon and therefore I don't trust it. As much as I like the D700, the D300s has video, and after all the fun I had with the stop motion project, I would kind of like to play around with the video. But I've got to look at the differences, ISO handling is obviously important to me and I know some of the models have improved more than others...

Today is fun friday! I don't know what that means other than Melissa brings pastries to our first class. But on the flipside I have to go to art history which means it's not fun friday to me...

Next post: Pictures of my first book project!

I really can't spell.

We've been working on these logos for the Cortona program that will be used on the plans for the landscape architecture project the students are working on. I have struggled with the concept and what to do, but finally came up with something that I thought looked ok to propose to the students. Got on my computer this morning and someone had saved my logo to the desktop and titled the file "Oh Angie" this version's going to be pixelated, but you get the idea. What am I ever going to do...with myself

Being Here

First off i must say that it is nice to finally be writing down all my thoughts and reflections about this trip that have been floating around in my head for the past several weeks : ) And i am slowly but surely making my way through all the images and editing them (again, since i had already edited them once before my computer crashed) These two are of the vista off the coastline at Vico Equense, my first stop in Italy. This is pretty much what we saw when looking out the back side of our hotel, which was awesome. I tried going to the beach, but there were far too many speedos for me to handle, a bit intimidating/scary for your first day in europe.

I know that a lot of my friends who have gone on study abroad trips have had a lot of spare time to travel around, the ability to cut class basically whenever and a lot of scheduling flexibility. I wouldn't say that is the case with the cortona. we have a lot of work crammed into an extremely short amount of time compared to what we're used to. it all leads up to our big show at the end that we put on for the whole town over an entire weekend. the pace can be quite draining, but i think i actually prefer it. the ability to be in an environment where you are completely immersed in art and making art is something i know i am lucky to be afforded, and it has thus far been extremely helpful to me. i don't really even know if it has been helpful in the sense that i am making better art, but if nothing else it is settling my mind. at home there are so many things to worry about and distract from my work and the very few other things that are actually important in life, and here those things are gone. it makes you wonder why theyre really such a big deal in the first place. oh well, ignorance is bliss for now.

i think this trip came at an ideal, and possibly crucial, time for me. it is a great time to reflect and focus on my work and figure out exactly what im supposed to be doing after this. it is my time to finally get serious and to take myself seriously as an artist. most importantly it is time for me to settle the internal struggle ive faced for quite some time about what i really want out of my life. ever since i could remember, when i thought about my future i thought about not "settling" and living a life that made the most of my abilities and being happy. those things are all nice, but they are also quite vague. i cant stand the idea of waking up twenty years from now and feeling like i made the wrong choices or didnt follow my heart or didnt do the best i could. hopefully this summer will shed some light on at least which direction to face before i start walking.

so here i am being here.

so far i am enjoying my bookmaking class the most. it was a scary course for me to take, and i almost didnt. my measuring skills are not exactly at college level and ive never been one of neatness and good craftsmanship no matter how hard i may try. im so glad i went ahead and took the course because the skills ive learned are going to come in great handy for sure especially when putting together my port for the end of school. i had a feeling it would be my favorite class and it definitely is. i really like being able to make something by hand. im on the computer so much its nice to actually be offline and do something on my own. the books have an emotive and personal quality that i think is lacking in graphic design often times. its nice to make something that makes you feel something for once haha.

i started thinking: what if i combined my photographs in a book form? what would happen? a startling revelation, i know, but this truly is a new concept for me. its so nice to feel inspired and feel like you have ideas and work that you want to make come to life. my head feels like its about to explode and i like it haha.

i spent all weekend working on a book and though the craftsmanship was way off point, i think i can do a reprint and make it what i want it to be. i took a few pictures along the way but forgot to get one of the finished product, so ill post those as soon as i can.

im going to try to get more pictures done asap so i can post them here! until then everyone eat a hamburger and some french fries, or drink a lemonade for me: i am craving all three.

While We're Here, Let's See What Happens...

Oh hi there.

It's me, starting my blog, almost a month after i got here. if you follow me on facebook, twitter, or in life you know the technological fire and brimstone ive been through since my arrival in italy. and yes, i did everything you're supposed to do: brought backups, carried in proper luggage, etc. still yet the technological gods had it out for me: within three days i went from everything running smoothly to a dead camera, two days worth of corrupted cards (of rome pictures nontheless) and a completely corrupted braindead macbook. i couldn't believe my misfortune! and true to form, in italy time moves much slower than the US. most of my problems still are not fixed. thanks to lanny the wellbabambabam wizard i do have a semi functioning computer so i can finally start writing on this thing!

normally, i might give you a play by play of all the traveling we did with pictures of everything. but with all of the issues i've had thus far, i am just now seeing for the first time pictures i took over three weeks ago and i honestly am forgetting a lot of what we've done. long story short: we did a lot of shit in the first week we were here.

i flew into rome and was initially very concerned about making the journey over three different trains to get to naples, but fortunately i had three professors on my flight. i stuck with them and we made an entire day-long journey throughout the southern italy train system to get there. i was extremely glad that i had adopted the "pack light" mantra, my backpack served me well. i am finding it much easier to get around in italian versus german-speaking countries. i learned in the train station how to order a sandwich in italy (order at the register, pay, take your ticket to the cook, tell him you want it to go otherwise he'll assume you'll eat it standing at the counter.) of course it was delish! seven hours after we landed we finally arrived at vico equense, a beautiful coastal town near naples. what a beautiful place to begin the trip! we were in vico for three nights then we headed to rome. where we stayed at a hotel that happens to be the recommended hotel of the vatican. there was incidentally a calling by the pope for priests all over the world so the whole hotel/city was covered over with priests and nuns. out of respect i didn't take any photos, but it was a sight to see for sure haha. rome was really cool and i enjoyed the fast-paced chic and modern city atmosphere. and then there was cortona: bella cortona! it really does look like it does in the movie (under the tuscan sun), we have a beautiful view out our bedroom window of the italian countryside and the city of camucia below. it's still surreal to look outside and see that scenery, and i still find it hard to believe i'm actually here and that i'm living here for real! we got a few days off to unpack and get acclimated which was a nice change of pace since we had been constantly moving for the past week and a half. initially it was very cold here: in the fifties for several days and it was miserable! of course i didnt pack any warm clothes so i ended up going to a bennetton in camucia and ordering some sweatshirts off of amazon uk to get by. one thing ive learned for sure about being here is that you really do give up a lot of control living in a foreign country, particularly under the guise of a program like this where your time is not necessarily your own. it's been an exercise in patience for sure! since then i have been starting my classes: signs and symbols (graphic design), renaissance art history and book making. i'm loving them all so far, but i have to say nine hours in the summer is tough stuff! perhaps this in conjunction with the technological problems explains the extreme lack of blogging lol.

so, there you go, an extremely brief rundown of the last three weeks of my life which have been absolutely packed with stuff but appear to be not busy at all based on this summary.

but really, you've all read these study abroad blogs, they get super boring because you won't know the places i'm talking about nor will you care to hear every detail about my life in italy. frankly when i'm looking back on this blog after i come home i probably won't care about these things either. so this blog's going to be a bit different. there will be pictures of course (cameras and other technology permitting) as well as my thoughts about my experiences in italy and even more stuff about the work im doing while here in italy. i hope that you can enjoy living vicariously through me and with your good karma i can avoid anymore technical difficulties and spend less time fiddling in the lab and more time what doing what i came to do: making work and exploring! thanks for stopping by!