An Old timer by Sarah Giotti

Arianne Schwalbe's Self Portrait

READ poster by Sarah Giotti

Here's a great shot of Mr. Wright!

Markie by Taylor Moore

Emily Olson's self portrait

Self portrait by Briana Hehir

Matt Gasperetti III

Matt is a dapper traveler in his self-portrait

This is Matt's portrait of two lovely ladies "painted with light."

Cloud

from Jake Verner

These next three shots are from Lindsey Day

Leah's Painting with light

Leah Rome

Self-Portrait

Elizabeth Silsby

Elizabeth resembles Nicole Kidman in this self-portrait!

This Still Life from Jared Hodgin is inspired by the work of photographer Olivia Parker

Brianna Hehir's Altered Altoid Tin

Larissa DeBruin's journal page

Halloween art from Rebekka Whitman

Here's Lindsay Day as photographed by Leah Rome

Film and Society

We recently finished an intense unit on WWll and the Holocaust, and watched Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List , certainly the most brutal and compelling film we've seen thus far. Students were asked to write an essay on the nature of Evil and Heroism. Here's part of the response from Lucas Annunziata:

Murder and abuse
left and right.
Why, oh why is there no end in sight?
Senseless death systematic eradication
A country brainwashed turning to annihilation

of people who call themselves Jews.
One man's dream,

An entire world's nightmare.

Evil. It is the darkness that haunts us when the sun goes down and silence is our only companion. It flows in and out and all around us; impenetrable by light and unbanishable by man, for man is the perpetrator of all that is evil in the world. Man hath given birth to this infernal hell spawn, and now that he has eaten the placenta that is negative human emotions, he is strong, agile, and immortal. He imparts his dark gift into the heart of each of us, and now it is our responsibility to keep him under lock and key, never allow him to rise to the surface and use our bodies as tools of destruction. Unfortunately, there are those who were never given a key, and as such their cages and their willpower is as weak as the child's body from which they have grown. In the film Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg, Evil is portrayed in human form by the man Amon Goeth. In all my years of viewing horribly depraved murder on the internet, in film, and read in books, never have I seen so much senseless killing as I have with that man on the dominant side of the barrel. He pulls the trigger not to end the life of another human being, but to do nothing more than squash another insect that's being a pest to him. He is able to disassociate the idea of Jews from the human race, and thus is able to commit such horrible acts. Viewing these evil actions evoked a response in me that very few other films have: a feeling of disgust. It was almost as if a layer of dirt and grit coated my body during the course of the film because seeing such depraved acts of indifference I just wanted to wash away the that which had stained me. Unfortunately, no amount of soap and hot water will be able to change what has happened. I believe that the girl in the red coat was in the film to symbolize Schindler's first emotional response to the horrors that were occurring right under his nose. Before seeing the vivid, crimson coat, it was as if the events happening didn't affect him in a negative manner. Afterwards however, something changed inside that man, and he transcended from apathetic to heroic.

Richard Ehler made this Faux Postage from one of his original oil paintings.

Picasso

Picasso

Film and Society essay assignment

A Couple of Weeks of Love

We’ve viewed several films with the theme of Love over the past few weeks: Paris, Je T’aime, Love, Actually, The Notebook, Red [partial], Happenstance, and Casablanca.

1. Cite 5 different types of love depicted in these films and discuss the relationships between these lovers [ or non-lovers, as it were.] What makes each relationship meaningful? Did some loves seem more profound than others? Which relationships could you relate to?

2. Despite your age or gender, there is a lot we can all learn from the film The Notebook.

[Q] Did Allie’s mother show love by intercepting Noah’s letters? Did she think she was showing love? How?

[Q] Later in the movie Allie realized that when she was with her fiancé, she had changed. How had she changed?

[Q] Have you ever been in a relationship [or close friendship] that seemed to change who you were? Did others notice this about your relationship?

[Q] Why is it important that we remain who we are in our relationships with others?

When Noah is asked by his children to come home, he replies, “My home is with your mother.” Noah exemplifies commitment in this movie. Noah faithfully reads to his wife hoping she will have lucid moments that he can share with her, and for those few moments in time, it is as if they have always been together. Sadly, the moments are few and far between. When she slips away into her other world, the loneliness is evident on Noah’s face as he once again becomes a stranger to her. Allie is aware of her identity as Noah lies down next to her, never to be apart again.

[Q] Do you see many examples of commitment in your life?

[Q] How do you think Noah’s family felt about his staying with Allie?

[Q] Name a couple you know who has been married for many years. What do you think is the reason for their commitment?

[ I don’t think I mentioned this in class, but the director Nick Cassavetes is Gena Rowlands son. She was married to his dad, John Cassavetes, for around 45 years until his death in 1989.]

Casablanca is the ultimate love story [IMHO] and AFI calls it the second best movie ever made. What makes this particular love story so powerful? What other aspects of the film did you like? Describe Rick. What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? Does he make the right choice at the end?

Your paper should be 3-4 pages and will be due Friday October 19.

My Friend Bill Muench is my friend bill muench.

Marc Chagall

Lucy Prouty made this wonderful "Sweet 16" card

and she could sell this design to Hallmark!

Abby Marsh chose to honor Paris in her Faux postage

Jared Hodgin captured this nostalgic Fall landscape.

Kara Shuhart's Bicycle wheel...

...and one from Elizabeth Silsby

Paint Stamp by Ruby Madden

This is Lizzy Farley's stamp.

"Faux Postage" by James Cote-Abel

Ben Anton created this sheet of "Faux Postage" in Graphic Design

This is Jacob Verner's Point of View shot for Digifoto

This is Jillian Deibold's stamp.

David McGrath was the first one finished with his Number assignment.

This is Taylor Dear's photo with empasis on line.

Brittany Allen's digital capture of a stairway on Campus.

Galen Mooney captured this sensitive portrait of her younger brother for Digital Photography class.

Welcome to Art from the Heart

This blog has been created to share the work of my wonderful students with any and all who enter here. Each day we explore a variety of arts in my classes. Today we learned about Apertures and Shutter speeds in Photo, we made collages with handmade paper in Mixed Media, and viewed the compelling film by Mira Sorvino Human Trafficking in Film and Society.