I'm Good; and that is where the Pope is from!

Although this isn't a post for an art gallery or an exhibition, I found it appropriate to share a couple of my art works during this time in the year. A few people have heard that the 2016 State Fair is opening up submissions for their Fine Art competition, and I have decided to try and put some of my works in it as well! I personally have never been to the State Fair before, so wanting to participate this year is pretty exciting for me.

I have already registered and uploaded a picture of one of my works (which need to be completed within the past 2 years) and am planning to upload my second piece once it is completed. There are multiple divisions for different types of art works and within those divisions are different classes. For example, my first piece that I entered (Pop Tab Rosary) is under Division 410(3D Artworks), class 4(recycle).

Pop Tab Rosary

My next piece that I am planning to submit is a 18"x24" pencil drawing of Pope Francis. Although it is still a work in progress, I would need to finish it before May 4 at 5pm, which is when all uploaded pictures of the entries are due.

I had actually stumbled upon this through the FORM Art Club emails, which talked about other art submissions for other galleries, and happened to read about the State Fair Adult Fine Art competitions. Additionally, my Medieval Art history professor mentioned it in class one time as well. Even though this will be my first time submitting something to the California State Fair, who knows: maybe I will get accepted and be able to go to it for the first time too!

There is always a first time for everything, and if you don't try, you'll never know what you can accomplish.

WIP (looks better in person)

Pope Francis reference photo

Is Angela Oberer? No, she is Over Here!

On Saturday, April 16, I went to the Art History Symposium in Mariposa 1000. The lecture I listened to was by Angela Oberer, who was from Florence, Italy. She focused on Venetian art, specifically artwork done by well-known female artist, Rosalba Carriera. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay for the first half hour of her lecture, but I did get some interesting information out of it:

Rosalba earned a milestone in her career with pastel painting and did not need a patron/benefactor for her work. Because she was a woman painter, Rosalba became a curiosity for others, and was considered a heresy due to the fact that she did not want to get married nor was she interested in doing so. She behaved in a matriarchal manner, and was the first born child in her family. She took her mother's name, and cared/took control for her family after her father died. She believed that there was no time for men, which is why she chose to remain unmarried. Rosalba was a busy, inflexible old woman, which is the reason why she was described as a spinster. Although it was her choice to keep her position in her family (she did not want to leave her mom), many thought it was because of her appearance: she was not as pretty, which was why she did not marry. 

There was a person that Angela quoted about Rosalba that went something along the lines of: "women protected by ugliness is drawn away from love" 

What I learned about this lecture during the time before I left early, was that Rosalba Carriera seems to be a very independent woman, and shows the fact that she does not need a man to keep her happy.

Overall, the lecture was very interesting and there were a couple of times where art history humor was being said.

One of the works Carriera helped with