The home stretch.

[icarus]

Stick figures.

Yes. I redid my complex series of portraits.

My final art project was bathroom signs.

I had them standing on their heads, doing cartwheels, the splits -- then the male and female figures traded places in each other's signs.

At 11:30 at night, after hours upon hours of working out the concept, carefully selecting the shell game of colours, two hours of actual painting per sign, I realised:

I'm painting stick figures. For my final project, the one where you're supposed to show off all you've learned in ART 205. Stick. Figures.

I laughed my head off.

But the truth was that to project the concept of the difference between men and women is simply the visual cues, surface details, I had to strip all but the subject matter - those visual cues.

I love them.

When I laid them out, worried as hell, I saw my teacher's eyes light up.

"That's different," he said.

He told me that art isn't about the complexity of the image, but how effectively and appropriately you use the basic elements of line, color, composition, texture. He said that my reworked final project was much more effective than what I had originally.

I got my final grade in this class.
I won't brag. All I'll do is grin from ear to ear.
Yeah. I did good. *Whew.*


Tomorrow: One paper on Sherman Alexie.

Next: Thursday - writing portfolio due. One poetry paper, flesh out my second short story, one description of a fiction/poetry reading. Fortunately, it appears all my poems are done (thank you, Percy Weasley, for my villanelle). Xerox 10 pages from journal. Memorize Jabberwocky.

It's World Lit that's killing me right now. That's where I'm struggling. I have two overdue papers (one from when I was trying to do too much work/school/everything-wise, another - er - I just couldn't find anything on the subject, threw up my hands and ran screaming into the street). Then I have the main research paper due. I have the short paper due tomorrow. And I need the extra credit project if I'm going to make up for some of the stuff that's late.

I'm going to be doing nothing but research papers and writing from Wednesday through Monday.

Fuck.

Fortunately, after Thursday it's the only class I have left, so I can really focus on it. But doing the math, if I don't do extra credit and get everything in, I'll be hard-pressed to make a B in this, due to the late work. I've fallen apart in this class, although I'm doing well in the others.

So...

Tonight: crank out the description of a poetry reading and add part II to the short story. Put poems in a file and print. Memorize Jabberwocky.
Wednesday: research and write paper on Sherman Alexie villanelle. Compare with 'Do Not Go Gently Into This Good Night.'
Thursday: write literary dissection of poem "Autopsy of a Poem", xerox 10 pages from my journal, xerox my 140 lines of hand-written fiction/poetry (weird combo - Life and Liberation of Guru Padmasambhava, The Illiad, Yeats, Harry Potter, and the Lord of the Rings). Practice Jabberwocky. Finish Heart of Darkness paper.
Friday - Saturday: Research and write Spirituality and Myths in World Lit research paper.
Sunday: Research and write Bone People paper.
Monday: Research and write Extra Credit paper. Turn in all papers.
Tuesday: Overflow day for papers. Recite Jabberwocky.
Wednesday: Potluck for World Lit.

December 17th: Collapse. Go see Lord of the Rings.

Comments

[sharp-tongue.livejournal.com]

Three cheers for the artist! And for proving me right when I stand in front of an art display and say, "I can do that."

(My artistic talents top out somewhere around the stick figure level.) *grins*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yes, the best artist in our class had never picked up a drawing pencil before. Her work was unsophisticated, but brilliant. I wanted to take some of her paintings home. There was this tree that was just... mindblowing.

Someone finally asked her, "when you look around, what do you see?"

It's not about how good you are, though I was once the 'top talent' in my school. It's about 'seeing.'

Icarus

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the schedule, babycakes.

-brodie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Whew. Shit. I'm already behind.

Aaaaaargh!

LOL


Icarus

[ragnhildholm.livejournal.com]

WELL DONE, that is brilliant! Fantastic... I don't suppose you'd care to show us your artwork, hmmm? Anyway, congratulations!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'd have to track down a scanner. If I can, I will.

*g*

Icarus

[ragnhildholm.livejournal.com]

Looking fwd to it!

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

Whew! And I thought I was busy. I've forgotten how much gets crammed into university work...and here I've been contemplating going back to school as well.

Good luck!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm in better shape than I used to be for my classes when I was younger, but - hell, I'd forgotten what this was like.

I just have to get faster at this stuff.

Icarus

*grin*

[barbana.livejournal.com]

That project sounds cool actually. I bet the teacher was happy to see something different. Am I surprised you did well in class? No. Congrats.

Re: *grin*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The results were really fun and unexpected, though I am surprised I did well, actually. I was pretty worried last week.

Now. World Lit and my portfolio for creative writing. Eeep. Still have two pieces to write. Yipe.

Icarus

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

*Cheers* Thats wonderful!

But don't over work yourself. I know how killer finals can be. (considering I have on in a hour)

Love your Freis Buller icon

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Well, somehow I don't have any finals this term. All my teachers are requiring a big pile of work instead. It takes a lot of the fear-pressure out of it, but the time involved. God.

Icarus

[kenovay.livejournal.com]

The art sounds really interesting, and well done. *cheers and waves flags*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I wish I could post some of these.

Also, thank you for friending me back. Because I didn't expect it, and it was very nice of you. :)

Of course! Now, if I could just keep up with replying to comments in my journal. Whew. *g*

Icarus

[cursive.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, Icarus.

The offer stands if I can be of any help with the research papers.
I'm online at least half the day this week, trying to get work of my own done and still meet the Christmas Party schedule. I'm sure you don't need it, but, in case it would make things less stressful...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I am so relieved that class turned out well, actually.

I have a pretty gosh-darn simple question, but I can't find the answer to it anywhere. This bloody MLA Handbook style - when you quote poetry, it's supposed to be:

Chill grey eyes and a stone cold bed / Did you know, love, that you talk in your sleep (lines 1-2)

or -

Chill grey eyes and a stone cold bed / Did you know, love, that you talk in your sleep (1-2)

I'm going nuts looking for this little fact, and I can't find it anywhere.

Icarus

[cursive.livejournal.com]

Neither should be penalised, Icarus, but "lines" is more usual because "(1-2)" by default implies page numbers.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This is the class I fell behind in, though writing essays is starting to feel natural again.

Hey, I'm going to go ahead and post that Ron/Percy backstory tonight when I get back from class. People aren't getting the context of Percy over-hopefulness concerning Lucius.

These little trickles....

Tomorrow - the creative writing portfolio! *boy...*

Icarus

[cursive.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you won't have a problem with the writing portfolio, although such things are always so much more stressful when they're going to be graded.

[harveywallbang.livejournal.com]

i sat there, and read those two lines, over and over again, and realized, they were both exactly the same...i thought there had been an error in one of them...i feel silly...lol..

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

So good to hear that originality and appropriateness are rewarded above the obvious! Congratulations.

Good luck with the schedule and all the writing and prep and research. Writing fiction and poetry when you must isn't too bad, it's the looking things up, and getting creative responses to what you find, that can take time. Often well worth it - if you have it to spare in the first place. But the hard slog of copying or converting existing work - that's a pain there's no relief for.

Continuous assessment may be less overall scary than exams, but it doesn't take any real pressure away, just shifts it. Your're doing so well, keep it up!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Very encouraging, and I appreciate it.

So good to hear that originality and appropriateness are rewarded above the obvious! Congratulations.

Seattle Central has some very good teachers, and I'm impressed with all of them. Very generous people.

I'm glad to not have that heart-in-your throat test-fear, but this has been a lot of work this week. But I'm in the homestretch now. Three essays and a research paper to go....

Icarus