First Professional Gig!

Ok, so I have just been asked by the founder/artistic director of the Neil Simon Festival to do the artwork for the posters for their upcoming season. This is really flattering and terrifying all at the same time because it is my first professional commission. The Neil Simon Festival is a professional theatre company in the town where I go to school. Their season is Barefoot in the Park, Rumors, and The Nerd. I think I have some really great ideas for the posters and I'm really excited to start working on them! Here is the festival's website: www.simonfest.org

Wow

Ok, so I just found out that I did a commissioned piece for a Broadway actor. He's an actor with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, and I know him (not well, mind you) through that, but he asked me to do a picture of him as Batman. So I did, but as I was looking at reference pictures of him, all these things kept popping up about the recent production of Pal Joey on Broadway! So, I have just drawn a picture for an actor on Broadway! I feel so honored!

I love having friends who are artists. I have so many talented friends and they all have talents in different areas. Most of my friends are involved in the theatre arts, but I have many friends who are artists in other aspects as well. I just love seeing people create. A group of my friends and I are trying to start our own theatre company. Even though we're just in beginning discussions, we've begun to realize that we have so many complimentary talents. We have a producer, directors, costumers, actors, publicity/marketing people, writers, etc. We pretty much have everything you need to start a theatre company, and on top of that we are very resourceful people. I have faith that we can do anything we set our minds on! It's amazing how God puts people in our lives to help us fulfill a purpose. I know that art can change someone's life, and that's the kind of theatre we want to do. Theatre that makes one think, makes one change. And every day I realize how amazing it is that I have friends who are changing the world one piece of art at a time. My friends are super heroes as far as I'm concerned.

Happily Overwhelmed

Holy cow! Awhile back I started doing pictures of my roommates as Disney princesses. At first I was just going to keep it to the roommie buddies, but then a couple people asked me for pictures and so I thought, why not? However, after posting these pictures, I have had loads of people lining up for me to do their picture! I'm not quite sure how this happened... My mom thinks I should start charging, but I think that would take the fun out of it for me, and I would just feel too much pressure to make it good... So, I continue to say yes because it is fun. However, it is getting a bit overwhelming! It's nice knowing that people are getting enjoyment out of my art though!

I think I get slightly too obsessive when I'm working on a new piece. When I have to stop in the middle of a piece for any reason, getting back to said piece is all I can think about. It's becoming a bit of a problem. For instance, this is the new piece I just finished. It's my rendition of Dagny Taggart's opening scene in Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged. It took me approximately 2 days to complete. However, during those two days I had to work, and clean, and do normal people errands: but as soon as I had a second to spare I was in my room bent over my computer working on it. Is this normal?

Just Take the First Step...

I've said it time and time again, but I find art to be a way to inspire. Through art we can inspire many people as well as ourselves. That being said I recently did a couple of pieces to inspire me. One piece is of Monty Python's "Spanish Inquisition" skit. In the movie Sliding Doors the Spanish Inquisition is used as a metaphor for life: You never know what's going to happen and sometimes things don't pan out as you had planned. That is the first thing I need to remind myself of. The second piece I did was to inspire me to take the first step towards great things. I always want to do things and go places and meet new people, but I don't because I'm often too scared. However, this piece is to remind me that the first step is always the hardest and once you've taken the first step it's not so scary, and furthermore if you don't take that first step you'll never be able to soar to new heights.

"I Heard There Was a Secret Chord..."

I attended and sang at a choir concert at my old high school tonight. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was! Even though it wasn't like watching a professional concert, or even a college-level concert, they were very good and entertaining for a high school. It was a whole night of show-tunes, and the new bell choir (one of the best parts of the concert) performed a medley from Beauty and the Beast as well as the Mario theme song (which was my personal favorite). The almost-finale song was a medley from Les Miserables. It moved me to tears. There was one line in particular that said "To love another person is to see the face of God" and it got me thinking. Even though the choir was good, it wasn't the best rendition of that song I've ever heard, but it still moved me. I think there are certain pieces of music that will have an emotional effect on a person, whether the performance is fantastic or not. I felt the same way listening to a recent performance of the song "Being Alive" from Company. That song makes me cry no matter who is performing it, merely because of the music and the words. Perhaps it is just as the song "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright says, "I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord." Perhaps there are certain chords that just strike a harmony within our souls. I don't know. Just something to think about.

Inspiring Dancers

Dancers are incredible. The ways they can manipulate their bodies to create beautiful images is inspiring. I just saw a night of new, original works presented by Ballet West tonight. I personally am not a dancer, I don't really know ballet terms, and I often have a hard time following the meaning of most dance pieces; however, none of this matters. When watching a dance piece, it doesn't matter if there is a plot that you are able to follow, or a specific meaning you can gain from it. All that matters is the beauty and the emotion that is expressed through the movement. Dance, to me, is one of the most beautiful and expressive art forms out there. There are emotions that can be expressed so much better through raw movement than could ever be expressed through words.

Creativity

Sometimes I am amazed at the creativity of my friends. Not that I'm surprised by it, but it never ceases to amaze me. Tonight my friend Emilie and I hosted a Mad Tea Party for our double birthday party. It was Alice in Wonderland themed and we requested that our guests arrive in costume. We decorated her house and made a zillion cupcakes and made our own costumes, but that was where our creativity ended and the guests' creativity started. As soon as people started showing up, Emilie's house started to become Wonderland. Everyone had a unique costume, from people merely taping cards to their clothing, to a pink flamingo (my personal favorite costume of the night), to the Gryphon, to Bill the Lizard. I felt so much love and gratitude to all of my friends who came. Each and every one of my friends who attended put some sort of effort and creative thought into what they were dressed in. I love that my friends jump whole-heartedly into things like costume parties. I feel it gives a sort of joy to life. And tonight also proved to me that you don't have to go to great lengths to be creative. As long as you have a little bit of thought, and a lot of imagination, creativity will come.

Coping through Art

The other night I was feeling rather depressed and lonely... I think I must have been hormonal or something, but my roommies and I were watching Pride & Prejudice and I started crying during the part when Bingley proposes to Jane. That is usually my favorite part of the movie, and the happiest as far as I'm concerned. For some reason, however, it made me cry this time. That icky feeling stayed with me for a day or so, until I decided to put what I was feeling into an art piece. As soon as I was done with the piece I felt so much better. It was like I magically transfered what I was feeling into the canvas. It's amazing how art can make you feel so much better about life. It's a great emotional outlet.

Vivaldi

This week my roommie and I are listening to Vivaldi instead of watching t.v. As a preface we looked up information about his life and music. It's not as if we've stopped watching t.v. completely, but you know when you get to that point where you are just flipping through the channels but nothing good is on but you watch it anyway because there's nothing else to do and you just want background noise? Well, instead of watching stupid reality t.v. shows that neither of us care about, we put on classical music. I feel so much more productive having it in the background instead of having the t.v. on, even if I'm doing the exact same thing. I love Vivaldi too! I love the baroque period, and he uses mostly strings (which are my favorite). It's just fun and I'm proud of myself for actually accomplishing some goals of mine this year!

P.S. Random side note: Our 2010-2011 Show Season was announced today at our majors meeting. We're doing Love's Labours Lost, Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Glass Menagerie, and Godspell. I'm really excited for Love's Labours and Godspell! I want to start working on audition pieces now! Anyway, that's all for now.

Thoughts from the Wee Small Hours...

My roommates and I are horrible at going to bed at a decent hour. The reason for this is because we always discuss really interesting things when we get tired. For example, last night we started talking about acting stereotypes. We discovered that there are 4 categories that all actors fall under: Leading Lady/Man, Second Character (the "Best Friend" type), Ingenue/Romantic Lead, and Character Actor. Most people have a top three, but there is usually one that immediately comes to mind. I, for example, am a Leading Lady, Second, and then an Ingenue. My roommates and I started our discussion about this by categorizing ourselves, and then moving on to different people in our theater department, and then we went on to random famous people. I have realized that this makes casting so much easier. Once you recognize someone's top three you can then begin to play around with casting against type and playing with different situations and scenarios, but this type of classification is a great jumping off point. Just some interesting observations brought to you from 2 a.m.

A Brand New Year, A Brand New Blog

I am not a writer, by any one's standards. However, I have always been curious about blogging and thought that the New Year would be a perfect time to start one. I'm not really expecting anyone to actually read this, but it doesn't matter. I am doing this purely for myself as a place to be able to put down thoughts, ideas, and struggles related to art as they come to me.

I have always loved creating art of all different forms. As a little girl I always loved drawing, and I started acting at the age of 7. Throughout Jr. High and High school I decided that acting was my true passion in life and became a theater major in college. That is where you find me now... a Bachelor of Fine Arts candidate with an emphasis in Classical Acting. I love it. My entire life pretty much surrounds acting. That being said, I recently realized I need other hobbies. I think I need an escape from acting. I think everyone needs an escape from their chosen profession every once in a while, no matter how much they love it. So, for this new year I have several New Year's resolutions and they all pertain to art. Most of them are things I want to do to work on my acting, but some of them are just about becoming more cultured in my knowledge and understanding of all forms of art. So here they are. My New Year's Resolutions for 2010:

1. Become a more versatile actor. This one started after a friend and I were talking about Meryl Streep and how she is a chameleon. She is so versatile that she can pretty much play any role. There are other actors that achieve this versatility too, such as Stanley Tucci, Cate Blanchett, and others. To achieve this goal, I am going to work on neutralizing my own habits as an actor and I am going to work on pieces that go against my "type".

2. I am going to familiarize myself with famous classical composers, and have a better knowledge of art history. When I was a child, probably about 5 or 6, my mom would play a game with me. We would hear a piece of classical music and she would ask me who the composer was. I could usually tell her. I have completely lost this talent. However, I am going to gain it back by listening to a different composer every week. I will also study famous pieces of art and start to learn about different painters, and art styles, as well as learning the different periods of art.

3. I will work on perfecting my Standard American accent, and relearning IPA.

4. I am going to get certified in Stage Combat. It is something that has always interested me, and it is also a good thing to put on a resume.

5. I am going to read every Shakespeare play. I love Shakespeare, but I discovered that I haven't actually read or seen a lot of his plays. I don't think I'll be able to get through this goal in one year, but I have 3 plays I'm going to start with (a comedy, a tragedy, and a history): Henry VI: Part 1, Titus Andronicus, and The Winter's Tale.

6. My best friend and I are going to start making a dent in watching all of the Oscar winners for Best Picture. And last but not least,

7. I am going to continue working on my newest hobby: drawing and painting. Toward the end of 2009 I decided I wanted to be a better artist and I have started illustrating many different things. So I guess it doesn't really count as an New Year's Resolution since I've already started working on it, but it's still a goal for the year.

Well, I suppose that's it for my first post. A lot of things to work on this year, but I'm very excited to see what each new thing will bring. Happy New Year!

Adieu!