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!