The middle of all terms.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganwieczorek/

This semester has been pretty interesting for me because I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I came into this class. At first I was wary of the whole concept of studying the human body, not that I don't see the beauty, rather I wasn't necessary comfortable staring at it. It turns out that I wasn't uncomfortable at all because the classroom setting gave me an odd sense of confidence in both my purpose and the model's. This semester I have learned a great deal about the human form and the muscles that make up the human form and cause us to move in the ways that we do. I will regret saying that I still have only a general knowledge of the muscles and I wish that I could look at the figure and point out the names and their exact funtion, I can usually point out where the muscles connect and how they are in comparison to the body but that is really quite different than having to memorize all of the names. Hopefully I will improve on that over the course of the second half of the semester. Since day one of this class I feel as if I haven't improved as much as I'd like to and I think this is partially because of the information that flows through my brain while drawing. The beginning of the semesters always seems drawn out and more introductory than the middle where we're all running around like chickens with our heads cut off. The way that this relates to life drawing is because when I look for so long at the figure I find myself trying to find every little detail and how they all flow together, and it seems to take away from the real focus of the drawing. For some people this might be helpful but for me it seems that it's more difficult to draw and think at the same time... Who said that women were good at multi-tasking? Don't get me wrong, I like knowing the information, it just seems to hinder more than help me because throughout my whole life I have made a practice out of over analyzing things. Throughout the second half of the semester I would like to learn to tie the figure into a more emotional context. I think that it would be cool to be able to work on a figure drawing outside of class where the figure can become more involved in a different context, or become more personal as something that we can study continuously. I really do enjoy this class, as of right now I am at a happy medium, and I hope that as we progress I will be able to learn more and improve in all that we have been working on thus far and all that we continue to learn. The reason as to why I chose this picture for my post is because I found that when I began to look back at my drawings, and actually spent time photographing and making mental notes, I realized just how beautiful some of the compositions of our gesture drawings can be. This one stood out most to me because of the way that both the contrast of the vine v. compressed and the finished figure v. the egg look in the end. I feel as if having all of these changes on one page has helped me in the way of being able to look back and see a progression. I hope that you all have beautiful and safe spring breaks.

Render me experienced and unbelievable.

This is not my drawing but Lord I wish it was... This week has been anything but void of complications and lack of time management. I had to miss class on Friday due to an unavoidable work schedule to which I had to travel nearly 2 hours and work for the whole weekend. I'm guessing that I missed a long drawing on Friday, and I missed the male model which I believe to be more challenging than the female model. I have learned a great deal this week and the number one thing that I learned is that sometimes life jumps out at you when you least expect it and schedules overlap and you have to use critical thinking in order to figure out what is most necessary at the time. Here I say this right now when I'm down to the deadline in three of my classes and sitting at the table at home 90+ miles away from school on a Sunday night trying to balance school, family, and work. I have an immense amount of respect for teachers and what they have to do. Alright, back on topic: This last week in drawing we worked on molding our muscles and studying the female figure. I found Monday was quite beneficial because professor Fichter walked around and took time explaining the individual muscles and how they formed onto the body. She hadn't had time for mine previously so I needed to change a lot but I find it more helpful to know now rather than wait until the last minute and realize that everything needs to be switched around and elongated and such. The reason that I used this picture in this weeks post is because I happened upon it when I was researching information on artists for another assignment, and as it turns out this drawing was done by a homeless artist. For me, of course, this was beautiful and I thought that I'd share it with my Grandmother... Her response was not expected (ha). She turned to me and said "Well, he's homeless because he probably has an art degree!?" My Mother and I exchanged looks and laughed it off but I did think that her response was interesting. I've heard several times that I'm just "taking up space" but I still keep up on my art degree and remain hopeful that if I never do find a job then I will at least stay happy for the rest of my life.

Sometimes they'll paint your box gold.

A great deal has happened this week and I'm still unable to wrap my mind around all of it. Though I wish that I could sit here and type 300+ words about life drawing that just seems illogical for me and I apologize for that ahead of time. I believe that our art is directly influenced by our lives and what is going on around us not only in our institution but in our state, in our country, in our world. Now, this may seem like it's going somewhere that a great number of people would rather not see it go and well... depending on who you are I suppose it is. So I'm going to start rambling because I am a bundle full of passion and a powder keg ready to explode. Some things that really bug me: People who spout nonsense about issues that they are not educated in, people who call names and argue simply because they like to, and people who don't allow others to express their opinions without continuously bashing them. Now I'm no saint and I do realize that I have done this many times in my life but in this case things have changed and I'm not going to sit back and take all of this anymore. I already knew a little about the rally and the protesting and yada yada but this morning it started to get personal. A professor of mine that I respect greatly spoke in front of the class about the "Budget Repair Bill" and the impact that it would have on our professors and in turn on all of us students. The professors in my department are already on a 3% pay cut in order to hold onto some of the more experienced educators and now they're expected do lose somewhere around 17% of their salaries. It's not only the professors and all the educators around the state but it's all state employees that are expected to make this sacrifice. I know that not everyone agrees that this should be protested but as a college student at a university in Wisconsin it sure makes me wonder where our tuition money is going. I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned a conversation she had with a custodian who has worked at Stout for nearly 30 years, she stated that her pay would now be reduced to around 7 dollars an hour when she could earn more than that working in the drive through at a fast food restaurant. What is keeping our professors and other state workers here in Wisconsin when they could be making more money instructing at almost any community college in the surrounding states? I have heard many complaints from students about this issue and most of them are about them wasting tuition money for their professors to protest. I'll stand firm in my beliefs that I would much rather be taught by a professor that is not afraid to stand up for their rights than one who bends over and takes it. Now most of this might have seemed like rambling on about nothing but I encourage you to look more into the subject and find your voice in the matter. I respect different opinions and I listen to opposing arguments, I don't expect for you to change yours and don't think for a second that you can change mine.

Nobody fed the creature and the creature died.

This last week had a lot of ups and downs and unfortunately they all had to do with the art program and my brain trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life... I know that this might be a recurring theme being that I am in college and should probably try to figure these things out as soon as possible, but whenever I do it causes more harm than good. At the beginning of this last week my friend Lauren and I moved into our sculpture studio space and then things really started getting serious. I am blessed to be able to surround myself with wise upperclassmen that know more about what they're doing and where they're going but it also stresses me out more than it probably should. We are brainstorming for our first sculpture project and I'm not as far as I'd like to be but I have been distracted by other classes and that doesn't help much. Also, these last two weeks we have had a show in the student gallery that has been up and it took up an hour of my time every day... So this is the start of some of the downs; The show failed because as a group we didn't work as collectively as we should have and I regret that I hadn't mentioned anything to the class about that but what's done is done. Lars told us that our issue was that nobody fed the creature and the creature died, and I think that I am going to start to bring that idea into my practice more than I have been. If we have creative ideas that we let sit in the back of our brains and we don't constantly feed them than how are they supposed to grow? I figure that since this is a life drawing post than I should probably address the class and talk about this week's progress. At the beginning of the week I felt a great deal more confident than I did at the end of the week when I walked around and took a look at the drawings made by the rest of the class. I thought for awhile that I was getting the ribs right but I think I am going to need to start to search for models on my free time because I might need twice as much work as the rest of my classmates when it comes to this course. It was interesting to have a male model at the end of the week because it gave me a chance to see the difference between the curves in the female figure and the opposite in the men's figure. Tonight I just got back from molding the muscles on my skeleton and I am pleased to report that I am actually doing quite a lot better with it than I was before, I think that the model that we can look at helps because when I look at the book I get more confused than I should be as to where the muscles go on the bones and what not. I hope that I improve in my drawings this week because that would be a nice change. Sweet Dreams Wisconsin.

I hear ya cluckin' little chicken.

Recently I have started thinking more and more about the expiration dates of relationships and even certain understandings and emotions. What's most interesting to me about this is the fact that nothing/no one can be dependable, it's not for a lack of trying but there's no guarantee that people will stick around for as long as they've promised or feel the same way today as they do tomorrow. The inevitability is inevitable, the way that I have found that this relates to the art world is in people's practices and the fact that interests tend to change over time and no matter how consistent certain artists seem there is always going to be a certain shift in their meanings and explorations. This is one of the most beautiful yet simple concepts to understand and I intend to look further into this as my practice grows. On a more general note, this week in life drawing we have been moving further away from gesture drawings and more towards contour line drawings and getting proportions marked correctly. In the past I have been better at long drawings because when I move swiftly my hands don't seem to cooperate with my eyes. I'm not doing as well as I'd have hoped in this area of the class and so I'm not entirely sure how the rest of the semester will work out but I am hoping to improve with practice and persistence. We've also begun working on putting muscles on our skeletons and I have found that to be a great deal harder than I had ever expected it to be. It is interesting to me that it looked so easy before I started and then when I did I realized the major difference between 3d and 2d skeletal structure. I might have to pull the clay off that I have already modeled because it is not looking as well as I would have liked.

An incomplete introduction

My name is Megan Leigh Wieczorek and I am an artist based in Wisconsin.  I have been called many things and each of them has been true to some extent but I'm going to begin by explaining some things relevant to develop some understanding... I'm a sophomore in college. I strongly believe that art is in the mind not in an ability also that everyone is an artist to some extent but some people chose not to practice, that is our difference. I have an addiction to knowledge and take every given chance to learn more in art and in life. I care deeply for people and love to emphasize that as much as possible in my practice. Just recently I have been doing some soul searching on what it means to do what you love and am still trying to narrow down my findings. The art that I do best is conceptual and I hope that some day, with a great deal of practice, it will make up for my growing abilities. As of now I believe that I will be concentrating in sculpture and painting and possibly be picking up a minor in Human Development and Family Studies. The reason that I chose to use this picture as a representation of my introduction is because I like to emphasize the impact of big events in people's lives and how those events correlate with their art. This picture is a part of my sculptural installation last semester. The project that I did had an incredible impact on the campus in an unexpectedly beautiful way. After seeing my piece there were a number of people that shut me off, both in the art department and on campus. The way that this makes one feel on a regular day is upsetting and I felt it one hundred fold... I hope for their sake, that every student in the art department has a chance to feel in the way that this project made me feel. If I could ask for anything in my life, it would be to find this passion in everything that I do. To this day, no one really knows the true meaning behind my project, and that is fine for me. In all of our lives there will be people who tell us what to believe and what is wrong and right and all of the in between, but I believe that we as individuals need to find our own truths and live in them without any hesitation. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=543685260&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=154420454593645 This is a link to a page that two of my best friends set up to help me raise money to pay off the fine if anyone is at all interested in looking at the responses that people had to the project...(to be continued)