January 31

Today's blog will consist mainly of pictures, as I was in the studio for hours today. In the morning, I sketched my remaining animals for my ceramics container (horse for Europe, elephant for Asia, and monkey for Africa)... 

And at 1pm I headed to the studio to work. My rhino, which I have named Msanii (artist in Swahili) is still undergoing surgery. My animal head is probably the largest in the whole class, and thus the heaviest so I need to hollow it out as much as I can. Hopefully this will be okay now because I really want to put it back together!

After I spent nearly an hour hollowing him out, I began to sketch my animals on my hexagonal box, which took a lot more time than expected. Because the clay is so stiff, I can't afford to make any mistakes (because I won't be able to mush the clay over if I mess up). So, I had to first lightly sketch in pencil (which was still very hard to erase mistakes) and then I went over the general outline with the pen tool. However, I had to go over each line at least three times to make sure no clay chunks were in there! Ugh. 

This is how the elephant turned out (which looks MUCH better in person).

Since my container is all about traveling, I decided to write "wanderlust" on the inside. For those who don't know.. Wanderlust (n.) a strong desire to travel. (Though I would even argue that it is something stronger than a desire... It is something I feel I need to do. Traveling has provided me with experiences that no amount of schooling ever could. Traveling is in my blood. Ok, enough with the dramatic explanation...)

I'm still working on my whale, but this is it so far. It will be super hard to erase mistakes at this point, so I need to figure out how to go about doing that without messing the entire thing up. No pressure or anything. 

Tomorrow it's back to the studio as I have to draw four more animals, and do the detailing on the lid. But before I go to the studio, I think I will go on a little shopping spree, weather permitting! 

Ciao for now! 

January 30

Today was a mellow day. In the morning, I went to the Palatine Gallery for a field trip with my Museology class. It was pouring, which made for pretty skies as pictured below (right outside the Palazzo Pitti). 

The Palatine Gallery had a fabulous collection of artwork including pieces by Caravaggio, Botticelli, Raffaelo, etc. but the way the museum was set up was overwhelming. In each room, there must have been at least 20 or 30 paintings and instead of having them all at eye level, some were higher or lower than others. To make matters worse, the lighting was horrible so you could hardly see the paintings at the top. To make the museum even more overwhelming, the walls had patterned wall paper and the ceilings all had busy frescoes like the one below. 

It was interesting, however, because that is how the artwork would have been displayed in the Medici family's palace. After the field trip (which ran over time-wise), I went back home to take a nap and ended up sleeping until the early evening! Oops! I felt well rested and the studio closes early on Fridays, so I decided to have a quiet night in and sketch.. with snacks of course! Pictured below is the design for my lid to my ceramics container, representing North America (I chose to represent my hometown with the sun and waves). 

Here's a super rough sketch of yet another animal I will be drawing on my ceramics container. This horse will represent Europe. I also began to sketch the elephant to represent Asia. Now all that's left is the monkey to represent Africa, and then I will be able to work on my container. 

Tomorrow will have to be another day at the studio to hollow out my rhino, work on my container, and work on my vase.... 

Ciao for now!

January 29

Today I went on a wild goose chase. Why? To find a cardboard box for ceramics. Although apparently, everything on the street gets picked up by 10am (which our teacher failed to tell us)... But I ended up finding one at SACI, so it turned out okay. So why did I need a box for ceramics? We are making coil pots now and we use the negative of our sketch to measure our piece. Paper is too thin, so we had to cut out the shape of our vase in cardboard. This is the third project we are working on, and I have yet to complete the first and second since I added the class so late into the semester.

My rhino is still undergoing surgery, and my decorative box is all set up but needs to be decorated. I'm really excited to do that though, because I had a great idea. Since I am doing a hexagonal box and I have been to every continent, I decided that the lid would represent where I'm from and each of the sides would have an animal from every continent. I started sketching my idea out and these are 3 of the animals I've chosen so far.

The dolphin represents Australia/New Zealand from when we had a whole pod of dolphins following our boat, the sea lion represents South America (Galapagos Islands) from when a baby sea lion came right up to me, and the whale represents Antarctica from when a minke whale was within arm's reach from our zodiac. The other animals I have chosen are a monkey for Africa (Tanzania) from when a monkey jumped into the roof of our safari car, an elephant for Thailand from when we went to a mahout camp to ride and paint with elephants, and a horse for Europe (Italy) for when I will go horseback riding here! 

I have to wake up super early to go on a field trip to the Palazzo Pitti tomorrow and then I have to go to the studio to work on this (plus do more sketching) so...

Ciao for now! 

January 28

Today was another day spent on our plaster pieces in sculpture. First, we had to dig all the clay out from the 2 plaster molds we had made last class. 

Then, we soaked our pieces in freezing cold water, and scrubbed excess clay off with a toothbrush. 

From there, we had to apply dish soap so the new layer of plaster wouldn't stick to the plaster mold we had created last class. Then we had to mix a thick layer of plaster, and pour it into our molds which was a whole other process.... Basically, we had to pour a thin layer, swish it around the mold, and pour it back out. Then, we added more plaster, and hit our piece on the table to get air bubbles out. From there? More plaster. Then hemp, then more plaster, then a hook, then even more plaster. Oh boy! We ran out of time to actually break the mold, but hopefully I'll have a picture of my finished piece by Monday! 

After class, I went to work in the ceramic studio for a bit, as my rhino is still undergoing surgery. When I got home, my roommate had to go to the pharmacy and I had to try to find a cardboard box to use for ceramics (which I couldn't find anywhere... and I need it by tomorrow. Yikes). The pharmacy was near the Mercato Centrale, aka my favorite hang out place, so we ended up having dinner there. This is part of the upstairs part, which consists of places to eat, bars, a cooking school, and a place to buy cheeses and meats. 

Tomorrow I have to work on a second ceramics project which I got behind on when I started my rhino head.. PLUS I have to start the third project that the entire class is starting tomorrow. I think this week/weekend will be another one spent at the studio... But at least then I'll be caught up. 

Ciao for now! 

January 27

Today was a bitter sweet day... In my cinema class we began a 5 hour long Bernardo Bertolucci movie called 1900 (Novecento in Italian). After class, I had to go to ceramics. The good news is that I finished my rhino head and I'm happy with how it will look on the wall.... 

The bad news is that I had to cut it in half like this...

So that I could hollow the entire rhino head out! 

So now it looks like this... with foil on the horns so that the clay will dry faster so I can go back to the studio tomorrow and hollow it out even more (and eventually piece it back together on Thursday).

After ceramics, I came home and watched a movie with my roommate since we didn't have any homework. In the evening, we went to the last "cooking class" of the semester, where my cinema professor brought prosciutto, salami, a range of cheeses, bread, canned tomatoes, eggplant, pate (chicken liver), really amazing truffle sauce that will be great with pasta and some other appetizers. Now, we will know which cold cuts and cheeses we want to buy at the market. 

Well, tomorrow will be another long day at the studio between my sculpture class and the extra time I have to spend at ceramics finishing my rhino head and starting the second project so that I can start the third project on Thursday (and finally be all caught up).....

Ciao for now!

January 26

Today was a fun day spent at the sculpture studio. After meeting my friend for a quick lunch at our favorite snack bar, we went to our sculpture class. Today was the day we had to cast our clay pieces in plaster. Basically, I spent 20+ hours on my clay horses only to have them destroyed during this phase. First, we had to put on hideous smocks.....

Then, we began to mix the plaster into the water. We had to add dye to the mix so that when we separate the clay from the plaster, we will know where the plaster mold starts. We then poured that over the clay. We even had to bang a mallet under the table to get all the air bubbles out!

We tested the solidness of the plaster by pressing a finger nail to the plaster mold. If our finger nail was visible in the plaster, we knew it wasn't ready. When it finally was ready, we dabbed slip (very watery clay) onto the plaster layer. This was because plaster and clay "don't like each other" as our professor says, so the parts where we added clay won't stick to the second round of plaster, making it easier to break the mold.

Then, we had to mix an even thicker batch of plaster, and apply about an inch of plaster on top of the other mold. It ended up looking like a cake! By the time we completed all these steps, we didn't have enough time to finish the process by subtracting the clay from the mold so we were able to leave early.

After class, it was time for a nice Italian snack!

The rest of my evening was spent reading another novel set in Florence and researching fun events here in the city! 

Ciao for now!

January 25

Today was another day spent at the library and studio. I headed over to SACI right when it opened (1pm) and went up to the library to get ahead on some reading. Every time I need to read for class, I have to go to the library since the books are on reserve, so I thought I would try to get ahead on some of my Museology reading.

Here's a better shot of the library. It's really pretty and peaceful when no one else is there!

After I did some work, I went to the ceramics studio to work on my rhino head. I realized I forgot to add ears to my rhino, so I started to work on that. I still have to fix the one on the right, but I was working on my rhino for 3+ hours today and needed a break from it! 

In the evening, my roommates and I went to the market to get food for our apartment dinner, which will become a weekly event. We're all ODing on Italian food and we were craving hamburgers, so that's exactly what we made! We sautéed onions and mixed them in with the meat, melted cheese on top, and even put fried eggs on the burger (which I had never had before... It was DELICIOUS!) We even made french fries to complete our meal!

After our dinner, we all watched a movie, which is also turning out to be a weekly event. All in all, it was a busy, productive weekend for sure.

Ciao for now!

January 24

Today I definately felt like a workaholic. I slept in, made some lunch, and went over to SACI to work in the studios. First, I went to the ceramics studio to do more work on my rhino and to check the slabs of clay I had rolled out. Unfortunately, I'll have to go back tomorrow to cover them up since they weren't quite ready today. If I don't cover them by tomorrow, they will get TOO hard and won't be usable. I feel like I'm getting pretty close to finishing my rhino head, though I have to hollow it out so it is less heavy... I can barely lift it now!

After working in the ceramic studio for nearly an hour, I went to the sculpture studio to do more work on my horses since we are casting the clay in plaster on Monday. In the process of casting the clay in plaster, we will destroy the clay part... All that work to have it be destroyed!

From there, it was off to the library to do Museology and History of Italian Cinema reading. Now I am all caught up with the courses I added a few days ago! Tomorrow will be another day at the studio (and possibly shopping with roommates) so...

Ciao for now!

January 23

Today was an adventure! In the morning, my museology class headed over to the Palazzo Pitti for a field trip. The Palazzo Pitti has many museums, but we only went to the Museo degli Argenti.

We mainly discussed how and why the pieces got to that museum, as well as what the purpose of the collection is. That may sound boring, but some of the information was pretty interesting. We looked at a lot of cabinets, as we were learning about Wunderkammer yesterday during class. Basically, it's a way of storing "objects of the universe", as our professor says. So, everything. Things that wouldn't typically go together, perhaps animal sculptures with something more high end like stones. And of course, a Wunderkammer isn't complete without a mermaid (again, according to our professor). 

After our field trip, it was only 11am (I get out early on Fridays!!) so I decided to go to the ceramics studio to work on my rhino head. I went into the studio in the early evening too, and here was the piece by the end of the day. I still have work to do, but for whipping this up in a day and a half, I would say I'm doing pretty well! 

In the afternoon, my friend Hollace and I decided to go get pizza at this college-y restaurant called Gusta Pizza, which is across the Arno. The pizza here keeps getting better and better... (it's also much cheaper on the other side of the river because it isn't as touristy). After lunch, we cut across a side street to go to the Boboli Gardens. We weren't expecting to do so much walking, but every single path looked like the one below... Almost vertical!

The gardens will probably be even more beautiful in the spring, but it was nice because there weren't any tourists and the view of Florence was beautiful (though not nearly as nice as the Piazzale Michelangelo!)

We also stumbled upon this little gem in the garden.. It almost looked like an abandoned lighthouse! We still have no idea what it is, but it was a good photo op! :)  

And of course, I had to take a picture of the Arno during our walk... 

Ciao for now!

January 22

Today was interesting because I had two classes that I just added yesterday: ceramics and museology. Ceramics was really fun, even though I have some catching up to do. Even though we've only had about two weeks of class, the ceramics class is already on their second project. So, today I worked on sculpting an animal head. I chose to do a rhino, since my nickname in Tanzania (given to me by a Masaai warrior) was Rhino. I didn't take a picture of my work in progress because I was busy rolling out slabs for project two and playing catch up on project one, but here is a sketch.

It will be a wall piece, meaning the neck portion will attach to the wall and the face will come out at you. Pics will be posted this weekend when I have time to go into the studio to work on it more.

Museology was pretty interesting and I don't have a lot of catching up to do for that, which is nice. Plus, tomorrow we are going on a field trip! I have to be up by 8am for it so....

Ciao for now!

January 21

Today was a very interesting day. I had Women in the Arts in Italy this morning, which was hard to get through. The professor basically reads full paragraphs off the powerpoint, and at least 80% of the powerpoint is purely text. And I was complaining about how AU runs the art history department (showing a picture and no text whatsoever)... Guess that wasn't so bad! In any case, I ended up dropping that course and my conservation of archaeological objects (which was very interesting but WAY too long for not being able to excavate anything, which I had thought we were going to do based off the title of the course... Bummer!). To replace those courses, I decided to add another studio art class... Ceramics! Even though I'm taking sculpture, I've found that I really enjoy working with clay so I wanted to do Ceramics. As a graphic design major, you don't really do a lot of three-dimensional hands-on projects, so it's an entirely different thought process that will be good to know. I also added Museology, which I'm looking forward to because there are a lot of museum visits during class time.

I had sculpture in the afternoon, during which I did more work on my horses sculpture. We also had a critique, so I went back to SACI in the evening for two hours to work some more. I went as the other sculpture class was getting out, and when I started to work on my piece some girl thought I was sculpting at the intermediate level! I still have more work to do, but this is the progress I made on my piece today.

I'm still fixing the horse on the left (the one that's giving me the most problems... of course!) and I have more detail to add, so my friend and I are going into the study on Friday to work for a while before we go explore the Boboli gardens and get pizza! Closing up the studio was super creepy because I was the only one there, and had to turn off both the outside and inside lights. I had to use my flashlight on my phone to lock the doors! 

Ciao for now!

January 20

This morning/afternoon was busy busy busy! I had my cinema class from 9-1pm where we watched the American version of the Italian film L'Ultimo Bacio. It sucked. The acting was so bad that it made me want to watch L'Ultimo Bacio again, and by now I've already seen it five or six times! After my class, I stopped by the apartment for a quick lunch break (spicy ramen for a change, since it's getting cold here and one can only eat so much Italian food). 

Then, I headed back to SACI to use the sculpture studio. Since the studio is in the garden and not connected to any of the drawing, painting or ceramics studios, I had to leave my school ID at the front desk so I could get the keys to the studio. 

I could have worked in the area outside, but it was pretty chilly today and I eventually needed some tools inside so I fumbled with all the keys and the four doors until I found the one that worked. Italian locks are pretty hard to get open, even if you have the right key! It was pretty cool having the whole studio to myself.. It was so empty and I had more than enough table space to work with!

It also meant I could take selfies without being judged! ;)

I ended up staying for nearly two hours, during which I began to build up the horses more. However, the three dimensionality doesn't really translate to pictures such as the one below. At this point I need to fix the hair and then start getting more details in, possibly even adding a fourth horse. We'll see what I have time for, as this is already due at the beginning of next week! 

Afterwards, I went back to my apartment to rest for awhile and then it was off to the "cooking class". I put that in parentheses because despite what SACI calls it, it is not in fact a cooking class. The teacher brings us food already made, and we eat it and talk about food culture in Italy. Tonight we had eggplant parmesan and some crostini appetizers, and a dessert cookie that is only found in Florence during carnival. 

Ciao for now!

January 19

Today was a relaxing day, as I only had one class (which didn't start until a little after 1pm). We continued to work on our clay sculptures, which has been taking up a lot of time. They're due a week from today, and I'll probably have to go to the studio outside of class to work on it further.

During my lunch break, I headed across the street to my favorite snack bar. I got a panino (that's not a typo! Panini is plural... Silly Americans) stuffed with zucchini, tomato, cheese and basil. I guess I go there a lot because the man working there gave me a free croissant!

After a quick wifi break in the library with my friend, it was back to work. Here was my sculpture by the end of the day. I still need to build up the horse on the left more and extend the nose region slightly, but it's getting there. Oh boy is it heavy!!!

Ciao for now!

January 18

Today was my favorite day I've spent in Italy so far. One of the biggest differences between Europe and the States is that everything is so close via public transportation. On a whim, my roommate, a friend, and I decided to take the train from Florence to Pisa. It was really nice being able to see more of Tuscany via train, since I flew in to Florence in the evening (and didn't see anything but darkness).

Of course as soon as we got there, we had to take really touristy pictures....

And then we all decided that we actually wanted to climb to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was an interesting experience since the stairs were leaning too (and very narrow AND steep). The picture below really doesn't do it justice. It was a good leg exercise too... We must have climbed at least over 100 stairs.

We finally made it to the top, and we had an amazing view of the city. Being the typical teenager I am, I had to take a selfie first....

....Before enjoying this view! 

The view from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa reminded me of the view on top of the Victor Emmanual monument in Rome, where we saw the Colosseum, the Forum, and more. We stayed up on the very top for quite some time, as we wanted to watch the sun set from there. I would say it was worth it!

We decided to eat dinner in Pisa, where I decided to get something other than pasta or pizza (about time for some protein!) I settled for beef slices marinated in wine and balsamic vinegar and even though it smelled super vinegar-y, it was actually amazing. The three of us ended up sharing that, pasta filled with prosciutto and some pork stew that I don't remember the name of. After our meal (and a chocolaty dessert) it was time to head back to the train station. It was pretty cool to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa at night, too.

The train ride home felt super long, even though it was only a little over an hour, because it was freezing. It's starting to get cold here in Italy... It's currently in the 30's. Brrr!

Ciao for now!

January 17

It was another rainy day here in Florence today. After a quick supply run (mainly notebooks for my classes at the 99 cent store across the street) I decided to get a head start on my midterm paper. Yes, midterm paper. As in due in over a month. Let's just say I'm on top of my school work. I decided to write about Titian's Venus of Urbino and how the female figure depicted in his painting could either be a Venetian courtesan or a bride. I remember talking in depth about this painting in my Art of the Renaissance class at AU, so it will be interesting to see where the research takes me. A major plus of writing about this painting is that it is on view here in Florence at the Uffizi! So, I can see it as many times as I want, especially since my Florence museum pass includes entrance to the Uffizi. 

After doing some research and even a little bit of writing, I decided to get back in bed and read "A Florentine Death" by Michele Giuttari. I've always loved mysteries and before I left for Florence I bought at least 10 mystery novels set in Florence. Even though I've only been here a little over a week, I am already familiar with some of the places the characters in the book visit! Well, it's back to reading for me... It's cold and rainy!

Ciao for now!

January 16

Today was a day full of adventures. In the morning, my Women and the Arts in Italy class went on a field trip to the Palazzo Davanzati. The whole point of the field trip was to see how women lived (domestically) and the rooms were beautifully decorated with lace, tapestries, frescoes, etc. Here's a picture of the outside...

What stuck with me the most is related to the picture below. It may just look like a hole in the ground, but these holes were actually once over a porch. So why is there a giant hole in the floor? The people living in the house would throw stones and other materials down onto the porch if someone was there. That would definately get me to go away!

After my field trip with class, I decided to go exploring with my friend Hollace. We ate at the restaurant directly across the street from my apartment where I had the best risotto of my life, which the restaurant calls "risotto alla fiorentina" (risotto in meat sauce with peas). All I can say is WOW! The Italians make some really good food. The restaurant uses cute maps of Florence as placemats so after we were done, we started to take one off the table (they're paper). One of the waiters said "no!" so we thought we had done something wrong, but he brought us both new maps. I have a feeling we will become very friendly with him, as it is probably my favorite restaurant so far.

Anyways, from there we went to the Palazzo Strozzi to see the Picasso exhibit. There were a ton of Italian school groups there, so it was very crowded. Nevertheless, the exhibit was enjoyable and even had work from other Spanish artists such as Dalí. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but at least I got to capture the outside of the building and the Picasso banners!

From there, we tried to go to the Boboli gardens, but we were told the last entry was two minutes before we got there, so we were turned away. Luckily it wasn't too far of a walk, so we decided to walk around the Palazzo Pitti a bit (where the gardens are) and then head back over the Ponte Vecchio. Of course, we had to stop for gelato and take touristy pictures!!

It started to rain, which started to melt our gelato...

So Hollace and I took cover under a random jewelry store! 

It's still rainy and cold out now, so I'm in for the night after enjoying some nice spinach filled ravioli. 

Ciao for now!