What artists understand and the rest of us often forget.

                Coming from a family full of artists I’m always inspired to attempt arts and crafts. Compared to my grandmother who was an amazing artist with many mediums and my sister who was formally trained at Mass College Of Art I would say I am less than amateur. Sometimes a few of my projects surprise me and I am quite happy with them but more often than not I overwork them so much that I end up disliking them and in the end gesso right over them.

                Recently my best friend and I started doing more art together. He is an extremely talented photographer, graphic designer, musician and artist which is incredibly exciting to me. Every time I see his newly processed photos I notice beautiful parts of a place or a person—nearly every time it is something I would not have seen the beauty in on my own.  

Our recent art endeavors are on what we call “adventure days” where we go somewhere to take pictures together but really, it is him taking photographs and me driving to the destinations. Although he is taking the pictures I feel like his art and the time he takes to look for beauty in specific places and things really encourages me slow down and appreciate smaller things in life so much more.   

Over the past week I made two of my own art pieces. I made one abstract painting with assorted color blocking and a weathered wood finish on top which I then washed over with a rusty copper color. The project I did today is called “My Skyline” which is an orange/purple sunrise over a silhouetted cityscape of buildings that inspire me. Although I am not sure if others can see what buildings are included I made references to cities I traveled or lived in.

Presently I look at the paintings and feel that there are changes I would like to make or techniques I wish I knew how to do but in actuality I think I am sincerely satisfied that I took time out of my life to slow down and appreciate the moment. I believe that the success of artists and the happiness amongst them is because they constantly reflect on the beautiful things around them and genuinely slow down their pace of life to create something not only for them but to encourage others to do the same.

While working on my art piece and writing this new blog I was listening to the Beatles’ Revolver on vinyl and found this quote by John Lennon to be suiting;

                    -A lifetime is so short, A new one can't be bought, And what you've got means such a lot to me.

Social Networking

In recent conversations with close friends and family, the debate regarding social media networks as a professional tool came up. I thought that this would be an excellent start to my first Professional Blog.

Although we all know the pros and cons of social networking, I believe there is a sociological perspective which must be considered; self-projection. Networking via blogs, tweets, status updates etc. is merely a projection of how an individual would like to be perceived. Thus, we have many younger individuals displaying images of themselves having "fun" or what society would consider characteristic of an individual who likes to have fun. Certainly the best example of this is the standard "college picture," a group of friends with silly faces and solo cups in hand. Does the blogger or tweeter know that they are posting this image to compare or compete with others? Or is this a subconscious projection of how they would like to be seen by others?

Unfortunately, most people forget the consequences of such posts or images. Firstly, they never really go away. Sure, the probability of an image popping up 10 years down the line is slim but essentially when an image or update is put out into the network it is much like saving information on your hard drive- even if you delete it there are still remnants of the data left on the drive. Additionally, the element of interpretation can have lasting effects. Take for example that solo cup image, even if you really did just have water in there 9/10 times someone is going to interpret that as an alcoholic beverage.

So where does this leave us? Do we avoid the use of social media networking tools because we are paranoid that a potential employer or client could see an image or update of us that is a mere reflection of one moment in time? Or do we spend the rest of our lives editing our electronic lives by un-tagging images and removing updates in hopes that no one will see it?

I have to agree with my best friend, that no matter how we look at it we all need to use these tools and need to become aware of how they can benefit us. After-all, in the near future if you are unable to properly use these tools you will be drowned out and essentially unmarketable to potential employers, clients etc. On the contrary we do need to education ourselves on not only the use of these tools and the pros and cons they assume but also on what we are projecting every time we post an image, a quotation or are even tagged by a friend in an unforgiving image.

That being said, welcome to my first professional blog. I hope to use this resource as a method of expressing philosophies and theories of relevant topics to my career as a professor and professional adult life.