Alexej Harlamoff

A couple days ago my teacher brought down a Russian book of a collection of Russian artists. He had asked us to look at the book and see if we liked any of them. I looked at it yesterday and really like this one painter, Alexeji Harlamoff, but of course  the book was written in Russian and I couldn't figure out how to write his name. So, this afternoon I asked Semyon how to spell his name in English. He told me, but by the look on his face, he was not impressed that I picked "not  very famous" artist. Go figure, first Fechin and now Harlamoff... Pretty sure my teacher thinks I'm a lost cause at this point.... Lol. I'm not saying that his art is amazing, but I really like the colors,  how the images are pleasing and that they look like paintings... Not a picture!

Flower Festival

Last Saturday I went to a flower festival in Haiku. There were lots of people there. They had a band, a station to create beautiful floral crowns ( which I never got to do, because their we're too many people) and lots of vendors. Seeing all the plants made me start wishing I had a garden to work on. I did end up getting this little gal. The lady I talked to said that this plant (trichodiadema) is kinda like a bonsai tree and the best part is that I only have to seriously water it once a week! Hmmm.... I think I can remember to do that! Oh, and it is going to have beautiful pink flowers someday! Hope I can shipped it home... :/ ..Getting kinda attached to the little gal! :-)

I also decided to show a piece of my artwork. We had a long pose today (2 hrs). So....here it is! 

Nicolai Fechin Break

             My art teacher, Semyon Bilmes, has decided to bring down famous artists books for us to look at during class. He brings one down every other day. Most of them are artists who specialize in realistic art. However, he decided to bring down a book on my favorite artist, Nicolai Fechin. My teacher has definitely made it clear in class that he thinks fechin is a good draftsman in a drawing aspect, but does not care for his paintings. Saying that Fechins work is famous in America... like we have no idea of good art. He says that his work is very rough! Which is humourous, because that's why I LOVE it! I went to an exhibit of Fechins work in January up in Seattle and his paintings moved me SO MUCH! To each his own I guess.
            Anyway, I took a long break to look at this Fechin book. I still felt the same way I did in Seattle... I think his work is beautiful! The book was in Russian, but the pictures were gorgeous. Here are some that I hadn't seen before and wanted to share! Love his sense of color!

Maui

Life on Maui? Hmmm... That is definitely something very difficult describe. I know that Hawaii is still considered to be apart of the US, but sometimes I feel like I've been dropped into a entirely different world, full of sun kissed people, warm beaches and creepy crawlers...literally! 

The Art School

Art school has been very different that what I had expected. Actually, I really don't know what I expected.  Maybe I thought that my instructor was going to teach me to draw pretty pictures, but that's not what has happened. For the last two weeks, Semyon has been molding my mind how to see, analyze, interpret, and strategize my drawings. Sometimes, it is hard to understand what he is saying, but I think some of it just needs time to soak in. For example, This morning he said, we must jump into a drawing like trying to catch a chicken... With the sense that we aim for one spot initially, but might quickly need to go left or right.  I have become a sponge, trying to absorb not only what he tells me, but others too! After 6 hours of this, my brain feels like mush... But somehow fresh the next morning! 

My Apartment

Here are a couple of pictures of my apartment! I have 2 roommates inside the apartment and 2 that live in separate apartments outside, but share that bathroom/kitchen. 

This is Nicki, she is my favorite roommate! We have so much in common, from attitudes to similar morals to upbringings. She is very sweet and we just talk and talk and talk... Like we've known each other for years.... It's weird. 

Last but not least...

This is Mucha! He is my teachers outdoor cat and is named after the Russian artist Mucha. I have adopted him as my kitty for the time I will spend here and i think he has done the same fime too! After being corrected that Fechin is pronounced Fe-shin, I think that the cat's name is pronounced  Mus-ha, but everyone calls him Moo-ha.