Alexandria's 5th post

Well, this was a pretty difficult week, it was a little stressful between classes and traveling and being in this position where I have to find a direction for my projects and start actually realizing them. I think now that the two projects will be in some way combined either through the theme or actually in the final work, not sure.

I still don't feel like this is narrowed down enough yet but after drawing class, I think i am going to focus on classic gestures of hands/arms in masterwork paintings that show the theme of attachment but in a more subtle way, like love, compassion, caring, kindness, delicacy and also the idea of how attachment transcends space/distance, time, and material things. And also the interaction and connection between the two things/people attached. In the first few weeks I remember taking note of all the madonna and child paintings and scultpures around florence in churches and museums and maybe this is why it caught my attention then and is coming back. I'm not looking at them through a religious lens or even exclusive to mother and children but also a father or family connections in general, probably because I think i am experiencing a case of separation anxiety from my family and the normal, comfortable routine of home. Regan also brought up an interesting thought about how parents and their children, even when they are older, still think of each other in those roles father/mother and son/daughter, its just something that doesn't leave and we don't let go of.

I really want to keep the feeling of the dolls I made in class last Tuesday, but I also think i could expand on them and incorporate the masterworks for drawing - so potentially i could some form of two sets of dolls but i still need to work out the ideas from some really quick sketches and notes. I feel like I've been thinking about my project a lot without really trying so I think that is a good thing and I am starting to become more connected to my work. I also want to draw the dolls and see if they could be part of a larger body of work or stand alone. My original line of thought for the masterwork project was towards paper dolls of figures from masterworks but after talking to Regan, i think my attachment ideas will be incorporated instead of having a separate project from theme sequence with the only thing in common the basic "doll" idea. I still may try to follow the paper dolls a little and see if it works out - maybe instead of "attaching" clothes as with traditional paper dolls but somthing they are "missing" or "need." I also tried out the making of a ground from text/handwriting and because i feel like my mind and thoughts are overloaded it was actually helpful and created an interesting drawing/ground with the ideas I've been focusing on incorporated but they are hidden beneath layers of words and thoughts.

My pictures are a little sparse, but there are a few masterwork hads that caught my attention, a couple drawings/notes from sketchbook and my dolls. (maybe even a Venice picture or two)

Regan gave me a book to look through on tuesday and there were a few images that I really liked, but i didn't have time to photocopy them so I found a few online but I will copy the others before tuesday.