My NYC Gatsby Wedding!

Every girl dreams about her wedding day. Well, most of us do anyway. So when the time was finally right for my fiance and I to wed after 7 years of relationship, I wanted to show my unique style through our big day. It was time for me to start planning. Where would I start?

Meanwhile, around my city (I'm from New York) the glamour of Baz Luhrmann's film The Great Gatsby movie was being felt through the numerous ads on tv, billboards, buses, trains, not to mention social media. I was fascinated by this age which gave us jazz and gave me the birth of my grandfather in 1928.

With all the fuzz about the movie, I quickly learned about Tiffany & Co.'s "Jazz Age Glamour" celebration which created an "exquisite" line of jewelry for the Gatsby movie. I had found my "something old" and decided to get inspired...

OUR BIG DAY!

I told my husband, "We even match with the bench and the walls" ^_^

Our photographer Mr. Braulio Cuencas captured by the lens.

At the "Wedding Garden" right outside the City Clerk's office.

My sparkly shoes...

El jardin de bodas...

A kiss... <3

Outside Chambers Street Station

141 Worth Street - Marriage Bureau

Artist interview with Dennis D'Amelio

 

 Dennis D’Amelio
Lecturer, Humanities Department, Division for Academic Affairs

BFA, Pratt Institute.
Office: Room E202
E-mail: ddamelio@lagcc.cuny.edu
Phone: (718) 482-6038 

 

 On December 16, 2011 I interviewed artist Dennis D'amelio in LaGuardia Community College's art area. D'amelio is a humanities professor of the college and upon my arrival he was teaching a painting class. I didn't interrupt him and just sat and watched him teach. I had had the professor for a form and structure class a few semesters back and related to his artistic and designer style. I saw this opportunity to interview him as a way to learn more about him and his work which I admire.

D'amelio was responsible for developing the Fine Arts - Design and Industrial Design majors. The first of these two was the one that appealed to me the most in the curriculum and the one I've pursued since enrolling at LaGuardia C.C. 
 

He teaches courses like form and structure among other design and art studio courses.

Some classmates and I agree that Prof. D’amelio has a way with design and that is why he makes a great professor in this field because he has experienced design in different levels. His interests vary from architecture to painting to industrial design to prototype-making. He inclines towards organic shapes and allows his students to find inspirations from nature.

I expressed my interests in architecture to him and he advised me on the type of work Citi College (the college I’d like to attend) is looking for. Also on the work that might set me apart from the competition.

This professor is an inspiration to me and to his many design-inclined students.

Artist Interview Q & A: 

How did you discover your love for art as a kid?

As a kid I built a lot of model airplanes. When I was 10 years old, I moved from Queens to Long Island and was very lucky that the school system out there was really good, you know. Being kind of a dweeb, I hung out in the art rooms and made friends with a lot of artists or art-type and it was one of the things that I was very good at. So you know they encouraged me to do that.

So not being a terribly confident kid it was my way of creating identity of having an identity. Later on when I was a teenager, I wasn’t too crazy about Long Island so I would go to the city and visit the museums and art galleries. Little did I know that eventually it would be history. Some of the artists back then turned out to be very famous. I was fascinated by this work.

What inspired you to make art?

I have had people point out that I have a real eye for detail. I have a way of pointing something and have begun to realize that I almost take in too much information that my fuzzy little brain……

If I didn’t have art to make order out of all the stuff I’m observing. I’d probably be crazy.

I chuckle.

It is the art that allows me to take this information and organize it.

Dou you work from life, photographs or imagination?

I work mostly from life although I use photographs to help, but I don’t really copy the photograph. Like right now I’m working on a still life and I take a photograph just so that if I knock it over I can rearrange it. Sometimes I like to look at it compositionally as a flat composition. I get so dizzy with all the details that sometimes looking at the photograph allows me to eliminate those things that I am looking at.

Overwhelming?

Overwhelming.

What techniques do you use?

Oil paint mostly, and I swivel a pencil.

Do you work on a schedule or when you’re inspired?

Inspired is an awkward term for me because sometimes even if I’m not in the mood I try to discipline myself. Depends on how crazy my life is. There are times when I don’t go to my studio at all or when I go to my studio all the time. So I don’t really have a schedule. I wish I could, but with school and family…..

 

Why is your work so neat?

Because, again, I am inclined to make order out of chaos and it helps me. It satisfies me that in a messy world I can clean it all up. Which is absolutely impossible.

I laugh.

Yeah good luck!....

 

There are people out there who dislike contemporary art, they just don’t get it.

What would you say to them?

That they shouldn’t feel that they should make judgment in terms of good or bad because my experience has been that I walked into an art show with preconceived ideas and I just immediately reject something. Then overtime, I would revisit that art show and don’t know if it’s my mood or I’ve read or learned something now. So go and look at art as an experience, but you don’t have to feel you choose between good and bad.

I mean, I have my own aesthetic needs and my own sensibilities, but I try to keep my mind open so that I don’t rush to judgment.

Because it limits you in a way.

Absolutely, and also the way you judge art is like the way you judge people and politics you know.

True. Very true.

What’s the role of an artist in society?

That’s heavy.

Got ya thinking huh?

I chuckle.

I think it’s important for an artist to be one of those people that endeavors to do the best that they can base on their own criteria and hopefully they can become a model for the rest of society. So that what we do has cultural significance.

It might be self-directed, it may be all about you, but hopefully people will look at this and hopefully what you’re doing expresses some of the depths of human nature. Hopefully.

Thank you. That was one of the questions I was looking forward to hearing the answer to.

Where do you think art is going?

Oh, that’s a great question. I have no idea.

I like to think that it’s becoming more diverse and that we’re less locked in what the latest fashion is and what the best school of painting is.

We’re detaching ourselves from that.

I think so. Now there’s the danger of fragmenting too much, but I like to think we’re moving away from where one art form or one school of art is much better than another. We’re focusing more on how the individual expresses himself.

What’s really important for art or where I think art should go is that we should see that each and every artist’s sensibility is unique and I like to think that each human experience is unique.

There are times when an opportunity might come along for an artist and he might consider rejecting it because of fear of rejection.

How do you differentiate from intuition and fear of failure?

Ooh that’s a tricky one.

I can be disappointed because I’ll respect the judgment, but again we can’t please all the people all the time. I’ve come to realize that if someone is going to criticize my work, or reject my work I can give them a lot of reasons why I’m humble enough to know that I have shortcomings, that I am no genius.

Don’t publish that!

But I’ve found that people who are the most critical are often the ones that don’t have knowledge.

I agree

Over time, you begin to realize that you become your own authority. You become involved more in your own art history than history in the moment or even art history in the past. So you should be open to criticism and always be open to it constructively and at a certain point you start to callus up and you understand that what you do has meaning for you.

I thanked Professor D'amelio for giving me the chance to interview him and we went our separate ways.
I learned a lot from him today.

Pictures courtesy of : 

http://www.thelifeworkstudio.com/subpages/gallery.html

and

http://www.laguardia.edu/humanities/visart/faculty.aspx

David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy

David Smith "Blue Construction", 1938 (sheet steel, baked enamel finish) 92.1 x 72.4 x 76.2 cm

I visited the Whitney Museum and upon arrival was immediately attracted to the building’s design. This is my type of environment, I thought.  I walked to information and explained to the receptionist that I was a student at LaGuardia, but had forgotten my ID. She contacted the manager who in turn allowed me in once I probed my student status through signing in to the college’s website. I now assume she thought I was trying to get in for free because she gave me a ticket without me paying. Which was nice, but all I wanted was my student discount.

            Without further distractions, and considering I had other museums to visit that day, I hopped on the elevator onto the 4^th floor where David Smith’s Cubes and Anarchy exhibition was being held and was greeted by his amazing sculptures. I walked around trying to enjoy all the cubes, architectural lines and mathematically symmetric shapes of Smith’s work. Then, once I had reached my starting point once again, I stopped and drew a few of my favorite pieces. Some included The Hero (1951-52), 5 ½ (1956), and Blue Construction (1938).

            I respect the sculptor’s use of cubes, bent steel, roundness, and zigzags throughout his work. It made me feel nice that I could relate to his work and wanted to copy some of his techniques in a sculpture of my own. In some instances he painted the steel to give it a more organic touch which was refreshing. It was also nice to see The Hero a sculpture I had seen before at the Brooklyn Museum in a different context from how I had seen it before. At that moment, I couldn’t recall where I had seen it, but a couple of semesters ago, in my sculpture class I was assigned to visit the Brooklyn Museum. I had to draw and analyze sculptures by Rodin, as well as more contemporary pieces like Smith’s. So it was nice to have that feeling of Déjà vu when I came upon it.

            For anyone who is interested in design like I am, it is vital to look at sculptures such as these and find the principles of design within them. There is rhythm working side by side with proportion and balance. There are lines both present and omitted creating volume and negative spaces through which light can penetrate. I could still see the angles and the beautiful patina in his Blue Construction which he created by using powdered glass and baking it until it melted and blended into various dark hues. Including a royal-like shade of blue anyone would enjoy looking at.

            I had seen David Smith’s work before, as I mentioned earlier, but it wasn’t until I saw so many of his sculptures together that I began to admire the artist as a great contemporary sculptor. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting his name anytime soon.


cites: 
Whitney.org. "David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy". The Whitney Museum. 4 Dec. 2011 <http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/DavidSmith>

"Bad" Drawing

Deformation of the figure: "Club foot"

My second son Diego was born with a condition called club foot. This is a condition which makes a foot have a tendency to shift inward like a golf club. Hence the name: club foot. The specific causes for the clubbing are unknown, but advances in orthopedics, and physical therapy have almost eliminated any future setbacks in mobility. It is known that it affects twice as many boys as it does girls and in most children it will appear in both feet. Fortunately, Diego had only one. His right foot, a lot like the drawing seen above.

Non - Art Resource: "MTA Bus Handle"

I have always been attracted to mechanical & industrial shapes. This is a Q39 bus rail handle that caught my attention while on a commute from LaGuardia C.C. to Ridgewood. Its design allows it to swing from side to side following the bus' every rhythm. Try to hold on tight, the driver's a maniac! Wouldn't want you to fall.

Art Resource: Seated Woman by Willem de Kooning

When I went to see de Kooning: A Retrospective at MoMA, I was immediately embraced by this painting. I decided to draw it and actually lost track of time as I followed and imitated each acute line carefully thought out and displayed by the artist.

9/11 Memorial

This picture shows people gathered around the 9/11 Memorial Plaza's south pool. Apparent is the involvement of those pictured with the open space, atmosphere, and engraved names pictured. On the right, we can peek at the water falling as the infamous Twin Towers once fell. The reflections emerging from the building windows mirror the urbanity around the site and so do the eclectic faces of those who attend. 

Here are the names of the deceased on September 11, 2001. There are African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Middle Eastern, and Caucasian names and it mimics those who visit the site daily showing how the attacks on the World Trade Center affected the entire world.

My class " Art in NY " on top of all the things going on around this city. "Cheese"

The Museum of the American Indian

This picture was taken at the Museum of the American Indian and was one of the many  pieces I enjoyed viewing. Here there is art from 'Indian' tribes from both American continents. There are artifacts from the Central American Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Caribbean Taino sculptures and South American Mapuche carvings. As well as American and Canadian Inuit, Yuit and Navajo tribes of more recent and contemporary societies.

Above, you can appreciate my favorite painting in the exhibition and although I was yelled at by a security guard for taking this picture in a restricted area, it was totally worth it. A poem on the lower left side reads: "Note Well: Contain any force that you might possess, you never know when they'll be needed". I like the four rectangles at the top which I like to think, show a little side of the artist. The fluttering wing on the left side above the poem, show the force the artist is referring to being released at its precise time. It was totally worth it. Don't you agree?

Also pictured above: 

Taino water vessel, Dominican Republic, ca. A.D. 1200-1500 (Clay) 

Maya ritual blade, Belize, ca. A.D. 700 (flint)

Hupa apron and skirt, California, ca. 1900 (Hide, plant fiber, pine nuts, bear grass, abalone shell,brass thimbles, glass and seed beads)

@ The United Nations: Design With The Other 90%