Blake Fly Motivates CF

by Emily Wilson

Life is difficult to navigate, but there are three major elements that should be better understood and noted for a smoother passage. On Wednesday, Blake Fly went into humorous detail to explain them to the group assembled in the lecture hall. His was no ordinary motivational speech, but an interactive session in which the crowd became involved. The three points laid out were:

1. Program; your course of study or work (represented by a backpack)

2. People (represented by a teddy bear)

3. Passions (represented by a guitar case) 

He related a story about his first year in college on a big campus. Able only to play a 4-chord song on his guitar, he was convinced that it would bring him many good friends. Up and down the dormitory hallway he paced, guitar in hand, playing that cliché tune. There was a party going on in one of the rooms, so he stood there and played outside the door, hoping against all odds that he would be invited in. Suddenly, he realized what a ridiculous idea it all was. He turned to go down the hall, but just as he hesitated, a small voice could be heard from within the room, “Hey, you with the guitar, come in here and play for us.” Now was his moment, but somehow, he felt scared. The strums rolled from his fingers, only to be interrupted by someone telling him to stand on the bed so he could be heard better. The room was packed with people with barely enough space for his guitar. Once more, he began to play; then he began to sing. He was no singer and instantly regretted it. However, an arm went up and soon everyone was waving back and forth to his music. He stopped singing but kept on playing as the group picked up the lyrics. Yes, he had made friends at last. 

After the hilarity over a naive freshman’s story had died down, Blake applied his story to life. He encouraged the audience not to overlook any one of these three points to the exclusion of the others, to find the balance and do all of them. He explained what would happen without the balance:

• If you focus too much on your work or study too hard, you will burn out
• If all you do is party, you will flunk out (on life or school)
• If you ignore your passions and interests, you will miss out

 

He also gave advice on connecting with others. When dealing with new people or strange faces say a friendly “hello.” This somehow hard-to-say word could open a whole new world; it is simple, but often overlooked. He went on to say that when you need help, don’t hesitate to ask. At your job or in school, always seek advice; don’t fall back on the “I was going to fail anyway” attitude. Sometimes, you may find that people really want to help solve whatever the situation or problem may be.

And he encouraged us to never forget to say a simple, “thank you,” to those people who step up and lend a helping hand.

Lastly, he asked the gathering to send a quick text to one very close person who meant a lot to them. I quickly texted my best friend and waited for one of the four responses he said we would get. Those being: confusion, concern, “you’re welcome,” or no response at all.

Me: “Hey, I’m in a presentation. I just wanted to say thanks!”

Friend: “Lol. Okay… you’re welcome?” 

There is no such thing as a formula for life, and no one can ever guarantee your success in any one thing. However, by taking advantage of the opportunities that life brings you and accepting help and guidance from the people around you, the journey that we call life can be made into an enjoyable (though sometimes rough) learning experience. 

The Art of Animation

by Colleen Caudill

Animation is the illusion of movement when capturing a series of drawings or photographs of objects and turning them into a video or production. I have always been a fan of animation ever since I could properly watch television, from Saturday morning cartoons and claymation movies, to Japanese anime and Disney films. There were all kinds of animation surrounding me growing up, but I didn't come to realize how great an art it was until just recently.

Studying animation in my free time came as a surprise, as I have my fair share of experience in many mediums of  art, but I never thought of animation as being something I could do myself. It comes off as overwhelming at first, thinking of the large-scale movies, but the matter of fact is it's merely a cluster of small gestures, moving little by little. The beautiful thing about animation is that not only is there something out there for everyone's taste, they stretch from long films made from hundreds of people to shorter videos hand-drawn and perfected in many hours and weeks by one person. I myself -- after falling in love with the craft and doing days of research -- got the materials and wisdom needed to make a small one minute video just by quickly drawing a character with audio behind it, nothing colored in and no elaborate background. I drew over two hundred individual frames in over six hours. Before this point, I had only an idea of what kind of long repetitive process went into animation.

I am still learning about said process and every new rock turned over leads me back to awe in respect toward animators of all kinds. Because of all of the work and effort put into something as short and small as a one minute video of me introducing myself, there are few things I am prouder of. 

That is why I have come to love the art of animation.

Noah's Ark

by  Lisa Newton

My sister Lori first taught me how to paint ceramics when I was in high school. I was never very good in art class and could hardly dray a stick figure, but she was insistent on sharing her passion with me. She taught me the techniques of staining with paint, which is nothing more than adding water to paint to make it runny so it can seep in the nooks and crevices of the ceramic. She taught me how to dry brush, which is basically getting as much paint off the brush as you can, and then lightly paining over an object. I learned that you can always paint back over a mistake and start over again. I found that I enjoyed learning from her and she really enjoyed teaching me.

My mom made it to my graduation, but barely. She had just had her breasts removed from cancer. As soon as they called my name she left. I never quite understood the sacrifice she made that day till years later as I matured. She survived and got a clean bill of health. We celebrated the five-year mark! Then the news came that it was in her bones. She became very sick this time, much worse than the last. 

I decided to paint her a ceramic Noah’s Ark night light so as she lay there in bed she could be reminded of God’s Promise. We were not a religious family, but I am pretty sure most kids know the

Noah’s ark story to some extent. When I gave it to her I said to her it was a reminder that God was always with her. I felt like in the dark hours of the night she could use that extra reminder.

She loved the night light. She made holes in some of the paper because not enough light was getting through. It is a nice reminder to me that she did use it. She did lose the battle to cancer before long. I took possession of the light after she was gone. I wasn’t sure I was going to share this as my second extra credit assignment until I got the news today that my Aunt passed. She battled cancer. Same as my mom, but over twenty years later. It would go to the bone, but she would survive. Within days of her status of remission she would have a stoke that would have her in agony and fighting for her life till today. In remembrance of my mom and my aunt I submit my Noah’s Ark Ceramic Painting.

 

Zentangling

by Susan Singbush

 A type of art that has taken hold recently is Zentangling. One reason it has grown in popularity is that almost anyone can create a drawing in this style. Even if (like me), you have little or no native artistic skill, it is very easy to learn.

Zentangling is based on simple geometric patterns, and can be embellished further with smaller patterns within the larger elements of the drawing, or just colored in. Alternatively, one can create a “landscape” from the larger pattern (as I have done with the drawing I have included). Many of the larger patterns possess a three-dimensional quality and contain optical illusions of some kind. Effects like these can be made more obvious with shading (which creates depth), color progression (which creates a “merged” effect), and modified perspectives/angles (which can make a shape look like something else).

Although it has grown in popularity recently, it is a technique as old as the history of art, and can be found in many ancient cultures (i.e. Mayan, Maori, and Celtic). The art is based on the principle that refrains from planning and encourages the organic flow of lines and images to emerge. Due to its repetitive nature, theories suggest it is self-soothing, like a child when doodling. Due to its organic nature, it allows artists to embrace imperfections in their work- in essence, since there is no plan, nothing can be wrong. For a “stick-figure artist” like me, the lack of pressure to create something perfect makes me feel successful with even a simple creation, like the one I have included below.

My personal preference in art always has leaned toward the abstract, such as the work of Jackson Pollock. I tend to be goal-oriented, so oddly enough, after creating the background/landscape of the picture, I found myself adding “portals” and creatures working towards arriving at a particular “cell." After stepping back and looking at the picture I created, that was my impression. For me, the creatures in the lower-right “cell” are at the beginning of their journey, and the journey’s end was in the upper-left “cell”- the one brightly colored like a sunset. My suggestion is, if you find yourself doodling one day, you might encourage yourself to be open to the extension of doodling called Zentangle.