I was researching symbols for my novel (if you haven't already guessed it, yes it has multiple meanings, and more going on under the surface) When I ran into an article on the meaning of the elements. Now by this point I had already decided that what Chase is hiding under the metal bracelets he never seems to take off is an hourglass etched/carved in his skin (I won't say why, read the story...okay when I send it to you then read it), and you probably know by now (I've mentioned it enough) that his temper is fiery. I made Kore's (the antagonist) temper cool even bordering on cold, his wife's temperate and a bit dry, and Emet's malleable (like water ).

So according to this article Fire/hot is symbolized by an upward facing triangle, while water/moist is symbolized by a downwards facing triangle. SNAP! Did you see that one? It makes an hour glass!!! Wow. Then as if that wasn't maddening enough, it said that mixing Earth/dry with Air/cold one would get melancholy. Double SNAP!! Then if you mix Fire/hot with Earth/dry (okay this is a bit of a spoiler...don't kill me for it...) then you get Choler (anger and irretability)! TRIPLE SNAP!!! I was going to use the four elements in my book, but I didn't know any of that stuff! Somehow though they all fit right, and make the perfect connections in my novel. I'm still going snap right now...WOW

Then you have water (Emet's Element...if you're wondering why water, think of who Emet is supposed to be and what that person's element is) which symbolizes the unconcious (and I had made him a psychologist long before I knew this) . This story's meanings/interpertations just keep getting more meaningful by the minute.

Oh and just for I finished this complicated scene today which contains a part that I guarantee is going to make you squeal to high heaven when you read it. ^___________^ I've had a good writing day-No, an excellent one! Now I'm off to work some more! I can almost see the ending opening its doors to me.


Edit: I had mentally decided that each of these main characters were a specific element, but there was something even I missed! When you first meet them they're all in or near their element (I had written the opening/when you meet them two years ago, and it had never crossed my mind until I went back to read those parts yesterday). Emet is near the water by the beach, Chase is staring at a flickering candle, Kore's feeling the wind as it passes him, Noor is in the garden tending to the plants. O___O SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!!!! Wow. I guess my brain was leaps and bounds ahead of me on this one. Now I'm off to write some more!!! This is getting extremely interesting ^___________________^.

Love;
Zee eccentric one

I have been reading a book called Oracle night, by Paul Auster. A book I found by chance. Strangely enough, it is a book about the randomness of life. Even though I have just finished it, I had been so absorbed in this book for the last two days that I hardly did anything else (very rare for me). It left me speechless by the end. I still don't know what to say about it. I t was so strong, raw, well written that I honestly don't know what can be said about it.
I highly recommend this piece of prose. I don't know what it is yet, but something about the book makes me believe that it had something deeper lurking within it. Something I just couldn't put my hand on, at least not yet. Now I'm so curious as to what it is that I'm going to work extremely hard to find out. On the surface it told a story, but something about how the words were used hinted at something more behind it. It is a pleasant and welcome puzzle, that I think is worth the time to look through. With this book, I have also found a new author that I have never explored before, one whose writing is interesting in a puzzling way, almost as puzzling as the book he wrote, and I can not wait to read other books he's written. This one however, I'll buy at the first chance I get. Just something about it.

Ps: happy holidays everyone

Sincerely;
Zee eccentric one

So I've just read 's journal, and in a way this is a response, in another a reflection.

The artschool. Yep, that place you go to supposedly learn art. In fact it's the place you go to learn how to make things. Yes, notice that I said how to make things. Since you are generally learning the basics of how to construct things. Things in the traditional sense of the word, but things non-the-less.
It's art though! Is it? Sure you may learn how to make perfect pieces, with perfect technique, composition, materials, but is it art? Or is it just copies of things? Just perfect copies of the world? Are you really making things that have ever-lasting-value (to you, the artworld, or others in general?) or just things that can be used as decorations?

This is what artists in the 19th century were dealing with. I mean, they perfected the techniques, developed the materials etc, but their pieces were just decorative (except for a bunch that had deeper/hidden meanings). So they had the romantics, who came in with this crazy idea that art is something more. It's something that impacts society at large, and criticizes it as well. It's something that's more than eye candy, but something with a purpose that expresses ideas (not stories like before), etc. So it's not just you. The whole art world went through this. So why is it that we still get pushed in art schools to make things that are perfect? Amazing technique etc?

What else can art schools do though? I mean if you look at it from their point of view, they can't teach you the ways of modern artists because you won't learn anything (since most of what they do is about the concept not the work), but they can't just teach you technique or else you'll be left out of doing important things... They're exactly at the same spot that university teachers are at. However, unlike university, they teach you the technique, emphasizing on it, hoping that by learning it you can come up with your own way of doing things, learn that there's more to art on your own, and do things that shape it.

The problem is, like and myself, the students who aspire for something more or work in a different way, feel like they're not good enough. No matter how much work they put in, there always seems to be someone who has more ability, better technique, better ideas, more time, better resources etc. It's exhausting for us to compete. Meanwhile, we can't say anything to those of us who are in the same boat, because we feel as though we're letting them win somehow. That this is a race, and that by telling them this, we're sitting back and giving them a free pass to the finish line.
So I'm here to tell you this,"It's not a race. Sure, sometimes you'll make things that aren't great, who hasn't? In fact, by making that one not-so-great thing, you managed to do something that those who always seem to do well can never do. You found a limit, a weakness in your work and can now make better art because of it. You've pushed your own boundaries on what you could do. Pushed away the arrogance of you seeming to know everything, and learned something that makes you better. You also learned something about yourself as a person, and how you approach things, which will come as a shock first (wow my work sucks compared to other's), despair 2nd, then as a revelation afterwards."

The teachers know that it feels like this too, they don't particularly like it, but it's a way for them to see what happens; how you handle it (generally real artists don't handle it in a good way) . Since after you go out of art school, there is no system of grading, no black and white of your work either being wrong or right. You are the only one who can really judge what you make afterwards, and for you to learn how to do that, the school system makes it feel like a competition to try to get you to see that. (not that it works generally, but it's a way of doing it).

If you were to come to our studio class in university you'd see that. Some pieces we make for projects work, while others don't, but every piece is different. Every single one is gone at a different way, and that's how each person goes about dealing with a challenge (project) that is given. Even the pieces that don't work though are interesting, and they are memorable.

In fact, one of the reasons that I chose NOT to go to an art school after Beal was exactly this (I did get accepted to the ones I applied at though before you ask). I found that yes, I learned to do a lot of things, and my work is better because of it. I also learned there are things I can't do, and my work is better because of that too. The opportunity I got to do art all day, everyday for a year and how much love I had for it, even on the days when it wasn't going well, showed me that I want to do this from now on. But it showed me too that I wanted a place in where I learned while I worked on pieces, not learned technique while I worked. Technique is a great starting point, but not the be all, and end all of art. (I have other reasons for not going to art school directly, but this is one of the major ones.)

If another person brings it up, you can bring up the impressionists, who threw out the rule book on technique and made things in a brand new way. Or, maybe bring up Pollock, who along with the Abstract expressionists got rid of technique completely, and just threw paint at stuff, for the fun of it. To them art wasn't about the style or the technique, it was about more than that.
What that means is up to you.


Edit:...I almost forgot. I should also mention this point by iconAeirus:. Since we are creating pieces in school, we're generally trying to please the teacher/professor/insturctor's taste. Rarely is it fully our own taste that we're pleasing (unless you're fairly rebellious, and believe that if you put time into a piece it should be done on your terms...*coughmeand,drawingprofessor,Levack,creativewritingteacher,designteachercough* and in the way you think it should be done.) So a really good question to ask when you're making pieces for art, is who am I pleasing with this? If it's anyone other than yourself/style then why? And there better be a really good reason too


Ps: If you have time and anyone other than (she read it already), I recommend reading the book we read for studio this year called, "Art with a Difference: Looking at Difficult and Unfamiliar Art" . It is truly an eye-opening book, with some strong arguments. It has its flaws too ofcourse, but very strong in general. Truly worth the time (unless you're doing it quickly to write an essay XD)


On a tottatly different note, before you ask me what I've been doing with the two accounts, I've been busy moving things out of this one and organizing it, and all its favorites and such by going through everything it has on it (I know much, but it'll be worth it ) Anyways, I hope the drawings I put up will distract you for now... If not *runs*



Sincerely;
Zee slightly eccentric one