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Friday, 24 June 2011

Secretariat

The Real Deal

Secretariat was an amazing horse who has recently had a movie made about him.  His owner Penny Chenery recognised his talents and used him to save her farm.  He won the U.S. Triple Crown for the first time in twenty years and he won the Belmont Stakes by 31 won lengths, a record that still stands today.  His family called him Big Red and he really was a beauty. 

He won 16 of his 21 professional races and when he retired at age three he went one to sire over 600 foals.  He lived out his life on the farm and when he died it was discovered that his heart was twice as big as the average horse.


 A statue commemorating his win at the Belmont Stakes

 Big Red's extraordinary 31 length win.
The cast of the film.
The film "Secretariat" is a beautiful look at an amazing story of determination and love and of a woman's struggle to save her farm in a mans world.  It is very uplifting and is made extra-special because it is a true story.

Love Em x

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Fathers Day

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. - Mark Twain

Dear Dad
Maybe you were right... but only sometimes :P

Love You ♥
Em x

Willie is the Bester

Willie Bester is a South African artist who used art to fight against Apartheid.  I love his use of colour and the deep under lying meanings in his beautiful paintings! Here are some of the best and they show the wide ranges that he operates within:




This experimentation and lack of fear inspires me as an artist to try new things and to do so without shame :)
Em x

Saturday, 18 June 2011

Jodi Bieber Photography

Jodi Bieber is a South African photographer whose photo's comment on South African and global societies.  I love her unusual compositions and how she doesn't set up the photograph but rather focus's on real life.

She was made famous for this cover of Time Magazine.  The girl in the photographer was sentenced to having her nose and ears cut off for trying to flee from her abusive in-laws.
These next photographs are some that I liked from her website; www.jodibieber.com








Em x

Running for Life :)


I was recently asked if I wanted to run for a charity at my school to raise money for a little girl called Mila who has child artheritis! I signed up for the Knysna Half Marathon, which is probably the most crazy thing I have ever done and re-inforced the idea that I am slightly insane! I have been training for the past two months but have also been a bit sick so who knows... I just keep telling myself it is for charity.


The charity is Live and Dance for Life. 
When I have done it (9th of July) I will post photo's
Em x

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Lexi's Amazing Talent


Lexi, a very good friend, is an amazing make-up artist and photographer! Check her out at greeneyeslove.tumblr.com






The girls in the photos are myself, Melissa Bradshaw, Olivia Hodge and Lexi Kondonis
Em x

I Love Women

Inspirational, strong and unique women! I am a feminist and here are some if the ultimate girl power women...

Meryl Streep:
She is mysterious, self assured and keeps her life very secret from the public...
She acts in amazing role and has managed to bring up four kids away from the limelight. 
I love her poise and noble air.  She seems genuine and is completely herself.

Keira Knightley:
I love her movie roles and her complete certainty of her acting.  She is not afraid to try new things and who cannot adore her after watching the modern "Pride and Prejudice" (My all time favourite movie).  She is a strong woman who we have definitely not seen the last of.

Helen Mirren:
This British actress is hilarious.  She has an amazing grasp of Britsh humour and she is also a serious actress.  I also love her roles and her poise and the granduer that surrounds her.  She is truly an inspiration to all girls.

Ellen Page:
The thing I love about Ellen is her absolute uniqueness.  She is who she is and no body is going to change that.  I first saw her in "Juno" and I loved her spunk and self assured attitude.


... that's a wise choice, 'cause I knew this girl, she had this like crazy freak out cause she like took too many behaivorial meds at once, and and she like ripped off her clothes, and dove into the fountain at Ridgedale Mall and was like "I am a Kricon from the sea" ...
      -Juno
 These are just some if the famous women who I find amazing :)
Em x

Surrealsim

I became interested in art toward the end of junior school.  I found that it was a way to express myself as well as that I was reasonaly good at it.  It is an escape for me  and allows me to be calm.  I do art at school and therefore do art history.  Because of this I have been exposed to many artists and here are some that I have recently found interesting:

These artists are Surrealists.  They were inspired by Freud's and Jung's writing on human psychology and the dream world.  Both of these psychoanalysists were resposible for a new revolution regard the human psyche and peoples actions.  These artists used these ideas to explore the subconscious mind by making the unseen visible.

Salvador Dali:
Dali was a Spanish painter. I love his beautiful, clean technique and silent anguish.  He suffered from nightmares and was also inspired by Freud's writings on the dream world.  This inspired many of his works.  His most well known piece, The Persistance of Memory comments on the fluidity of time and experesses his odsession with dreams.  He was a mad man who did crazy things like give lectures while standing in milk and waxing his mousache.  He said that he did this inorder to induce madness so that he could connect with his subconscious. 
The Persistance of Memory

Max Ernst:
He was an amazing artist who created new techniques such as Grattage(scrapping paint over textures over objects placed beneath) and he believed in The Law of Chance which created more abstract images.  The most well known of these is, The Elephants of Celebe.  This image shows an elephant (:P) that has been given machine like qualities.  Its trunk looks like a pipe and reminds me of an old fashioned boiler.  

Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale
The Elephant of Celebe

These artists are two of the main leaders of this group and I find their ideas on art and their ways of experessing themselves amazing.

Em x