MOCA Artist Review

Siff Skovenborg

Time After Time


Cobbled Street-Bremen

Implicate Order

X-ray

Copenhagen Metro StationSiff Skovenborg is an interesting artist who defines her style as abstract and expressionistic. Siff was born in Jylland Denmark and has a diverse educational background in communications, psychology, and teaching. Siff has created beautiful works of digital art but also has a background in painting, writing, singing, and photography. I found her digital art and photographs to reflect humanistic subject matter along with the intricate framework within the human psyche. Time and self reflection are recurrent themes in her work. The photograph of the Copenhagen Metro Station just shouts out to me “who are you, where are you going, and when will you get there!”
X-ray is an example of Skovenborg’s pictures made in Photoshop with full or partial use of stock photo. This work of art incorporates a human x-ray in with a very textural organic design in shades of blue, white, and brown. One can hardly help but look into and analyze one’s inner self while viewing Siff Skovenburg’s art.
Siff states “My goal is to go with the flow in art making. I am trying not to be focused on ideas and mental restrictions. I do though use knowledge of composition in a later state ... So my aim is to let art come from a place beyond the conscious mind. This means in practice that when I start a new painting I do not know where to go or which kind of expression is going to come out of it. I simply start to put colour on paper or whatever comes to mind.” I find this approach to be remarkable because such powerful and meaningful images can be created not from focused intent but rather develop from the artist’s intuition and connection to the unconscious mind.

-Marissa Lyttle

Firesong

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Faith

On Earth

A warm view

On Earth

Firesong is a self digital artist.....

She is an artist who believes in the power of God. She has the belief and faith that there is a higher power which creates all the beauty that surrounds us. This is one of many quotes that I came across while admiring the works of this artist.

" The Deep"
He is everywhere. He is with us as our bodies move and flow, the neutrons fire the chemicals interact to move us in the world, a wondorous display of light and color.
To feel the wind he sent out which caress us. To the sun which shines upon us to the stars which twinkle to us, to a giant nova to the birth of a new sun all of this flows from the crative beauty of the mind of God.

This artist shows her appreciation for the creation of a wonderful world that only the higher power can create. She spoke of the wind and how it make one feel love, the sun and moon in which all this flow from the beauty of the mind of God.

In creating her work Firesong uses programs such as Bryce, Poser, Cinemas 4D, Photoshop XFrog and Painter.
She says "she has the desire to bring to life the image from her heart, and faith plays a key role in the creation of her art". In other words she takes risk and with faith she creates wonders.

Hello All!

Hello Class!

My name is Jessica Sandler and this is my 4th class with Jerry! I have learned so much from his photography & art classes! I am 12 credits away from my Associates Degree. When I started here at Albertus, my son had just turned 1 year old and I was going through the "what do I want to do with the rest of my life" phase. I am a sales manager for a cellular company and though it is financially rewarding, I feel that I can do more in this world than just "sell cell phones". For some time now, I have been "trying to find myself". I am 27 years old and for some reason, I felt as though at this point in life, I should be defined as...something! Until today when I was looking through the artists on the MOCA page. I randomly clicked on the artist Joe C. K. Lee and just by skimming through his website I found this awesome quote from George Bernard Shaw "Life isn't about finding yourself; life is about creating yourself." Quite fitting for this moment in my life.

So here's to another Mod of learning and creation!



Though I like Lee's work a lot, I wanted to look around a bit more. That's when I found Pavel Rehurek. I love how he takes photographs and alters them into beautiful works of art. These are two images that caught my eye. I didn't find any information on what he was using to enhance his photographs. His website states the following: Photo-Based Digital Art on Paper, Lens-based images (born in my camera) Digitally adjusted and giclee printed Fine Art. I got most of that except for "giclee" which I found out is french for "fine spray"*. Giclee is defined as "a print made by the digital process, typically inkjet.*

I like the intensity of Carmel, but I love the beauty and serenity of Pond, making that one my favorite. During my museum appreciation class, I had a wonderful opportunity to discover works of Art that I would have never found otherwise. I also discovered what pieces called out to me more than others. Bright and intense works were generally my picks for the week, but I relate that to where I was at that point in my life, busy days running into each other. Now I am a place where I welcome relaxation and an appreciation for peace. That is why the Pond portrait is my favorite.



*www.terigalleries.com/glossary.shtml
*www.worldprintmakers.com/dapttf/dapttf.htm
*My picture was altered with Adobe CS3 using a couple filters

Pleased to Meet You!

My name is Tracy Petrillo. I am just coming back to Albertus after taking Mod 4 2008 off because I had a beautiful baby boy on April 21st! Life has been wonderfully crazy as I get used to my new role as a mommy, but I LOVE it beyond words!! Now I am trying to juggle the challenges of work, school and motherhood and still remain sane! I am hoping to graduate next year.
I am a communications major with a focus on promotions. I am also drawn to visual communications, which is why I wanted to take an art class this Mod.
Back when I was going to Southern (right after high school in 1995) I was an art major. That didn't pan out and after a too-long hiatus, I am back and trying to put my love of the creative to work. I am hoping to be able to wipe away the dust that has probably settled on my artistic abilities and learn new ways to make some visually cool images with programs that I have never used before. I am excited to start this class and am looking forward to meeting everyone through their artwork!

What Do I Need To Do For Class This Week?

By Next Tuesday you need to

-Join this blog by clicking on the link blogger sent you (from me) that brings you to a sign up page to join the blog... you don't need to create your own blog.... just join this one. This is our classroom. When you post here, that is like coming to class.... If you are not posting, that is like skipping class. Coming to class is the most important component of your grade... along with the work you create for your portfolio. If you create a brilliant portfolio but avoid posting to this blog, the highest grade you could receive for this class is a "C".

-Set up your fotothing.com account and send me an email inviting me as your friend. That way I can add you to the class meeting area on fotothing. Post 5-10 images per week at a minimum on fotothing... Comment on other students' work there. Use this blog to show us an example of what you are doing and invite others to view the rest of your work on fotothing.

-Read the syllabus and take a look at all of the projects listed.... You can work on them one by one or at the same time as the spirit moves you... It is very important that you work consistently through the class and not disappear... read through the Criteria for grading linked on the upper right of the blog...

-Download and installPhotoshop CS3 available as a free download from http://adobe.com/downloads it will expire in 30 days though :-(

-Post a quick bio and hello to the blog... you should up load a photo of yourself too!


That's it for the first week. If you have any questions, please email me at jnevins@albertus.edu

Hello Everyone!

My name is Marissa and I'm really looking forward to this course. I took Two Dimensional Design in Mod 5 2008 and enjoyed it a lot. I'm a General Psychology major with a minor in Art. I love all kinds of art but my true passion is painting. This is the only recent picture I had from a wedding I was in this summer. The wedding was in Charleston, SC which is one of my favorite cities to visit. I posted some other pics from the trip as well.

-Marissa

A little about me

Just to clarify, this is not a picture of me. It is a picture of where my life is headed and what I am discovering. This picture is of my two older sisters on my father's side. We have just found each other after 22 years. I always knew they were somewhere and with the assistance of the internet, I was able to find them while searching for my father whom I have never met. Change is inevitable, but this is a good time of change for me.

I am taking my last 3 classes at Albertus and I will be done completely by this December. I am a Sociology major and a Criminal Justice minor. I love photography and all types of art in general. I really don't know what to expect of this class, but since I enjoyed the last class I had with Mr. Nevins, I assume this will be the case in this class as well.

Many changes are here for me because my husband will be leaving to the Army soon. I just took a substitute teaching position. I have found my family for the first time. I'm new to the whole having a family thing and it's really nice. Plus, I will be done with school soon and I haven't decided where to go from there yet. So to all, enjoy the class and hope we can all learn from each other. Good luck!

hello all!

My name is Lauren Rua... formerly Lauren Crossman... ;)

Life has been busy for me this year! I am 24 years old. I just got married August 1st, 2008 to my wonderful husband, Rick. And we are expecting our first child, a boy named Logan, in November! Our honeymoon was in Aruba and it was probably the best vacation I've ever taken! We recently moved from Waterbury to Thomaston. I'm finishing my last run of classes here at Albertus... and through a tough beginning of the year... have found solace at the end. :)

I've also taken Digital Photography I with Jerry & am looking forward to this course, as I am the marketing guru at my current job in Terryville! Can't wait!

Hello

My name i s Cherie Radcliffe. I am entering my senior year at Albertus Magnus. My major is General Psychology. I enjoy spending time with my family and close friends. I have taken the 3 dimensional course with Jerry before and I enjoyed what I did. Hope this class willl be as fun.

Hello!

Hi Everyone!

To get things started, let me tell you a bit about myself.... I have been teaching full time at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT (www.albertus.edu) for the past 29 years and am grateful for the opportunity to spend my life working with students who want to learn more about art. I've been married for the past 33 years to my high school sweetheart and have 2 wonderful sons, 25 and 29. My older son is married and has a 1 year old son.He was hired recently by Disney as a Graphic Designer in their Book Division.

Here I am sailing out of the Great Salt Pond in Block Island... I have been a sailor for years and you can find my wife out on the water every weekend of the summer.

My main interest is photography and I earned an M.F.A. in still photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. At Albertus I teach not only Photography but a range of other courses which include Digital Photography both online and face to face, Foundation Design (2-D and 3-D), Graphic Design, Ceramics, Intro to Computer Art, and a new course I developed, The Museum Experience.

To learn more about me, take a look at my web site, http://jnevins.com. You can find a statement of my teaching philosophy (very student centered), syllabi form my other classes, a resume (called a Curriculum Vita in academic circles), tutorials on digital photography issues, portfolios of my work and more.

I look forward to working with you!

-Jerry