Natalia Update

One year ago a former student of mine, Natalia Gonzalez, transfered from Chaffey College to the Art Center College of Design. Over this year she has sent me periodic newsletter updates on her experience. Since I know many of my current students have similar plans of transferring on to complete a four-year degree, I thought these updates might be an interesting read for the readers of Tesserae.

Sadly, I lost the updates from the first part of 2007 in an email mishap. But, I do have her updates from the Fall term and you can read them here on Tesserae. I had planned to continue passing on these updates to you over the coming term, but good news, as of last night Natalia has started her own blog, Natalia Updates.

I've posted her announcement of the new blog below. I hope you enjoy. And, thanks Natalia, keep up the great work!

John


The blog is up and running!!!

just go to www.ailatan38.blogspot.com and you should be able to see it.

And feel free to pass it along for others to see. Like family, because I don't have everyone's email address.

And when school starts, I'll try to update it weekly, but if things get busy not so much.

I hope all of you enjoy this as much as I enjoy making it for you.

Love,
Natalia Gonzalez

Chaffey Art Organization

Jodie Cavalier, Art Columnist for The Breeze

If you feel as though your regular school schedule needs a pick me up, join the Chaffey Art Organization. The CAO, for short, is one of the many student ran clubs on campus.

The club's mission is to create and promote art related events and discussion among students.

CAO has organized multiple events this semester.

With support from the Wignall Museum, CAO organized the Sweet Dreams Bake Sale during the Girly Zine Festival on November 3rd. Zine gurus, also known as Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go, taught attendees the "how to" on all things zine. The event was well attended and the club's bake sale fundraiser was a success. Both students and visitors attended the lecture, workshop and faculty walk-through all while enjoying homemade treats.

The CAO has even brought the Inland Empire up to speed with the PBS series art:21. On November 17th the club screened an episode of art:21, which is usually unavailable in the area. The series art:21- Art in the Twenty-First Century, showcases contemporary artist and explores the processes they use to create their work. Each episode in the series has a specific theme.

The art:21 Preview presented by the Chaffey art Organization, chose the theme of "Protest" in conjunction with a lecture by artist Kathleen Rogan, from the Girly Show.

The CAO also has plans to organize an art sale and gallery shop in the spring. The club, with help from the Wignall Museum, will get the hands on experience of creating a show. They will also create a whole product line for the store and renovate the store's space.

To find out more about this ambitious group visit their website or join the emailing list at: www.chaffeyart.org.

Natalia Update

Hey Everyone,

Today is officially my last day of school. I have a test in 36 minutes where I have to be able to tell the differences between 36 typefaces, or fonts. I think the instructor will grade me lower for printing on semi-gloss paper as opposed to glossy paper. I've been up all night preparing for the last class, and I've been in good company. This whole week, school at night has been just as busy as school during the day. Guys have beards because they don't have time to shave. Personalities change dramatically from so many days up, there is not even time to say hi. People are sleeping at computers, looking like they are still working except for the unnatural position of their heads and closed eyes. All the bean bags in the library have been taken by sleepy students, leaving other sleepy students to find a alternate nap place before class. This school is like the army. In the army, the outside population are called civilians. That is what we call people outside of artcenter. ! This is not a regular college...we students stress like the world is over if the smallest detail is off, because if something is off it means that the instructor will see it, talk down on it and now with all the other work needing to be done, there is redo work, or worse a bad grade.

But on the last day when all is done, come what may, good or bad, I'm happy to be here. This is exactly where I belong. And in the hallways is the bustle of Graduates and their displays on walls, tired students, excited friends and family, and so many more. Students muster energy to go out, have fun, party and then in a matter of days probably half the students fly away to their real homes.

Its been 1 year since I've been at Artcenter. My life has changed in a way that cannot be easily seen. My possibilities are greater. My enthusiasm is more present than ever.

22 minutes and I'll be putting my typeface knowledge to work.

Take care, Happy Holidays, and God Bless,
Natalia Gonzalez

PS. Blog page to come for a more advance newsletter with pictures!

Winter Student Exhibition

Chaffey College
Winter Student Exhibition
Wignall Museum, Chaffey College
December 11 – 15, 2007
Hours: T-F, 10am-4pm; Sat. noon-4pm

Join us to see the best work created in Photo, Digital Media and Art classes campus-wide. We have hundred’s of works of art on display at the Wignall through Saturday.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 12 at 12:30-1:30 p.m. will be a reception in celebration of the artists and the exhibition. Join us for light refreshments provided by the Art Department, ASCC and the Chaffey College Foundation. Gus Gil’s Choral Group will perform on the patio at 12:30 and the Chaffey College Ceramics Club will hold their holiday ceramics sale on the patio Dec. 12 and 13th from 10am-4pm. Enjoy the artwork, the sweet sounds of the choral group and support the Ceramics Club while doing your holiday shopping.

Please note that additional student photography work is on display in the Theater Lobby and in the SSA Building today through Saturday, Dec. 15.

Dali Exhibition at the LACMA

I recently decided to venture out into the world of art galleries and museums armed with the amateur knowledge given to me through art history 5. I have experienced a few of our local museums but was really excited when I heard about the Salvadore Dali exhibit at the LACMA. I found a particular liking to the surrealist movement and thought that experiencing it in person would be great. It was. When you enter the exhibit it starts with a few of his paintings when he was younger and some early movies he wrote and produced. Then it led into his later years and some of the more risque artworks. The next room had some of his paintings and sketches for a few movies he was writing, including a very interesting animated film named "Destino," created and produced at Walt Disney studios. A pairing I thought to be quite unconventional, especially since most of Dali's art pieces were so adult oriented. Either way the animated movie and the entire exhibit is a must see, plus you get to see the rest of the museum with the Dali admission. Dont forget to bring your student I.D.'s.

Paul Brach

Paul Brach, a painter and founding dean of the school of art at California Institute of the Arts who revolutionized teaching of the discipline by insisting that it reflect what is going on in contemporary art, has died. He was 83.

The complete article can be viewed at the Los Angeles Times.

1000 Days

Tesserae is 1000 days old today.

Scholars Use Art to Study Climate Change?

I added the question mark to the title of this article because, well, it just seems like a questionable premise to base a scientific study.

LONDON (AP) — The vivid sunsets painted by J.M.W. Turner are revered for their use of color and light and for their influence on the Impressionists. But could they also help global warming experts track climate change?

A group of scientists has studied the colors in more than 500 paintings of sunsets, including many of Turner's 19th-century watercolors and oils, in hopes of gaining insights into the cooling effects caused by major volcanic eruptions.

By better understanding past changes in climate, they hope to improve computer models for future climate change.

Christos Zerefos [pictured below], who led the research at the National Observatory in Athens, said he believed it was the first scientific study of art for clues to climate variations.

The scientists studied works painted around the times of major volcanic eruptions, such as the cataclysmic explosion of Mount Krakatoa in 1883, to measure how much pollution was pumped into the skies. Contemporary accounts describe brilliant sunsets after Krakatoa erupted.

"The initial idea arose from the fact that we saw an increased reddening of colors in sunsets which followed large volcanic eruptions, particularly Krakatoa,'' Zerefos said.

By measuring the amount of red and green in the paintings, the scientists aimed to calculate the amount of dust in the atmosphere. The greater the pollution, the redder the sunset, Zerefos said.

Now, the scientists do try to rationalize the study based on their sampling techniques, but I have to be honest that my first thoughts on this coincide more with James Hamilton.

James Hamilton, the curator at the University of Birmingham, who has written books on Turner, said that while Turner claimed to paint what he saw, it's dangerous to put too much weight on an artist's interpretation.

"They (artists) are not making absolutely clear and accurate records of what they can see,'' he said. "It's very hard to tell when artists are being absolutely accurate and when they're using vivid sky as a platform to more vivid painting.''

I am very pleased that there are people both looking at artwork and concerned with climate change, but I'm just not completely sure of the validity of the methodology in this case. Also, did they take into consideration the type and quality of the medium being used by the artists in order to adjust for possible color change due to age and exposure to the elements?

I had another concern when I looked at this photo from the article. I certainly hope these scientists observed the original paintings and not just images on their computer screens. For those of you taking one of my courses you are quite aware of how different the same painting may look in the textbook as compared to a computer projection, both of which will also often differ greatly from the original.

Meaning