Sumi-E!

Sumi-E is a Japanese/Chinese style of painting that is a lot different from the Western style of painting. It's very unique and beautiful because it's not so much about capturing a likeness or showing a scene, but more about bringing to life the spirit of the subject.
I've never been an awfully brilliant artist, definitely not in Western style art because I was never good at perspective, or drawing people, or really any kind of realistic detail. But I took to Sumi-E, and am semi-competent at it. Here are some of my paintings that I'm very excited about because they don't look terrible. :D

So first off, here's a frog (in case you couldn't tell XD). I like this guy. I'd like to try him again and see if I can do it better, but for now I'm happy with him!

 Here are some grapes, I'm very happy with how this one turned out!

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird... I'm happy with this one too. :D

 

Here' a wonky cat. Cats and Butterflies are often painted together in Sumi-E. Cats represent good luck and long life, and butterflies represent love.

 

 And finally, here's a Tiger Lily, my favorite flower. :)

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Righteous Classical Music: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy is sort of the musical equivalent of an impressionist painter. This piece doesn't work the way normal classical music does, it's a lot more vague sounding, and has a very heavenly feel. The sound is very warm, and light. When I close my eyes while listening to it, the colors gold, light pink, and green come to mind, or the image of sunlight filtering through trees.
Afternoon of a Faun has terrific parts for the entire orchestra, the woodwind section especially. The piece starts out with a flute playing a haunting melody all by itself, and there are a lot of neat oboe and clarinet solos, too.
I'm kind of sad that We had to cut this piece from our program last semester. I mean sure, I wouldn't have gotten the solo, but there are some parts that are just transcendent and the one rehearsal we played this all the way through, I totally lapsed into a trance around the 4:20-6:00 minute mark. That's where the metaphorical bird takes flight and the song is SO beautiful! Thanks, Claude Debussy!


Next on the agenda: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens!

Hee hee

Libby really has a thing for Once Upon a Time. She loves it. I, on the other hand, really am not fond of it (though the Neverland part in Season 3 was GREAT!!). But me and Libby both agree that Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin is an awesome character. Maybe the most awesome character on the show.
So I made this.

Heh heh. If I had directed Once Upon a Time, it would have just been the Rumple show. XD