Weekend Adventures

Sorry I have not written for a while- I have been pretty busy. On Saturday I explored the Brooklyn flea market with some friends; it was great, but pretty expensive. It was full of beautiful vintage clothes and gourmet food. I bought a beautiful white summer dress with blue and green flowers on it. It was a beautiful day! Later that day, we went on a boat tour and saw the statue of liberty, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and more. It was not the greatest event but it was good to see the area. Yesterday, Sunday, we went to see Harry Potter in an imax theatre. The first twenty minutes were in 3D, which made it kind of hard to see, but it was really fun!

I can't believe I only have four more days here- time has really flown by!

Twin Picture

Here is a picture of May and I! At first we did not think that we looked much alike, but after taking the pictures we realized that we do look very similar.

Chicago

Last night I had the awesome opportunity to see "Chicago" on Broadway. Sadly, I have not yet seen the movie, but the play was a great first impression. The singing was great, dancing good, and the costuming was grand. I was not blown away with the choreography however. I was lucky to get to see this play since we were grouped by last name into different shows, and Chicago was my top choice out of "Rock of Ages", "Shrek the Musical", and "Phantom of the Opera".

We rode the subway together to Broadway. Our seats were not great, but we could see everything fine, just at a far away distance. It was a great experience and the play was fantastic!

A Beautiful Morning in Brooklyn

This morning I went on a long walk to see more of Brooklyn. It is beautiful! The streets are lined with trees and cafes run along the streets. It seems very family friendly too; every one in five women I saw was either pregnant or with a child. It is actually a place that I could picture myself living for a while.

The humidity just hit a couple of days ago, but it is not unbearable. Today is glorious, warm but not sweltering and not very humid. It was a perfect day for such a walk.

The MoMA

For our art history course we visit museums every class. We are transported to the museums via subway and our chaperone, a Pratt student. Our chaperone is named Steph, short for Stephanie. Steph is a tiny girl with a rainbow of colors in her black hair. She wears black clothes and gladiator sandals. Her major is in fashion design. She is soft spoken but very sweet. Once we get on the street she pulls out a cigarette, lights it, and says, "Smoke. I don't care". Only one boy lights up, huffing smoke into my face.

First we visited the Frick Collection and then the MoMA. The Frick was comprised of very old pieces in the Frick house. It wa

s interesting, but not my favorite thing to look at. The MoMA though was very fun. I loved their crazy contemporary floor. In one room they had an art piece that consisted of people heights marked on the wall. The cool thing was that you could have your height put on the wall. So I did! It was such a fun afternoon.

Silkscreening

I have had the awesome opportunity to learn how to silkscreen here at Pratt. I went to an initial workshop where I learned the basics or silkscreen printing and how it works. The instructor, Chance, is a newly graduated graphic design student and is always more than willing to come to the workspace to help us print on his own time. A couple other girls and I have been going to silkscreen several times a week because it is so much fun! I went to the store Uniqlo to buy solid color clothes that I could print on, making perfect gifts for friends and family. The store is like American Apparel but very cheap. I am so glad that I got the chance to learn how to do this and am very excited to keep doing it!

Action on the Pratt Campus

Yesterday was an exciting day for Pratt students; a movie starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long was being filmed on campus. The Pratt campus was being used as Stanford University, which I found comical since the two look nothing alike. Palm trees were brought onto campus and signs were replaced to imitate those of Stanford. It was very interesting and slightly shocking to see how much equipment and how many people it takes to shoot a single scene. Pratt girls camped out on the lawn to observe the happenings and hopefully get a peek at Drew or Justin.

Drew, portraying an art graduate student, sat in classrooms and strolled the beautiful campus throughout the day. Everyone saw her. Well, everyone except me. Oh well!

Twins!

Over the course of my first week at school, people started confusing me with someone else. They would come up to me and say "Hey May!" or start talking to me about the visual and critical studies program. Once I made clear who I was, they were very surprised and informed me that I have an identical twin in the program. Disbelieving that there was someone that looked so similar to me, I started looking for her, but our paths rarely crossed. And when they did, we would not notice each other. Everyone else did though. People were trying to get us to meet and I felt as though was being set up for a blind date or something. Finally one day I heard someone talking to someone called May and so I turned around and introduced myself.

She was smaller than me with short brown hair, tan skin, and freckles. We had very similar eyes, but our face shapes were different. I would not have recognized her as my "twin", but we do have similar features and coloring. We sat and had lunch together, and she told me she was from California as well, from LA. She is the only other person I have met from California. Leaving the dining hall, everyone seemed to be looking at us and whispering in delight how the twins finally got to meet.

I had lunch with May yesterday, I she showed me her new nose piercing. I laughed and said, "I have always wanted a nose piercing! I thought about getting one for a while."

"Of course," she said, "we are twins." Then she pulled out her Ray Ban sunglasses and put them on.

I will try to get a picture and post it on my blog!

Life at Pratt

I was very relieved to be placed with a room mate who I get along with! Julia is from Rhode Island and is studying illustration at Pratt. She is a vegan and we both agree that the food at Pratt is horrible so we have been going to local grocery stores to buy healthier and more edible food.

Last week I had my first art history class, which seems like it is going to be great! Every day we meet we are going to go to a different museum and on the last class we are going to do a presentation and turn in a paper. I am very excited and was fascinated already on the first day of class. We went through five thousand years of art since we have so little time, gathering general knowledge about different time periods, styles, and artists.

Right now in my painting and drawing class we are working on painting still life (fruits and class bottles), which I find extremely boring. However, it is something I have never done before and really need to work on. After still life we will move on to figure painting, which will be much more interesting.

In my art foundations class we are covering basic elements of art, color, positive and negative space. Last class we had our first opportunity to work with a model and develop our figure drawing skills. This was very fun, and extremely refreshing from still life! I enjoyed the gesture drawing, where the model would hold poses for one minute and we would frantically try and sketch her in that short time.

I have not yet had my portfolio development class, which I am looking forward to. The class only meets three times throughout the program, and I am curious to see what we will be doing. So far so good!

A Day in the City

Today I went on an adventure in the city with my room mate and another girl in the program. We stopped by a local coffee shop on our way to the subway for bagels and drinks. We traveled uptown to go the fantastic Guggenheim Museum, a museum that our teachers were not going to take us to, where a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit was on display. After touring the museum we walked through central park, wandered around, and got on the subway to go to Uniqlo for some clothes to silkscreen on. Uniqlo was awesome, similar to American Apparel but with more interesting designs and a much smaller price tag. I got some clothes to silkscreen for friends and family and then we walked around, picked up some fallafels, and sat in Washington Square. After wandering the city some more, we headed back to our school campus. It was a very fun day and it was great to be immersed in the beautiful city! I cannot wait to create my silkscreen art!

Busy Fun

I have been so busy! My classes are both challenging and fun, providing me with daily homework and lots to do. I have been staying up late every night sketching, painting, primering, and playing with paint. Every student is assigned to a classroom as a "homework space". At first I thought it was going to be a drag (you are required to check in every night), but it has actually turned out to be very helpful and fun. Only a few people show up each night, but we work and chat the whole time. Also, on every floor of the dorm building there is a work space with tables and sinks, making homework very easy to accomplish.

In my next class this afternoon we are going to have the opportunity to work with a live model which I am very excited about! Tomorrow we have our first art history class along with a mandatory lecture session. Well, back to work!

Here at Pratt!

It's been awhile since I have written due to constant traveling, dining, and college touring. Since my last entry, we toured Bard, Vasser, Sarah Lawrence, and Swarthmore. Bard, way out in the middle of nowhere, did not really appeal to me and my parents swore to never visit me in this barren location. Vasser was like Hogwarts, old, beautiful, presenting a message of established knowledge and history. Sarah Lawrence was absolutely gorgeous. With its tutor style architecture and rolling green lawns, it was a place where I could picture myself. Contrary to its intimidating name, Bronxville was very quaint, with tidy shops and restraunts, an east coast Los Gatos. Swathmore was also beautiful, lined with beautiful gardens.

And here I am at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn! I was so nervous about coming here but immediately relieved when I stepped foot on the gorgeous green campus. The dorms are beautiful; they are large with a spacious closets and wonderful views. Every two rooms shares a bathroom, which is fantastic. The campus is scattered with sculptures, creating an inspirational environment. We were given a neighborhood tour, which gave us an idea of where we can go and where we should not go. Brooklyn is lovely, having a smaller and more intimate feel than Manhattan. A street over and I have everything I could possibly need! I have already met some people and have a feeling I am going to learn a lot here. I am anticipating great fun, hard work, and a big adventure!

The College Marathon

Yesterday we embarked on an intense journey that involved thunderstorms, three New England states, and three different colleges. We visited Brown University in Rhode Island, Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and Amherst University in Massachusetts. All three were gorgeous, highly academic, and seemed to be a place where I could see myself attending school. I want to apply to all three, but I especially fell in love with Brown. The city of Providence was beautiful. Whereas the other two schools were in more rural areas, Brown had the city nearby, offering many opportunities. If I am going to be studying art history, then I feel as though this city life would be incredibly helpful, if not necessary. For lunch we ate in Middletown, the town in which Wesleyan is and for dinner we ate in Amherst, Massachusetts to get a better feel for the area. Look to the right for some pictures of these fabulous schools!

Rainy in Boston

Here we are in Boston, Massachusetts. The city is beautiful: tall brick buildings, green landscapes, foggy harbor. It is raining with sounds of thunder and lightening echoing through our slanted apartment.

Last night, after a quick nap from our long journey, we had a delicious dinner at one of the many Italian restaurants in our neighborhood. We enjoyed lobster ravioli in a dijon cream sauce, shitake mushroom and goat cheese spring roles drizzled with honey. Afterwards we strolled our neighborhood, stopping for gelato.

Today we visited Boston University, aftering grabbing a bagel across the street from our apartment and hopping on the subway. With its lovely landscaping, old brick buildings, and impressive academics, the school was charming, but somehow I did not fall in love with it. Maybe it was because of the drizzling gray weather, which proceeded into a loud, wet storm. We ate at the school as we looked out the cafeteria window and pondered how we should spend the day. We got back on the subway and came home to take a nap and watch The Devil Wears Prada. Now we might venture out into the rain to go shopping at H&M and eat some dinner. Despite the weather however, today was a great day! I had fun just walking the streets of Boston and learning more about the area.

The Pratt Experience

So, here is some background on the program I will be attending and the classes I am going to take. 

1. Elective course- I chose painting and drawing. This class meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

2. The foundation course- meets every Mon, Wed, Thurs.

3. Art History- meets on Tuesdays and Fridays.

4. Portfolio Development meets on Tuesdays.

We have classes Monday-Friday from eight to four-thirty; I will have lots of free time for exploring and shopping. We will be living in the freshmen dormitories and will eat meals at the dining hall for a true taste of college! I am excited to see who my roomate(s) will be! There are two Pratt campuses, one in Manhattan and the other in Brooklyn. I will be attending the Brooklyn campus, which consists of twenty-something beautiful green acres!