Still smiling.

I've been so caught up in my art project lately I have completely neglected writing about the little things.  The moments that have kept me smiling.

Let's meander back to Sunday morning.  It's 10:00 am, I had my tooth brush in my mouth, I was wiping off the counter and suddenly my phone rings.  My phone.  Every time my phone rings my ears perk up.  It rarely happens here in Spain and when it does, the sound echos through the room of apartment 3C. I ignored it assuming it was a telemarketer and continued on with my Sunday morning routine.

38 seconds later, the noise returns.  Who must it be?  Two phones calls in one minute.  I pick up my phone from my night stand, glance at it and smile.  Do I answer and suffer the bill?  Noooo. Skype.

It was John Paul Vaith.  The One and Only.  My bestie.  My brother, in another life.  I dialed him back, from my computer of course, as fast as I could and when he picked up I started cheering.  Yay!  John Paul.

It was this small occasion in my day that made my week.  We talked for an hour about school, summer, friends, girlfriends, love, family, new york.  We laughed, we yelled, we discussed, we didn't cry.  It was amazing.  We only talk a few times a year.  Not enough. It's sad.  But when we do it's like we've never been out of touch.  He is one of my best friends and always will be.

It was after this conversation, I started thinking about our time together two summers ago.  We hung out together EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. whether it was for five minutes or 24 hours.  We stayed up until sunrise reminiscing.  We went to Olive Garden or ordered it in at least twice a month.  It's thinking back on times like these that make me wish time would stop.  I wish life would allow you to see those you LOVE every single day instead of just once or twice a year.  The older I get the more I realize this will never happen.  The more places you go, the more people you meet but it's nice to know that your favorite people are just a call, text or skype chat away :)

Wood Carving and Bronze.

It started as a block of wood.  After chiseling and chipping and pounding and sanding it became a palm, with a thumb of course. 

This will make for the base of my world cube.  The whole world on the tip of my finger.

My fingers are made out of bronze and my thumb and palm made out of wood.  My livestrong bracelet finishes out the piece and was caste in bronze and colored with patina.  It was my first wood carving so be nice.  Very challenging but sooo rewarding.  Below are a few photos.  Not quite the finished product but close!   

El Mundo en Mosaic

My art project is a mosaic of the world.  Each country composed of different items I have found around Cuenca to represent different aspects/characteristics of each continent.  Ultimately it will be placed on the tip of my finger, which I casted out of bronze, and displayed as a sculpture at the exhibit this coming Friday.

Africa is composed of chicken bones, while Asia is composed of old electric parts to represent the technology that is skyrocketing in Asia.

This is a view of Canada and the United States.

A better view of the United States, composed of American dollar bills and coins.

Artist's Statement

The exhibit is coming up on Friday! Yikes.


So little by little we are preparing.


Here is my artist's statement:

My name is Abby Wagner.  I am a twenty-one year old student, tenacious traveler and avid volunteer, studying international affairs and human services.  My ultimate goal is to be the CEO of a social enterprise company; creating alternative resources for people living on less than dollar a day. I am influenced in life by the anomalous experiences I have had through travel and the diverse complexity of cultures I have crossed.

            So you may be wondering, why am I here, making art?

I decided to participate on this study abroad experience to dive into a new part of my brain. To express my beliefs in new methods, aside from writing.  I have never painted, drawn or sculpted but the challenge and desire has always lingered. 

            My artwork is inspired by themes of peace and unity, as seen in the serene beauty of Cuenca.  Understanding how interconnected, and broken, yet beautiful the world is all at the same time.  In my mosaic I hope to portray the uniqueness of many peoples having a piece of the world, a fingertip that leaves a dent in some way or another.  How each person views the world is entirely different, nonetheless we come together, tiny pieces, molding to form one versatile society. 

In honor of... Papa Bear.

I am not a girly girl but I am not a boy.  Anybody who knows me, especially mi familia, knows I do not like to hammer nails. Do not like to touch wood (it gives me slivers). Do not like to clean really dirty areas. I don't like cement. Rocks. Pulling weeds. Yard work.

... (I think I'm starting to sound like a princess).

There are those occasional days though, where I would hop in the back of my dad's diesel fueled, American flag decorated, truck, with my hard hat on the dash and my Carhart boots tied tight.  Ready to set off into the danger zone, never knowing what project I was going to be assigned.  That's right, me, employee of the day for Wagner Construction of Hampton Inc.  And dad I would like to thank you for the lessons, sense of strength and determination you taught me, on those days spent doing a "man's job."

That time I had to crawl in the boiler room, the walls hugging me tightly as I snake crawled through the slimmest hole into a room that was 98 degrees Fahrenheit .  That time the hammer decided it wanted to get intimate, and tapped me nicely on the shoulder.  That time you told me to swing my arms, widen my stance and walk like a man.  These instances, snapshots rather, of concentration and absolute challenging work, are a daily reminder that I can finish this art project, and finish it successfully.

It may have taken me 3 hours to build a 9x9x9 in. cube.  It may have taken me three attempts at making the perfect cement solution. (I now know it takes three parts mixture and one part water).  It may have taken me a whole class day (6.5 hrs) to figure out how to assemble the base of my sculpture.  BUT I have done it.  Slowly but surely I have begun to mosaic the world, on a cube, rested on the tip of my fingers.  A "man's job" some would say.

All I have to say is I'm a woman

... And I got the whole wide world on the tip of my finger.


THANKS PAPA!

Yes, TOPLESS.

Location: Valencian Beach
When: This afternoon
Who: Me, Myself, I and all the other beautiful women in this world.

Today was a glorious day.  I layed out, in the sun, surrounded by the bluest beaches I have ever seen, topless.

Yes, topless.  I never, ever thought I would do anything like it!  In America, well, it just doesn't happen.  But why?

I was thinking about this today as I was observing elderly women, young children, mothers, teenagers, dark skinned, a little over weight, wrinkly, women enjoying the day freely.  Some swimming, lying down, reading a book, talking on their cell phone,  enjoying friendly conversation, all without their tops on.  It was beautiful.  The female body, natural body, at it's finest. Confident women being themselves with no judgments.  I felt confidence explode inside of me as I untied the knot keeping the garment around my neck, throwing my top in the air like it was my graduation cap, three years earlier.  I felt beautiful.

I am looking forward to tomorrow

... when I do the same thing again with a grin spread across my face.

Pablo Picasso

So, as you know from reading this blog, I am NOT an artist.  Or at least literally speaking!

But I love to visit art museums.  I have been to several including the MET, the MOMA, the Walker Art Museum, several in India, Mexico and now the Prado and La Reina Sofia.

A few of my favorite artists: Dalí, Palencia, Miró, Bosch and of course Picasso!  On Saturday I got to see his most famous painting (the real original piece) Guernica.  I took a picture for proof but I took it illegally, or snuck it rather, so I'm not ready to put it online.  It was magnificent.  


And I learned something interesting about the piece as told by our tour guide, Paco.  It is assumed Picasso found inspiration for the idea from the painting The Horrors of War (1638) by Peter Paul Rubens.  


http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/upload/img/rubens-horrors-war-NG279-fm.jpg


Copy and paste the link flick the picture and compare it to the Guernica by Picasso.  You can see the images abstractly!  It's amazing!

Madrid... or Manhattan

I spent this last weekend in Madrid!  I loved it.  I can't tell if I loved it because it was an international city and I saw people from all over the world and heard languages I have never heard before OR if it was because it reminded me of my time in NYC last Spring.  Nonetheless, the weekend was bittersweet because of the latter.

I missed my friends.  Had several instances of dejavue (sp). Visited both the Prado and La Reina Sofia Museum, which was amazing.  Took a flamenco class.

Madrid. I could definitely see myself living there in the future.  It was a bit touristy for me but I am sure after living there long enough it would be easy to find the dives and local hangouts.  Much like New York City.

So Madrid or New York City or Neither!


... we shall see.

I'm sorry

I'm sorry.  I know I am horrible at keeping up with this blogging thing.  My journal, that's loaded, but of course it is easy to bring that with me everywhere and whip it out whenever I have an intelligent thought lingering.  The following few posts are going to be tid bits of experiences I have had over the past several days.  Enjoy.

An artist becoming an artist.

I have never been defined as an artist.  I have never used the word artist to describe myself.  Of course I believe I am artistic in an abstract sense; painting images in my mind, sometimes etching through words, the tips of my fingers drawing noises on the piano.

But when people hear the word artist, most often times they think of a painter, literally using water color or acrylics to cover a canvas, or metal or weld together a sculpture.

In Spain, this literal kind of art is exactly what I came here to do.  I am receiving two art credits to create.  Create whatever I want.  As easy as it seems, I have realized a few things since I have been here:

1. Art is not an easy major.
2. Art hurts your brain.
3. Art takes more concentration and determination than almost anything ever attempted by me.
4. Art can be fun.
5. Art gives back a sense of satisfaction.
6. Art is a way to express when there are no words or actions to use.
7. Art and it's importance could go on and on and on.
8. I am making an eight because anyone who knows me knows I HATE odd numbers.

Moving on... The point of this post is that I have learned so much in just the two weeks I have been here.  And these lessons I have learned are not necessarily making me a better artist but a more patient and well -rounded person.

This side of my brain has never been worked so hard and it's gratifying!