UTA Ridin' - Greg Taylor

I took the bus bright and early with a lot of other travelers headed to work/school. I started in north Provo and rode the bus almost right to BYU. When I walked on it kinda felt like I was in another country. I was surprised by what looked to be an Indian or Middle Eastern population on the bus. As I thought about it, this kind of transportation is probably the most familiar to foreigners. Most places outside of the Utah and more so the U.S. use bus and  train much more than cars. The smell inside the bus quickly took me to the city. Even though I was still in rural provo it had a big city smell. One thing that has always bugged me about UTA is how unhelpful the bus drivers are to new comers. During my freshman year of college I experimented with public transportation and every time you try to go somewhere new the bus driver seems so bugged to answer any questions about the route or they expect you to know how much it's going to cost. It was an overall good experience. I find riding the bus very relaxing. It helps me feel apart of the community and less to myself.

BT (bus times)

I rode the bus in the past and found my fellow riders to be extremely fascinating, so that is exactly what I expected to find this time around. Much to my dismay, however, there really were not many people at all on the bus. I shared this experience with Katie and we found at one point during our journey, we were the sole passengers on the bus. Naturally, when you are the only ones on the bus, you chat, and dance, and chat. The photo below captures the essence of this.

Because we were feeling extra spontaneous and did not really have anything holding us back, we decided to merely have the bus take us where it wanted to. Somehow, we ended up at University mall and because we are both very good at justifying deserving treat, we wound up at Sweet Tooth Fairy. Neither of us had ever dined there, but have both always wanted to so it proved to be a very good opportunity. This is my purchase. SO GOOD.

After we enjoyed our treat, we waited for a bus to come that could return us home safely. During this period of waiting, we met a new friend. She was exceedingly nice and I am very glad we talked to her. Talking to strangers in order to find out how I can think of others and be more charitable is actually something that I have been trying to work on lately, so this was the perfect opportunity to practice this. This specific opportunity showed me that some people simply need other people to talk to and to have a pair of ears listen to them. 

finding: The Birth of a Tool

The Birth of a Tool. Part 1. Axe Making

^click on the link to watch the video.

I love documentaries, so when I first saw this short one, I fell in love. What I most love is how it shows the beauty in something that many, myself included, may overlook. I now have a newfound appreciation for axes and especially those who take the time to craft them so meticulously. Not only is the film aesthetically pleasing, but it is also depicts the beauty of all of God's creations. It really reminds me of how grateful I am for all that He has given us.

Find It - Minifig Photographer

We've probably all seen Lego photography, but I really like this guy's style and his tips in the article for dealing with creative limitations. All the shots were taken with an iPhone 4S and shame any of my best shots taken with DSLRs. It's all about story, your creativity, and knowing the limits of your equipment.

http://petapixel.com/2014/02/20/legographer-tours-world-viral-365-project-shot-iphone-4s/#more-130124

Creative Post: Kirsten Hansen

I found this awesome artist, Peter Root. He creates art out of staples and it's completely awesome and unique. Here he is creating a sculpture out of staples of New York City. He does a lot of different kinds of art as well with the staples. Enjoy!

Rut Assignment 7: Kirsten Hansen

For the 7th rut assignment I found myself in New York City instead of Provo, so I completed the rut on a subway instead of the UTA.
My experience on the subway was...interesting. I decided to really observe what was going on when I rode the subway back from 116th to 72nd late at night alone. I tried to create stories for each individual that I saw. It was around midnight, so there really weren't that many people on the subway. At night everyone is definitely a lot more relaxed than they are during 5:00 in the evening too.
I wasn't even nervous to ride because I was actually observing people instead of judging them based off of the fact they had a huge bag that could have a bomb or that they smell bad. (Terrible judgments, I know. But on public transit it happens)
I think the main thing I learned about observing people on the subway was that everyone has some place their going, someway they have to accomplish that and we all ride the same train. Some people are homeless on the subway and others have millions of dollars, but we all share the same ride and can still relate to each other.

Notebook Inspiration

I think its a great example of  putting all of our thoughts in our notebooks like Cutri was talking about on the first day of class. 

Something creative -- Brad Hill

http://www.buildwithchrome.com/explore#

So i found this website that is a mix between building stuff with legos and exploring on google maps. essentially you can build whatever you want on the map out of legos. I think this is a creative way to use software and also a great way to exercise creativity to build something cool and exciting.

Saturday Bus Ride

Saturday afternoon Lucy and I went to the closest bus stop to our apartment.  We just got on the first bus that came by.  After a short ride past the temple, a little dance in the aisles (reference Lucy's post), we found ourselves at the University Mall.  Once there we got off and just had to get ourselves a little treat.  We headed over to Sweet Tooth Fairy where we both got little somethin' somethin' aka cupcakes.  While waiting for the bus to come pick up to go home we chatted with a lady who had just moved to Provo to gain independence from her family in Colorado.  After chatting with her about her day and love for the Olympics our bus arrived.  So we hopped on the bus and back home we went.  I loved my public transportation experience.  I thought it was really relaxing and fun to people watch.

This was gonna be a really neat artsy pic of my really cute cupcake.... but then I ate it.

Bus ridin ridin on a bus

I got on the bus near the Marriott Center @ BYU and just thought I'd try to make it to University Mall in Orem. I asked the first bus driver and he turned me away saying I had to have an exact $2.50 but I just had $2.10. I got off and waited for the next bus and waddaya know!! He let me on for free (I'm not publicly endorsing this type of behavior)! I took my backpack off and sat next to a nice girl. She got off about a minute later and a nice woman came from the back of the bus to sit in the seat across from me. I could tell she was planning on saying something to me because for some reason I could see her looking over in the corner of my eye. I turned toward her and she asked, "you going to the basketball game tonight?" I answered that I was actually planning on it. We talked for a moment and I found out a little about her and her a little about me. She was Polynesian from Tonga with a pretty thick accent. Really nice woman! Anyway, I had a great experience and was honestly just on the bus for about 13 minutes. ALL PEOPLE ON BUSES ARE NICE. Well at least that's what I think now. So let's do it again.

Mis-inscription Creative Post

I just thought this was so clever.  It seemed like a really creative way to play with what "Fine" really means.  

MUSGUARD – Creative Post

This is a cool mud-flap for ya bikes!

http://musguard.com/

Petrol Pump Art Campaign - Greg Taylor

This was a really artistic way of getting the word out about their new car. Check out the video here: http://vimeo.com/43165722

Find It Creative Bookmark - Allie Sullivan

I found this creative idea for a bookmark. They look like a lot of fun to make.

Lipton Design Find it- Ariana Keith

I was looking on Pinterest (of course) because I believe it is one big mecca of creativity. I saw this ad for Lipton Tea it appears. I not only loved the message it was able to convey with one single picture, but I loved the design and creativity of it.

It's a SUPER interesting way of answering the questions: "What is Lipton tea bags really made of" and how can we convey that in a creative and organic way? 

Stripping Comics: Finding Creativity

So the title of this post is misleading but I thought it was creative so I put it up there haha. For my find something creative post I found this guy on facebook who does these awesome little comic strips and shares em with the worlds! There is nothing really fancy about them and his drawings are pretty simple but I find it very creative and rather entertaining. Just a warning though some are a little sketchy sketch.
Here is his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kris-Wilson/96452604801

Cool infographic of Music history- Tom Blackham

It's amazing what hidden gems you find on the internet when you actively search for it. As I've mentioned multiple times before, I'm super into music. And this website is very streamlined and interactive. I shows you a timeline of Music and its periods of popularity. You can look at each genre in a broad context of what else was popular during that time, or you can highlight a single genre and it will map out that genre's history of popularity. It also gives you suggestions of certain albums you can listen to that illustrate that genre and points to the time period that it came from.

It's a really fun site so if you guys want to check it out, I think you'll enjoy it:

http://research.google.com/bigpicture/music/

UTA Bus Trip- Tom Blackham

I've gone on several trips on the Buses here in Utah. My family lives in Sandy, so up until I got a car this summer and wanted to visit them I would jump on the bus and head home. Sometimes I would bring with me dirty laundry or else food from home, but no one else on the bus ever thought anything of it. I thought that my past experience traveling by bus would make it hard for me to find a way to get out of my comfort zone. But I found a way.

With the introduction of Frontrunner in Provo, all the bus routes were changed drastically. So I literally didn't know what bus to take to get where I wanted to go. So I decided to just pick a sign and stand by it. I was surprised that I didn't have to wait for the bus long before it showed up. (I hadn't checked the schedule before going out) When I got on, I grabbed a transfer slip, intending to go bus hopping for most of the morning. I thought to run as many routes as I could to the end of the line before transferring to another bus on until my transfer slip expired, and then by a ticket to find a way  back home.

That didn't end up happening, because the routes were longer than I remembered them being and I ended up only take two routes, but I did get to see cool alpacas farms, orchards, UVU student housing American Fork shopping mall, and two frontrunner stops. Oh, and did anyone know that there is UVU West?? I didn't either until my first bus stopped there.

On my way home I decided to strike up a conversation with a stranger on the bus to push me further beyond my comfort zone. She was a UVU student from Spanish Fork who was studying English with the intention to work with advertisements...pretty ironic, right? I guess she's thinking of being a copy editor or something, she was kind of iffy about everything because UVU doesn't really have and advertising program so she wasn't familiar with what specifically she wanted to do. However, that was an interesting coincidence that made for a good icebreaker.

When I finally did get home, I think I was more thankful than ever for my car because a trip that would have taken me a mere 15 to 20 minutes in the car ended up being over an hour long with all the stops. But it was a great experience, though!

Ride Bus Fun

The experience taking that UTA bus was a great experience. There really isn't much too it at least for me. I'm from Chicago and I've taken the bus many times here before. I ended up taking it to Cafe Rio so I got something good out of it. One thing I learned was that nobody wants to talk to you on the bus because they either have their faces stuffed in their phones or ipods ahha.

Cool find

Maybe you guys have already heard, but recently I discovered that humans will soon be on Mars!!!

Check it all out at this website:

http://www.mars-one.com/

Here is a video talking about it: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jraVEhfFjvY

 

Find Stuff (Text Later) - Lance McDowell

My discovery of this creative app actually occurred on the bus. I overhead these two guys having a conversation. One of them is about to graduate in computer programming (I think?) and he was telling the other guy about this app he created called Text Later. Basically, it allows you to write a text but then schedule when you want it actually sent. The idea is simple but I think it is very creative. The guy said he created it because he is a night owl and sometimes he needs to text someone but it's not very kosher to send a text in the middle of the night. Then you forget to send it in the morning. So he created an app to solve his problem. I think creative juices flow the best when you are trying to solve a real problem. Click here to see the app.

      Saturday Morning Journey

          This morning I embarked on a quest to take the bus.  I had imagined that the hardest part would be finding a bus stop, but that proved to be quite easy.  The biggest obstacle was actually the long wait for a bus to pass.  I spent much of my time awaiting the large beast that would ferry me to my next destination.  After some time I saw a fair maiden pass by with a small child.  The fair maiden told me that on saturdays the buses pass every 30 minutes, she instructed me that it wouldn't be much longer.  The little girl with her begged me to allow her to join me on my quest, her mother said that they would ride the bus later in the day, and the little girl was content.
        After the fair maiden and her daughter left me to my solitude I waited for what seemed like hours until finally the bus arrived.  I boarded the small vessel and it took me to a faraway land where there were a plethora of beautiful stores, soothing music, and elderly speed walkers.  It was everything I had imagined of this beautiful faraway land.  After purchasing some items at the GNC stronghold, I began my journey back to the land of the University Villa.  On my way home I was distracted by a pair of golden arches in the shape of an M.  I swiftly parted from my fellow travelers and ended my journey with a victorious feast.

UTA Trip - Lance McDowell

I thought this assignment was going to be way different for me than it actually was. I thought the experience was about the people on the bus, but for me it was more about the people on the street. When you drive a car you don't really have a lot of time to stare out the window. You're too busy concentrating on the road. But as I rode the bus it was really interesting to focus on the people on the street.

For example, there was this girl out for a jog waiting for a light. Her hair was perfect. Her shoes matched the straps of her sports bra I could see sticking out of a wider necked shirt. I couldn't help but wonder if the girl cared more about being seen running than actually running. She probably spent an hour getting ready for her half hour jog.

But the thing that struck me most about the trip was when I got off the bus. The girl behind me called up to the bus driver and said "Thank you!" as we exited the rear door of the bus. That was the biggest lesson I learned. There are a lot of thankless jobs out there. There are people who clean buildings, mop floors, prepare our food, fill vending machines, and drive buses. When was the last time I thanked a janitor? Where would we be without those people in thankless, important jobs. There was a girl on the bus with an apron in hand, probably headed to work. Between a car payment and gas she wouldn't probably take home much of her check without the bus. She should be grateful for public transportation if she isn't already.

For the heck of it, the most interesting thing I saw/heard on the bus was a man in a ninja turtle shirt under a sport coat talking to someone loudly on the phone. He said something to the effect of, "They won't want my stuff because I write like an American. They're British so they won't want it, unless they're doing a show about Americans."

Rut Assignment #7: Road Trip! written thoughtfully by Cami

      I hate buses. Maybe I am still scarred from that time when I was stuck on a hot, anti air conditioning bus in Mexico City sitting next to a kid with the stomach flu. Or perhaps it just reminds me of my awkward middle-school days spend waiting for the stupid school bus that (for reasons still unknown) left anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 hours after school ended. Whatever the reason, my feelings have not changed.
      I took the bus to visit my friend in Orem this week! It was a short drive, but I did it. I didn't sit next to anyone with the flu, and I didn't have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the bus to arrive. yay. I guess that all I really learned from this experience is that not a lot of people ride the bus early in the afternoon! I was also surprised with how many different lines their were to take. It was easy and accessible, so I guess if everything goes downhill, my car dies, and my friends refuse to give me rides, I will still be mobile!

Oh, I didn't take any pictures, but nobody will read this is there is no picture so.. here is a cool outdoor ad on a bus in Copenhagen! I found it on the inter-webs.
 

Creative Finds: Camille Holley

I found this lady does cameo art with Oreos. So cool. I'm probably going to buy a pack or two to sculpt with now... or more likely to devour.





http://jgklausner.com/work/oreo-cameo

Painting- Tom Blackham

Sorry for the late post!

So I did my painting with water colors. I was feeling a lot of stress at the time for various reasons, including the fact that I had completely forgotten about this rut assignments, so I just grabbed water colors since I supposed that it would be the easiest thing. Once I began, however, I started to feel the stress melt away as I painted.

As for what he painting was, it was initially intended to the be the waves rolling into the beach. After putting some green in the water, however, it did not look at all the way I had intended so I just started using as many colors as I could. At the end it appeared to be more of a desert oasis than anything else. The fact that I had "messed up" freed me to do whatever I wanted with the piece and it actually was quite therapeutic.

pomegranate

This was a really fun experience for me. I have loved and appreciated art for as long as I can remember. I have always, however, taken a somewhat non-traditional approach to art, especially painting, so this rut assignment really spoke to me. I began by choosing my canvas. Originally, I had wanted to paint on glass, but sadly I did not have any that would work. As I was walking out of my apartment to bring the trash out, I spotted a really cool Jonathan Adler box. I loved the sturdiness of the box. So, I took it. (yes, I went dumpster diving to find my canvas). After painting it white to cover up the logo, I began to paint my subject. I have recently had a fascination with the whole concept of natural and organic. I thought that the fact that I re-cycled the canvas would really complement a natural subject matter. I chose a pomegranate specifically because I have always thought they are one of the most beautiful fruits. To paint this piece, I used a mixture of acrylic and water color. I wanted it to have a really raw and somewhat unfinished look to it because I thought that would enhance the idea of nature/natural that I was going for. 

Word Art

I have loved oil painting since I was in high school so originally I was going to do a little oil painting.  Then I realized that the whole point of this assignment was to get out my rut so I decided to choose a medium that I normally wouldn't pick.  The end result was a pen and ink drawing with a acrylic background on a gessoed piece of cardboard.  Did I like the change from my regular medium?  Yes.  Did I like it more than oil painting?  Definitely not.  The pen and ink was really fun to work with as well as the gesso and cardboard.  The cardboard wasn't neat and perfect which I liked because I feel like it added character to the piece.  I do wish that I hadn't done the blue acrylic background.  Painting the blue I instantly remembered that I really don't like acrylic plus I think the blue detracts from the message of the piece.

The subject I chose to draw was the profile of a girl.  Instead of drawing her face I wrote a bunch of quotes.  With this piece I was trying to say that our words and thoughts make up who we are.

Overall I really loved this assignment.  I liked the opportunity to create a piece of art with out worrying if it met up with strategy and the restrictions that we often feel as advertisers.

   

Waterfalls, Watercolors, and Acrylics - Justyne Willets

How did you feel while doing this project?

This project was so much fun.  I love painting and it felt really good to be able to pull out my old watercolors and acrylics. It felt really great to be able to put the color on the paper without the use of digital media.

How did you pick the subject matter?

My inspiration was kind of funny.  My roommate and I had watched Disney’s Brother Bear the night before I decided to paint this.  I have also always loved painting scenery.  This was a little different though because I played with putting texture in with acrylic paints and then filling in with watercolors.  

      I was watching the Olympics when I remembered that I had to do this little project.  I originally wanted to make a figure skating piece, but that was unsuccessful.  I didn't want to give up on making a 3-d piece, so I went for the 2-man bobsled team.  The athletes are cinnamon bears, and their bobsled is a cup.  You will all see it when we get to class!  Go TEAM USA!!!  And GO WORLD

My head hurts.

I realized I hadn't bought any paints by about 10:30 last night, and so proceed to try a new medium: digital painting. I used Procreate, a fairly new painting program for iPads and spent the next many hours painting my camera.

At some point, I'd realized I'd started painting on the wrong layer, so my blue sketching lines got muddled in with the value layer below it. So, I made do. Then, as I started painting the Canon logo, I got tired of it at about the "Can" point, and thought that "Can't" would at least give me a few creative opportunities.  And then, I did my best to give an impression of what my brain was actually seeing by the time I'd finished the camera. Thus, light streaks.

Anyway, this was fun. If anyone's curious about doing good quality drawings and paintings on the go, Procreate's the way to do it. I'd love to start using it for storyboards at some point.

Painting Enhancement -- Brad Hill

I've never really sat down and painted any sort of art before (aside from elementary school) so this was a fun experience for me. It was fun to sit down with a few tools and create something new. I liked the change of pace form Adobe products and digital design. What i decided to do for my subject was pick up a painting from DI and adding my own flares to it. I've always wanted to do it, but haven't gotten around to taking the time for it. This was a perfect opportunity to do so. Here is the original piece:

it was nothing too special. I found the scenery to be a bit dull with few trees, so I wanted to make it more fun. I bought a set of oil paints and brushes and got to work. What was fun was the small selection of color i had. I had a tube of black, white, red, yellow, blue, and brown... but i got to play with color theory to make new hues for my art. I felt creativity in trying to make something new out of something old.  My first addition was a wizard on the mountain which actually blended in well. It was a subtle add. Then i put lava below the wizard to make it pop out more. One tree was decorated with blue and purple ornaments, a space shuttle was added, sharks in bloody water appeared, wilson (from castaway) floated onto my canvas and I finished with a yellow submarine. It was fun playing with different size brushes and seeing how each size and stroke made a difference. The only downside was the fact that oil paint takes time to dry, so adding bigger details might have to wait for another day.

here are some colors i was able to create using the primary colors.

Splatter Paint – Blake Lewis

I tried to re-create a painting by a designer that I really like. It didn't really turn out how I wanted which is sad.. I loved doing it though! It doesn't take much skill to throw paint like I did on a canvas but it's somewhat relieving to slap some paint on a canvas so that was nice. I felt like I was playing with an art tool that I don't play with much. I wanted to do this particular painting because my computer screen saver is actually the painting I tried to re-create, so I see it everyday. Here it is

Industrial Watercolor - Lance McDowell

I had fun painting but I'm a really detailed person. Watercolors don't allow for tons of detail, especially the 98 cent ones at Walmart. I kept wanting to use a pen to define my lines better. What I painted didn't always look like what I wanted it to look like.

I don't think I have the patience for painting. I didn't want to wait for the paint to dry. I didn't want to change out the water when it got dirty. My colors would run together. I kept thinking, "Great, my painting is ugly." But I was actually decently pleased with the way it turned out. It's different than what you normally see.

I feel like people who use watercolors always paint flowers and scenery. I wanted to take watercolor a different direction. The opposite of flowers in my mind was smokestacks, machinery, robots, etc. So I painted a clash between the two. What do you get? Flowers shooting lasers and smokestacks with petals. I had the idea and then I just painted until I was done.

Abstract Art- Ariana Keith

I love to paint!! I've loved as long as I can remember. So this one I got pretty excited about. I love the feeling of just getting lost in painting. One of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to painting is looking at a painting and always feeling like it needs something else. I just need to know sometimes when it's time to put the paint brush down and stop.
When I heard about this assignment I started thinking about all of the usual things I like to paint- trees, nature, scenery, people. I stopped myself and figured I never have ventured into abstract art much. So I chose a cool blue which reminds me of the ocean - a place where I would like to be at this very moment- and tried to emulate that feeling.

I love textured brush strokes.

Red-Haired Monkey with a Purple Face- Aaron Johnson

I spent my weekend playing with watercolors, which I think is a very relaxing medium. It's the least angry way to paint, in my limited experience. I started a few projects as I tried to find a comfortable subject for my final painting. I also did a few paintings just because it was fun and very relaxing, it just clears to mind to concentrate so hard on simple shapes and colors.

The painting I completed all the way through was 'Red-Haired Monkey with a Purple Face". The way I developed this subject was I began trying to paint a still life of grapes so I could practice shading on circles, but then I realized my grapes were too far apart and not very 'grape'-y. So I turned in into a face instead, and the monkey just grew out of it. I'm very proud of my new, little friend.

The World is Changing Art. Kirsten Hansen

The idea behind my project was just to use something in my house and make something cool with it. I was thinking first I wanted to go super abstract and splatter paint an old hair dryer of mine, but then I found this fantastic little fork in the back of the silverware drawer. No idea how long it had been there, but I decided I wanted to paint it because why not paint a fork, right?

So I grabbed some paint from my drawer and found myself painting the fork colors that matched the decorations in my house. Guess I like what I like? Anyways, I decided to go solid black with a party prong. Had a used a canvas for this project I would have probably painted the whole thing solid black with a turquoise stripe down the third line. I just wanted to use a fork as my medium instead. I am so happy with how it turned out. I actually have plans to mount it in an empty shadow box we have in our kitchen to make some interesting conversation piece in the kitchen. 

I felt really great painting. I wasn't painting an interesting subject, but I was painting an interesting object and I really enjoyed being out of the norm of painting on a canvas. I mean I did just randomly find myself drawn to going simple with painting when I could have made a very intricate design or some sort of landscape, but I love simplicity and black. 

So there it is. 

Kirsten paints forks black. If you find yourself missing one, sorry, I'm kind of hooked now.

Angry Mickey - Greg Taylor

This project didn't involve a lot of preparation or premeditation. The house I live in has a desk, behind which we like to fill with art. Occasionally we hold an art night and add to the wall. As you can see it is getting quite full so I chose a small canvas that can fill one of the final empty spots on our wall. The subject matter came after I started painting my first coat of blue. I thought about cool things I had seen recently and a floral disney shirt came to mind. Mickey became my subject matter and It developed from there. I felt throughout the project like I was discovering my own piece. I looked at a picture of Mickey and started painting it. It was when someone bumped the table Mickey's regular jolly smile turned into a more serious one. The smug face and clenching fists evolved from there. At no point did I have a real good idea what the final product would be up until I put the brush down and was finished. 

Spray Paint and Stencils - Camille Holley

This was super fun for me. I felt pretty cool doing this because I was using spray paint and I felt a bit like a vandal which was fun. I'm not a very good artist at all, especially when it comes to painting. I decided to use some other skills that I have. I took a picture of myself and processed it in PS so it was like two-toned. Then I printed it out, taped it over a poster board and cut it out to make a stencil. I then spray painted the stencil on another piece of poster board. I was impressed at how well it turned out since I didn't use any adhesive or anything, I thought it would bleed a bunch. I basically chose myself as subject matter because I was home alone and there was nobody else to model for me! My roommate wants me to make one of her though so: next time.

Painting - Allie Sullivan

I bought this tiny canvas and easel at a craft store over a year ago but haven't done anything with it. I figured this assignment would be the perfect opportunity to finally paint it. The quarter is there for size comparison.

How did you feel as you were doing this project? 

It was relaxing. I turned on an episode of Welcome to Nightvale and just listened while I painted. I decided not to try to paint anything specific. I just picked a color, painted for a bit, picked another color, painted for a bit, over and over until I felt that I was done. I'm the kind of person who really doesn't like to improvise, I like to have an exact plan or outline before I get started on something. But it was nice and stress-free to just skip all the planning and just paint. 

How did you choose the subject matter of your painting?

Like I said, I usually put a lot of planning and forethought into anything I do but that gets exhausting. So for this, I decided to just start painting and see where it took me. I decided I just wanted to explore with colors and not with concrete objects or images.

makers of pretend

all we want,
all we ever wanted is the same.
the simplest love and the tenderest care.
give me the chance to show you our two gold hearts
beating as one.
new love like old lovers.

we could be the ones
that change it all.
everything all at once.
be the dreamers
the believers
the nothing's impossible.
the makers of pretend.
if you could be mine and I could be yours.

With everything to discover,
and nothing to lose.
the whole world at our tips.
we'll reach and keep reaching,
till it becomes ours.

we could be the ones
that change it all.
everything all at once.
be the dreamers
the believers
the nothing's impossible.
the makers of pretend.
if you could be mine and I could be yours.

one day those little yes will stare up me
and those little eyes will be yours too.
teaching her the ways of her father,
dear lilly'll find her reason.
until she finds her own pretender,
to be a conquerer for good.

we could be the ones
that change it all.
everything all at once.
be the dreamers
the believers
the nothing's impossible.
the makers of pretend.
if you could be mine and I could be yours.

we could be the ones
that change it all.
everything all at once.
be the dreamers
the believers
the nothing's impossible.
the makers of pretend.
if you could be mine and I could be yours.


This experience taught me that I like song writing a lot more than I thought I did. I have always loved poetry, but had never really given song writing much of a shot because I do not consider myself to be very musical. I thought what is the point of writing songs if I can't sing them myself. This experience opened my eyes, however, to show me that I can still write meaningful songs without ever having to preform them. To write this song, I used emotions, past experiences and hope for the future to spark my creativity. 

SingSong

I am not a very musical person, at all. I can't sing to save my life, nor can I play anything besides the piano and poorly at that.
With that being said, my creativity for this song was going crazy and then it all stopped when I realized I had no tune for the words i was writing...Which then defeats the purpose of writing a song right? So I ended up with a song that I don't really know how it came about. In my head it's some rad swedish house music with a bunch of american cliches and random words. In real life, it's just a bunch of words that don't make any sense without the beat. I think it'd be great to have a song with just random American cliches in there. Id totally dance to it. Such cliches and words include:
An apple a day (beat beat beat) keeps the doctor away (beat beat beat) --Yeah that one is a good head bopper.
whatever
Mother knows best
like
Time flies
bye


This is a very solid song in my head. On paper, it's exponentially less cool.

You Saved Me!

(Verse 1)

I got the victory

I found you on the cross

Now I have been changed 

Without you Jesus I am lost

Jesus your the only way, the only way, the only way

You loved me from the start ad you will be with me always

Time and time and time you said just have faith, just have faith

And now I'm sitting here with a big ole' smile on my face

(Chorus)

Cuz' you saved me!

Now because of you I am free!

Lord you saved me!

Jesus you have made me see!

(Verse 2)

Lord I love you Word

I'm delighted to have heard

And I'm grateful for the truth 

Lord you made me righteous, it was none of me and all of you

Jesus your the only way, the only way, the only way

You loved me from the start ad you will be with me always

Time and time and time you said just have faith, just have faith

And now I'm sitting here with a big ole' smile on my face

(Chorus) x2

Cuz' you saved me!

Now because of you I am free!

Lord you saved me!

Jesus you have made me see!

Cuz' you saved me!

Now because of you I am free!

Lord you saved me!

Jesus you have made me see!

(Bridge)

There's nothing that, that I could do

To be pulled from this sinful glue

So Jesus I, I dropped everything

So that I can have room for you to be my everything

Cuz' you saved me!

Now because of you I am free!

Lord you saved me!

Jesus you have made me see!

Cuz' you saved me!

Now because of you I am free!

Lord you saved me!

Jesus you have made me see!

I learned from this exercise how to tell my life experiences in a poetic way. Writing a lot of times can just come from a life experience and I feel that it is better to express and write something that you have experienced. The only creative muscle that I used was my brain. and my rhyming muscles.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - Songwriting - Brad Hill

Songwriting was a very interesting process for me. To be honest, I've never tried to make up a song before, but I went for something completely original. I learned about how songs have certain patterns that help them flow and be successful, so I tried that layout.  I didn't want to make a love song because it is a bit overdone, so I took a random thought and tried to write a song about it. It was interesting because in my mind I was able to find melodies running through it that could work, but finding lyrics were harder.  With this struggle, I inquired of a friend who is a musician and asked her how she created new songs. She said usually she just tries raw lyrics then finds music to back them up. It was the opposite approach that I had taken, so I gave it a try. Inspiration came quickly with this approach.  Looking through my lyrics I found some things that could be ironed out, but creating a melody can help lyrics transform to be more smooth. Overall, it was  a great way to stretch my mind a bit and get my creative juices flowing.


Here are my lyrics.

Verse
The alarm goes off and I’ve hit the ground running
Knowing that the day’s got a bunch of stuff coming
I still need to learn how to be two places at once
Projects and work and activities for months
My friends and family say I’ve gone too far
But I am pretty sure I know what my limits are

Chorus
Cuz there’s so much to do
So many places to see
I don’t have time to lay in my bed
I guess I can sleep when I’m dead.

Verse
Today’s no different than a typical weekday
It feels like work work and hardly any play
The list of things to do is getting longer
How did I get in so deep?
The countless opportunities and options are too fun.
I guess i’ll get things done
If I need to cut anything out it’s gonna be sleep.

Chorus

Verse/Outro
Once the day starts to come to an end
I’ve done so much it’s hard to comprehend
Working and creating has such a great thrill
Some say too much of it can kill
I find a moment to sit still 
My eyes grow heavy and I start to lose sight
I guess I might find time to sleep tonight

Cuz there’s so much to do
So many places to see
But I think I have time to lay in my bed
And I should sleep before I’m dead.

"Song about Glove" - Greg Taylor

(First Verse)

Your tight embrace,
your warming grace,
I love to press you,
to my face.

The snow reminds me,
of our closeness.
Your soothing rescue,
I value most-ess.

(Chorus)

This songs about glo-ve, glo-ve.
We all need glo-ve, glo-ve.

(Second Verse)

When the elements rage, 
my hand grows lonely.
For companionship,
I do implore thee.

No matter the occasion,
I want you with me.
When we go out,
you fit perfect-ly.

This songs about glo-ve, glo-ve.
We all need glo-ve, glo-ve.

(Third Verse)

One winter day,
I thought I'd lost you.
I cried knowing not,
where you had gone too.

When you were found, 
we did embrace.
You clenched my hand,
your rightful place.

This songs about glo-ve, glo-ve.
We all need glo-ve, glo-ve.

(End)

Well first I discovered the endless canvas we have to create. When asked to write a song the possibilities were endless. I really didn't even know where to begin. Similar to most creative projects, there will be given some direction or destination for the creativity to go. The ways for someone to arrive there is endless! For this creative task the only direction was to write a song. Once I chose the theme it was really just a word game, looking for connecting words.  I used emotions related to my topic, and categories to rhyme together my thoughts. For my song I tried to create a double meaning. While at first someone hearing this song should think it is a love song. It's not until they hear the soft G before the word love that they discover it's the relationship someone has with a glove. 

As The Crickets Play - Justyne Willets

I decided to do a youtube link for this.  I thought it would be easier to listen to.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R_sEofVWrc&feature=youtu.be

What did you learn from this creative exercise?

  This was so much fun! I write music just for fun and have a Facebook page for it so I was really excited for this assignment.  Well, it was fun it was also very difficult.  I've never written a song and recorded it on a deadline. ( Also, that's why this recording is a little rough.)  It was fun to experiment though with a different style of song writing than I usually do. I feel this pushed me out of my comfort zone in a new style and faster than usual.

What creative muscles were most used?

The creative muscle that I used the most was trying to come up with lyrics.  I've had an idea of what I wanted my song to be about but it was mostly in the arranging of it and finding the right words that I had to work on.  I also used the musicality creativity muscle, for lack of a better word, because when I write lyrics, I have to write it at the same time I come up with the music.  That's how I get the lyrics to flow.

Friendship Song

So first of all I would like to warn everyone that I am 100% completely tone def.  Because of that I have been completely dreading this assignment all semester.  I really struggled beginning, but once I got going I actually had a lot of fun.  So with out further adieu here is my song....  

Friendship Song

(( I envision this being more upbeat))

Not at first sight

Or ever first fight

Did I know

We could beat up a lion

Disguised as a witch

Lions and tigers and bears

I always got you

We go together… like,

Peanut butter and jelly

Mulan and Mushu

We are a heck of a team

Me and you

You gotta hold number one

To be number one

Otherwise you're number two

And you know what that means

I would get a divorce for you

Oooo oooo

Sink a ship for you

Ooo ooooo

We go together… like,

Peanut butter and jelly

Mualn and Mushu

We are a heck of a team

Me and you

(((rap)))

BFFs till the end

Cuz she's my cousin

She's my friend

Stick together thick and thin

Put our minds to it we could win

Sometimes we’re mad

And yell till we’re heard

Don’t get too mad or I’ll give you the bird

L to the O to the V to the E

I love you and you love me

No matter what we are friends,

Best friends 

I la la, la la, la love you

Thank You

We go together… like,

Peanut butter and jelly

Mualn and Mushu

We are a heck of a team

Me and you