My name is Katey Shelton. I am a first year Photography major. I am from Charleston, West Virginia but I came to Ringling to pursue my passion. This is my first semester taking a writing class and to my surprise I have actually enjoyed taking this course. This semester we have worked on formal papers, free writes, discussion topics and many techniques to writing an research. Here I have included a guide to my best work that I have posted here on the blog.

1. Second Formal Paper: Dancing Leads to Kissing
2. Third Formal Paper: Performance Critique
3. Discussion Response: What Makes You Who You Are?
4. Free Write: Depicting Identities
5. Snapshot of Blink
6. Final Reflection

1. Second Formal Paper: Dancing Leads to Kissing

Dancing Leads to Kissing

Art throughout history, naturally changes over time but also many techniques are passed down from generation to generation. Many artist use what previous artist before their time in their own work. These techniques are used because they work and are successful. In Edgar Degas' paintings of the dancers, he uses a good sense of intimacy and the same goes for Gustav Klimt in his painting of 'The Kiss'. Both artist capture two very intimate moments in time, the nervous anticipations before a performance and the romantic tenderness of a kiss. Both angles that are presented in the paintings are very intimate. In Klimt's piece we are viewing the couple from the front but at a lower angle which makes the viewer feel as if he or she is peeking in on the secret moment that was not meant to be seen. In Degas' painting we are looking at the ballerinas from the side and only being exposed to half of the girls, which makes the viewer feel like he or she is peering into the intimidating backstage before a very important performance. “Degas has been obliged to "stack" the dancers one behind the other.” (DeVonyar).

Gustav Klimt's, 'The Kiss', from the Art Nouveau movement, uses geometric patterns to lead the viewers eye to the two faces. Although the painting for the most part uses geometric shapes, the two faces are very realistic and do not seem to fit the rhythm of the painting. Taking a closer look at the hands and the feet, they are very realistic and also do not fit into the painting. Even the way the two figures are standing, or floating, in the air looks box shaped and very geometric. Although the figures hands, feet, and faces are very realistic the mans neck is too thick and long, symbolizing a giraffe. The two figures have no sense of shape of body, the patterns suggest the form of a body but viewers are unable to see the actual shape of the body by looking in a glance. The color of the painting has an overall gold tone with muted colors included, which to some people could look a little flat. There is no definite light source, but it could be assumed that there is a light shining in from the front of the two figures. One of the main focuses in the painting is the strong presence of flowers, which adds to the romantic feel of the kiss. To achieve this geometric pattern that is shown in Klimt's painting there needs to be very precise and thought out. “Klimt was obsessive about his work, which often paralyzed him and kept him from finishing a painting.” (Grimberg).

In the Impressionist era Edgar Degas made a series of paintings of many ballerinas. During this time artist were producing paintings in a very different way than the normal way, often seen as being swift brush strokes and very hazy. Edgar Degas's painting of the 'Dancers in Pink' is significantly different than Gustav's 'The Kiss'. Degas uses vibrant pink to draw the viewers eye toward the ballerina. Even though our focus is the bright pink dresses the dancers are wearing flowers in their hair that pulls the viewer into looking at the dancers' delicate, but serious faces. Their faces suggest that the Dancers could be preparing for a performance considering the look of nerves and seriousness on their faces. The Ballerinas all have realistic features and we are able to see the form of their bodies. Degas has painted the dresses to fit the form of their bodies and to show the elegance of the ballerinas. He uses swift delicate brush strokes to also show the delicateness of the dancers. Unlike 'The Kiss', 'Dancers in Pink' are shown in a natural environment. Although this is true, like 'The Kiss', 'Dancers in Pink' are shown in an idealized, unrecognizable environment. This seems to suggest a dreamlike vision to describe how a kiss and dancing could be dreamlike. The way the dancers are standing suggests movement, especially since they are all looking in different directions. In 'Dancers in Pink' the viewer is able to see were the light source is coming from, the upper right hand corner. This painting is by no means geometric, but that does not mean it is less complex than 'The Kiss'. “Dancers is one of the most chromatically complex, densely worked, and thematically nuanced pastels made by Degas at any point in his career.” (DeNonyar).












Works Cited

DeVonyar, J., et. al., "Dancers" by Edgar Degas. Record of the Art Museum (Princeton University) v. 66 (2007) p. 30-40

Grimberg, S., reviewer Gustav Klimt & Emilie Floge (Book Review); Significant others (Book Review); Magnifying mirrors (Book Review). Woman's Art Journal v. 17 (Fall 1996/Winter 1997) p. 42-5

2. Third Formal Paper: Performance Critique

Drew And Ellie Holcomb

On September 3o, 2009 I attended a Drew and Ellie Holcomb concert in Bradenton Florida. Drew and Ellie are not only musical partners, but they are also husband and wife. The young, Tennessee couple, sing about their personal relationship and also their spiritual relationship with God, with a folk flair. This performance was the first I have ever been to and hopefully not the last.

Drew and Ellie captivate their audience with their haunting voices and beautiful lyrics. Not only were they brilliant on stage, but they were also very personable and humble. With their thick southern draw, they told jokes and shared their love story. After the show they interacted and visited the audience, which is a nice change of pace from your normal musicians. After talking to Ellie, I realized how it had felt like talking to a friend that I had known for years. After attending the concert I downloaded the majority of their songs on itunes and have been waiting for a couple more songs to be released (they are supposed to come out on December 1), which I have been religiously been checking everyday since they concert.

I arrived to the concert a little late but entered on what was said to be their best song, “I like to be with me when I'm with you.”. This song is certainly one of my favorites but my absolute favorite is one I have been unable to listen to since the concert, since it has not been released yet. This proves how good the Holcombs are, since people wait for certain songs of theirs to come out. While this song was being played I actually felt myself start to cry, because like many of their songs it was relatable or they describe something that a person would strive to accomplish in their love life. Many may think that their music is only meant for girls or country lovers but this is not true. Many young men and people who like other genres of music attended the concert.

Overall this concert was very successful and Drew and Ellie Holcomb are very influential people. Their music is very positive and sends out good messages to not only young adults, but to people of all generations. I would highly recommend researching this couple or even better, attending a concert.

3. Discussion Response: What Makes You Who You Are?

Discussion Post: What makes you who you are?

I'm Katey Shelton, from Charleston West Virginia. A unique fact about myself is that I love doing mission work. Earlier this year I went to Managua, Nicaragua to help in a clinic for underprivileged people. The picture is of me during the work day, holding a local baby. There I worked as a pharmacist and helped with translating. I hope to do more mission work like this around the world and somehow include my photography. As for reading, my favorite book is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. There are many quotes in the book that are meaningful to me but one comes to mind often. “I hadn't been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called 'bee yard etiquette'. She reminded me that the world was really one bee yard, and the same rules work fine in both places. Don't be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don't be an idiot; wear long sleeves and pants. Don't swat. Don't even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates while whistling melts a bees temper. Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved.

When the author says “Don't be afraid as no life-loving bee wants to sting you”, it is like she is saying that no person actually has the desire to hurt another. This is meaningful to me because I can be a little shy at first and I am too shy to ask questions for the fear that others might laugh or just roll their eyes. This passage tells me different and has made me strive to be more confident.

4. Free Write: Depicting Identities

Free Write: Depicting Identities (photography/family photos)

Monday morning class, we talked about the hardest part of writing an essay. My response was simple, I have always had trouble writing the conclusion. While this may be true, I can also have a terrible time starting a paper. Since I am such an indecisive person, I struggle with the direction I want my paper to go. Do I talk about the artists life or her actual work? Those are just a couple main questions that I have always struggled with.

The direction I am leaning towards with my paper on Dorothea Lange is the work itself. Event though we are told to highlight a certain chapter, I feel like if I do not have a main idea to start with, I am more likely to get lost in the information.

5. Blink Snapshot

Blink Snapshot

After reading Blink, I realized how often I used snap judgements in a good way. My mother is very good at reading people on the spot, just by looking at the person and observing a short conversation. I used to envy they way she was able to tell whenever a person was lying and be amazed when she could tell someone had a bad personality. I did not realize until I moved down here to Florida that I inherited these same qualities. While many of my friends are having trouble understanding someone's personality or realizing that a certain guy is not good for them, I am able to see through many people at first meeting. This at first amazed me that I was able to do this and kind of aggravated me to some degree, but now I just consider myself lucky to have this excellent understanding of people. Shortly after discovering this new quality of myself, I knew that this is was Blink must be talking about. I use my snap decisions to my advantage and to help me determine who I trust or not.

6. Final Reflection

Final Reflection

In my writing career, before taking Writing 101, could be described as being strict and not flexible. Instead of putting my personality in a piece I would just write with no feeling, basically just to finish the work. In many ways my work has grown through the course of this class. I have become more passionate and I now put more feeling into what I write. Before I found writing to be a challenge and a task, but now I enjoy sharing my thoughts and opinions through writing. On the first formal paper, Why The River?, I enjoyed describing the meaning behind the painting of the young girl in the river. This project was interesting for me and kept my interest, making me what to explore deeper into myself and into the painting. On the second formal paper, Dancing Leads to Kissing, I compared Degas's Dancers to Klimt's The Kiss. This was my least favorite project but was not really bad considering I found all the projects to be interesting and enjoyable. I did like that I was able to challenge myself to explore different types of writing, such as this comparative essay. My favorite formal essay was the last, my critique on a Drew and Ellie Holcomb concert I attended recently. I loved the ability to put my own thoughts and opinion into a piece. Not only did I enjoy that aspect, I really got to re-appreciate the performance itself by reliving the event over again by writing about it and all the positive aspects about it. Again these papers really helped develop me as a writer because it gave be the freedom to explore the new areas of writing that were completely new for me.

I found most of our readings to be dry and some were difficult to read, but Neat People vs. Sloppy People and An Occurrence At Owl Creek were two very interesting readings. I thought Neat People vs. Sloppy People was very comical, thought provoking, extreme, and easy read. An Occurrence At Owl Creek was an intense and smooth read. It was also nice to have videos that went along with the story to see many perspectives. As for the discussion posts, I would have much rather have a class discussion, which would have been more interesting and would have opened the class up more to speaking up. I really enjoyed doing the free writes, it worked as a warm up for the brain in the morning. Although I understand how important and necessary it is to have individual presentations, I am not a fan of them. I find them to be stressful and again, would much have a informal class discussion on the assigned topic.

I first chose to put in The second formal paper, not only because it was required but because it shows how I have grown as a writer. This was the most difficult paper for me to write and forced me to face challenges of comparing and contrasting two pieces that I have never studied before. Next, I chose to put in the third formal paper, the critique of the performance because it was the paper I enjoyed writing the most and the paper that I put all of myself into. For the discussion response I decided to include the response for “What makes you who you are?” because I think it is important to understand the writer when reading their work and this response represents this opinion well. I included a free write that describes my thought process when taking the first steps of writing an essay. This free write describes how many students view the first steps as being a challenge.

Before entering the class, I was expecting it to be a very high stress class, that I would probably be spending a lot of time each night trying to keep up with all the work. Although, it was a good amount of work, I never found this class to be very stressful. I actually saw this class as being relaxed and easy-going. Overall I have enjoyed my time spent learning new techniques for my writing and experiencing new concepts to writing. To sum it up, this course was a lot better than my expectations.