I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan, and absolutely LOVE all of the movies. My favorite one though, is the 3rd one, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I've seen this (and all the other movies) many times, but the movies are so complex, and so well made, there's absolutely always a chance to see something new that I've never seen before! It was a bit difficult, because I do know the movie very well, but I managed to notice something that I've never noticed before. One of my favorite things about this movie is the time turner scene; where Harry and Hermione go back in time in order to save Sirius Black and Buckbeak the Hippogriff. When they first go back in time, they return to all the places they were earlier in the day/night. Harry and Hermione see themselves in real time, inside Hagrid's Hut, and Harry is basically so taken aback by this; he can't even believe what's going on. Hermione tells him that "awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time" and that they "can't be seen." The real time Harry, Hermione, and Ron are inside Hagrid's Hut, but the back in time Harry and Hermione are hiding behind pumpkins outside Hagrid's Hut. One thing I noticed is the original scene (from inside Hagrid's Hut) is delayed because of the new back in time scene where Hermione is explaining to Harry what's going on. The back in time Hermione realizes she needs to throw a rock inside Hagrid's Hut in order to get them to come outside. Back in time Harry frees Buckbeak, quickly and carefully, Hermione throws the rock, and then they see themselves in real time exiting Hagrid's Hut. The back in time Harry and Hermione run into the forest, so they won't be seen, and the real time characters are hiding behind the pumpkins now. Now, in the original scene, when the 3 characters are hiding behind the pumpkins, Hermione hears something snap, like a twig snapping from someone stepping on it, and she turns around quickly to see if anyone is there. Ron says, "What?!", and she says shockingly and in an 'in disbelief' tone, "I thought I just saw.....nevermind." When you see the original scene, her reaction makes you very curious to find out who she thought she saw. But it all makes sense when you see the time turner scene of that scene. In the time turner scene, Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak are hiding in the forest, and they're hiding behind trees. Back in time Hermione peaks out from behind the tree to look at herself in real time. She says out loud, "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?!", and she accidently steps on a twig. She quickly hides behind the tree again as the real time Hermione turns around quickly to see who was there. The next thing that I noticed was the real time Hermione's tone is totally different when she says, "I thought I just saw.....nevermind" in this new scene. She doesn't sound as shocked, or wonderous as before, she says it pretty plainly. So it's totally different scene's altogether. These are pretty small things to notice, but I pointed it out right away. I just love how it all ties in, how she said it in such disbelief the first time, because she had really saw herself, and she couldn't believe she saw herself; such creative work! I love these movies and they will never get old for me! There's always something new to be seen and noticed, even if it's small or major, it's still something new!

My Favorite painting is this one, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) (1950) by Jackson Pollock. I love this painting because I absolutely love the way the colors, and all the lines and splatters of paint blend together. I honestly think it all works so well together, and it all just fits perfectly. I love the way the black lines compliment the white lines. This painting has been my favorite since the first time I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was younger; it still remains my favorite. The painting is 207 inches wide! According to the Met website, it says "It assumes the scale of an environment, enveloping both for the artist as he created it and for viewers who confront it." I feel like this painting could be representing many emotions, and Pollock created it that way on purpose. He wanted viewers to be able to take it amongst themselves to decide the meaning behind his artwork. I feel like since there aren't any bright colors, it could be representing sadness, or confusion, or frustration. All the lines aren't going in any specific direction, they're just all over the place, and I like that about the painting as well. It's a beautiful piece of art!

When I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I saw this painting and absolutely LOVED it! Though to some, it may seem like there isn't really much to it, these abstract pieces of art are my favorite type of art. This painting is Veluti in Speculum (1962) by Hans Hoffman. I love all the color choices used in this painting; they all compliment each other very well. I love the pink on top of the blue, the red on top of the yellow, the green on top of the yellow, and the brown piece on the bottom right. I just feel like this painting symbolizes brightness, which could lead to happiness. It could be saying that even though sometimes, things may feel like they're all on top of each other, there's always a way out. You can always figure out a tough situation, if you remain positive about it. I just love this painting so much!

Another Painting I saw at the Metropolitan Museum that I absolutely LOVED was this was called White Flag (1955), and it was done by Jasper Johns.  I was very fascinated and taken aback by this painting. When you think of the American Flag, you think of red, white and blue. Seeing the flag completely white, with a little bit of black, it's almost intimidating. Almost as if the flag has been stripped down, right before our very eyes. It was like the flag was naked or something! All of these qualities, though, is what makes it so intriguing. The fact that the flag was made in such a way shows a whole new perspective on something we have generally seen our whole lives. The reasoning for this painting could be to show a new twist on an old "classic"; something that we've seen so many times before in our lives, being shown in a way that's different from the norm.

The last painting I am focusing on is called Outburst (1956) by Judit Reigl. I really love this painting because the name of it fits perfectly with the artwork itself. You look at this painting, and you automatically think of an outburst or an explosion. It literally just LOOKS like an explosion. I think this painting could represent many emotions, sadness, anger, confusion, depressed, etc. Sadness, because the colors used are very sad colors. Shades of black, blue & gray. Confusion because the paintings are all over the place; they're in no shape, form, or type of order, or in no way, are they organized. Reigl could've taken anger out by painting this, because of the way it's splattered everywhere. I just really enjoy this painting, and when I saw it in person, I knew there was somethign extraordinary about it. I love abstract art; it truly is my favorite!

Yesterday, I visited the beautiful Metropolitan Museum of Art. This wasn't my first trip there, but I was really young when I went there for the first time, so it was wonderful to be able to go back there again and  take in everything the museum has to offer. There was so much to see and to enjoy, I honestly didn't even know where to start, but I knew I wanted to see as much as I possibly could. We begun in the Egyptian Art section, where we were amazed by the huge temple! We got to see the incredible wallpaper that displayed little photographs of all the artworks collected by the museum. Then we saw so many beautiful vases, clocks, picture frames, stained glass windows, etc. We kept walking and it led us to the American Art section. There was a building that was a replica of the White House, and outside of that was old fashioned lamps and nice water fountains. We then began looking at many beautiful paintings from a variety of artists. From Balthasar van der Ast, to Osias Beert the Elder, to Claude Monet (I really enjoyed many of his paintings), to Vincent van Gogh, to Pierre Bonnard, to Jackson Pollock, and so many more. We then went to the Modern Art section, which was the section I was most excited to visit! It was filled with so many wonderful works of art, and I loved and appreciated pretty much every single piece. The last room we visited before leaving the museum was the music room. I absolutely love music, so to see all the guitars, pianos, keyboards, flutes, violins, trumpets, bag pipes and more, was pretty awesome! Out of all the paintings and artists I saw yesterday, I chose six to show and discuss in this paper. Here they are...:)


My favorite painting - Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950, by Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)

I remember seeing this painting the very first time I went to this museum, and ever since then, it always stuck out in my mind. There's just something special about it, something unique and different. In 1945, Pollock began to develop a distinctive dripped/poured technique. He spun calligraphic lines of color directly onto raw canvas that lay unstretched on the floor. This painting is one of his largest of his classic "drip" paintings, and was purchased by the museum from Lee Krasner (Pollock's wife) the year after Pollock's death. I really love this painting because I just love all the abstract lines. And even though there isn't color in it, the black, gray, beige, and white splattered paint, compliments each other so well. I feel like this could be Pollock's way of expressing the fact that he's lost, or confused, or possibly even angry. Drawing, or painting, scribbles and lines, could be a good way to release anger, or tension. I just really love this piece of artwork, and in my opinion, it truly defines the purpose of the word abstract. 

Untitled - 1948, by Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) 

The second painting I chose to discuss is by Jackson Pollock's wife, Lee Krasner,  it is named "Untitled" and was done in 1948. I absolutely love this painting because like Jackson Pollock's paintings, it is very abstract, and has something very unique about it. From far away, it looks like millions of strings glued together, criss-crossed, under and over each other, etc. Once you get closer, you see that it's actually paint. You can actually see all the lines of paint, the way it was dripped onto the painting, and looking at it is truly wonderful. There was a lot of colors used in this painting. There was black, white, red, yellow, green, gray, and several different shades of blue. I feel like this painting is also a way of expressing anger, and confusion. The color choices aren't bright, there pretty dark, which could symbolize feeling sad inside as well. I love that it's named "Untitled", I feel that is a perfect name for this painting. I feel Krasner named it "Untitled" so she could leave the name, and understanding of the painting to anyone who views it. The viewer can interpret this painting in their own way, any way they want it to, and I love that about this painting. 

Canyon - 1959, by Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) 

The third painting I chose to discuss is by Robert Rauschenberg, it is named Canyon, and was done in 1959. This painting was done with oil, pencil, paper, fabric, metal, cardboard box, printed paper, printed reproductions, photograph, wood, paint tube, and mirror on canvas with oil on bald eagle, string, and pillow. I absolutely loved this painting because it had something that no other painting I saw had, an eagle actually sticking out of the painting. The eagle is three dimensional, hanging from the bottom right of the painting. I'm honestly not sure if the eagle was real or not, but if it is, that's awesome! If you look closely in the middle of the painting, it looks like you can see half of the word canyon painted in gray. There's random splatters of black paint, that kind of look like a gun shot in a way, which I think could be symbolizing shooting the eagle. There's also a hint of red in the painting, which could symbolize blood. I feel like this is a very dark painting, but I love the concept, and the way it was done. 

Camille Monet - (1847-1879), in the Garden at Argenteuil, 1876, by Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)

I looked at many different paintings by Claude Monet, but this one stuck out to me the most. One thing I absolutely love about Monet's paintings is the fact that when you look at them from far away, you get the whole clear view of the painting, but when you get closer and closer to the painting, you can see the   tiny brush strokes he painted, and it looks like tiny little dots everywhere. It's truly amazing the way he paints, he is a very talented and creative artist. I liked this painting the best because first off, I love how he painted his wife into it. I just love how he painted his wife walking in the garden, it shows a sense of beauty. I love the colors he used in this painting, all the blue's, green's, yellow's, etc. I love the darker green he used to paint the bush leaves too. I just love the simplicity of this painting, it's truly beautiful.


Roses - 1890, by Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)
The fifth painting I chose to discuss is Roses by Vincent van Gogh. In May, 1980, Van Gogh painted a group of four still lifes, to which both the museum's "Roses" and "Irises" belong. This painting is very elegant, classy, and has a unique simplicity to it. Most of Van Gogh's work was conceived as decorative ensembles. I saw both the paintings, Roses, and Irises. They're both incredibly beautiful, but I enjoyed the Roses one a bit more. My favorite flower is the rose, and I absolutely love the way he painted these beautiful white roses. Some of the petals have a hint of blue, which I enjoy very much. I love how he painted a huge bouqet of flowers, and a very simple vase. I feel the vase enforces the simplicity of the painting. I feel like it could be saying that something beautiful can be simple, it doesn't need to be extravagant to be beautiful. I also love how he painted some of the petals on the table, the ones that have fallen off. In a way, I feel like that could be symbolizing death, and how all good things must come to an end eventually. It's amazing how such a beautiful painting, could possibly have a sad meaning behind it. Either way, I loved this painting, and think it's gorgeous.


Coney Island - 1914, by Joseph Stella (American, born in Italy, 1877-1946)
The last painting I chose to discuss is called Coney Island by Joseph Stella. Joseph Stella based a series of paintings on the electric lights and energetic crowds of Brooklyn's Coney Island. When he went to Italy and France, he became strongly influenced by Italian Futurism, which celebrated the speed and dynamism of modern life. One of the main reasons I chose this painting is because I absolutely love the unique circular shape of it. It's rare that you find a painting in the shape of a circle, and when I saw this painting, I knew there was something very special, and unique, and different about it. I love that it's bold, and daring, and it's not afraid to stand out and be different. When I saw the name of this painting, I thought it fit absolutely perfectly. When you see this painting, and think of it's name, you realize it fits so well together. Coney Island is fun, and loud, and energetic, and crazy, and colorful, and so much more that this painting expresses so well. I love all the different colors, the blue's, the pink's, the yellow's, the green's, etc. And I absolutely love all the different shapes, you can see all sorts of colorful triangles. Also, I actually see the shapes of leaves in some parts. I just love how it represents everything that is abstract. It is a very beautiful piece of art, definitely one of my favorites at the museum.

This wonderful painting was done by Picasso during the time period of 1910-1950. This is one of my favorite works of his because I really love the concept of it all. I love how there's 5 different faces in this one painting. I love how he painted the woman, and her reflection. In my own personal opinion, I feel the painting is trying to say that the way she sees herself is different than the way others see her. She could be this really beautiful woman, but she sees herself as ugly. The reflection is dark, it's blue and purple, and it looks sort of sad in a way to me. I feel a lot of Picasso's work was sad because he painted with a lot of blue.

This painting interests me a lot. I'm intrigued, but also a bit confused by it. It makes me wonder why there are two women that are painted like animals. One looks like a wolf to me. I definitely respect the painting, and respect Picasso's work, but I would love to know his purpose for painting them with masks on.

This painting was done by Wassily Kandinsky during the 1910-1950 time period. I search Google images for his work, and I really love his paintings! He paints with a lot of different colors, which I love a lot. I love to see bright colors in paintings, and his definitely shows the bright colors off! I like this painting because it seems like a pretty happy-go-lucky neighborhood. My eyes go straight to the big yellow house with the pink roof. But also, I did notice the dark house on the left side of the street. After looking at more of his work, he paints a lot of abstract work. I feel as that's a way of him expressing himself, and possibly trying to say that he has a lot on his mind.

This painting, called Ba-Boom was also done Kandinsky. I really enjoy this one because of all the colors, and all the shapes. You can see all types of triangles, and trapezoids. The best part about this painting though is the hidden person in the background. You can see the eyes, the round head, the mouth, the shoulders, and you can see one of his hands. I like the concept of this because it could be his way of saying he's hiding behind something. Hiding behind a lie, maybe. Or hiding because he's ashamed of who he is. Also the way the painting is 'finished' at the top makes me wonder if he did that on purpose or not.

This is another one of my favorites by Kandinsky. I love this one because it's opposite of his other ones. The entire background is black, and there is only some color. Usually his paintings are filled with a lot of color, but this one isn't. I love the way the painting looks, and the colors he chose for the circles as well. This could be his way of saying things are dark, confusing, and he feels as if he's going around and around in circles.

Lastly, by Kandinsky. Another thing I love about his work is that he paints many different shapes and objects in his work. It's almost like a hidden message that he wants you to figure out. He wants you to decipher and interpret what you think or feel he's trying to say. The colors aren't so bright here, and I see a lot of swords, and almost knifes, possibly a gun. Maybe he's feeling violent, or confused again. I love the painting though, it's very creative, and very interesting.

  

This beautiful piece of art work was done by the Levy Brothers in 1909. It's a wonderful painting of a New York City street. I love this piece because it shows a different side of NYC. New York City is a BUSY city; it's the city that never sleeps! In this painting, there is nobody around, and it looks incredibly peaceful. It truly shows the beauty of New York, and it shows off the scenery very well!

Both of these are beautiful paintings of scenery from Vienna, Austria. The top painting was done by C. Ledermann Jr. (1899-1909). The second painting was done by P. Ledermann (1910-1919).

This was a very famous Japanese painting. It was used in an exhibition entitled "Photography in Japan (1860-1910) Masterpieces", and the exhibition was held in Venice, Italy. The exhibition was dedicated to the great Japanese and European performers who worked in the field of photography between 1860 and the very early years of the 20th century.

This painting was done by Karl Witkowski. He was an American painter between 1860-1910. This painting was done in 1890 and it is called "Stealing Apples." I like this painting because it's nothing short of it's name. It's two young boys, stealing apples, and you can tell they're willing to do anything to steal them, because they're climbing through a wooden fence (and getting stuck while at it).

This last painting was done by James Goodwyn Clonney. He was a English-born, American artist between 1812-1867. This painting was done in 1845 and it is called "The Sleigh Ride."

What is Art? That is probably one of the most broad questions you could ask. According to the actual definition, art is the expression or application of human creative skill, and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture. According to Wikipedia, art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. Honestly, I believe both of these definitions to be correct. Art is all of those things, and more. The wonderful thing about art is that it can have a different definition to every person you talk to; art isn't just based upon one thing. Art means something different to everyone, and everyone has their own opinions, and feelings, on art. Art to me means so many things! It means a way to freely express yourself. It's a way to show the type of person that you really are. Art can be expressed through the music you listen to, the stories you write, the clothes you wear, the pictures you take, how you accessorize, what you draw pictures of, what you doodle pictures of, etc. I express my definition of art with music. I love to sing, and listen to all different types of music. I've been to a handful of concerts, and I always make sure I buy a shirt from the concert, to not only have as a memory, but to express my love for the music and the band. I wear rubber bracelets everyday to express myself. Some of the bracelets are from musicians, others are things that define who I am. I have one that says "Free Hugs" because I love to give people hugs, and I love to make people happy; that's my way of expressing myself. I also love photography. There's something very beautiful about taking pictures and capturing special moments. Being able to look back on pictures you took makes you feel incredible. The picture you see above is what inspired the name for this blog. My best friend and I saw this while walking the streets of New York City, and I thought it'd be PERFECT for this blog. The quote is saying art is what I use to express who I am, art is what I am, art is my weapon. The meaning of art is expressed and explored through Aesthetics. Aesthetics is a set of principals concerned with nature and appreciation of beauty. It deals with beauty and artistic taste. Aesthetics and art truly go hand in hand with one another. Aesthetics helps bring out the beauty in things, and art defines the beauty in things. I'm excited to learn more about art, aesthetics and art through aesthetics.

Photo Credit to my best friend, Meliha :) <3