Artist/Musician Wants To Sound Smart

Hello everybody, my name is Brian Boster.  I am 22 and from Napa, California where I have spent most of my life.  I am a geography major six credits away from graduating.  

I’ve been living in Boulder for the last five years.  I am currently unemployed and have little financial income apart from the few dollars I make as a musician.  Technicolor Tone Factory is the name of my band. – check us out!

I’m taking this class because I have always had an interest in creativity and visual art.  I began drawing and painting a lot in high school and I still do occasionally.  Although since going away to art school during a semester of high school I have focused more on music as my primary creative outlet, I still enjoy painting and drawing. Also, it would be nice if I could learn to use language to convince people that my paintings are better than they are. 

To me, visual art has always been painting and drawing because those are my main interests but after thinking about it, visual art could mean almost anything.  Someone might consider writing or poetry a visual art because of the way the words look on the page or because images develop in the readers mind.  Visual art could also include architecture and even performances.  Any kind of art that is seen in some way could be visual art.   

I’d define rhetoric as language used in a particular way with a purpose.  Rhetoric is very often used to persuade and influence people in a particular way.  It is one of the most effective ways of influencing how people act and think.  Politicians are, in my opinion, the best rhetoricians because they can influence whole populations of people on an unconscious level with just the way they use language.  Advertisers are also great rhetoricians.  

A new view…(Blog entry 1)

Hello everyone! My name is Kaili, and I was born and raised in Boulder! I am majoring in Psychology and Studio Art, and aspire to be an art therapist of some kind. I would love to someday be able to encourage people to use art as a deeply expressive tool for growth and healing.

Growing up here, crazy artistic vibes always surrounded me and I was drawn to art at a very early age. I enjoy every type of medium and form of artistic expression, and I also like to mix mediums. I love collaging and painting but also have a very strong passion for photography. I really believe that almost anything can be considered visual art if you want it to be. The world is so full of information, talent , expression and materials and I love being open-minded to what people use to express themselves.

I feel like I should tell you, that I have not been in school for about a year.  This is the first class that I have picked up after my father passed away in 2010.  I decided to take last year off and live and work in the mountains to regain myself again. I since moved back and decided to ease my way into school again and I thought this class would be a perfect way for me to reconnect with my interests and my writing skills. I have always loved creative writing, but formal  is a different story. I was always so intimidated by it, even though I do really enjoy it, and I’m hoping that I will feel more confident after this class. I’m really excited to look at writing from a different angle and I’m also excited to learn from everyone! I think this will be a really great way for me to get back on my path.

 

 

Hayden Collins– Post #1

Hello everyone!  My name is Hayden Collins, I am currently a senior at CU Boulder and studying Sociology and Psychology.  I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico and moved her last January–as a transfer.  Prior to CU I attended University of New Mexico (UNM) and quickly realized I needed to leave and experience something new and meet some new, great people.  So, being a mountain and high country enthusiast, I naturally was drawn to Colorado, and specifically Boulder.  I love the could climate and the clean, fresh air that this area brings.  I also love snowboarding so Boulder was a great change of pace for me.

I would say that my writing skills are mediocre at best, but I realize that being able to be a good writer, and more importantly, being able to build a strong rapport with your reader is a skill that can quickly separate you from others when applying for jobs or simply help you when you are trying to gain someones interest or favor.  Along with needing credit hours, I chose this section because I think there is a very strong correlation between and artist expressing their ideals, and a writer expressing theirs.  So using the two together seemed very interesting to me and, hopefully, will show me the beauty of writing and open up many new perspectives that haven’t came to me thus far.  When I was young I had a very strong desire to write and for some reason it came very naturally to me, so at a young age I was writing all the time; whether it be a nonsense fairytale or a justification letter to my parents about how I shouldn’t be grounded or why I deserved a new toy.  When I got older though, I lost that passion for writing and started to view writing more as a chore rather than a tool to get away from all the stressors of the outside world.

I think that rhetoric is not only the effectiveness of persuading an audience, but it is using every tool in a writer’s arsenal; which obviously varies depending of the writer themselves and especially the audience that they are trying to appeal to.  Being able to use both modern and traditional exaggerations and symbols, along with understanding how to manipulate a specific reader’s emotions and views with your words in the most effective way possible is what–in my opinion– defines a great rhetorician.

A rhetorician I am not (Blog Entry 1)

Hey, it’s Loula here. I moved to Boulder from Austin, Texas about eight years ago to attend graduate school at Naropa.  After studying Buddhism for a few semesters, I felt it was something I didn’t need a degree in. I ended up leaving school and working where I had previously volunteered for one year. That’s how I ended up in the mental health field. I thought I’d eventually go back to school to get an MA in Psychology, instead, after about five years as a mental health worker, I chose to learn the art of Art! So, currently I’m working on a second BA at CU in possibly Studio Art, and I’m entertaining the idea of working towards an MA in Art History.  I’d like to use the BA in English I have, combined with my background in the mental health field and the new info I’m learning in Art History classes, to work as an editor in either one of those fields. I work part-time in Career Services at CU, administering the GRE, TOEFL, etc. exams, and on the weekends, I work birthday parties at WOW! Children’s Museum in Lafayette. Since I’d like to work as an editor, I thought this class might teach me a few things about writing, and this entry will most certainly reveal my lack of writing knowledge, as I’m sure I will commit tons of grammatical and writing faux pas in this entry, ha!

Visual Arts, I suppose, is what we can see, however, if blind, what we can feel. Everything is visual art to me, even us! The way we dress, tattoo ourselves, even the way we move is visual art. Sometimes, I like to think of my food as visual art, rearranging it until it looks artistically pleasing. After speaking with Alaina the other day about rhetoric, I now have some ideas about what it is.  Rhetoric, from my novice viewpoint,  is how we choose to write what we write. So, perhaps rhetoric is similar to how we decide to dress or if a songwriter, the style in which one composes music. It’s interesting to think about because we all have a unique voice. Rhetoric could be defined, I suppose, as the voice of the writer.  A rhetorician I am not. As a matter of fact, I’m considering joining Toast Masters to learn how to coherently convey my thoughts out loud. I would consider someone like Alan Watts a rhetorician. Would you agree Alaina? Here’s a link to an Alan Watts You Tube video if you’d like to hear him speak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?R=1&feature=endscreen&v=vUYUF65VK5M

Rhiannon Rabern Blog Entry 1

Hi, my name is Rhiannon Rabern and I am a senior at CU.  I am originally from a small town in Oregon but since graduating from high school I have lived in New York, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Santa Barbara, Australia (both Melbourne and Sydney) and most recently moved back to Boulder from Scotland. I developed a passion to photograph the people and places I’ve been and this experience has led me to pursue a degree in Fine Arts. 

I have not taken a writing class in many- many years so I was more than happy to find one that combines my passion for the visual arts while fine tuning my writing skills. As an artist I attempt to persuade and inform my viewers through my photographs. Through this class I hope to improve my ability to persuade an audience through writing. 

A little about me =)

Hello everyone!
My name is Meghan and I’m currently in my last semester at CU. I was born in Canada and spent a lot of my childhood in many different parts of the world, including several years in Hiroshima. When I was 9 years old, my family moved to Maui where I grew up. When I came to Colorado I felt so far away from home and it really makes me treasure the times I get to spend with my family. I’m studying English right now but I’m also really interested in Education. One day I would like to teach elementary school. Or write novels for a living 🙂 After graduation I am going to be moving back to Maui for a year. I’m starting a job in June working for a program called Maui Language Institute. I will be an instructor teaching English as a second language to college aged students from all over the world. I’m hoping I can learn as much from them as I really want to get some of my Japanese back. Other than that my plans for the summer are to get scuba certified, save money, and hopefully be able to afford a trip to Australia by the end of the summer. It’s somewhere I’ve dreamt about going my whole life.

I’m taking this class because I was to improve my writing and I love films and comic books. I like that the course is centered around this blog. I would define the visual arts as any form of artwork, film, graphic novel, and photography as a way of expression. I hope I learn a lot about what other people in this class find interesting/appealing. I’m curious to see what other people have to say about certain pieces of artwork or films we watch. I also hope to become a better writer throughout the course. I think being able to do peer reviews will become extremely beneficial. Anyway, I look forward to getting to know everybody!

 

Visually Art-astic. Intro Blog.

Hello class, my name is Alissa Ivy and I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I moved to Boulder in the summer of 2008 and I plan on staying here for another year or two. I am a Studio Arts major with a focus in painting, but also do a lot of photography. Currently I am enrolled in my first lithography class, which will be a great challenge to test my skills in making prints. I have had a passion for art since I was very young and have been fortunate enough to visit many art museums across the country as well as in Europe. Last year I took a semester off to backpack around Western Europe for two months were I got to visit incredible museums from Van Gogh in Amsterdam, to the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. Colorado is a wonderful place to find inspiring art as well and is home to great art museums, my favorite being the Vance Kirkland Museum in Denver. My goal is to graduate with a BFA in painting from the University of Colorado and proceed to design school in hope of becoming an interior decorator.
I joined this class to improve upon my writing skills related to critiquing and examining the history of art. I would describe visual arts as creations that can be visually analyzed, including art forms such as painting, ceramics, and architecture. I have had a lot of experience interacting with and creating visual art, but not as much with writing in terms of visual art. This is where I need to improve the most and I hope to be able to excel at writing in the visual arts by the end of this semester.
I would define rhetoric as a written communication that is aimed at educating and persuading the audience about a specific subject or topic. It is an argument in which the goal is to convince the audience to agree with your ideas and reasoning. I do not consider myself a rhetorician and I need to further progress my skills in creating a strong, persuasive argument. I believe being a rhetorician is extremely important in analyzing and evaluating artists and their artwork. I also believe it is a vital component of being a successful artist, as one has to convince the audience of their intentions and ideas within their own work.

Intro Post 1

Hi everyone!  My name is Julie Lee.  I was born in Denver, Colorado and lived here until I was 8. I spent the next 8 years in the Greater Los Angeles area in California (predominantly in San Gabriel Valley.) At the age of 16, we moved halfway across the country to Houston, Texas where I would spend my life until the summer of 2009.  In June of 2009, I moved back to Colorado to finally take the path to finish my long-awaited Bachelor’s degree at CU-Boulder.  I am a senior majoring in Chinese Language and Civilization.  My dream job is to be an interpreter and translator.  I currently work full-time at a hotel as a front desk agent because I am putting myself through college.  I walked in the December commencement and I am just a few credits shy of graduating.  I am now finishing up the few classes I have left in Continuing Education online classes.

I am taking this class to fulfill graduation requirements.  I chose this topic because it sounded interesting and engaging.  I think visual arts is using performance to convey/portray a message via the means of movies, theatre, dance, singing and various arts, such as paintings, drawings and sculptures.  Visual arts can be seen with the eyes, but also with the ears and hearts for those who unfortunately cannot see. When I see the word rhetoric, my first thought is confusion.  It has been a long time since I have taken lower division writing, so I need to look up the definition.  Upon looking it up, rhetoric is defined as using exaggerated words in writing.  I do not see myself as a rhetorician.  I like to be simple and straight to the point if possible.  However, when I tell stories through my writing, I do become more of a rhetorician.  I just want to find the perfect word to convey what I am trying to say.  What I really want to learn from this class is to be a better writer.  I want to be able to use a variety of words in my writing.  I always feel as if I use the same, simple words every time.  I am also hoping that this class will help me improve in my vocabulary as well.

Alex Rausch (post 1)

Hello!  I’m Alex Rausch.  I am born and raised in Chicago, I am from the heart of the city.  I am currently studying technical theatre at CU with a focus on lighting design.  Being in my junior year I am starting to put together my career plans for when I graduate.  For the past 7 years I have been working with various companies that produce sporting events such as beach volleyball tournaments or triathlons.  My aspirations for when I graduate are to merge my two interests of theatre and event management into music festival production.

The visual arts encompass a large portion of the artistic community.  It represents any style of art that is put on display for others to view.  When I noticed that an advance writing and rhetoric class was focusing on that I saw this is a good fit for me; especially based on the styles of writing we cover and focus of the class.  Hopefully once I have completed this course I will have the proper background to write convincing and well formatted grants and reviews to help me in my career.

Lacy Moore (Blog entry 1)

Hi my name is Lacy Moore, I am from Aspen, Colorado and I am studying Classics and Studio art. Ever since I was little I have been interested in drawing and throughout school I am always doodling in my notebooks (sometimes creating distractions from actual class). I really enjoy calmness and relaxation that comes from drawing so I try and keep up with projects as much as I can. After college I hope to continue on into some aspect of graphic arts. As for Classics, I have never been the history type, I always though it to be a bunch of memorization, but after taking some ancient history classes at CU, I was hooked. It also is a good compliment to Studio arts. This summer I am hoping to study abroad in Italy. I think that it would help my studies to be submerged into the culture.

 

I am taking this class because it seamed most appropriate for what I am studying. I think that it will help me improve my writing about art for now and for the future. I would define visual arts as anything to do with the production and history of art in a certain culture. I think that the visual arts are an important aspect in society.

 

I would define rhetoric as the art of speaking or writing to communicate some point to a certain audience. I believe everyone is a rhetorician in some way, whether that be through writing, drawing, or speaking. From this course, I hope to improve the flow in my writing and my ability to get my thoughts out onto paper.