I'll be studying abroad in Paris next quarter! Looking forward to absorbing as much of the language, culture, and food as possible. I thought it'd be nice to have some documentation of my time over there, and that seemed like ample reason to dive back into the blogosphere. So, I'll be sharing highlights in another blog, Chasing Croissants. Will post the link when it's ready for takeoff!
[UPDATE: chasingcroissants.wordpress.com is live!] A bientôt, Clem
2 Comments
I spent this past week watching Harry Potter movies. It was long overdue...I've somehow managed to sidestep the Potterhead wave since elementary school. It's never too late, though! And thanks to the wonderfully knowledgeable Nicholas, who's read all the books and occasionally paused the movies to add his own bonus commentary, I feel adequately caught-up on the wizarding craze. The world of Harry Potter is a whimsical one, with so many charming and clever elements. The attention to detail with which J.K. Rowling sculpted this universe reminded me of the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (which was what I was reading while my classmates were waving their wands and shouting spells). I admire those creators whose imaginations are massive enough to contain entire worlds and whose storytelling enthralls audiences of all ages--J.R.R. Tolkien and George Lucas also come to mind. Anyway, because I was inspired to pay tribute to three brilliant, iconic characters that I've overlooked till now, here's some completed Herry Podder art: Cheers!
Clem I recently paid a visit to Pier 39 in San Francisco and discovered a new favorite shop! The Shell Cellar is a house-hunting hermit crab's dream. There was a buffet of shells to peruse--I particularly enjoyed digging around the shell trunk. The shop employees were very friendly and helpful, even taking the time to explain where their shells come from (recycled and imported from the Philippines) and why a cat's eye "shell" isn't really a shell (it's the operculum, or foot, of a sea snail). Yes, it's a tourist trap--pretty much everything on Pier 39 is--but it's definitely one worth checking out! They have a huge selection of shells, even options for those with only a few bucks to spend on a souvenir or two. This is starting to sound like a Yelp review... California beaches aren't too great for shelling--everything on the West Coast gets beat up by the Pacific Ocean, and compared to other parts of the continent (and the world), not much washes up around here--which is why seeing this plethora of seashells all in one place made me a little giddy. Even if you're not there to spend, at least go check out their incredible displays and cool shell craft ideas. I exited the shop with a few polished spider conches and small airplants that I intend to keep alive for as long as I can. Mom says I'm watering them too much already, though. Perhaps the best thing to do is sit 'em on a sunny windowsill and forget about them. Hmm... Anywho, can't post about Pier 39 without mentioning the sea lions--maybe Fluke, Rudder, and Gerald from Finding Dory came up north for a visit? Cheers!
Clem With everyone running around and catching Pokemon on their phones (including me), it was hard not to feel the effects of the Pokemon Go craze. [Serious question: What do people in the Pokemon world eat??] I decided to take out the acrylics and paint over an old canvas that I wasn't satisfied with... But wait! Where's the pokemon, you might ask? Fret not, ladies and gentlebeans...Rayquaza hath arrived! It's hanging over my brother's computer desk at the moment.
The floaty mountains were inspired by Avatar--I hadn't painted exposed rock surfaces before, so this was a neat experiment. I like how it turned out! Fantasy landscapes are a lot of fun to create. Maybe more in the future? Cheers, Clem Back in junior high, I had two pet frogs. I named them Jerry and Joe, and they were adorable little buggers. Observe: Okay, okay. So, they were plastic prizes from my dentist--nonetheless, I thought they deserved a nice miniature terrarium. With live plants! Those lasted quite a while, surprisingly. I don't have a great record with plants--my thumb is about as green as a front lawn in California. Before Jerry and Joe, the tank had one resident: Gilbert the Goldfish. Unfortunately, Gilbert passed away after accidentally being frozen in a bathtub...it's a long story. I wrote an essay about it for my AP English literature class. In other news, I've decided to dub this site a plog--a portfolio/blog. I think it works.
Cheers! Clem Make no mistake. Athens and Sparta were rivals back in the day. Anyway! I've just returned chez moi from a rad trip to Europe split between four cities: Paris, Athens, Venice, and Florence. This post, as denoted in the title, is intended for the second of those. No, people were not wearing togas. It was actually quite hot and cotton summer vestments were the overwhelming preference for streetwear. I suffered sunburn on the first day when we headed up the Acropolis. There was a lot of restoration/reconstruction going on. The Acropolis has seen a lot and the Parthenon itself has suffered tremendous damage through the ages, passing through the hands of multiple religious denominations and falling prey to centuries of looters and neglect. It's a pity that much of its magnificent craftsmanship and rich history has been irretrievably lost, but also incredibly impressive that archaeologists have been able to piece together so much of its story and even what stood in the Parthenon's place before it was constructed. There was plenty to be learned at the Acropolis Museum nearby. The Parthenon was built as a temple to Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom (and actually a lot of other things, as I found out) and patron deity of the city. As the founding myth goes, Athena gifted the city an olive tree, which beat out Poseidon's saltwater spring in what must've been the world's most intense bidding war. And thus, the city's name. That's not to say that there aren't temples to other gods in the area, however. Have some pictures for proof: We also visited the ancient Roman Agora with its reconstructed stoa. Despite the 100-degree day, it was quite cool once we'd stepped under the roof of the stoa. There was also a variety of artifacts on display within the interior rooms--even some ancient passports. Imagine showing a piece of stamped clay to Border Control at the airport! Anyway, onto the Plaka district--it's a historic neighborhood in central Athens built on top of the ancient city (definitely not as old and crumble-tumble as the ruins up there, but it's got that charming old-town feel). There were plenty of shops and very inviting tavernas--where, much to my mom's delight, I made up for my decade-long deficit of vegetables by eating my weight in Greek salad. The streets of the Plaka are appropriately crowded with tourists through the late morning and afternoon, and liven up even more as dinnertime approaches. While I'm on the topic of historic areas put to modern use, we also visited Piraeus--the port has been one of the most important Mediterranean seaports since the days of Ancient Greece. Today, it's a bustling commercial district with an abundance of excellent seafood restaurants in the Mikrolimano area. My brother's a runner and was excited to visit the Panathenaic Stadium to get some cool shots for his upcoming running documentary. So we tried three times during our stay. The first time, they were setting up for a concert and the stage was blocking most the angles he wanted to take. The second time was actually on the day of the concert (oops). And third time's the charm. We were the first visitors that morning and workers had already begun deconstructing the stage. The Panathenaic Stadium is the only one in the world built entirely out of marble. It hosted the first revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1894 and most recently, Athens 2004. Didjaknow: The Olympic Torch is first lit up by the concentrated rays of the sun during a ceremony at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympics. Then, before it goes to the host city, it's part of a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium. The whole flame concept is a nod to the mythology of Prometheus, the Greek Titan who stole fire from the Olympian gods to give to the shivering humans down below. He paid dearly for his deed--Zeus flew into a rage and had him chained to a mountain where an eagle would zip down and tear out his immortal liver every day. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. Anyway, that's all for Athens! Have a grainy photo of the Acropolis during sundown: Cheers!
Clem Hello there! It's been a while. I've just been wrapping up finals and end-of-the-year school projects as we near that funny word...COMMENCEMENT. It's ending! The glorious period of time--maybe not-so-glorious at times--of imperfect adolescent self-discovery and learning and lunch-mastication that is high school. It's so odd to think that I won't be heading back to the familiar campus this fall and even stranger to think about how much my friends and I have changed--or remained unchanged--in the last four years. I certainly don't feel like an adult yet, but I suppose I'll grow into it through college and beyond. Anyway, one of the subjects on which I have ruminated since the early days of my public education is...math. I'll be honest here--math was never quite my favorite class (cue light-up sign behind me: *ARTS AND HUMANITIES*). However, we did finish out my last high school math class on a fun note. It was AP Calculus BC, and we had several options for our post-AP exam projects--one of which was a "children's book." It's in quotes because I don't expect six-year-olds to understand derivatives. Anyway, I opted to write and illustrate one such book, and The Loraximum (a guide to optimistic optimization) was whipped into existence. I thought it'd be appropriate to cap off my senior year with an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, one of my favorite books since my days in elementary school. A sort of sentimental full-circle finish. Check out the full gallery pages below! Hope you enjoy :) To all friends graduating this year as well, here's to a great four years behind us and an exciting future ahead!
Cheers! Clem Update 3/7/2016: I didn't quite make it to the monthly voting round--only 100 entries could be chosen to display in the public vote. Nonetheless, thank you to all who offered their support :) Fret not, I foresee more art contests in the future. ---------- Caaaalling all electronic devices! Smartphones, laptops, smartwatches...check out my submission to the 2016 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest and hit me with a vote! If I win, my school will also be awarded a grant. Voting instructions below... 1) Go to this link: http://www.gallerycollection.com/scholarship-monthly-voting
2) Look for Entry #13865 (that's me!) and add your vote from your current device. 3) Repeat with any other internet-surfing electronic device you own, every day throughout the entire month of March. 4) Accept my many thanks :) The top 10 submissions with the most votes each month get to move onto the Finalist Round. I hope I can make it there! To everyone voting for me, thank you so much--I really appreciate you all. I'll post here if any good news comes my way at the end of the month. Fingers crossed! Cheers! Clem A while back, I joined my school's Mock Trial team as a sketch artist, which entailed sitting in on practice sessions, an invitational, and a four-round competition to draw people standing around lots of wood furniture. The Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition took place last month, in actual courtrooms at the county courthouse. I got to sit behind the attorney scorers in the jury box (side note: the seats in the jury box were swivel chairs bolted to the floor--I had to resist the urge to spin around during trials, lest I be thrown out by the bailiff). Here are a few sketches from my courtroom art portfolio (click to embiggen!) Honestly, the first thing that struck me when I walked into the official courtrooms was the wall-to-wall wood paneling. I felt like we'd just entered the 60s...or a laminated forest. I did some research (read: Wikipedia'd the subject)--apparently the ubiquity of wood in courtrooms is "a matter of style and tradition." Hmm. Well, who knows? There may be an update in aesthetic coming to courthouses in the future. Hello, HGTV? Anyway, this was the entry completed during a competition trial that I submitted to Santa Clara County's Mock Trial Courtroom Sketch Artist Contest: Now for the exciting news--I just found out that I've been voted County Runner-Up for the competition, which means I'll have the opportunity to go to Mock Trial California State Finals in Sacramento in a few weeks. Whoo! It sort of conflicts with an orchestra festival I'm supposed to participate in, though, so we'll see what pans out. Thanks for reading--more posts to come!
Cheers, Clem Back from Tahoe! Took off to the snow with the clan for a couple days. It's been a few years since I last went, but it was like riding a bike as soon as we started sliding downhill. I know that we Californians are lucky ducks to live relatively close to a grand variety of terrain--snow-capped mountains, foggy coasts, deep valleys, and of course, the famous redwoods. As for the views at Heavenly this past week--well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I've always wondered about the color of snow. It's that enticing white most of the time, turns clear and frosty gray as it melts in your gloves if you bring it up close, and looks blue if you fall into the soft stuff and leave a deep foot- or kneeprint.
Anyway, whatever the color is, I raise a cup of hot cocoa to ye gods of rain who have blessed us with enough water this season that most trails were open. That's a heartening sign for a parched state. We'll see how the snow levels this year translate in the longer run. Here's to hoping for a turn of the tide in the California drought battle. Cheers! Clem |
ClemC's Blog
|