Frida -- the movie

Tonight I watched the movie "Frida" with Selma Hayek as Frida. It was a wonderful movie and I learned a lot about Frida. Frida had a lot of troubles in her life; although she managed to get through them all. I had no idea that life could be so hard for an artist--all that travelling from her country, Mexico to the United States and Paris. It also must have been very hard to have been a Communist. I can't see how she was able to live with Diego and all his affairs. With a couple like them, I'm not even sure why they got married. But they stayed together, but their love was a indestructible bond. Love is the only thing in the world that is truly immortal. That is what I learned from this movie--that love is the most important thing.

Frida and Diego seemed like they were meant for each other, even though they cheated on each other and often argued with each other. Their bond was so great that their anger and affairs couldn't separate them. I found that amazing. What do you think?

Abstract Art

One of the most basic and simplest things I know about art is the style of being an abstract artist. What makes an abstract artist different from other artists is that they don't focus as much on meanings, etc. They tend to use simple ideas or shapes to convey ideas. For example, one type of abstract art I do is similar to Jackson Pollack's art. I sometimes cover the canvas with one color and then splatter other colors. I try to make swirling affects coming out of a drop of paint and make it very simple and not too complex. Some abstract artists make things more complex than others. For example, see http://paintings.name/ for some samples. Here is one person's idea about what abstract art is: http://www.harley.com/art/abstract-art/index.html Do you agree?

Some abstract artists are Cubists or Surrealists or Impressionists so there are all different kinds of abstract art. Some abstract artists are sculptors.

I like abstract art because you can almost do anything with it and it lets people react however they want based on what they think is going on. I can paint something completely random and they can express whatever they want.

Here is one of the abstract paintings I've done. Please tell me how it makes you feel.

Segregation is wrong

Today we read an anonymous letter that was about why we weren't learning about African American history at our school. We aren't sure who it's from, but it's from a student at our school. The student was concerned about why we don't celebrate Black History month. Ever since we read this letter, I am reminded about how skin color separates our society. I don't agree with that. I don't think anything should separate one human being from another. We still have eyes, arms, etc. so skin color should not make a difference.

I read an article about this very thing. You can learn more by reading it: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0125/p01s01-ussc.html What this articles says is that in Chicago, once they took the law away that forced people to integrate, that people stopped integrating the schools. I think that is very wrong. I don't think it was right that they took the law away and I'm disappointed that people are separating human beings from human beings based on color. It's like separating fruits and vegetables. They are both foods and they are both healthy. It shouldn't matter that you put them together on a plate and you can get energy either way. If you put people of different colors together, they can bond and become friends. We are all part of the same species. To segregate means you are saying that you are disgusted by your own species.

Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was a very famous painter. He painted a lot of murals about the history of Mexico. Some of his paintings showed workers working in factories and/or historical events. Once he was asked to paint a mural in the Rockefeller Center and he included Lenin, a Communist, in the painting. Rockefeller asked him to paint over Lenin's face, but Rivera wouldn't do it and he quit doing the painting and went home. Here is more information about the painting: http://advant.blogspot.com/2006/09/man-at-crossroads-1934-diego-rivera.html
http://www.chapala.com/chapala/ojo2006/diego.html

Some people didn't like Diego Rivera's work because of his political beliefs. He believed in Communism. I heard that he put cannons around his workspace and he wore ammunition things when he painted so he could fend off people who protested about his work.

He was also married to a famous Mexican artist named Frida Kahlo. They were married but their relationship didn't go that well. Diego wanted to live in America for a while and she wanted to go back to America. So she left, but later they got back together. They both painted very different things. He did a lot of murals and she did a lot of self portraits. She only painted things that had happened during her life and Rivera painted a lot of historical or political things.

Diego Rivera did not have that easy of a life because he believed in communism and since his marriage didn't go that well. He had trouble with his career and his personal life. Rivera was kind of a big guy. People say he had a big appetite for food and women. To learn more about him, visit http://diegorivera.com/index.php

Frida Kahlo

Many of you have heard of Frido Kahlo. If you haven't, here is a basic summary of who she is. Frida Kahlo is a Mexican artist that was around during the World Wars. She had a very hard life as a kid because she suffered from polio and it left her leg very frail. Her disease and her pain affected her paintings. She also had a very serious accident and during her life had to have 30 surgeries. She knew her husband before this, but she didn't start painting until after her accident. She was riding a bus and she was badly injured. Some of her limbs were permanently damaged. After her accident she started doing different paintings and a few years later, she met up with Diego Rivera--another painter--who she ended up marrying. He painted murals.

They had a very hard relationship. They broke up a few times, but they got back together. She also wasn't able to have children, mostly because of all the injuries she sustained during her life. Most of her paintings were self-portraits and things that she went through in her life. One example is a painting called "Self-Portrait with Monkeys."

My personal opinion of Frida Kahlo's paintings is that I'm not a huge fan of her paintings, but I want to see if you have any opinions that might help me make a better judgement of her work. Please let me know.

Feature Your Opinions for the Theater

Readers: what are some of your comments on these three movies--"Jumper," "Spiderwick Chronicles," and "Juno."

Jumper: This movie is about a guy who can teleport and there are people trying to kill him. I liked this movie a lot because it gave me a lot of ideas for a story I'm working on. I hadn't really thought about teleportation before. Having the ability to go anywhere you want makes you pretty dangergous, depending on how you use your power.

Juno: This movie was wonderful. Each of the characters had very different personalities. I was left speechless after the movie because I loved the movie so much. I can't use words to describe how wonderful the movie was. It's hilarious. It's romantic and also it's very interesting to see how the girl changes her mind and what decisions she makes. I liked the movie because I know people at my high school who have gotten pregnant and have had the child. I think it is so unbelievable that a person my age could have a child and still go to school.

Spiderwick Chronicles: I wasn't really interested in this movie. What would have made it more interesting was if they had more magical creatures. Also I think the story line needed work. It was good at the beginning, but it dropped off at the end. I expected them to find the Professor and bring him back and have him tell them how to destroy Spiderwick. Having a magical character knowing where he was didn't make much sense and everything led up to the ending way too fast. Some other events weren't that convincing--like having the family get back together so quickly.

I'd love to hear your comments about these movies.

Freedom is a wonderful thing

Freedom is a wonderful thing the world needs to expereince. I will keep wondering when the ants of this planet will stop eating? I have a lot of different questions and i wait for them to be answered. If anyone has questions, please post them together. As cheesy as it may sound we could answer those questions, so ask away.

Poetry

I'm not a big fan of poetry. I only like certain styles of how poetry is written. I like mysterious or scary poems which intrigue the reader or freak the reader out. Poetry is kind of like building things in a way. I love inventing stuff. If I have an idea, I'll just start building it. Right now, I'm working on taking apart action figures to see how they work and to see if I can make different things of my own. One of the reasons I'm doing this is because when I go to art college, I might take up toy design and I need to understand how toys are put together.

I'd love to hear what others think about my take on poetry or inventing things. Please post to this article if you'd like to.