Design

Finally I am finished my desgin project!!! It took hours and hours but it is finished. I wanted to post pictures since it will most likely be in the trash within a couple days (it won't fit in my car). So here are a couple pictures! Enjoy!!

Stills

Here a couple stills from my claymation.... It's almost done and I hope it turns out well!!

This shot is one of my little clay man building his little clay house.

My next shot is of the house finished... the first time.

Bag of Hammers

I thought I would upload a little inspiration from a music video of a band that I like. I think I like this one because it isn't perfect and I know my final piece will not be perfect. It is, however, cute and catchy and has a definite homemade look. I also like how paper and other materials are brought in to give different textures. That is what I am trying to do with my claymation as well. I have a clay man, a yarn woman, and a fabric background. I feel the textures give the viewer more information and make it more interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MQSiwrUdUU

Claymation Claymation

I am doing a claymation for my stop motion project! I am very excited because I love working with clay... but I'm also pretty nervous because I'm having a hard time grasping how many frames turn out to be a second. I took almost 200 pictures and I don't believe they will take up much space at all in my final video. I just know I have a whole weekend of pictures, pictures, pictures.
Here's a little practice movie I did for ceramics. My hand is visible in some of the frames and the lighting is not perfect, but I am learning!

The end result will be perfect... I promise.

Birthday Splendor

This weekend was my birthday! It was a wonderful extra long weekend which started on Thursday night with my trip into Philly. I went with friends to see Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down at the First Unitarian. It was awesome!! Such a good show.

Friday we went to the Italian market and I got delicious pizza and fresh baked bread. Later I went to my first First Friday.

The weekend continued at home in Coatesville with my family and my dogs. And of course I took more pictures of my dogs.

This is Moose and his favorite thing in the whole world... besides me.

DigiMed Project

I'm actually getting really excited for this Digital Media project #4. I figured this was a good place to take the time to show everyone a little more about my topic, the "No Land Grab."

Now keep in mind while reading this... Dick Saha is my best friend's grandfather and she lives on the land that the golf course people were trying to take... to build a golf course... on their beautiful property where horses roam and campfires are plenty. It makes me sad to think that some people are so greedy that they would want to take something so beautiful away from someone who rightfully owns it.

http://www.nolandgrab.org/archives/2005/05/sahas_settle_wi.html

I don't have any pictures of the fields on the property, but I do have some pictures of a bunch of friends hanging out on the little camp ground situated right on the Saha farm.

(And there's a projections screen perfect for in the woods viewing)

Colors Changing and Crisp Air

Autumn is my favorite season! Not only is my birthday in it (November 8th ;) ) but everything everywhere is beautiful!!

Here's a picture I took of Recitation. This is my favorite building, so I already thought it was a pretty one... but with the changing colors around it it makes it even more wonderful. That tree was placed perfectly in that spot so that when I'm rounding the corner to get in the building I see it looming over, casting a great shadow and letting the sun come through its branches... beautiful.

Finally Fall

I love fall! I was home for the weekend (once again) for my cousin's wedding. The weekend was made even better because I got time to go to Hibernia Park to take some pictures. It was a great fall day, a little cloudy, but the temperature was nice and the leaves were beautiful.Here's a great shot of the leaves changing from green to bright red. This tree was so beautiful with its speckled leaves.

I had to put this picture up! My dogs are so funny because they're still pretty much puppies and they love to walk themselves. I thought this would be a good action shot to show their personalities, Rocco stealing things and Moose trying to nibble on Rocco.

My wonderful weekend ended with a pumpkin carving contest between my sister, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Dan. Sarah put up her best efforts with her bug-eyed pumpkin, but I believe it was Dan who took the lead with the adorable face he put on his.

A Weekend in the Catskills

On Friday at 5:30 am I was off to Plattekill Ski Resort in Roxbury, NY situated comfortably in the Catskill Mountains. This weekend Plattekill held yet another downhill mountain bike race and I went with my boyfriend Brian to watch him compete. The weather was beautiful (after the first night when it poured), and the temperature only got down to the 30s, making camping a little difficult but fun none the less. The beauty of the mountain and the colors of the leaves were enough to make the trip one of the best. Here are a couple pictures I took while I was there....

I love this shot of Brian because it's not a typical composition because it's focusing on the back of his head as he walks away. The leaved of the trees are so beautiful and the blue from the chair lift gives it a hint of a brighter color. Oh and the last name... Ya-new-Ze... everyone always asks.

What to do... What to do....

I'm having a tough time coming up with a solid idea for our scan projects. I want to do something that spans from the inspiration that Georgia O'keeffe has given me... but how do I put that on a glossy sheet of 8.5x11 paper?
Well first let me give you a little taste of the beauty of Georgia O'keeffe...
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/

Check it out... it will probably inspire you as well.
So here is what I have so far...

These are some flowers that I pressed a little while ago. O'Keeffe uses a lot of flowers in her work and so I feel as though some kind of flower should be in my own work. Fresh flowers may be better, but I had these on hand and they look really beautiful pressed. I'm a big big fan of pressed flowers.






Now here is a little sketch of two female body forms that I drew with the ideas of O'keeffe in mind. Her paintings displayed femininity and sexuality and I somehow need to convey that as well through my project. These are actually sketches I went off of for my ceramics project, which I may involve some way into the piece.

Any suggestions???

Shots

These are two of my favorite shots out of the nine taken for the second project. The top one is my High Depth of Field shot. It was taken in Philly outside of my friends house. I was not intending to take pictures specifically for this project, but after looking back at the shots I have from this day I thought this would be the best for the topic. I love the colors. The two red buildings make the blue sky pop. I also fell in love with this picture because of the colors of the flowers in Julie's dress which mirror the colors surrounding her on the street. Her stance is great for the picture because it is leisurely and fun. Her dress and hair are swaying just the right amount.

This was my Stop Motion shot. Once I took this picture I was so excited because I love the way it captures my dog, Moose. See, Moose loves playing ball. No.... Moose is obsessed with playing ball. Therefore I believe this picture captures the true essence of Moose. Unfortunately the ball is harder to see because I caught it right when it was passing by the area where the sun was really lighting up the background. I still think it is a fun shot. I took it at my house, so once again it's a subject I love at a place I love.

Springton Manor Farm

On Saturday I went home! Back to PA to see my family and friends and my puppy dogs! I decided that Saturday would be the opportune day to take pictures because I think photographs should be of things that you love most, and those are all the things I love most.

I met my friends, Julie and Sam, at Springton Manor Farm, a beautiful piece of land only 3 minutes from my house. The sun was starting to set and the light was beautiful. We also found a barn cat who must have really liked us because she hung around for a while. We think she was pregnant, that or she just had a fat cat pouch.

One of the reasons everyone should go to Springton Manor is the old trees. These trees are so beautiful because their limbs are so old they touch the ground and are actually starting to root themselves back into the earth. It's like a different world under the branches, which create a tee pee of limbs and leaves.

Trip to the Gallery

I think the photographic process that caught my eye the most was the cyanotype. I thought it was really interesting, especially the pictures from the UD campus. It's amazing to see the buildings in the 1800's and compare the campus to what it is today. Seeing these pictures makes me want to go around campus and take pictures myself so that I can look back or my children can look back and compare the campus at that time to my pictures. I think keeping pictures as a means of tracking history is extremely important and I'm going to continue to do it!

I looked up more examples of cyanotypes and found a really cool site that shows cyanotypes of Greek sculpture..... http://www.edaites.com/galcyanthn1.html. They remind me of monochromatic water color paintings.

Trying to take photographs using these old techniques would be really interesting to try. I would really like to try using a different technique besides just digital.

Self Portrait, taken September 12th 2009, Digital Photography

Hello! I'm Abby Reczek. I'm from Coatesville, PA. This is my portrait picture, taken one rainy Saturday during one of the many explorations that I've taken with my friends. We wound up in South Eastern Pennsylvania and up around Northern Wilmington where we found a rock quarry and ended up picking up some really cool stones (which I learned were mica from my geology major friend).

I love this picture because of the contrast between the green trees and red rust of the guard rail. The rough spot in the water gives a much needed hint of white against the calmer, dark areas of water. The sky is dark from rain clouds, but I like the muted tone it gives to the picture. I think it is a true portrait of myself because I love being outside, I love Pennsylvania, and I love searching for beauty on rainy days.