There is another shore, you know

"What matters it how far we go?"
His scaly friend replied, 
"There is another shore, you know,
Upon the other side. 
The further off from England
The nearer is to France - 
Then turn not pale, beloved snail,
But come and join the dance."


Franz Ferdinand's version of the Lobster Quadrille


My sister and I finally graduated from West Boylston High on June 3rd, it's great to finally be done! I have my orientation at the University of Maine soon: June 19-20. After that I will be away for the majority of the summer, first staying on Long Lake in Maine, then Lake Michigan, and finally heading out for my third season on the glaciers in the North Cascades. I'll have just about a week to pack and head off for college when I return!
Tomorrow at 9 am, I am running in my town's 5k around the Wachusett Reservoir!
I was amazed that both my sister and I received the Elton & Kathleen Drew Scholarship for Continued Study in the Arts ($5000!) and I also received the Mass. Foreign Language Association Board of Directors Award, which I believe will be $500.
Yesterday I went on my final art trip with the NAHS. This year we went to Boston and visited the MFA, Faneuil Hall, and saw the Blue Man Group. We saw actress Rachel McAdams at the MFA which I thought was pretty cool!

Wachusett and Breadth Part 2

The route

I ran in the Mt. Wachusett race last Saturday on the 28th. Last year I was participating in Art All State and I wasn't able to run it, so it wasn't until just before the race I found out that the course was different now. The old course was entirely on the road, 4.3 miles up to the summit. It was a tough race, all uphill - some especially tough climbs - and on pavement. I've always been a trail runner, and I certainly wouldn't call it a fun race, it was about the challenge. Now, the route covers 4.7 miles and the majority of it is on trails. Some areas were tricky because the trails were narrow, and it was hard to pass/ be passed. The steep uphill section about halfway through was the worst. It's very narrow with a lot of rocks and roots, the type of trail I often run on, but a lot of people decided it wasn't worth putting in the effort. I got stuck behind a large group of walkers, and I barely had the breath or strength to pass them. I managed to pass at least 20 people on that section. Many of them were obviously better runners than me - but they didn't even try to keep running, which confuses me. Sure, it's really tough, but it's a race, and you have to endure it and do your best to keep running!

Portrait of Inspiration
I created this for the assignment "create a self-portrait without your face." I chose to represent myself through challenges, and the "swirl" of inspiration I get from these challenges.

Salmon Boy
I created this illustration originally as part of my concentration when I was considering veering into the negative effects of glaciers' recession. People around the world depend on the melt-water from glaciers. A Chinese boy is watching, saddened by what he sees. The stream he depends on has retreated, leaving dry stream-bed exposed. The salmon that he also relies on are struggling with the lower waters, and some have died where the stream once was. 

Transforming
I created this piece in Studio Art, under the instruction to create a "self-warped-trait." I chose to illustrate my face mid-transformation into a creature. I actually went back to add more tentacles on the right later on, and I definitely like how it looks better than before.

Vases
I created this in Studio Art from observation. I chose a cropped view of a still-life my art teacher, Mrs. Tetler, set up. The floral background is actually a larger Chinese-flower print vase.

Violet Baudelaire
I created this portrait of Violet Baudelaire based off of the third book in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Wide Window. Growing up, these were some of my absolute favorite books, I read and re-read them!

Welcome to the real world...

My last day of high school is this Friday! I'm done with classes because I don't have to take any finals, so now I just go in for graduation rehearsal. Our class song is John Mayer's "No Such Thing"
"'Welcome to the real world,' she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat
Take your life
Plot it out in black and white...."


I also finished my final two track meets this week. I had leagues on Monday, and there were some moments of downpour... thankfully it was just misting during my two hurdle races. Today, we had a meet against the best team in our league, Ayer, so we didn't stand a chance! I'll post some more track pictures soon, as well as my AP Studio Art concentration!

So close...

I'm finally done with the school year (for the most part). I had my AB AP Calculus Exam on the 4th, and I submitted my AP Studio Art Drawing Portfolio on the 6th. These classes have been my life this year, particularly second semester, so it's weird to not have endless work to do anymore! After today, I have 13 days of school left, but many of them I won't actually have classes, they'll be centered around preparing for graduation. The track season has been decent for me. Today I am heading out to Murdock for a meet, and after that I have two more regular meets and Leagues. I'm already starting to think about what art I might want to create over the summer!

Running the 400 lows, this picture was in the local paper

"See you in another life, brother"

"Three days before you came down here. before we met, I heard a banging on the hatch doors, shouting. But it was you John, wasn't it? You say there isn't any purpose, there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours."

Lost is one of my all-time favorite TV shows, I always loved the character Desmond, and his frequently used (mysterious) line, "I'll see you in another life, brother." Plus it sounds cool with his Scottish accent. I've actually been re-watching the first season recently, I was so confused my first time watching it, but now that I actually understand everything somewhat, I'm able to pick up on why things are happening.

This is one of my new concentration pieces, titled "Growth." With this one I wanted to show that it is the combined magic of snow girl and the snow that is causing the magical plants to grow. So, as she walks through the snow, the plants emerge!

Growth

This is my completed "Portrait of Inspiration." For this piece I wanted to portray myself in an abstract way (the assignment was a self-portrait without a face). I tried to think of what connects everything I love: Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, trail running, running the hurdles, creating art, reading, mathematics, working on the glaciers, etc. What I came up with was challenge and inspiration. I challenge myself to run the 400 hurdles, to learn to ski the moguls, to teach myself calculus, to work on the glaciers every year, and I love these challenges. But, what I get from these challenges is inspiration. From this inspiration is where I find the resolve to keep challenging myself. I decided to portray challenge as a sweat drop, and that drops starts the inspiration, which grows and changes, and finally takes a path.

Portrait of Inspiration

 It was my twin Megan and my birthday on April 2nd, we're 18! I got some nice new hiking boots. I had done some research before going to New England Backpacker, and luckily my top choice was at the store! I also go the whole Harry Potter set, and tickets for the 30 Seconds to Mars concert May 1st! Below I put some little treats me and my sister picked out from The Crown Bakery.

This is not the end, this is not the beginning

      Track & Field 2011 has officially started, I'm sore already and looking forward to the season ahead!
      This is my 3rd consecutive year skiing at Sunday River in Maine, and previously I was used to the majority of the runs beings very icy and scrapy. Our first of 3 days this year, it was raining, and we had the mountain just about to ourselves! We got soaked, visibility was tough, and the few inches of new snowfall hardened by rain made conditions tricky, but it was wicked fun! The next two days were somewhat overcast, but we got some great snow!
      For my next art piece, I want to evolve from just painting glaciers, to painting them in a way that shows how majestic and magical they can seem, so I'm thinking about doing one based on our crevasse jumps!

Magda and Me

Welcome to Oz! Awesome, steeper terrain

Panorama

Magda and her Mom skiing down the Tin Woodsman

View from our room: 2 double black diamonds, my favorite run was Shock Wave on the left, because it had huge, soft moguls that were a blast. White Heat is on the right, and is probably the steepest run, it was fun to ski this year with the good snow conditions!

X signifies lift is closed, 0 is open. This was during night skiing when only 2 lifts are open.

Fun lil' section of moguls below the lift that I did a few times!

Ben easily clears the crevasse on Easton glacier the 2009 season, while I observe.. I'm sure I jumped in a less gaping part

Me jumping a small crevasse the 2010 season!

2009 season!

On our way out to base camp below Easton Glacier the 2010 season!

On Columbia with the probe the 2010 season!

Snowbasin's Yeti

Skiing at Snowbasin, in Utah, was definitely one the of best experiences of my life. I had never skied powder before, but by the end of the first day, I was in love with it. I got three days of the best skiing of my life, and I can't wait to ski out west again someday!
I love the Ski Utah yeti, I got a shirt with him, and a sticker of him to put on my portfolio! He's an awesome design!

Ski Utah (The greatest snow on Earth)

Needles Gondola, 9 am arrival

Panorama of surrounding Rockies

Mauri and Maurice (My dad and grandpa)

My dad; I've never met a better skier!

Me skiing section of off-trail powder!

My grammy!

Beautiful contrast

Opposing window

Beautiful snowy trees

Lots of powdery turns

My grandparents!

The sun came out!

In love with powder skiing

Above 9,000 ft : with my dad and Uncle Tom

Coming down through fog at 9,000 ft,
 Men's 2002 Olympic start-house in background! 

Aliens & Jordan Romero

I'm in advanced visual communications this semester and I've created a few videos with Windows Moviemaker.
One was a story, in which I used Blink 182's "Aliens Exist" and some of my sisters little characters (including Tim Burton's Stainboy as the main character)!
The other was a typography for an advertisement. I chose to promote Jordan Romero (13, and aiming to climb the 7 summits, with only 1 left) and his campaign to raise money for the expedition to Mt. Vinson in Antarctica!