The Writer As Explorer

One of Sally Mann’s Early works was At Twelve. A collection of photos about young gurls on the edge of adulthood. Young girls were often caught in the middle of wanting to be a child and wanting to grow up. Sally captures these photos of close family friends and relatives. These pictures are intended to show […]

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Proud Flesh by Sally Mann is a collection of photos that show the decomposition of the body overtime. Sally Mann’s husband, Larry Mann, sufferers a disease called muscular dystrophy. Basically, that means your muscles weaken over time. He mostly has been losing muscle in hir right leg and left arm. The things he once was able […]

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One of the several portraits Élisabeth Vigée LeBrun painted of her daughter, Self Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie is one of various meanings. Painted in 1789, it is a symbol of love for her daughter as well as a defense of herself. As someone who was close with the aristocracy, Vigée LeBrun was scrutinized during the early […]

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  Name of Piece: Flying Home: Harlem Heroes & Heroines (downtown) When Created: 1996 Where Created: 125th street station Harlem Meaning Behind Painting: The painting was a mural to pay respect and acknowledge the great performers, painter, and sports figures from Harlem. Medium: Mosaic tiles Subject: Black inspirational figures in Harlem history who deserved recognition Reaction […]

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The Birth Project:  This is one of many pieces that Judy Chicago made while collaborating with over 150 needleworkers.  The work was a combination of paint and needlework.  Chicago and the needleworkers created dozens of images surrounding motherhood and birth. They covered the painful aspects of it, the mythical feelings, and the beauty of motherhood. […]

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This is the Bigamy Hood by Judy Chicago. It was made in 1965, two years after her husband’s shocking and abrupt death. Bigamy Hood is an abstract artwork created using Acrylic lacquer and then sprayed with acrylic support, following that, a fusion of color and surface occurs. The artwork symbolizes the severed connection between Chicago, […]

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The painting Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, painted 1783, is a graceful and delicate portrayal of the famous queen of France. Vigée Le Brun’s skill in portrait painting was unmistakable to anyone who saw her works. At fifteen, according to her memoirs, she was already painting portraits and mingling with great artists. Her […]

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Camille Claudel’s The Age of Maturity (L’Âge mûr) stands as one of her most significant sculptures, deeply intertwined with her personal life and artistic journey. Created between 1893 and 1900, this piece is often interpreted as an emotional response to her relationship with Auguste Rodin, the renowned sculptor who played a pivotal role in her […]

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This particular portrait is of Calonne, the minister of general finances for the French King, which is what the letter in his hand portrays. It states the words Au Roi (To the King), symbolizing the royal confidence with which he was given and emphasized his importance within the royal court. The painter is also described to […]

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 The painting is about Marie-Gabrielle de Gramont, Comtesse de Caderousse. It is painted on an oak panel, using oil paints as the medium, in the Neoclassic style which Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun was noted to have contributed heavily to. In Le Brun’s memoirs, she notes that she persuaded the Duchess to not wear powder, […]

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 Self Portrait was first introduced to the world in 1802 at the Paris Salon. Marie-Denise Villers, being one of the only thirty women to present artwork at the Paris Salon, displayed various artworks she had produced within the past few years. The Self Portrait is a depiction of Marie, who is seemingly tying her shoes. […]

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Marie-Denise Villers’ Portrait of Charlotte du Val d’Ognes is credited to be her most famous work to date. This portrait depicts a young woman, Charlotte, sitting in front of a broken window with a canvas in hand. Similarly to other works of Villers, this piece had been mistaken as a work by one of her […]

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  Name of Piece: Black Light Series #11 US America Black When Created: 1969 Where Created: Europe Meaning Behind Painting: Medium: Oil paints Subject: Black facial features and the tones, the colors of melanated skin, and the experience of being a black woman in America Reaction to work: Many received her work well especially though it […]

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The Waltz (La Valse) by Camille Claudel is a crucial work in her career, created between 1889 and 1905. This bronze sculpture beautifully captures human emotions and movement with remarkable detail. It portrays a couple engaged in a close, swirling dance, their bodies intertwined in a way that suggests intimacy and tension. The fluidity of […]

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Upon first reading this book it was almost unbearable to finish. The level of condescending and droning made it hard for me to finish the book. One of the hardest parts of the book was reading about Schmidt’s many attempts to sabotage and trash-talk the main characters’ work. In a way, each time that Schmidt […]

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From the very beginning of Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, we see how close Schmitt and the narrator are, whose name we never know. We see their relationship unfold into a clump of hatred they both have towards each other. Both very intelligent men, who have such a passion for art, yet such difference of opinions on different […]

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Saint Sebastian’s Abyss is a true testament to just how far a bromance can go. Bromance, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “a close nonsexual friendship between two men”, is a term that can be used to describe the complex relationship between two men presented in the story. Haber’s narrator who navigates the […]

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The Characters and their Journey The characters in Saint Sebastian’s Abyss are deeply connected to the story’s themes of redemption and self-discovery. The main character struggling with inner conflict and seeks meaning in his life, which drives the plot and reflects his quest to reconcile his past with his present. Other characters in the novel […]

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As I read Mark Haber’s Saint Sebastian’s Abyss I kept finding myself chuckling under my breath at the narration. I’d stop and read amusing passages to my friends around me aloud, sharing in the satirical nature of it all. Haber has managed something here that I wonder if was intentional. The voice our narrator uses is […]

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The Girl with the Pearl Earring. The very first scene is important when considering how the characters will interact with each other for the rest of the novel. The author does a remarkably ood job of making it clear the basic characteristics of each person. Greet is a perfectionist, Caterina is clumsy and foolish, Vermeer […]

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Saint Sebastian’s Abyss by Mark Haber is an interesting read that reflects the mind of a rather peculiar man, one whose visually succinct thoughts seem to take up pages more by sheer density of word and meaning alone. One can almost see how this man, our protagonist, managed to milk almost a dozen books, book […]

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The story On Little Terry Road by Tom Franklin is nothing short of a love story. A cop falling for a troubled young girl and will stop at nothing to keep her safe. Ferriday, the daughter of his dead ex-girlfriend, always finds herself in a predicament. Dibbs, a drunk also a cop in this small town, knows […]

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“On Little Terry Road” by Tom Franklin was an extraordinary read. The damsel in distress and its parallel of using Dibbs as a scapegoat was a cunning and vicious turn of events. It was a fun and abnormal technique wielded by the author to elicit a visceral response in the reader. I was struck by […]

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On Little Terry Road – Tom Franklin From the very beginning of the story, it is established that Dibbs’ knows he has (or soon will have) something to hide. The secrecy in which every action is carried out leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth, even before he leaves a man to die from a shotgun […]

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    On Little Terry Road, Ferriday is driven by addiction. This addiction drives her to Little Terry Road, which is declared to be “where you went if you wanted trouble” (Franklin 10). Often in literature, addiction can symbolize isolation, deception and despair, which could easily be argued to be a fair representation of Ferriday’s […]

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