Here are photographs from the Taiwan Pride Parade- the largest gay pride parade in Asia which was held in Taipei last October 31rst.
With Catherine Diagle
Catherine Diagle
Jerome F. Keating
December 6, 2009
The Postojna cave and more photographs from Slovenia
Here are photographs of stalactites at the Postojna cave which also houses a dinosaur skeleton and other areas of interests in Slovenia
December 6, 2009
Catherine Daigle at week 16
These photographs are the first in a monthly photographic series that document Catherine’s pregnancy.
October 31, 2009
Ljubljana, Slovenia: MICY Colloquium October 14th-18th 2009
The 2nd Motivation for Innovation and Creativity of Youth (MICY) international colloquium held in Ljubljana, Slovenia was truly outstanding. It was an absolute pleasure to walk the scenic streets of Ljubljana as take in the historic pastel architecture, alpine surroundings, and rich culture which is mostly unaffected by tourists. However, the best part of the trip was the people I connected with from Europe and around the world. Miss you all so much,
JoRees
Ljubljana airport
Dr. Ann Kuo
Ann and Peter Ciuha
Dr. Debbie Smith-Shank
Sophie Metcalf and Debbie Smith-Shank
With Marjan Prevodnik, (center) at the MICY colloquium
Ljubljana architecture
The studio bathroom of Peter Ciuha’s studio
Peter Ciuha’s studio at work
Senka, Ann, Peter
Dr. Rita L. Irwin
Tatiana Soteropoulos
Glen Coutts
Dr. Emil Gaul
Su Jin Jie
Dr. Georgina Kakourou Chroni
Dr. John Steers
Dr. Jeung-Hee Kim
Dr. Hai-Kyung Kim
September 22, 2009
Telling it like it is……
This is just something that I’ve been thinking about today. If you go through a very negative experience are you supposed to label it as positive to please others? Surprisingly yes. Many just don’t want to know about the bad times and prefer just to hear about the good. In fact, saying anything else could be considered detrimental. That is not to say that I am a negative person. In fact, my outlook is very optimistic and positive. However, I do like to tell it as it is and that includes my own faults.
September 10, 2009
Who Am I? Who Art You? Book Proposal Editors: Alice Arnold and Joanna Rees
Images from American child artists
Alice Arnold and Joanna Rees are in the process of initiating a book based on global child art. The project would continue a dialogue with middle school and high school child artists who participated in an international art exhibit at the 2nd World Creativity Summit (WCS), in June 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan, based on the research questions: Who am I? and Who art you?
Images from Macau child artists
Arnold and Rees have invited child artists from the six InSEA regions which include Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, South East Asia and Pacific to participate in this project where the children create new art based on the research questions. The child artists would create two works of art to answer each question in painting, drawing, or mix-media mediums. The research questions are significant as they encourage child artists to consider their identity in conjunction to our transnational and intercultural society.
Images from Philippine child artists
With regards to the book’s format, Arnold and Rees envision a color, large-scale layout with a 14”X17” page size. The children’s art will be the central focus of the book and printed in color. Below each artwork would be the child’s own writing about his or her motivation in creating the art based on the questions: Who am I? Who Art you? The child’s response would make up a short paragraph of about 5 sentences, and would include their explanation of what they were depicting, or goals of artistic production. The images could be featured side by side in the book, showing each child’s two artworks together.
Images from European child artists
We are hoping to represent about 8-12 works from each of the 6 regions of InSEA or 36-60 works total. This would give the reader a “slice of child art from around the world today”.
At the moment, Arnold is in possession of child artwork from 2 sites in North America – Farmville, NC Middle School and New Palestine High School, in New Palestine, IN. Arnold is in the process of talking with teachers and negotiating the process with children in America. Rees has photographs of many of the pieces of child art from the WCS exhibit and is communicating with InSEA world councilors and teachers/colleagues who collected the child art to “reconstruct” the children’s reflections and collect new responses to the research questions. When collecting our data we will not use a tape recorder, but instead ask the children to write their thoughts in their own language. We will ask for a release form/permission from each child to reproduce their artwork and comments.
Child art from left Thailand and right the Philippines
The children’s reflections will be translated into English. Both the native language and the English reflections will appear at the bottom of each artwork. There will be an introductory preface explaining the context of the WCS written by Arnold and Ann Kuo and a commentary on the importance of children’s art in an a transnational context at the book’s end by Rees.
For more information please contact Alice Arnold at arnoldm@ecu.edu or Joanna Rees at reesjoanna@hotmail.com
Child art from left Thailand and right Europe
June 29, 2009
Photographs of the lovely Sophia
Here are some photographs of the lovely Sophia who is one of my students at Huafan University. In these photos we experimented with make-up. We started out with very little and then added more color as the series progressed.
Very little make-up, a natural look
A more pink/bronze look.
Eyes-closed
With black eye make-up and red lipstick
In black and white
June 21, 2009
The Tainan Confucian Temple, Chuan Tai Shou Hsueh
Here are photos from the temple in Tainan.
June 12, 2009
20 Things You Didn’t Know About Me
Here is a note that was previously updated on my Facebook page:
1. My career is my passion and I feel thrilled to work in the fine arts/art education. There is a saying when you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. Research, learning, teaching, and art-making are extremely fulfilling activities to engage in.
2. However, there are negative elements to my love of work. I can work too hard for a variety of reasons and use the medium of “work” to avoid dealing with my personal life. My love of work can be all consuming. The film “Click” touched a nerve.
3. I love challenges and constantly seek out new avenues of professional development/self expression. Not everything I try works out but it is a great feeling to accomplish something you previously thought of as difficult or impossible.
4. Is there something strange in the water in North America as suddenly all of my old friends have children. What is going on? How did this happen? Is this going to happen to me? My mother certainly hopes so but probably later than sooner.
5. I like to live in different cities. When you move to a new city you take on a new professional/personal identity. When I moved to Ottawa at age 18 I went from being a gawky teenager to young woman that suddenly could get a boyfriend. Moving to Taipei regenerated my career which was stagnating in Montreal. There is a great energy and power in this. Often I’ve remembered friends who have been in personal or professional funks and thought just leave! Move! Go out and find other people/opportunities elsewhere.
6. I would like to settle down and establish roots in an institution/community. When will this happen? Hopefully the process can begin after my next leap in 2010.
7. Keeping a healthy budget is important and I live below my means. That’s not to say that I don’t like to splurge or shop- but within reason. When I lived in Canada I carried around a huge wallet with all these credit cards that were a symbol of debt. Now I carry a small change purse and pay for everything in cash.
8. Domesticity is not a strong point. Um… Yep it is an area that I can improve on. My apartment frequently looks like a bomb hit it. I cooked for my husband once and then he told me not to bother doing it again. Sashimi, salmon, salads, nuts, and sandwiches are my “home cooked” specialties.
9. Moving to Taiwan was one of the best decisions that I ever made with my life. Before moving to Asia in 2006 I had a good job, a new condo, and was very bored/uninspired/unfulfill
ed/burnt out. I remember looking at my new stainless steel appliances and somehow feeling let down. As if this was what life had been promised to be and it… sucked! Putting all my new Ikea furniture into storage and taking off to Asia was an incredibly liberating experience. Yes, you can change your life. You just have to go out there and do it.
10. I love fashion and frequently daydream about clothes. When I think of motivations to earn more money the idea of wearing better clothes inspires me. Moreover, I could get a PhD in shopping for years of acquired retail finesse.
11. However, I frequently over-wear the same outfit/colors/idea. This is very evident at Huafan University where I work. I tend to make multiple purchases of the same item in different colors. Too much of a good thing can be bad.
12. I have hard time relaxing. “Work” or what needs to get done is always on my mind. I never watch T.V and find it difficult to sit through a two hour movie. Many people have suggested different types of alternative remedies to help with this situation.
13. My relationship with my family is not the best. This is too bad but it is something that I have come to accept. My mother is very close and other members of my immediate family are not. Yes, this can hurt but it is also motivation to better my life and express myself creatively. Ultimately, I would not feel so free to explore the world if the situation were different.
14. My marriage is unconventional and differs from most. Over the past year I’ve spent nine months living apart from my husband. Multiculturalism is a personal and professional value. My husband Ranjit was born in Germany, grew up in Quebec City, and his academic parents are from India. We have a passionate relationship which is in a constant state of flux.
15. Dr. Ann Kuo is one of the most amazing women I have ever met and is a great mentor. She is my PhD advisor and has totally changed how I see education. Our role as educators concerns service to the arts, the global community, and communication of ideas through research. You should not go into higher education unless you are committed to initiating change. In order to accomplish change you have to dedicate your life to it. Ann is in her early 70s and works hard every day to develop the educational policies/institutions of Asia.
16. My artwork mostly concerns themes of identity and is a documentation of those that I love. Photography is a visual diary and medium of self-expression. I like portraiture and making statements on the role of women in our society.
17. Sometimes I regret that I don’t spend as much time on my photography. As an art educator it is a constant conflict and dilemma. We do have to make a living after all. However, I feel glad of the pedagogies of Rita Irwin, Enid Zimmerman, Karen Keifer Boyd, and Jo Chen that encourage art-making and research. After completing my PhD I am looking forward to developing similar pedagogies with in-service art teachers.
18. Something that I am most proud of is having cooled my red-headed temper. That does not mean that I don’t get angry. But when I do there is much less carnage and it usually only happens once or twice a year. I’ve learnt that words can not be taken back and that it is better to walk away from a volatile situation. Lifting weights also helps process anger and emotions.
19. Forgiveness of others and self is divine.
20. I am a private person and that’s all for now. Peace-out lovers. JoRees
