Megan Beede

Welcome, all to my nifty little blog-thing.
Edit 4-8-2010: Decided I hated my intro and am rewriting it.

My name is Megan Beede. I'm 20 years old and am an art major. What I'm most interested in varies day to day. Last month, tattoos were my main focus. (Before that it was comic making) ((Before that it was illustrating children's stories)) (((Before that, marching / trumpet--- Speaking of, I'll add a picture of all of 'em later.)))

As of late I've grown very fond of photography. I just got a Canon EOS 30D

It's pretty much my baby and I love it. So far I've only had a community education course in photography, but am anxious to learn more. I'm also offering my services to juniors this summer in taking senior photos. It should be a real experience.

Actually- speaking of that, one of my best friends is a junior in high school. She and her family own some horses up north, and I'm going to be going up there this summer to take her photos with Reggie II. Horses freak me out. I have to ride one. They promised to start me out with the pony.

The end.

Edit 3-23-2010: New picture!

My final project for this class. I based the animation off these vast storylines my sisters and I used to create on our driveway. They may have been crude, horrible colors, and had erratic plot lines, but we put our heart and soul into making what we thought to be the next masterpiece.

Because sometimes I take pictures of people, too.

We were asked to comment on the first episode of Minnesota Original

Alec Soth: His photos are captivating in a sense very different from normal photographs. One of his pieces that I was really struck by was a very simple photo. It features a run down cabin in the snow, with a line of brightly colored laundry hanging from it. As the narrator had mentioned, he managed to tell a story without forcing it out of the work. You kind of get this idea that a flamboyant, rather fun person lives in this worn out, frozen cabin.

He manages to bring out emotion where you wouldn't expect one. In his once group of pieces, he takes pictures of old movie theaters, and what they've been converted to. There was one that was changed into a video store or a laminating store. It's something in our everyday life that we overlook, but is inevitably sad when you think about it.

Heather Doyle: She's a very intriguing person. Heather has an optimistic sense of imagination, finding discarded metal pieces and creating them into something beautiful, or useful. The "schwoop" that she is best known for creates a very natural beauty to metal, which is inherently a cold, empty feeling mineral. The idea of her making a table out of something so old but still precious to her family brings a smile to my face. She's essentially reusing things that would be thrown out and left to gain dust.

Just some stuff at the nature center.

The next video I chose to write on, was "The Fantastic Mr. Fox". The scene that most intrigued me was when Mr. Fox, nephew boy, and the mole were robbing the distillery. Light and color were very important factors in this scene. A constant amber glow was emanating around the room during this scene, giving the vibe that the alcohol was as valuable as gold to Mr. Fox.

Shadow was also used to show impending danger. When the wife first came into the room, her shadow was the first thing that appeared, looming down the stairway, as an ominous, gigantic creature coming for them. Had it been merely a small shadow, or none at all, the scene wouldn't have worked as well as it did as far as suspense goes.

One of the best camera angles I thought that was used in that scene, was again when the wife was coming down the stairs. It was a straight-on shot of the bottle, with Mr. Fox hiding directly behind it. It both created a suspenseful moment, because he was in no way hidden, and (possible) foreshadowing to him being caught, as he appeared to be pickled within the bottle itself.

First digital video.

Some nighttime photos at my sis' poker party:

Taking pictures in the dark is harder than sin. :(

More photos from the Dam.

No geese this time!

^ This one would probably look better turned 90 degrees and maybe cropped some too.

I'm grouping these posts together mostly because I chose two pieces which share some similarities, including how they were made.

The piece I chose from the BFA exhibit, unfortunately didn't have a tag with an artist's name or a title, so I'm of little use there. Here's a picture:

It's pretty simply made, a metal frame, with a rusty cover in the shape of a moose. That's not to say this piece isn't well crafted. (Unlike the two-by-four leaning against the wall with a list of different types of wood taped to it.) What I enjoy most about this piece is the balance of it. The moose stands very sturdily, even though the legs are set at such awkward angles.

When looking at the moose the first thing I noticed was the body, it looked strong and sharp. When my eyes moved down the piece, it almost seemed fragile, young.

The second piece, I chose from the BA exhibit was by Kayla Kulzer, an untitled cast bronze and iron piece.

What I enjoyed about this one was pretty much the same reason as the moose. I get such a thrill out of things that shouldn't be standing, but are. The other thing so aesthetically appealing about the piece, is the play on color and shape within the stacked spheres.

It's not quite the same version of rust as the moose, but the natural color gradations of the oxidation mixed with the unnatural blocking off of where the colors lie makes a fine mix of natural and unnatural. It's an unnatural stack of natural shapes, placed against a stairwell where it almost seems to belong.

Both the moose and the spheres seem to accomplish the feeling of belonging in a place where they shouldn't really belong.