Bronwen Myers

Double whammy! Here’s another update.

Since graduating, I’ve been at home in Sheboygan figuring out my next step. I’m grateful to be with my family and examine career possibilities. Art-wise, I’ve been attending weekly figure drawing sessions with a great local group I’ve been interning with, the Sheboygan Visual Artists. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a figure class, and I now remember how much I love it. Here are some recent drawings.

Also, some plein-air painting, fancy artist speak for I-can’t-afford-a-studio painting. This one was done at the Kohler Andre State Park on a very windy day.

I’ve made a couple trips to Chicago to visit friends Gameli and Jen as well. Gameli and I are teaming up on another animation project. Making Graduation was truly one of the best experiences I’ve had, so we’re hoping to make another film we can be proud of. Rather than dealing with the existential dilemma of the post-grad, this yet untitled film will focus on an astronaut and his childhood memories of a lost friend. It’s currently in the editing phase, and I’m reminded that I need to figure out a soundtrack…

Last week’s Chicago trip didn’t include any animating, though. Instead, friends Gameli, Jen, Erica (who drove six hours from St. Louis!) and I went to Six Flags for a day of all-American roller coasters and gluttony, thanks to the free tickets my aunt gave me. I don’t have a picture of us, but here’s a great old-timey ride called the Concord.

Next up: a trip to D.C.!

Dear blog,

It’s been too long. I’m sorry I neglected you. It won’t happen again.

Love,

Bronwen

P.S. fingers crossed on that “won’t happen again” part.

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The rest of the Greece abroad was fantastic, followed by my whirlwind college graduation. Those four years went by so quickly.

Here is some of the artwork I made in Greece. Forgive the poorer quality photos, as I was only able to take snapshots of pieces as they lay on my Athens hotel bed before they were sent to Principia, where they will reside through the fall.

After two packed days in New York City, visiting the Met, MoMA, and the Guggenheim, the abroad group jet-setted off to Istanbul for a week. There we saw the Blue Mosque and Haggia Sophia, both beautiful down to the smallest detail and huge in scale. We spent the week out on foot drawing the city and taking in its sights. Many of us also went to a hammam, or a Turkish bath, which is quite the experience. I feel like I’ve barely scraped the surface of Istanbul. Our Istanbul trip overlapped with Obama’s visit, and I was able to see his motorcade drive by on two separate occasions. It was incredible to watch him touring the Blue Mosque live on TV while looking at the same structure out the window of our hostel. He’s something of a rock star in Turkey, with many shopkeepers even using his name to lure Westerners into their stalls (which totally works on me, I admit.)

Next we went to the resort city Kusadasi for a few days, where we enjoyed lounging on the sunny beaches of the Aegean Sea. It served as our base camp to explore nearby Ephesus, perhaps the most important and best-preserved Roman ruins you can shake a stick at. It was incredible to stand in the auditorium where Paul the Apostle stood to deliver his address to the Ephesians.

Next was our weeklong stay in Priene, a tiny town in southern Turkey where the chickens outnumber the people as far as I can tell. It’s been one of my favorite spots of the abroad so far. It’s breathtakingly gorgeous, complete with lush mountains, green plains, a beautiful sky, grazing sheep, and of course, more ruins. On our first day there, some of us climbed one of the mountains to see the Roman defensive wall on top. The path to the peak shimmered with mica and rose quartz, and the occasional waterfall provided a welcome break from the heat. The view was more than worth it, and I spent the rest of the day drawing, climbing, and even napping on the ruins. The area feels, in a word, Biblical. It’s vast and largely untouched by modernity, and provided much artistic inspiration for the group.

The next day we all explored the actual ruined city of Priene, an early example of a city on a grid system, which is remarkably well preserved. It’s humbling to see so many ruined structures from thousands of years ago and to think that whatever we build today will likely not last a fraction of that time. We’ve also been exploring other ruined sites in the surrounding area, including Miletus and Didyma.

A couple miles uphill from our hotel took us to an abandoned church, built in 1821 on top of the ruins of an earlier church, where we held a Sunday service and explored. It was great to momentarily breath some life into a church well forgotten by time. Some of the group built an Andy Goldsworthy-inspired arch out of stones inside the church and unearthed some human bones in the process.

I appreciate seeing these ruins and exploring Turkey. It’s a unique place I’d probably never have a reason to visit otherwise. But alas, earlier this week we moved on to Greece, taking an early morning ferry to Samos where we’ll be for a couple weeks. After spending the first day on Samos, I understand why people fall in love with Greece. It feels like paradise, complete with gorgeous beaches and dramatic mountains. I’ll have to write more about it as I get to know it better.

I do miss my friends, family, and the conveniences of home (wearing the same pair of zip-off pants everyday has gotten incredibly old.) Know that you’re all in my thoughts and I hope you’re doing well. Feel free to comment, and keep in touch!

From April through early June, I have the privilege of studying art in Turkey and Greece with an abroad group from my college. I’ll be posting updates here periodically. You can also find updates from me and the 20 other students on the group’s blog and web page:

http://greeceabroad.wordpress.com/

http://www.prin.edu/college/academics/abroads/2008-2009/Greece/

In addition to learning about the area’s culture and taking a drawing course, each student must create an individual project. Here’s a summary of mine:

“Icon,” or in Greek, “eikon,” simply means “image,” and has come to mean a holy image to which special devotion is given. For my project I will create my own icons with a firm stylistic basis in Eastern Orthodox iconography but with the added twist of modern content. I expect that by researching the icons of Greek Orthodoxy I will learn much about what makes Greek culture, specifically Greek religious culture, “tick.” Then I will use this knowledge as a basis for my own contemporary interpretation of the icon.

As a non-Orthodox outsider, I find religious iconography fascinating. St. Paul Florensky calls the icon a window to the divine – a physical representation of a higher principle that actually participates in the glory of what it represents. As an artist, I love the idea of so much meaning and power held in one image.

After spending time examining icons in churches, I will create several icon paintings using gouache and gold leaf. I intend to mimic historic iconography in composition and style, but my choice of subject matter will be my own. The content of my icons will subtly explore the idea of what is worshipped today versus what was worshipped in the past.

I can’t wait to start this adventure in Turkey this coming week!