Patron of the Arts

Tonight began the three week art exhibits of two of my favorite people on campus: Elizabeth Marx and Joy Freeman (my roommate). Sporting excellent fruit and other assorted finger foods, both of their receptions were swarming with visitors, many friends of theirs and mine and several people I did not know. Both girls had family helping everything go smoothly with the food and set up and things.

Joy's show is entitled Details and her amazing pieces, down to the most minute details, are incredible. The colors were gorgeous, each piece thought-provoking. And though I've seen most of her pieces before, because she kept them in our room prior to her building her own frames for 9 of them, seeing them put together into themed groups gave them all new meaning. Joy was beaming, too, and wearing a new outfit, which made the night an even greater success.

Elizabeth's show is called Beauty in the Broken and consists of various photographs she's taken (she has the most amazing eye for photography) with wax over them, giving shading and depth. Knowing I could never come up with such an idea, let alone create over 20 pieces with the mastery she showed, I am in awe of her talent. Her heart was evident in every piece. One incredible aspect of Elizabeth's art is that she included nude photos. But not just nude photos of anybody, definitely of Elaine. And they were beautiful. In her pamphlet, Elizabeth says "to use the human figure in any other way than the nude [cheapens] the harsh reality and deep beauty of those broken moments in our lives." She intentionally made these photos "in no way erotic or explicit" and so there was no way anybody should have been offended. She simply displayed specific aspects of the human form which are inherently beautiful in a way to accentuate that beauty. Her gift for photography is mind-blowing, and I'm not simply referencing this show alone. I've seen other pictures from her semester in Italy and even ones she's taken around campus; they are the essence of art.

Congratulations to my friends who are successful artists at 22 years of age. You have reached the culmination of your senior year and proved yourselves worthy of the title Artist.