Project 01

Castle in the Sky
I love the sky and wind, and I always have, and there is an artist who shares the same appreciation for the sky, flying, and the wind as I, and that is the director Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki, most known for his movie Spirited Away, has had a fascination for the sky and flying his entire life, as he would doodle planes, zeppelins, and other flying machines his entire life, and even named his studio, Studio Ghibli, after the Ghibli, an Italian airplane model. His love for the sky and flying has definitely be reflected in his movies especially the movie this painting is from; Castle in the Sky. Though this picture has nothing to do with the actual storyline, I love this depiction of the sky, a woman (most likely a goddess) blowing the clouds along. I want to be that woman in the picture, overseeing the sky and blowing the clouds along. I love the wind; I love sailing and feeling the wind push you, even flying a kite is exciting to me. I have been utterly smitten by the sky and the wind. Even in third grade when we were all sharing what we wanted to be when we grew up, I didn’t say a teacher or a doctor, but I told the class that I wanted to be a witch, just so I could fly away on a broomstick. (Yeah, the class laughed at me…) I still wish that when a breeze rolls in, I can just lift right off the ground and go flying away with it.


Scotland the Brave - Song
When you said we needed to collect a piece of work concerning a place that is a part of us, bagpipes, fairies, and the Renaissance Festival were the first things that came to mind. Scotland the Brave, the unofficial Scottish national anthem, is one of the first things anyone thinks of when they think of Celtic, Scottish, and the Renaissance Festival. I can’t give much of a bio on it since the history of this song is very vague… Nonetheless, it represents everything I have been raised on; fairies, kilts, bagpipes, and other celtic folklore which was something I believe my entire childhood and even a little now even though I am an adult. I chose this specific rendition of it because it is played by my favorite band at the Renaissance Festival, thus this particular song holds a place in my heart and some of my favorite memories.




Saiho-Ji
Unfortunately, I cannot recreate this piece (but I do have a picture) as it is a Landscape Garden, also known as a Zen Garden located in Kyoto, Japan. It was first created around 710 – 794 by the Zen Buddhist Gyoki, and has been maintained ever since. The garden has of course changed though, and more recently has been known as “the moss garden”. These gardens are in fact works of art that are carefully put together by Zen Buddhist designers with very careful planning and just as careful maintenance. They are meant to be an escape from the world humans have created and be one with nature. I would escape to such places, the woods behind my home for example, to feel one with nature. I completely understand the meaning behind Saiho-Ji (and other landscape gardens) and that is; nature is where we were all born from, what we are a part of during our lives, and where we go when we die... and we should never forget that, and it is easy to forget in our busy lives on the computer, on the bus, trains, at school and work... This is the philosophy which I have been raised by, which is why I have added Saiho-Ji to my list of places.



Searching for Fireflies
This is a picture taken by my mother, Elaine Reinhold, who was a professional photographer for a while but has just recently began to do it more for recreation than for a career. When we watched Sally Mann, it reminded me much of my own mother as we have many pictures that are similar to Mann’s children. Just as her children would stop and pose, I too have gotten used to stopping and posing whatever I might be doing. This picture is one of my sister, Madeline Reinhold, walking down the street of my hometown, Frederick. This picture is very haunting to me as my mother took it and uploaded it a few days after I moved out for college. The dark lighting, my sister walking away from me, it’s as if this picture is symbolic of the life I once knew saying goodbye. Goodbye Frederick…