William H Johnson

While my magazine was centered around Renaissance painter Albrecht Durer, I found myself much more interested in the small article devoted to William H. Johnson.  I was immediatly drawn to him because his self portrait (above) looked very different from the other paintings the magazine included which were cold and monotone. The use of color in Johnson's piece immediatly gives his painting more life making it more fun to look at.
Another aspect I really liked about the portrait was Johnson's eyes. There shape expressed sincere sorrow to me.While Durer's eyes were very realistic, but all they expressed were boredom.
The article explains that Johnson was an African American painter whose "powerful self-portraits... express the difficulties he faced as a black artist in the early 20th century." It continues on to explain how Johson is able to express his sorry with his "broken planes" and "wedgelike brushstrokes." It also explained how the distortions of his face and body help him to express how he's feeling (in this case frustrated and afflicted.) Hearing about these techniques also really grabbed my interest. I hadn't noticed any of these characteristics before the article told of them, but once they were pointed out to me I found myself appreciating the picture all the more.
Albrecht Durer is able to paint self portraits that look identical to himself, but convey no emotion. Johnson is able to paint self portraits in which he looks very human, and is able to convey a strong sense of emotion. Johnson wins all the way.

inspiration: my mom

My mom, Katherine Marie Benn is one of the toughest people I’ve ever met. She's experienced an abusive step-father, inconsiderate mother, abusive first husband, a cheating second husband, breast cancer, and the loss of two of her closest family members. Despite everything she’s faced, she always looks ahead, and continues to do whatever she can to help others.

While she got no encouragement at home to pursue any sort of college education, she studied fashion and design at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology--graduating with a 4.0, and worked in the fashion industry for some years--eventually leaving because of it's distorted views on life. After I was born, she founded a non-profit organization called the S.H.E.L.B.Y project which promotes healthy body image and spreads awareness about eating disorders. She’s been interviewed by many journalists and TV channels, and was the first person to ever receive the Courage Award from the National Eating Disorders Association.
About six years ago she decided to return to college to get a bachelors in physiology. While science people and art people are said to be two different entities, my mom is master of both. Seeing her dedicated work ethic as I entered high school gave me someone to look up to and follow. She graduated from ESU with her bachelors in psychology afew years ago--again with a 4.0.


What inspires me most about my mom is that she came from nothing, and was able to work herself out of her toxic home environment. I think many people would have caved to the experiences she’s had, but my mom refused to let others push her around and saw her situations as challenges that she knew she could overcome. Not only is she really ambitious, but when she decides to do something she puts everything she can into it. Whether it be something as simple as making dinner, or difficult as taking Spanish at 47 to graduate with her psych bachelors, my mom always gives her all, and seems to be good at everything she does. While she’s never put any social or academic pressure on me, she’s had a big impact on how I view myself and my work.

She is unlike anyone else I've met, and I'm so proud and grateful to call her my mom.