Funes Art Competition

Entries

1. 300 Sunflower

2. The Rock

3. Sky Rockets in Flight

not used..

David Lindsey Wade

Online Photographer

David Lindsey Wade’s photographs really got my attention. I was looking at different online photographers and his photos have this look that I frequently try to achieve in my work. I dont know how he does it, but he just has this clean look that is crisp without using too much contrast (as I tend to do). He is the son of two artist, and is motivated by his love of speed and machines. He often uses cars, and motorcycles in his his work.

His pieces are all very interesting, and some of his most interesting work is his “floating nudes”. I really like the simplicity of his photos, and like I said before he just has this look that I really like. It is un-ironic, and a combination of directorial realism with an aggressive graphic finish. He has done work for Red Bull, Honda, 7-11, Coca Cola, Discovery Channel, and Nintendo to name a few.

Quail Botanical Gardens

Encinitas

Today I went to Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas before my 2:30 class. It was really nice. I’ve passed by there so many times because I used to work in Encinitas, but I never really knew what it was. I assumed it was just a greenhouse with everyday plants, but it was really beautiful. There was so much color and it smelled wonderful in there

I went around the little trail that goes in a circle and saw some plants we had seen on our other field trips in the native garden. I thought the most interseting part was that the included facts about the animal life in the area too. There was also info on what plants are good to grow around your home, because like our guide said at the Wild Animal Park, it is important to grow the right plants around your home since we live in a wildfire prone area. It truely was a great atmosphere, and there was a lot of animal life in there aswell, including spiders.. and I hate spiders.

Koen Demuynck

Online Photographer

Koen Demuynck is actually a photographer I came across about 4months ago. I wasn’t even looking for photographer, I was actually on TheFWA.com website which has a link to some of the best Flash websites on the web. I was looking for some inspiration for a website I had to do and I came across Belgian photographer Koen Demuynck. I was instantly impressed with his work. He has some very unique work, and he does a lot of Photoshop editing on his photos which I like. His work is also pretty comical, and I love anything that is comedy related.. one of his pieces with the birds flying over the fish with a sharks fin strapped on him was actually my desktop wallpaper a while back.

Indian Rock

Indian Rock Native Garden in Vista

Not what I expected at all, and by that I meant by location. I know there are some hills surrounding vista away from all the shopping centers and traffic, and that’s where I thought we were going. I was surprised when I found out it was in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I thought I was lost, but then I saw other students from our class. The view from Indian Rock was really nice. It had a great view of Vista all the way to San Marcos to Oceanside in the west. Our guide was really good. Learned about Salvia apiana  Desert Mallow, Wild Cucumbe, and White Sage. Also found out complements of Deborah Small that when White sage is burned on the stove it fills your home with a wonderful smell.

Indian Rock itself was really nice, except for the graffiti. I don’t really mind graffiti when it’s actually nice like pieces in the right areas. It’s sad that this rock was covered in graffiti, but our guide said that eventually the graffiti will fade away over time and the original native drawings will remain so that was good to hear. I notice that the graffiti was gang related because it said VHB (Vista Home Boys).. I actually have a friend who is in Vista homeboys, so I’m gonna have to tell him next time not to be tagging up the native stuff. I’m pretty sure who ever did it had no idea they were tagging on Native artwork just because of the location itself.

Before leaving I caught a nice picture of sunflower and a butterfly. I havent worked on the sunflower yet, but I worked on the butterfly and I think it came out nice. But that’s just my opinion.

Pechanga

Reservation Nursery and Willie Pink

I have been to Pechanga many many times before.. but always to the casino. I had no idea how close the casino was to such beauty. I actually was really impressed. The nursury was great, and I learned a lot. It exceeded my expectations. I thought the Great Oak was amazing. I had no idea it was 200yards around. I thought it was just one tree surrounded by other smaller plants and bushes, but I was shocked to findout it was all one giant tree. I thought the man mde pond was really nice, and i was impressed with the camp the and the artwork the summer camp kids created. Towards the end it did get really cold, but overall I had a good time.

Dixon Lake

Sunday Afternoon at the Park

On Sunday I went with my friend Jose to Dixon Lake. His family was having a Carne Asada at the picnic area and so I thought free food, might as well tag along.  It was good to get out to the lake again. I hadn’t been there since I was 15 even though its just a straight show down El Norte Parkway from my house. I actually forgot that Dixon Lake was on the List of our out of class field trips so I forgot my camera. It was only two days after our trip to the Wild Animal Park Nativescapes Garden, so I did see a lot of the native plants our guide was talking about. We at some carne asada tacos, drank a few Coronas and then played a game of soccer with his little brother and cousins and then decided to talk a walk around the lake with his little brother. I still have a hard time telling apart the native and non native plants along the trail, but I did see a few I remember our guide talking about.. I just cant remember their names. It was a nice afternoon, good to get a walk around the lake. Hopefully I can go back soon, next time with my camera because there is a lot of beauty out there.

Wild Animal Park

Nativescapes Garden

The trip to the Wild Animal Park on Friday morning was a lot of fun. It was a little difficult to wake up that morning after spending the night before at Churchill’s bar, but it was well worth it. It was a little overcast, but I didn’t mind it one bit since we had to hike up a few small hills. I learned a lot of interesting facts. I think one of the most interesting facts about our native plants is the fact that they don’t burn as easy as other non native plants. In fact, our guide said that houses surrounded by native plants during our most recent wildfires did not burn.  They retain water better and don’t burn as easy.  I find it amazing that they can tell which plants were native and which aren’t, I actually asked one of our guides that… and he said that after so many years of working with plants in this area it is actually really easy for them to tell which plants are native and which aren’t because of certain characteristics and similar traits.

After the tour, me and Lucia and her new baby went on the tram tour around the park. It was nice, since I have been to the Wild Animal Park since I was 13. It was cool, got to see a lot of rhinos, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, and elephants.. including one female that was in labor. There was also that giant balloon I kept seeing from the corner of my eye when we were in the nativescapes garden. I wanted to go on it.. but I don’t know.. just didn’t seem safe to me haha.. or worth the money, but I’ll probably be going back soon, since one of my friends works on a new zip line the built that goes down the hill over the animals, so it should be a lot of fun.

Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynski photographs are amazing. His pieces are very inspiring, and I like how he captures images of places people have never seen before. Burtynski goes above and beyond the norm, and captures images that just blow you away. I like a lot of his photographs, but one of my favorite pictures is the one of the landfill with all the tires. It really shows how massive our population is, and how we consume, develop, and destroy.

Quiz