Lights flashing

I love creativity and creative people. I must say that I am absolutely not a connoisseur of the arts in the slightest. My roommate while I lived in Florence, an art history major, can testify towards that more than anybody—it shames her that I never visited the Uffizi once during our whole time living minutes from it. Looking back on that now, I guess it wouldn’t have hurt anybody to take a few hours out of a day to walk through the place. Lauren does love it so much that as a Valentines Day present to herself, she spent the afternoon there. I ESPECIALLY should have gone since we had a pass that allowed us to cut the line and get in for free…

However, I just found that there was so much art and culture to be experienced every day just walking through piazzas or getting gelato at my favorite bar or eating dinner at the little hole in the wall pizzeria, where the waiters knew my name and gave me kisses when I walk in! I didn’t NEED to set aside a specific time to take in art, because I was taking in the natural art of life every moment.

I am like that in the rest of my life. Although I am not a connoisseur, I can honestly say that I APPRECIATE art and beauty so incredibly much. There is so much to take in through my natural surroundings that I don’t really see the need to go to museums to experience art and beauty. Even in the college setting, I have a few friends that are art majors and seeing what they come up with actually blows me away.

I am in awe of any form of artistic talent that I don’t have… which is really ALL forms of artistic talent besides coloring and making things aesthetically appealing (if that counts). Whether it is dancing, singing, playing an instrument, drawing, painting, photography, film-making, make-up, fashion design, or my latest favorite—modeling, I am completely impressed and intrigued by them all.

After a year of living with Principessa. and being able to see her ridiculous talent in design and drawing, I have had the opportunity to live with yet another art major this year. Kristina, one of my current roommates is a fashion design major. I am so intrigued and jealous that she can hem, take in, and mend her own clothing OR sew herself a new dress if she doesn’t have an outfit to wear. Last week was Kristina had her senior fashion show, which showcased six designs from each fashion student that they have created throughout the semester. The collection had to all be in the same style, was modeled by students, and had been in the works by some fashion students for years. I’ve absolutely loved seeing Kristina go from a concept of a dress to a sketch to actually creating it and fitting it to a model.

I spent a Sunday with her, her dresses, models, a makeup artist, and Lindsey Adler, one of the most talented and professional students I have ever met. They did a photo shoot in a funeral home here in Syracuse and I was just completely blown away by everyone’s individual talents. The following week was the actual fashion show and I am so proud of Kristina and the incredible designs she created for her senior collection! Some of the shots from the fashion show are featured above and I still am in awe as I go through pictures or the actual dresses of what she has dreamt up and made a reality.