And its the end...

So its the last and final blog.  Not quite certain why I'm still writing this though.  Since obviously the mid-night hour has passed and any sort of efforts made henceforth will be null and void.  Pointless; literally.  This exercise has just further ingrained a fact that I've known for a while, that I'd be absolute rubbish in an online course.  Due dates outside of a class room completely elude me.  I think its the lack of a physical location requirement that really throws me off.  It makes it so easy for due dates to just sneakily pass on by.  I tend to get wrapped up in some project (admittedly not always school projects) and not realize the time until its time for bed.  Anywho...  Enough of the blathering and onto the artsy stuff.

For this blog's grouping of chapters, it was a little more difficult to pick out a piece to really delve into and take a long hard look at.  This probably had a lot to do with my own disliking of the bible and religion in general.  Luckily, there was a diamond in the rough!  Once again, I decided to go with a bit of architecture (can't go wrong with architecture!).  A CASTLE!  No, not the hit ABC comedy-drama series featuring the exploits of Kate Beckett and Richard Castle solving the mysteries of the NYPD, one episode at a time.  But a real life, made out of stone, knights in shining armor kind of castle.

Who as a child, growing up, wasn't absolutely enthralled by the idea of a castle?  Or enamored by the tales of the brave and gleaming knights riding out of their keep to fight off evil and protect the innocent.  Sure the stories may be fantastical fiction, but the castles aren't.  The castles are very much real.  I have always loved castles.  The HUGE stone structures, MASSIVE sprawling walls, and all the tiny little details that made each one unique and (mostly) livable.  Above is Dover Castle (if only it was actually in OUR Dover).  THE largest castle currently in England.

This castle in particular is quite astounding.  I love how its built upon a tiered hill, with each of its defensive walls topping a steep rise.  Not only does this make the structure quite the fortified position, but also quite the site to behold.  Even with multiple thick and high walls surrounding the Dover Castle, from the side you'd still be able to see each ascending wall with the keep atop the pinnacle.  With water along one wall and the high vantage point, I'm sure the view from the top of the castle is quite the astonishing sight.

The keep itself is built very much like most structures of its time.  Its a tall structure intending to keep out attackers and provide a good perch for lookouts of danger.  Along the tops of the wall appears another common element, the crenelations.  This was not only a defensive barrier against arrows and other projectiles, but also a form of decoration to break up the monotony of the wall tops.

The walls about the keep are also interesting.  I like that the walls have such an organic shape to them, despite having obviously been built by man.  They snake along and down and around the natural contours of the land.  The vibrancy of the whole area also just adds such a level of beauty to it.  The bright green grass and vines climbing the walls just adds a splash of color to what would have been just the bleak browns and grays of stone.

Overall, I think the Dover Castle is a magnificent piece of masonry and engineering.  Not only is it a beautiful structure but it also served a purpose.  Its quite rare that you see something that's built to be strong and tough and impenetrable that's also so pleasing to look upon.  This is definitely someplace that I'd love to visit some day.  -FIN

Almost there...

So its yet another post in Just Bloggin about Art History.  We're getting near the end here folks.  I know its not something you really want to hear, but unfortunately deafness won't make it any less true.  This will be the second to last blog post of Just Bloggin about Art History.  At least you've got one more left to go? Silver lining?

For this weeks blog post, I decided to touch on a bit of architecture.  Pictured above is the Japanese Phoenix Hall, located in the city of Uji of the Kyoto Prefectrue.  Personally, I've always been a huge fan of Japanese architecture, but this piece seems to exemplify everything about it I love.  First of all, I like the way that their roofs have such an extreme curvature to them.  Also, there's such a curve at the corners that they are almost pointing up.  To me, this strengthens the name "Phoenix", because the sides of the roofs look so much like the wings of birds.  I'm kinda curious how they're able to get such smooth and graceful curls while still maintaining structural integrity.

Moving down the structure, I also like how the building seems to be broken down into two registers.  Sections of white wall, framed with red wood beams, separated with sections of roof or overhangs.  Each structure to the side of the Phoenix Hall is quite impressive too, but not overly so to detract or distract from the main feature.  The walkways connecting them to the Phoenix Hall kinda serve to bring you back to the Hall whenever your eye wanders too far, but also kinda reminds you that there are other things to look at too.

I like the overall colors of the whole scene, as well.  The slate colored roof tiles match the rocky gravel of the pond bed.  The natural red wood color of the beams and supports compliment nicely with the color of the surrounding greenery and the color of the standing pond.  While the neutral color of the white walls, foundation and stairs fits nicely with all the other colors while not standing out too harshly in contrast.