Welcome!

Hello!
     My name is Clara, I am a second year art student. This is my first semester in the BFA Painting program, I am mostly excited about it, but as with almost everything in my life I am feeling a little bit of doubt about both my abilities (technically and conceptually) and whether or not painting is actually the Right Program For Me. I suppose all I can do is wait and see where it takes me.

Kalamazoo Nature
 Center logo

     I took this class partly because I needed some Honors College credits, but also because the name, "Our Place in Nature", sounded so interesting to me. I have always loved being outside and in nature. As a kid my friends and I would spend the whole day outside, climbing trees and making "soup" out of water, flowers, and various other plant/earth materials. My mother would take my younger sibling and I out to the Kalamazoo Nature Center every week when we were little, I know those trails like the back of my hand. My favorite areas were always the river and the rock quarry, where we would grind up these soft rocks we called "paint rocks" and draw on ourselves. Both my parents are very artistically inclined, my mother being a painter, and my father doodling sometimes but mostly making music. He has recently gotten really into 3D printing. We sometimes teach a workshop together where we walk people through the steps to building their own Ultimaker Original + 3D printer. In addition to instilling a deep love of art in me, my parents raised me to respect nature and our planet.
     My favorite season is winter. I'll be walking in the snow and realize where I am and I'll just laugh out loud because I love snow so much. I love when it's pitch black out and you can only see the snow in the streetlights, it makes me feel like I'm underwater. If the light is slightly off color, be it pink or yellow, the falling snow looks like gold. I find the most aesthetic beauty in winter.
     Some other fun facts about me are that the farthest I've ever been from home is Vancouver, Washington, moths are my favorite bug, I love to knit and I don't like mashed potatoes (although every other form of potato I do enjoy).
   
Thank you for reading this post, I hope that you enjoy this blog!
           
                            - Clara Peeters