My 5th visit with the St. Francis house

On my final day to visit the people of st. Francis house I showed up around 12:45 pm on a Tuesday and made my self available for conversations with anyone willing to participate with me for my art project. I noticed that there was as many people that there usually is when I visit. After I noticed that I just went up to the people that I saw and had some great conversations but even though I had the great conversation with the great people I still could not get them to take a picture for me even though I told, the reasoning behind that. One conversation that opened my eyes was with this man who politely turned my request down but he told me I should talk to this man I normally see just sleeping at on of the benches infront of the cafeteria. I asked the man why I should and he said because this is the place he sleeps in between his three jobs he has just to support him self. After hearing this I was blessed to have the life that I have now. Since I could not find a subject for that day I showed up on Friday around 12 o'clock and was fortunate to talk to some more awesome people and got a individual to be in my project. The first person who volunteered was a 19 year old named Brandon who is a hardworking kid that is in a unfortunate situation. He told me he is determined to get out of this mess and go to school. He also told me that he enjoys playing the guitar and owns a 1989 fender guitar, and also enjoys listening to country music. I also met a man who has issues with memory, he never told me his name but said he would love to be in my art project because he loves art. He also has a strong passion for God and the Christian life style, and wants to spend the rest of his life spreading the word of Jesus. I'm conflicted on if I should use him because I feel he might have forgotten who I was and why I took his picture. I would love to continue this project because I felt like even though I didn't get everyone's picture I created a bond with the people there and felt like my project embodied what the St. Francis house is.

My fourth visit with the St. Francis house

On my fourth visit with the St. Francis house I showed up around 1:30pm to conduct my art project. Hopefully today by talking to a few people I can find various individuals to be in my art project. The first group of people that I talked to were talking about a church choir and how great they sounded collectively, after they were done talking about that I then asked if anyone would be willing to have their photo taken for my art project. Most people respectively declined. After that I then proceeded to talk to a man who was willing to participate in my project but he was not willing to tell me his name, we only talked for a brief moment but we really just talked about books and why reading is so important. He said that reading is not only a great way to get some knowledge but it is also a good way to have an adventure without going anywhere physically. After he left I went walking around the area if I could find any more people that would be interested. I then met another man who I talked to for about 45 minutes and he has had a very interesting life where he told me that he lived in Hawaii and studied at the University of Hawaii and graduated with every environmental major and had a biology minor. He studied the geological formations in Hawaii, like the time he studied next to one of the volcanoes for months on end. He also studied the different birds and fish, he told me about the time he was published in a magazine for discovering 5 new species of small Hawaiian fish and they didn't use his real name but gave him the name diver #2. He also has a back ground in construction and being a electrician. All in all this man was cultured and had a great amount of knowledge, when I asked if I could photograph him he said yeah sure but get me while I'm walking away and that really shocked me. After spending this day I noticed people love to talk but when it comes to getting their photo taken they become nervous and shy away. This has what made this project challenging but I'm really excited to see the outcomes. I will post my project pieces so far into another blogpost.

My 3rd visit with the St. Francis house

I showed up around 11:30 am and was determined to get an individual for my project. Most of the people were enjoying their lunch inside the cafeteria. I was lucky enough to talk and meet a man by the name of Henry. He was in a hurry to catch the bus and make it home so he could relax in his pool. He said I had 5 minutes to have a conversation but I managed to stretch it out to 15 minute. We talked about his days as being an architect, his favorite sports team being the Dallas Cowboys because that team was apart of his life since he was a kid. We also talked about the upcoming final four games and how he wants Oklahoma to win it all because that is the region that he's from. Toward the end of the conversation a navy blue El Camino showed up and Henry said he would love to own it, and how he was in his twenties and owned a 1964 Chevy SS and loved it like a woman he stated. All in all my conversation with Henry was very refreshing. Once Henry left I felt the need to find another individual for my art project, as time progressed most people were to shy to be in the photograph. I then met a single mother that lives at the St Francis house  and they were willing to be in the project. I asked the woman if she wanted me to take her photograph but insisted her daughter to be in the picture and her name was Aliyannah who was two years old and enjoyed playing outside like swinging on her swing, or just running around outside/chasing lizards she also enjoys coloring, and just making a mess her mother stated. 

Henry

Aliyannah

My 2nd visit with the St Francis house

On my 2nd visit with the St. Francis i showed up around 1:00 pm and immediately talked to people about my idea of taking their photograph, and then creating a collage around their photograph. Some were timid, and other people could of cared a less about my project. My project has shifted from creating a collaborative sculpture with the people of St. Francis to creating a collage  portrait of that particular individual with their interest surrounding their portrait that I will transfer on to a canvas. I was planning on giving them their collage portraits back if they wanted them but if they don't want them I will gladly keep them. As time progressed it was hard to find people that were willing to participate in this project, but I was not ready to call it quits just that quick. During my visit there was a event in the cafeteria going on so most of the people were in there, I asked people coming out if they would be willing but no one said yes. After about 2 hours I decided that today was not my day, next week I plan on getting a few volunteers to participate.