Disability

I really enjoyed making this portrait and having Cindy help me choose the style of drawing and the type of horse. In the portrait she is with her horse Winston and they are both thinking about skiing together. Cindy was in the Special Olympics for skiiing so I drew her with her special olympics medal on since she was extremely proud of it.

There are so many moments at Camphill that ran through my head when I first read this prompt. Our week at Camphill Village was incredibly rewarding and incredibly challenging for me personally. My experience with my villager Gaby was also full of ups and downs. One moment that particularly stood out happened when Gaby gave me a tour of her house, Helios.

My favorite portrait I experienced at the Barnes was Jeune fille rousse en robe de soir by Modigliani. The photo features a woman with a tilted head, a sarcastic expression and pose. This painting is so satisfying to me. The woman is obviously very beautiful and obviously very annoyed that this portrait is happening in the first place. Her chair seems to fade into the shadowy purple and blue background, and her dress gets more textured towards the bottom of the portrait. This portrait seems to tell a story of a personality, which is something I wish more portraits did. I saw many portraits in the Barnes that were very realistic, but conveyed no sense of emotion or distinctiveness. This one takes the cake for me.

I enjoyed our time with the villagers today. They had such interesting assertions about the campus, especially after we told them about the Harry Potter dinner. It meant a lot to me to show them Thomas Great Hall and the Cloisters. I felt genuinely satisfied to welcome them to our campus when they had so graciously welcomed us into their families and homes. I wish I had heard more from the villagers about what they thought of Bryn Mawr. We took a lot of time looking critically at our feelings about spending time at Camphill and I hope they did the same about our space when they returned. How did that experience compare to their usual field trips? What did they think of visiting a college?

I won't forget the last day I went to work with Eva. She was working in the house for the older villagers who require more care and the sun cast beautiful shadows on the comfy furniture within. Eva proceeded to start dusting everything in the room, as the house mother indicated, and I took a seat in one of the chairs and photographed her working in the sun. When she got to one bookshelf, I realized it held several memorial books of past villagers. I remember Eva had told me her boyfriend, Herb, died a few years ago and realized his memorial book was there. I started looking through it, learning about his childhood, when he came to Camphill very young (around the same age as Eva, between 17-19), and looked at pictures of his adventures.

Here is a piece of art that Eva did while we were at Camphill, showing a tea set-up.

Here is the portrait I made of Eva having her snack in the house in which she works. Eva is constantly checking in with others to make sure they are okay, providing hugs and always making sure she knows everyone's name. She is well loved by the House Mother in the house she works in (Eva is very good and thorough at her jobs, which include cleaning and cooking) and is always so polite, excusing herself whenever she burps or accidentally bumps you. Her joy is infectious, only complimented by the bright colors she wears. I will miss her. She wanted to make sure I included a vase with flowers and a cat, potentially Pickles, who also lives at Camphill.