Exploring Neuroscience Through Art

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

New Brain Painting: Brain Rhythm | 24"x24" | Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

It's DONE!!! Finally!!!!

I'm very happy to introduce you to the 6th painting in my Brain Series.


(c) Michelle Hunter 2011 Brain Rhythm 24"x24" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

This painting came a long way. Things were smooth sailing until I hit the part with the grill. Did not anticipate having to make soooooooo many circles and how long that process was going to take. Let me first take a couple of steps back.

In the Beginning....

The concept, in general, was to paint what parts of the brain are most active when it comes to music. While doing further research, I learned that different parts of the brain become active when doing different musical activities: listening, playing (instrument) and reading.

An object that brought those components together for me was the speaker. What's music without being able to hear it? Also sheet music is the way to capture the details of a piece so it's able to be recreated. A speaker and sheet music, along with the brain, were the pieces I wanted to put together in a way that felt right. Given how a speaker is made of layers, having the brain at the center surrounded by wavy sheet music underneath a grill/mesh became the composition.

Brain Rhythm [Detail]

The Brain and Music

The concept in general was to paint what parts of the brain are most active when it comes to music.There are areas both in the outer cortex and inner brain that are connected to our experience of music. For this painting, I focused on the outer area:

Prefrontal Cortex (yellow): When you are listening to music, ever have an experience where something didn't "sound right"? Perhaps you feel that a beat was missed.

After a few bars of music, you begin expecting a certain pattern to repeat correct? Thank your prefrontal cortex's ability to sense when something is off.

Motor Cortex (green): Here controls when you are tapping your foot and bopping your head. It's an especially important area of the brain if you are a musician as you need the ability to control time movements.

Sensory Cortex (purple): Which string to strum on a guitar, keys on a piano, maneuvering a violin etc requires an acute sense of touch.

Auditory Cortex (blue): This area of the brain becomes alive when we hear music. It holds information pertaining to pitch and tones.

Visual Cortex (pink): Involving sight when reading music and watching performers. If you are like me and are not a musician but catch yourself imagining yourself on stage, the visual cortex helps get your imagination flowing.

Tell me what you think...don't be shy :)

Michelle Hunter
info@hunterart.com
http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
Hunterart Line: 646-504-5034
Twitter: Artcoholic

Brain series (so far):
Painting 1: Past, Present, Future or Dreaming
http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-painting-which-image-matches-your.html

Painting 2: Caffeine Headache
http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/10/caffeine-headache.html

Painting 3: Don't You Remember?

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-painting-dont-you-remember.html

Painting 4: First Aid

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-painting-first-aid.html

Painting 5: Zzzzzzz (Sleep)

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-painting-nap-time.html

Monday, October 3, 2011

My Interview with C3Stories

Hello there,

Recently, C3Stories began releasing 3 minute videos as part of its Story-on-Story project with resident artists, film makers, composers and other artists living in the New York City area. We are artists that are making the time to do what we are passionate about even if we have day jobs and other responsibilities. Is that something you can relate to?

View my interview below. Hear in my own words what I struggle with and what advice I have to offer to other artists out there that feel that they can't make the time to do what they love.

[Should play automatically]

StoryonStory_Michelle_Hunter from C3Stories on Vimeo.

It's a great project and I recommend you visit C3Stories website at http://www.c3stories.com/c3s-story-on-story. See what other artists are up to, in their own words.

Regards,

Michelle

http://www.facebook.com/hunterart

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Connect with me on Facebook and LinkedIn

Hello there!

Are you on either? Let's connect!

Recently I've created my Facebook Fan Page as well as a LinkedIn profile for my art.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterart

On my Facebook page, I just added a video discussing the progress on my next brain painting. Check it out!

Have feedback, share when me :-)

Have a good day!

Regards,
Michelle

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Work in Progress Shots: Brain and Music, 24" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas

Hello everyone,

It's been some time since the last painting update but I haven't been idle. Below I would like you to see progress pics of my upcoming painting on the Brain and Music.

The composition is a speaker where within it is the brain and sheet music.

Within the brain will be sections that are most active when either listening or playing music. Those sections will be highlighted with different colors and explained in the next blog post when the painting is completed.

Around the brain will be sheet music. The notes themselves are pretty random and aren't from any particular song. The sheet music is wavy which is meant to show the flow of music and help draw the viewer into the painting.

On top of all the elements within the speaker will be the mesh/grill. It'll cover the entire painting. Lots and lots and lots of little circles.

Because of all those circles, completing the painting has taken longer than expected. But I think it'll be pretty damn cool once it's done. Stay tuned!

Regards,

Michelle

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Visiting the Brain on display at AMNH was so much fun!

Hello everyone,

Those of you in NY may be aware that the American Museum of Natural History is showing a special brain exhibit called "Brain: The Inside Story." It's running through August 2011 and I highly recommend it. I was fortunately enough to check it out and it was a ton of fun:

A fun visual representation of how sensitive different parts of our body are. The larger on this model, the more sensitive.

I'm in possession of a Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain model.

Doing a thorough check of this neuron that send our brains instructions to the rest of our body.

Best of all, a couple of more brain ideas regarding concepts and detailing came to mind. Pun intended. Stay tuned!

Regards,
Michelle
Follow @artcoholic

Thursday, May 19, 2011

New Painting: Nap time!!

Zzzzzzz (Sleep)

20" x 20"

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

Now if you know anything about me, other than I'm an artist, you would know that I LOVE sleep. Sleep is awesome and one of the best things in the world. So doing a painting on the brain and sleep was particularily interesting to me.

The Concept
We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping,so this is a topic we all can relate to. Sleep not only feels good for its relaxing nature but it is crucial for brain development and dealing with what we encountered while awake.

Detail: Zzzzzzz (Sleep)
(c) Michelle Hunter 2011

Hippocampus (yellow) - Stores our short term memory. So when we sleep, that information is transfered into our cortex which holds long term memory.

Prefrontal cortex (front of the brain) - Ever been awake for too long? Brain feels heavy and screaming for sleep? If you pay it a little attention, that screaming may feel concentrated at the front of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is sensitive to sleep deprivation. It is also highly active while dreaming.

Thalamus (middle of green) - In order for our brain to proceed processing information taken in during the day, the brain needs to shut off outside stimuli. That happens thanks to thalamus. If someone doesn't respond to what you may say or do to them while they are asleep, they are busy processing...so stop bothering them.

Pineal gland (back middle of green area) - produces melatonin. When produced, we get sleepy. Light reduces the production of melatonin so if you're trying to fall asleep but a light is on or TV, good luck.

Hypothalamus (front middle of green) - is what naturally signals us for when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.

Brainstem (bottom of green) - those wakey wakey signals from the hypothalamus travel through the brainstem to the rest of our body to get us moving (and in some cases, we may just move into another position to fall back asleep).

The Colors
Well I took a picture of my bed with the lights out so I can try to get a sense of how the pillows and sheets looked in the dark. I put some free weights on the pillow to see how impressions were made as if ones head was laying on the pillow. That resulted in most of the painting being blacks and blues.

Since the focus of the painting is the brain I decided to have the brain fairly 'bright' since it's still very active while all else is calm. The colors used, orange, green, yellow, red were a nice complement to the blacks and blues used for the rest of the painting.

No Face! WHY?
Well of course the painting isn't about the face; we all sleep so it doesn't matter who the is person that's in bed. No need to try to guess who it would be, who they may remind you of or try to critique their face. So, no face. Yet I wanted to show that it is human being in bed, so I show some shoulders and the neck which then fades to the pillow s/he/it is resting on. It then resumes at the brain.

======================================================================
Check out pictures of this painting while it was forming by visiting this blog post: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/05/wip-brain-painting-no5-on-brain-and.html

======================================================================

ALL feedback is welcome, there are tons of ways to reach me. Also feel free to share this with others you feel would want to see it.

Thanks for reading!! Until next time....

~Michelle

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/

info@hunterart.com
Hunterart Line: 646-504-5034
Twitter: Artcoholic
GTalk: mkh9781 or uniqueh

====================================================================

Brain series (so far):

Painting 1: Past, Present, Future or Dreaming

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-painting-which-image-matches-your.html

Painting 2: Caffeine Headache

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/10/caffeine-headache.html

Painting 3: Don't You Remember?

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-painting-dont-you-remember.html

Painting 4: First Aid

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-painting-first-aid.html

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

WIP Brain Painting No.5 on the Brain and Sleep

Hello!!

This post is to share with you in progress shots of the next painting in the Brain series focusing on the Brain and Sleep. I have plenty of research experience in this area as all of you. In case you didn't know, we spend about a third of our life sleeping and it's something we certainly cannot live without.

So what's happening in our Brain when we dose off? Well I'll get into that when I post the finished painting (which will be soon). Until then here are some shots of the piece in progress. ENJOY!

: WIP #1 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #2 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #3 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #4 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #5 (c) Michelle Hunter

: My palette

: WIP #6 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #7 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #8 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #9 (c) Michelle Hunter

: WIP #10 (c) Michelle Hunter

~Michelle

Friday, May 6, 2011

Brain Painting Wins Top Prize at Social Tapestry hosted by Mobrit

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share some great news with you! Last Thursday I participated in the pretty cool Social Tapestry 1 night arts event hosted by Mobrit.

Including myself, there were 3 artists featuring 1 work of art. What I liked about the format was that each artist got on stage and had the time and audience attention to explain their work, where they are at as an artist, and answer any questions from the welcoming crowd.

Other featured artists included Loana Amira and live abstract artist James Shields (http://www.creativeshields.com , @creativeshields). The musical guest was the incredibly talented Obed Jean Louis . Check out some of his music here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kBMshOgDvc)

Audience members were allowed to vote via ballot what work of art, after all the artist presentations, would win Best in Show for the evening. As you can see by the picture in this post, I was the fortunate winner of the evening!!

Know of other art exhibiting opportunities around New York City? Please let me know! I would like to help spread the word, attend as a guest and/or exhibit my braaaaaaains :)

Best regards,
Michelle

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New Painting: "First Aid"

First Aid

20" x 20"

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

Hello everyone....can I get you a drink? It's on me ;)

I'm pleased to share with you my latest painting titled "First Aid".

Want to see pictures of this painting from beginning to end? (7 new pictures added) Click here to view my previous blog post: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/03/work-in-progress-shots-of-first-aid-20.html

While some titles for paintings don't come to me pretty easily, this one came into my head before I was done with painting the outline for the composition I scrapped.

Most of the time, getting a drink feels like putting on a band-aid on to help cover up whatever is going on. Whether you:

Had a long day and feel like you want to unwind,
Are dealing/coping with something personally,
Wanting to avoid something (emotionally or physically),
May feel out of place without a drink in your hand,
Want the courage to do something you wouldn't typically do while sober
Feel free to add to this list based on your own experience

What's a quicker fixer-upper than a drink?!

Having the setting for the painting within a bar seemed natural. I chose to use a shot glass instead of a regular glass because a shot gets straight to the point - nothing to sip or savor here.

The label on the bottle was a clear place to put a red cross.

As your liquor of choice is being poured into the glass, certain parts of the brain imprinted on the glass are becoming activated:

Cerebral cortex: This is the outermost part of the brain where you process thoughts and where consciousness resides. When alcohol is introduces, it is here where processing of information from the senses like your eyes, ears, touch, etc become inhibited. Here is also where you become unable to think clearly and start to think more slowly.

Cerebellum (round part at the base of the brain): Here controls out center of movement and balance. Alcohol leaves us off balance and/or staggering.

Hypothalamus and pituitary: This region coordinates automatic brain functions and hormone release. As you drink, the nerve centers in the hypothalamus that control sexual arousal become pressed down and strained. So while your sexual urge may increase, your sexual performance declines. It's a little hard to see but there are clutters of gender symbols in the shadow of the glass.

Medulla (lower part of the brain stem): The impact of alcohol on this area of the brain results in sleepiness, perhaps you feel a chill and/or notice your breathing slowing. The medulla controls such automatic functions like breathing, consciousness and body temperature.

Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/alcoholism4.htm

Now my most difficult area for me of this painting was painting glass (the shot glass and bottle) especially since both are clear. That's what delayed me the most because I didn't want to mess it up. Through some help from Twitter, and me getting out of my head, it only took me a couple of days to finish the piece. I'm very proud of it.

So, with all that said, CHEERS!

Regards,
Michelle
====================================================================

Painting 3: Dont' You Remember?

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-painting-dont-you-remember.html

Friday, March 4, 2011

Work In Progress Shots of "First Aid" 20" x 20" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

Hi there!

OK I've been taking WAY TOO LONG to finish what will be the fourth installment of my BRAIN series. Excuses I care to share include laziness and mind driven fear of painting an image of glass (though skillfully I knew I could) which then lead to procrastination.

FINALLY, I've gotten out of my head and in front of my easel to bring you 6 progress shots of "First Aid". Click on the images to get a larger view.

Details/reasoning into the composition will be included in a blog post when the piece is finished. In the meantime, feel free to speculate and share your feedback....you know how to reach me.

Regards,
Michelle

See the finished painting here!!