The artwork that caught my eye was “Anishaabe Way” by Jim Denomie. The piece I chose reminds me of a calm and peaceful weekend. The weekend is the greatest time for me, because it usually means that I can relax, at least for a day or two, which is what I see inside the painting. It means time away from all of the homework, stress, and pressure. Sunday comes around and I realize what is to come in the next week. Plus the possible homework that is due on Monday. The background of the painting is full of life, with a variety of birds, and a squirrel. It appears very secluded from the rest of humanity, due to the land free of other houses in the background.

There is a door in the top left of the of the canvas, which leads to the meadows outside. To the right of the door, there is a plant in a blue pot, which has a painting of a horse and a man above. In the upper center of the photo, there is a large window which shows the viewer the life outside of the house. Also in the center of the photo is the dull, purple couch where the couple is stationed. There is a cat sitting on the woman’s lap, and a dog staring aimlessly towards the viewer. The man is resting his left foot on the coffee table that sits in front of the couple. On the table, there is a TV remote, and a coffee mug. The walls of the house are as green as a billiards table.
The people are relaxing in their underwear on the couch. The man appears to be groping the woman next to him. The color outside of the house is bright and vibrant, as opposed to the dim colors of the interior of the house. The couple in this image have many different colors mixed into their skin tone. The colors vary from blue and green, to pink and pale. I can see the different colors and painting methods from the hills behind the house, to the coffee table under the man’s foot.

The dog is very happy and content with himself, as he has an upside down rainbow for a mouth. He stares purposefully at the same thing the couple looks at, which is unknown to the viewer. The cat is sitting solemnly on the woman’s lap. It is near the people, but contains to itself and its own self-being. It is a silent observer of the space around. The picture as a whole seems weird and wonky with how the people and animals appear. It is apparent what each of them are, but the details of them are skewed and cartoony.

The overall importance that I draw from this personally is finding time to relax and just slow things down. My life has been hectic these days, so I have to enjoy the time when I don’t have something on my plate. This has especially been important to me senior year, because every aspect of it is busy. I have multiple college classes that I am taking, and there is plenty of homework and studying to follow with it. I am in tennis and plan on rejoining swimming & diving, which will give me less time to do schoolwork. Within the time frame of the school year, I also have to find 30 hours total of volunteer time for NHS and College Social. There is also the stress of finding a college I want to go to and all of the other stuff that goes with that like money, scholarships, and everything I will need in the near future to move on.

I am a person who is grateful of all the time I get to relax. I take advantage of it now, because I know that it more than likely won’t be able to in the future. Some see it as lazy, but I see it as smart, because many of people complain about how busy their lives are. I know it is inevitable that the same day will come for me, and in some sense it has, but I make sure I have time for myself to lay back and enjoy the quiet. As much as I like to be relaxed, I also love to be outside and playing sports with friends or any other variety of things, which is why the statement about me being lazy is questioned by me. Senior year has taught me to embellish in my lazy days more than ever.

Most of the time I have off from school and responsibilities, I am playing video games with friends. It is good for me, because I have something to take my mind off of life and get to have fun for a moment. I can get lost in something that gives me joy and I get to share many laughs with friends. The only bad part about this is that the time can fly by in an instant, and then it’s back to reality. Apart from video games, I can be found lying on my bed watching Netflix, in the living room watching TV, or hanging out at a friends house, where we usually game. I am afraid for the days when I am so busy that I can’t be myself.