Puerto Rico ... here I come!!!

Puerto Rico has been a back and forth issue with me recently. Not only me but my family as well. I am very dependent on my family in a way. Im very family oriented so me and my family are very close. We do almost everything together. In addition, I also spend an unGodly amount of time with my parents, I consider them first and foremost my parents, but also my best friends, both of them. They can get on my nerves, but no one is perfect, and I love them to death. So in the recent months my mother has been suffering the side effects of post menopausal hell so I am obliged to be patient even though Im not always so.  This , in addition to my fathers incessant need to leave Florida, has combined to create a veritable confusion sphere that has spanned over 4 months. You can imagine, emotional meltdowns, many hospital visits, arguments, negativity, but Im proud to say that was all intertwined with love, unity, and in a way strength, thank God. Without the latter, I dont think I'd be around to type this. But that edgy time has passed. My parents are now in their home in PR, waiting for me to come on over. My foremost goals over there will be to first set up my attendance at the University of Puerto Rico, then concentrate on a new skill to learn, execute, and use to my advantage. Woodblock carving and printing. I know it sounds very ambitious, and it is daunting, but I love the challenge and I actually see myself doing it once I get there. It wont be easy, but its worth a try. I cant wait to start and see the result. I know, for some strange reason that it will turn out well. Digital art I will not forget, but will be secondary for the time being.

Work of art, or is it?

I don't see why the certain trend of shock art that's probably lasted a century ---maybe more--- has lingered as long as it has. 2011 Art Basel Miami was filled to the brim with such pieces and to tell you the truth I'm sick of the rubbish that passes for fine art but is labeled "Shock Art". From digital video pieces of a talking Anus with bad animation to penises scattered within a drawing(As if to say where's Willie"). Now there is a right way to do such things to get your point across and then there's half of Art Basel 2011. I'm tired of looking at "Museum Quality" pieces that are huge and broad that don't inspire awe but just a "?". Like one piece in the Museum of Ft.Lauderdale, I forgot the Artists name and all the best because I don't see why his piece was in the Museum at all. About a 20ft canvas covered in black acrylic paint and tar, with hints of blue and red. The tar wasn't even smoothed over or sanded down, but just poured over in such a sloppy and un-artistic way that made me cut my gaze at an inanimate object. The average art that's made today doesn't really inspire its just there to be figured out. And some pieces just stump the average person. A person who's studied art fully would still have a tough time trying to figure some of these pieces out. And that is what upsets me. The Art world is being driven into this niche of exclusivity where only an elite few can decipher this hidden mysterious world of "Blah Blah". Good art  is to be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone. It should strike a chord with anyone that sees whats on that canvas or presented as a sculpture. Wheres the real contemporary art? Is it something that is rare and precious because it can be appreciated by everyone? And if so why haven't I seen it. Now I'm not going to lie, I have seen some contemporary pieces that have literally made me gasp when I've seen them but they are few and far in between. Which truthfully sucks!!!!!