Henry Austin '16

Portrait of an artist: Carly Berlin '18

For Carly Berlin ’18, writing is not just an academic interest or a frivolous pastime. An aspiring creative writer, Berlin uses her words as a medium to better understand herself and the world.
Berlin, a native of Atlanta, Ga., keeps a drawer of past journals and diaries by her bed which hold the history of her love for writing. Ever since she can remember, she has been writing and illustrating stories.
“I’ve been writing my whole life,” she said. During high school, Berlin developed a more serious commitment to her craft. A month-long creative writing program the summer before her senior year crystallized her dedication to creating works of fiction.
About a year ago, Berlin started her blog, “Endless Foolery,” where, she posts entries ranging from short stories to daily thoughts and streams-of-consciousness.
Berlin’s inspiration for starting a blog came from a high school creative writing workshopping class.
“I was really happy with the things I was coming out with and I felt like I just wanted other people to see them,” she said.
Several months ago Berlin committed to writing in a journal each night before she goes to bed.
“When I write something I like, I type it up and put it on the blog,” she said. “That’s usually about once a week.”
The front page of the blog includes a Shakespeare quote: “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” After coming across this quote in a Shakespeare quote book, Berlin was struck by the word “fool” and found it expressive as a title for the blog.
“I think no matter how seriously we want to take ourselves sometimes, we are all a little foolish,” she said.
For Berlin, the blog is as much for personal fulfillment as it is for sharing her work with a broader audience.
“When I’m writing, I’m writing for myself. But I am hoping that other people feel something from it,” she said.
As a first year, Berlin is in the midst of the transition from living at home to college life, and she has grappled with the transition in many recent blog posts. She hopes other students sharing this sentiment feel consoled when they read her posts and realize that someone else is feeling the same way.
Berlin draws stylistic inspiration from Virginia Woolf. After reading a book by Woolf, she says she subconsciously adopted Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style, particularly in her blog entries.
As for her Bowdoin career, Berlin is on the staff of The Quill, where she will have work published later this semester. She is currently taking Visiting Assistant Professor of English’s Sarah Braunstein’s Advanced Fiction Workshop. Beyond Bowdoin, Berlin expressed her dreams of becoming a published fiction writer. “I see myself writing for my whole life, and I would love to think I could be this aspiring novelist,” she said.
Berlin’s greatest satisfaction comes from hearing that people are reading and appreciating her blog, and she hopes to get more readers interested in the blog in the future. Yet her writing also serves a personal purpose, forming a framework for how she navigates the world.
“I know that for me it’s such a therapeutic thing to write; it helps me stay sane and self-aware,” she said.
Visit Berlin's blog here.
To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

Portrait of an artist: Molly Rider '15

As a visual arts major, Molly Rider ’15 has pursued everything from film to making her own furniture. She dedicates much of her time at Bowdoin to the visual arts, and plans to pursue a career in this field after graduation.
In her sophomore year, Rider began to get involved in the arts as a part of Bowdoin Artist Activists, through which she did art projects with local elementary schools.
The next year, while taking her junior year off from Bowdoin on medical leave, Rider was able to take art classes in industrial design at the University of Minnesota. She is currently working on her senior studio project.
“I am doing woodworking and photography and printmaking for my senior studio,” she said. “I have really enjoyed printing photos on wood.”This project also includes making her own furniture.
“I just made a coffee table and some side tables,” she said. “I also made a lamp that hangs from the ceiling, which I definitely will include in my room in the future.”
Students in the senior studio class will present a project at the end of the semester.
“It is like an independent study because you make your own schedule and stick to it,” she said. “It’s great because the art department as well as local artists come critique your work so you get a lot of feedback.”
Rider has also been involved in film throughout her time at Bowdoin. She interned at a film company called By Kids the summer after her freshman year.
“They get filmmakers to go all over the world and make documentaries about kids’ lives,” she said. “They tell stories about their lives to bring relevant issues to the public that are not in the mainstream media. I did a lot of grant writing for them and met a lot of filmmakers.”
On campus, Rider is a leader of the Bowdoin Outing Club.
“I love kayaking, skiing, and rafting,” she said. Rider’s favorite art class at Bowdoin was landscape painting with Associate Professor of Art James Mullen.
“Our assignments were more open, which pushed my painting skills and encouraged me to paint a different way,” she said. “I also got to paint more of what I liked to do.”
The projects Rider is most proud of include her Landscape Painting final project and her senior studio project.
“For Landscape Painting, I made fifteen paintings and they were fun because they were quick and very colorful,” she said. “What I am working on now, specifically bending wood, has also been really fun.”
Rider’s mother is a children’s book editor, and she loves the artwork of many illustrators her mother has worked with.
“Melissa Sweet is a local artist who is great,” she said.In addition, Rider finds inspiration in printmaker Rick Allen’s work.“I love his work because of the level of detail he puts into it,” she said. “He uses beautiful landscapes and includes the natural world, which I am drawn to.” Rider plans to go abroad to New Zealand this summer to complete her last semester.“I am taking two industrial design classes there and then considering going to graduate school for industrial design after that,” she said.
To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

Portrait of an artist

February 6, 2015

Unlike most of today’s youth, junior Henry Austin has video skills that extend far beyond Snapchat and Vine. Austin, a visual arts and economics double major who hails from Lander, Wy., has been creating short films since his senior year of high school. Although inspired and assisted by others, Austinmostly taught himself.

Although videography is one of Austin’s most refined skills, he said that he is quite adept in multiple artistic areas. He focuses on printmaking in his academic studies at Bowdoin.

Austin spent this past fall semester studying at the Studio Arts Center International in Florence, Italy. While there, Austin took courses in color photography, High Renaissance art history, creative writing and of course printmaking.

“I took a color photography class in Florence and am taking photography again this semester,” he said. “So this academic year has been an introduction to photography as a fine art as opposed to something that I just do.”

Austin’s favorite part of creating art is collaboration, which is why he is drawn especially to making films.

However, Austin said finding a common time that works for all involved parties has proved to be the most difficult aspect of completing a project. But he enjoys the challenge.

“Collaboration is the best part of art, in general,” he said. “Videography in particular requires working in teams—that’s why I’m so drawn to it.”

Austin says he approaches the process of photography and videography in the same way.
“Almost everything depicted in my pieces is basically just me having fun with my friends,” said Austin.

The themes of fun and friendship can be seen by watching a few of Austin’s short films. Austin’s short film created in his sophomore year, “Burnt Decks,” depicts his childhood friend woodburning a design onto a skateboard. This short film, as well others, reveal Austin’s ear for music.

“Music selection is always a critical decision,” he said. “I shuffle through my playlist and pick a song based on what type of mood I want to convey. Sometimes, though, I will have a song and make a video for that particular song.”

Although Austin is not focused on videography from an academic standpoint, he has still been able to intertwine videography with his life at Bowdoin. He has entered two campus film festivals in the past and was recently hired by the Career Planning Center as a video intern.
Clubs and individuals often contact Austin to shoot footage. Some of Austin’s photograms are currently on display in the Blythe Bickle Edwards Center for Art and Dance.

Austin said he draws inspiration from both renowned artists and his peers.
“I like to view others’ work and try to imitate or capture what I liked about their method,” he said.

Austin cited Wes Anderson as his celebrity filmmaker inspiration, stating that Anderson’s refusal to compromise makes him a strong example to follow.

As for long term plans, Austin said he intends to keep his art in the picture.

“The ultimate goal is to fuse art and the process of creation with being active outdoors and exploration,” he said. “The dream job would be some sort of outdoor filmmaking.”

For now, Austin said he seems content with his focus on friends and fun.

“Any time you hit the record button with your friends around, you have nothing to lose—but everything to gain,” said Austin. “Every moment is a special moment that can easily be forgotten.”

To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

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