My Art Pieces and Hobbies from Abroad

Rachel Wichlacz
August 10, 2017
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While I was interning and studying in London, I had free time to continue some of the things I love doing in the US. I also started a couple new things. Here are a few of my art pieces and hobbies from the trip.

One of the pieces that I had, which you have seen if you read my other blogs, was The Adventures of Tic! This started with a stuffed animal crocodile from the Disney store back home. My sister and I both loved the character, so I bought two. The idea was we would send pictures of our crocodiles to each other a couple times a week. I was busier everything than I thought I would be, so it turned into a Snapchat story feature for my friends and family. I kept doing this because it's a cute way to show everyone what I am doing in London.

The Adventures of Tic: Internship

     

The Adventures of Tic: Tower Bridge

 

Another one of my hobbies is seeing performances, movies or theater productions. I love getting lost in the stories that theaters provide. Some of my friends and I went to see a few movies and West End theater productions (pictured below). Out of the five movies I saw, Spider-Man Homecoming was the best. Tom Holland was a perfect Spider-Man. I loved the plot line too because it continued from the Captain America Civil War.

The musical Kinky Boots was a fantastic show! I loved the up beat music and fabulous wardrobe. As for Les Miserables, I loved the turning stage. I had never seen anything like it before. The director used the stage's ability well when changing scenes and showing the characters traveling from place to place. I have seen the musical many times, and even performed in with my high school. I just love everything about this show. I am glad I got to see it on West End! 

Movies seen in London

     

West End Theater Productions seen in London

 

My love of theater goes back to my love of music. I have been playing my clarinet since fourth grade and singing since forever. When I performed in the chorus of my high school's production of Les Miserables, I started singing more showtunes. While I was abroad in London, I took to memorizing three new solo vocal songs. The first was "Watch What Happens" from the Disney musical Newsies. My sister and I learned mos of the vocals from this musical. We also had the opportunity to learn part of the song "Sieze the Day" from one of the original Broadway performers! I practiced the vocal solo "Watch What Happens" since the beginning of my abroad experience, and now I can say I have it completely memorized!

As for the other two songs, "Once Upon a December" and "Journey To The Past" I have memorized from the new Broadway musical Anastasia. I started learning the lyrics to these songs because of my sister's dance recital. This summer was her final dance recital of high school, and she had a solo as Anastasia in a ballet section of the musical Anastasia. For a majority of my time in London, I thought of my sister's solo as Anastasia, so I decided to learn a couple of the songs from the musical

The songs are attached as YouTube videos if you would like to listen to them.

Like I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time in London thinking of my sister's ballet solo. This lead me to use another one of my other hobbies, Photoshop, to create a tribute to her last high school performance. Here I edited in my sister as Anastasia in the Anastasia musical poster. I created two versions of the poster for her: one landscape and one portrait. I sent the finished posters to her, and she loved it. I was actually asked to send the choreographer of the Anastasia ballet section the posters I made. I am not sure what he wanted with them, but I do know that he loved it too. 

My Sister as Anastasia

 

My sister's tribute poster was not the only Photoshop image I did while I was in London. I also created picture that I've been wanting to do for a while. Since the live action Beauty and the Beast came out, I've wanted to make a picture that shows Emma Watson as Belle. The inspiration for the portrayal of Emma and Belle in was the song "Reflection " from Disney's Mulan. The pictoral inspiration was from the same movie, when Mulan's face is reflected in her father's sword. I decided to put the faces in Beast's magic mirror as if he is looking for Emma and/or Belle. 

Emma Watson as Belle

 

Reflection over internship experience: My internship gave me the opportunity to think about what I might want to do with my career. I learned different aspects of the marketing side of businesses and other parts of a business. Being able to pursue my hobbies while working allowed me to develop my skills, visual and vocal. I can't thank you enough to everyone in the program for this great experience. If any of you have the chance, you should intern abroad as well. 

Rachel Wichlacz

<p>My name is Rachel Wichlacz and I am currently a sophomore (second year) college student interning abroad in London. I have previously traveled to Poland, Slovakia, Smokey Mountains in the US, Florida Keys in the US, Rocky Mountains in the US, and several other places where I have photographed scenery. This travel blog will focus on my day to day life in London for my internship so readers, like you, can see what it is like to live here for two months!</p>

Destination:
Term:
2017 Summer 1, 2017 Summer 2
Home University:
University Of Tampa
Major:
Marketing
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