Manhattan Art Institute (Trist)

As the Years past Tristina never forgot about Mark. Driving his motorcycle  always reminded her of him . When she found out that he was being sentenced she tried to go see him, but due to her age she could not get visitation without a parent's consent.  And her mother refused to bring her to the penitentiary for any type of visitation . Sharon really dislike Mark from the start and didn't want her "little girl" falling in with his type of "crowd ". Her mother always told Tristina that she needs to settle down with a "real-man" and not some hoodlum! This only pissed off Tristina and drove a wedge between her and her mother's relationship even further than it was . Thank god she was leaving home to love on campus.

So Tristina was not able to see Mark until she turned 18.  By then nearly 2 years had passed. Even so, her life had become so busy with her new college atmosphere that  making time for visitations was nearly impossible.  She tried to stay in touch with him through phone calls, but of course they were limited. Some holidays and school breaks were about the only time that she could find to travel there. Even so going to the penitentiary with a long-haul and usually an all day Affair, only leaving her with limited time to see him. Sadly as time went on her trips got shorter has her workload started to pile up And new boy-toys and new relationships started to entered her life.

Tristina was not really the type to go without sex for long, she was always a very suductive and carnal being. She craved something she could not find, and was always looking to fill that empty space in of herself. Whether it was some new fad, the latest parties, or various men and women in her life. There was always something missing but she couldn't put her finger on but seem to Forever search for.

Tristina developed a relationship with one of her girlfriends at the college dorms. Same-sex relationships were not as Uncommon as they were 10 years ago. Tristina love to experiment and when she couldn't find what she was looking for in men she tried women, as well as keeping a few "friends with benefits on the side.


The morning started off great, Tristina a woke in her Girl friends bed next to her.  Aftee a round of amazing sex, involving a few "toys" and some light bdsm, to which Tristina joked that she would leave Megan tied up till after yoga class If she didn't behave. But of course she didnt and the two laughed and joked about it during breakfast.

8am was rolling around and Tristina hurried off to her first class. She always picked out what seemed to be the perfect spot to show of to the boys just how flexible she really was. She always got a kick out of the way men and even a few women looked at her. Tristina reconized there desire, and ofyen toyed with some of the boys, but wasn't a tramp, just a huge flirt and a bit of a tease. She loved the attention they would give her.
It made her feel good that she could attract the eye of so many potential lovers or nightly flings.

Tristina always dreaded these classes we're teachers only look for originality and creativity instead of technique.
No matter what she seemed to do she never seem to grasp it.  It only further annoyed her.

Tristina's learn many techniques, and her execution was magnificent. She was a great Forger.
She presented last years final project a replica of Johannes Vermeer's, The Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665.


Tristina's brush technique was flawless, it would be hard to tell  the original from the fake  if not for the type of canvas that she was using ... other wise it was flawless.

But this years project had her a bit worried.  This teacher would be hard to please. She Trist' would sit in the campus Art Studio trying to come up with something original and scrap all the skribled ideas on paper from her sketchbook. She seemed to nrver be able to grasp this concept. No matter how hard she tryed. So she  started to resort to cheating , she would pay one of her dorm sisters to paint something original and creative and she would duplicate that for the class ... and destroy the original.

It was the only way she knew how to get around this issue... cuz she wasn't able to achieve it on her own..  


Tristina was happy enough with this lie, but she only saw the forgery as means to an end.





As time went on Tristina found this class harder to understanding more than most. The teacher would go into creative and Abstract theories about art to which Tristina would always seemed to challenge, as she tryed to get a better comprehensive understanding of. But no matter how much she debated, she never seem to be able to quite grasp the concepts that the teacher was trying to convey.

This left her  feeling a bit empty inside and out of place. She had hoped that she would not have to do this throughout the whole school year.

Forgery after forgery. This went on for months. Each time paying off her friends to paint for her a original, and keep there mouth shit. Sadly such a undertaking started to eat up a lot of her  disposable income... And most nights she was left eating microwavable Ramen.
Ahh the life of a starving artist.  

Some whrre along the line Tristina got the bright idea to try to actually sell some of her Forged paintings, go freelance for some extra money. Of course such forgeries are not only about skill alone, but about the materels used. If she really wanted to make money, she would need . Pacific canvases as well as paints and oils. Not something that comes cheep. But she figure she would start of small until she could find away to earn more capital. But now she had a bit of a idea. Tristina thought yjay if she could replicate just one famous painting , she could trick some fancy Art Snob into buying it and financial burden for the year might be set.

Tristina found the Teacher's lecture about the artist soul and finding your inner must utter pointless. She watched her classmates pick up these theorys with ease and understanding, as Tristina struggled with the most basic concept that "Art comes from the soul of the Artist."

▂▂▂▂Tristina▂▂▂▂▂▂
"....piff There is no such thing as a soul, its just a pointless concept the Church made up to make sure we all feel guilty for our sins or else we will burn forever or some shit.. "
She said in a low mumble so that just her class mates around her heard her complain.

Tristina was glad that pointless lecture was done, she honestly didn't understand how someone with such lofty ideas could be running a class about Art.

The complimentary breakfast with a welcome sight, Tristina was living up to the stereotype of "the poor college student " and "the starving artist ". Nearly all of her money either went to paying off her friends too create paintings for her to forge for class,  well needed art supplies , dorm rent Or paying for the insurance on her motorcycle. Needless to say she was mostly broke.

Tristina pocketed some of the pastries and breakfast foods for later shoving them in her bag rolled up in a few napkins with cellophane Before taking food for her break fest. It was going to be a long day and she knew when she got home she would be dead tired.

Light and Shape theory was a bit easier for her to understand it was all about technique and not about abstract theories regarding the soul or Muse or whatever nonsense that that teacher was going on about. This she could understand and grasp, plus she had a love for old works of art.
And she often wondered if given the right materials could she duplicate such sculptures... She hoped one day she would get a chance to try.

Tristina study of the works of Michelangelo in great detail, puzzling out each curve of the Chisel he must have used. Each angle and each shaving of marble. And was very curious about how he could have accomplished such things in his time. With minimal tools.

Tristina asked many questions
▂▂▂▂Tristina▂▂▂▂▂▂
".... excuse me, Ms. McDouglas...
Tristina said politely raising her hand when it was time for questions during the lecture.

.... If i may ask... how did the great artist of history crafted there work. And why do we only look upon there work today now as great works of art, not the commission projects of old.. What makes such works last lifetimes?

She asked curiously wondering if there was something in their technique that preserved their work compared to the things that artist today use.

.

Nhilist huh?"

Tristina raised s eyebrow.

▂▂▂▂▂▂ Trisyona ▂▂▂▂▂▂
" ...hmmm... a Nhilist is "a person who believes that life is meaningless and rejects all religious and moral principles ...
So yah I guess you could call me that.. I just refues to believe that there is some invisible Sky-Daddy watches over us ,  judging and dictating how we should act and live our lives. When we did we go to Heaven if we're good  and hell if we're bad ... The whole thing sounds like a bunch of horseshit .
And  if there was some greater meaning in this life, I sure as sh!t haven't found it yet.."

But hay, who am I to judge.. You can believe in what ever delusional fantasy you want to believe in... but I prefer my feet to be grounded in reality.

Tristina shrugs and moves on to continue rating her breakfast.

Good question Ms. Rose..." for Tristana was surprising the teacher already knew her lastname.

Tristina seemed impressed that the teacher knew her name.
▂▂(surface thoughts)▂▂
<...wow she knows my name... Impressive, it  usually takes  a few weeks for teachers to actually  I know who I am out of all there students.>

As Ms. McDouglas goes into more detail about tristinas question she seemed a bit captivated hanging onto every word, and trying to grasp them in her own understanding. She was very quiet and resprctful, never interrupting until the end.

▂▂▂▂▂▂ Tristins ▂▂▂▂▂▂
" ...interesting.. So art is ment cause a impact on the viewer. So  Art isn't just something that is beautiful... But also convey the ultimate value of change and progress within a person.  That's interesting. But how does someone do this.. I mean make art that deep emotion?. Enough to ignite change without a person.

great artists of the past have done this, from Leonardo Di Vinci's The Mona Lisa, in 1503. ... To Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962. ...... Both very difrent artists and both have difrent art styles ... but never the less there art has had a huge impact in the Art world. There techniques are amazing, and I strive to copy this.. But I am having trouble grasping the subject matter Of artist insperation and this so called "muse''.
 
 
Tristina looks perplexed, she wants to grab  that level of creativity that artist crave., but something is stopping her, and it frustrated the hell out of her.

The guy smiles and replies.
"So do I. Hi, my name is Jorge, nice to meet you..

Tristina was slightly surprised at this response, she didn't think that she would find anybody of like-mindedness in a place like this.

▂▂▂▂▂▂ Tristina▂▂▂▂▂▂
" ..humm well fuk that's a breath of fresh air.....Jorge huh... Well its nice to meet someone who isn't one of the sheep-eople. Name's Tristina.
.  
Tristina pulls out a sheet of sketch paper and wrote down her phone number, handing it to him.

▂▂▂▂▂▂ Tristina▂▂▂▂▂▂
" ..If you want to get coffee or chill some time, hit me up. I'm in the staying on the campus dormes , 200 building, room #8.  
She said giving the guy a seductive wink.
She seemed genuinely happy that she found someone possibly of the same mindset as her.


Tristina listened with intensiveness to everything that's a teacher was saying, she scribbled some serious down in her Notepad and took plenty of notes on the subject. She hopes that one day she would actually be able to achieve something like this, but the "how" seemed lost.on her.  After all "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" she thought. And art is very subjective.... Just like morality. "One man's fun is another man's hell'

For the rest of the class she more attention to the techniques being taught, then the spiritual philosophy behind the artist and their connection to this invisible Sky Daddy, or whatever a muse was.

Jorge talked with Trist a few times during the day and in general his demeanor was enthusiastic toward Tristana's nihilism. He seemed to share her perspective about religion and even more Tristana's nice body and beautiful face. However, they parted ways just exchanging their numbers.