Art ConnectionsBook: My Not-So-Terrible Time at the

Hippie Hotel

Author: Rosemary Graham

CharacterThis artwork is made using florescent ink

on black paper. The artwork demonstrates Tracy, the main

character’s, personality. Tracy is shy and awkward around people especially boys. The artwork shows a female sitting out and looking upset while the 2 females in

the background are dancing joyfully. When Tracy saw this girl named Beka

dancing in the girls’ attic, Tracy compared her body to Beka’s. Tracy does not have a skinny, dancer’s body and she

can not dance like Beka. From the art piece, the 2 females in the background

has a much skinnier body than the female sitting out. The artwork has a lot of meaningful lines going from different

directions. The horizontal lines can indicate still and silence. The diagonal

lines can indicate movement and action. The zigzag lines can indicate loads of

energy.

Shy Dancer By Lynda Hopkins

Citation: Hopkins, Lynda. Shy Dancer. Florescent ink on black paper.

Character:

Kelsey is a 15 year-old girl from Berkley, California. She is a very

nice, tall, and is blonde. According to Tracy, Kelsey is also very good at flirting with boys. This painting

demonstrates how Kelsey is a fun, bubbly person who is always so happy by the use of very bright

colors which makes the painting in high spirits. The bird that is flying

and holding onto a rainbow colored ribbon with its beak demonstrates

how Kelsey is energetic and lovable. We have the peaceful looking background, bloomed flowers, beautiful shades of green, and gorgeous birds holding onto a

rainbow colored ribbon with its beak. Kelsey is the exact opposite of Tracy.

Bluebirds Of Happiness By Kira Yustak

Citation: Yustak, Kira. Bluebirds Of Happiness. 2010. Acrylic painting on

stretched canvas.

Setting The watercolor painting shows how

the Farnsworth House a.k.a the Hippie Hotel is where everything takes place in the book. The book

describes that it is for single parents and their children to spend their

vacation together along with some other families in a historical,

rambling cottage by the sea. From the looks of the painting, the house seem to be made out of bricks and

due to that, the house does look historical. From the view the house

is painted, it looks like it is disconnected and alone with some nature surrounding it. The sea and

the sky is very bright with all shades of blue. There are darker

darks of blue, lighter lights of blue, and whites which makes the artwork very realistic and

appealing and it totally demonstrates the setting.

Cottage By The Sea By Mike Erickson.

Citation: Erickson, Mike. Cottage By The Sea.

Exposition/ Introduction (Plot A)

Tracy’s dad Hank dragged or forced Chris, her 15 year-old brother, Emmy, her 6 year-old

sister, and her to spend family time at the Farnsworth House known as what Hank calls

the Hippie Hotel on Cape Cod after the divorce. Tracy disliked the whole idea of

spending her summer vacation there. Until she met a 15 year-old girl named Kelsey. The

abstract artwork shows two gates on the front and bottom of the art piece and some criss

crosses located at the corners. This shows how Tracy feels and is trapped in the Farnsworth

house. There are many cool colors in the artwork and this might show how Tracy feels

about this whole idea. She might have felt gloomy and lonely, because she didn’t want to spend her vacation at the Farnsworth House

and that her parents had a divorce. The bright, warm colors shows when Kelsey shows up and became friends with Kelsey. In conclusion, this abstract artwork shows a mixture of Tracy’s

feelings trapped in the gates.

I Can’t Find My Way Home By RC deWinter

Citation: DeWinter, RC. I Can't Find My Way Home. Painting- Digital Oils.

Conflict

Tracy is jealous of how Beka and especially Kelsey can flirt with guys. When Tracy was

coming down the stairs, she heard Beka amusing Kevin , Tracy’s crush, by playing on the old upright piano. Tracy got extremely

angry, because all of that seemed like Beka was flirting with Kevin . Tracy hates Beka because she is always angry and in a bad mood so that made things worse. Kelsey tried to cheer Tracy up, but Tracy ended up getting angry at Kelsey too. She told Kelsey that she isn’t happy unless all the male attention is focused on her and how Beka and her are like peas in a pod. Also, to get Kelsey to leave her alone, Tracy called Kelsey a

stupid, dumb blonde with a dramatic voice, which made tears come out of Kelsey’s eyes.

The artwork demonstrates what was explained. The girl in the left has an angry look on her

face and tears are coming out of her eye. That could represent what Tracy was going through. Meanwhile there are those two people making out behind her and that can represent either

Kelsey/Beka and Kevin.

Hurt By Scott Bergey

Citation: Bergey, Scott. Hurt. 2012. Mixed media artwork on wood.

Climax

After what Tracy had done to Kelsey, she felt extremely terrible. She wanted to apologize but due to how Kelsey is

treating her after what had happened, she didn’t have the guts to. In the painting, it shows a person being

attacked by several arms and that demonstrates how Kelsey is treating Tracy. Tracy heard laughter from

both Beka and Kelsey along with some other boys downstairs. Tracy knew one

of the boys have to be Kevin. She stayed in the girl’s attic and cried. The trial of blood and the use of the color red demonstrates how much agony Tracy is going through and it can

represent anger. Tracy’s parents had a divorce, Beka and Kelsey can flirt with Kevin and she can’t, and now she lost

Kelsey. Her only girl friend in the Farnsworth House.

Traps By Summer Crenshaw

Citation: Crenshaw, Summer. Traps. 2010. Oil painting on stretched

canvas.

Struggle:

The photograph shows Tracy’s struggles throughout her vacation at

the Farnsworth House. As you can see from the photograph, the swirls are

taking a lot more space than the girl’s head is. This can show that Tracy is

very timid and how she feels invisible to others. From the photograph, the

girl’s expression shows anguish, confusion, and even self- doubt. The use of colors which are pretty dark

with quite a few light colors shows that the girl isn’t festive. This would fit Tracy, because she didn’t want to

spend her vacation in the Farnsworth House and Tracy’s friend Kelsey and this New Yorker girl named Beka is very good with flirting and Tracy definitely isn’t so Tracy ends up

being/feeling outcast and have lack of confidence during most of her time in

the Farnsworth House.

Rose By Sarah Diaz

Citation: Diaz, Sarah. Rose. 2007. Photography on paper.

Denouement/ Falling Action:

Tracy finally made up with Kelsey by apologizing for being so mean to her that

other day after warning her about Carolyn, Kelsey’s dad's girlfriend, coming over to

surprise Kelsey’s dad. Kelsey doesn’t really like Carolyn, because she thinks Carolyn is a

sneak. Tracy actually became friends with Beka. The girl from New York that wears a ton of eyeliner and is always in a bad mood.

Beka told Tracy that all she wanted to do was give Tracy and Kelsey a taste of their own

medicine, because they did make fun of her band T-shirt in front of everyone. The owls in the art piece is really close the each other and

this represents Tracy, Kelsey, and Beka finally being able to spend a good time with each other without hate. The artwork has a

lot of warm colors, for example: the background and the three owls. This makes the artwork very look warm , happy, and

friendly and that is what Tracy, Kelsey, and Beka are.

Patchwork Owls By Narelle Craven

Citation: Craven, Narelle. Patchwork Owls. Mixed media on vintage fabric

off-cuts.

Resolution/ Conclusion (Plot B):

This artwork represents how Tracy feels by the end of her stay

at the Farnsworth House. The butterflies can represent how

Tracy feels free meaning confident, found out more about

herself, and is able to become great friends with everyone. The butterflies flying in a pack can show how Tracy feels like she finally belong and is proud of

being a member at the Farnsworth House. The tiny

sparkles can demonstrate that Tracy actually enjoyed and had

fun.

Butterfly Away By Fumiko Toda

Citation: Toda, Fumiko. Butterfly Away. 2004. Printmaking on paper. 

Theme:

The theme of the book My Not-So- Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel is

never be afraid to undergo a challenge. What I see from the

artwork is a lot of twists and turns, but at the same time I see a lot of twists that forms an image of a

hand. This can demonstrate that even though you are struggling with varieties of things, everything can turn out fine. For example, Tracy didn’t want to spend her vacation

at the Farnsworth House and while she was there, she was struggling from lack of self confidence, her parent’s divorce, and etc. At the end, she found out more about

herself and enjoyed her vacation. Everything turned out amazing.

Short Cuts #2 By Philippe Jestin

Citation: Jestin, Philippe. Short Cuts #2. 2012. Mixed media artwork on wood.

The End