Undergraduate / 'fury and frustration' - UC Transfer Prompt 1- Experiences in Art [3]

I'm not sure if it answers the prompt well enough, honesty is appreciated. I'm trying to get into UCLA for art history, so tear it apart, thanks!

What is your intended major? (<-- Art History) Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field ï such as volunteer work, internships, and employment, participation in student organization and activities- and what you have gained from your involvement.

Growing up, nothing brought me more fury and frustration than my inability to draw, or express myself artistically for that matter. I remember running to my mother the one time I was able to successfully draw the face of cartoon, but knowing this was a once in a lifetime chance to have something so perfect made by my hands left me unable to finish it. I think I would have ruined it if I continued. What I realized later on is something my mind could not have conceived at such a young age. I though of the all the artists I had learned of, of those who I hadn't yet, of art works unseen and art I was yet to experience. It became clear that I would combine my ability to easily memorize history, and my deep appreciation for art, and I would study art history. If I couldn't become part of the artistic world, I could still admire it.

In conjunction with my experiences as a failed child artist, monthly presentations on art in elementary school helped me further develop an interest in the artistic world. Together as a class we learned about Georges Pierre Seurat, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent Van Gogh, and other famous painters. Those school lessons marked the beginning of my fascination for real, genuine art. My budding interest led to my discovery of Henri Matisse, who still remains my favorite painter to this day. Matisse translates an ecstasy for painting through his colors, and his brush strokes and lines are so sincere they reveal everything about the artist in a glance. Acquiring knowledge of Matisse's work has so far been the pinnacle of my relationship with the history of art.

Having come a long way since elementary school, I continue to expand my knowledge of and experience art history through classes taken at the [College] and [College] colleges. Through Western Art History class, I have experienced and appreciated the grandiosity of art from ancient cultures. On a required independent trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I observed massive Assyrian relief panels and an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. It pained to not be able to touch the exhibit artifacts; art with such a rich history is enough to drive me crazy. But undoubtedly, my favorite class, and experience, has been Modern Art History. The genius and revolution that occurred in the art world at the turn of the 20th century spurred the creation of incredible pieces of art. And it is quite an experience to study artists such as Mark Rothko in the classroom one day, and be in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles next week looking at five of his paintings on exhibit for a retrospective.

My extremely personal experiences with art leave me only with a desire for more. More of the emotions Picasso poured into his work, or more of the statements Andy Warhol made with his. Learning the history of art generates in me an ecstasy the way nothing else can; I could solely live off the color and beauty of a painting.