The Job Of The Artist is to Have an Idea...

I have a really general idea!

I would love to explore using new materials and seeing how I can use everyday and even not so many everyday things and combining them to make something beautiful. That's something I would like to explore and create things with. Im excited to get stuff done and love it!

Sketch Book, all that I've done!

While working on my sketchbook I think that myself personally I never like to fully let go of being a kid so when I make things I try to make things that make me happy and remind me of times where we didn't have to try as hard to fit into society and where being different is cool cause everybody was starting out by themselves. I think I've experimented with making different types of things in my sketch book one thing that I really enjoy using is pastels because of the beautiful colors that come out of making art when using it. Colors really attract me and that's why I really like using them. I also like using bright colors and also black, i like the two different extremes and how they compliment each other so perfectly even though they are so different. I've loved working in my sketchbook and I can't wait to continue working in it and seeing what new wacky and fun stuff I come up with.

Time Flies When you're having fun!...especially in art class :)

Ahh there is so much to talk about!

I've absolutely loved these past two terms and I wish they could not end. During art I've learned that I have a love for color and meaning and process. I've realized that if I feel good about my work that's all that really matters, I want to make art that means something special to me. I've learned to express myself through simple black and white pencil drawings and even exploring with the world of pastels. Its been an exciting and very eventful journey these past two terms and I am looking forward to advancing in my artistic talent.

Art class in general has always been sort of an escape from Beaver Country Day School, going from the stress of papers and quizzes to the enjoyment of painting and making collages is such an amazing freeing feeling that is irreplaceable here in school and just in general. I love being able to come in an have an atmosphere where being different is encouraged. Ever since I was younger I knew that I wanted to make art and to this day I don't see anything else that I like doing as much, I just need to find something that im good at to make me money! haha.

Back to how its helping me though, Art has definitely been a big help when it comes to understanding that even though I am different from the people around me and even though my priorities are really different from the average teenager I love the way I am and the way I've grown up and I wouldn't ever want to change that for the world. Making art about my life and my Christianity and my family really helps me accept that yes, i am different but I love it and here I'll show you what my life looks like. So in general art has helped me a lot and I am sure that it will continue helping me through life and as I face different struggles and challenges. So if you haven't noticed I basically LOVE art :)

ART 21; Play

The first Artist I looked at was Jessica Stockholder, she focused on making installations, her favorite tools to work with was plastic, she loves that it is inexpensive and that it had so much color to it. There were so many possibilities when using it, so many ideas to come up with and to make. I really admired that she said that she, as an artist is interested in systems and the geometric ways you can put something together, the way to think and make things happen. I admire how she talked about the feeling of coming in to the studio and not knowing where to begin but loving the feeling. She said "my work is about pleasure, it might not always be pleasurable to make but its about pleasure and the sensation you get when making it.." She was very different than many of the artists that I have seen, she was unique and had her own style and that was really great.

 This is an image of one of her installations, she really shows her love for plastic and its color here and taking ordinary things and making them into an environment that is not so usual and make it fun, she makes things that gives us pleasure to look at.

The Second Artist: Oliver Herring is so talented! I love how he says "it's not about the knitting its about the performance" he really appreciates the process and the performance of the artwork, i love how different his artwork is. He says that he waits for "a personal connection with some stranger in a way" he gets into his art and his emotions come out through it.  "Play is what we have so much of but have to put on hold because we are so distracted...play is sort of like being reminded of being a kid, not letting it disappear." He says its the learning experience of his pieces that really give meaning to his life, and is why he loves doing what he does. He was my favorite artist from this video, i really appreciate and admire his work. 


This is one of his sculptures: he takes a photograph of the person and prints it out to scale, he then matches the body and puts it back together. His detail is amazing.

Reflecting on group work

From the time I was placed with my group, I knew it was going to be "different" although I know all of the people in my group I also knew how different we all are and I thought it was going to be challenging to get every ones approval on the mural. After working on the idea aspect for a while, sketching rough drafts of our ideas we came to a point where we wanted to please every single person in the group and adding all the things that everyone wanted, and clearly the idea shifted from being detailed and with a purpose to cluttered and loosing focus. Working with groups always has its challenges, but I know that there are also advantages! You get the work done a lot quicker with more hands, and hopefully the bickering about what to do and not to do will simmer down. I personally just feel that we need to get a plan and stick with it, not everyone is going to be pleased but we can't always try to please people and I think that is something that working in groups has reminded me of. I personally think it is a good and I guess bad thing, Im just curious to see how our end result will come out! Wish us luck!

End of Term Reflection

This term was great to say the least. I loved every minute of experimenting with new things and new forms of making art work. I loved the atmosphere and the sincere feeling that no one was going to judge my work. Every time I pass by my work "Mi vida" I am reminded about that, although I know some people might say something I am reassured by the fact that its up there and I got my thought across and that always makes me feel accomplished. Art Class is one way where I can express myself freely and share it with my peers, unlike in more "structured" classes like History, or French, & math. I am being honest and truly genuine about how I feel about art. I am grateful to have the chance to put my opinion out there and I am most definitely not ashamed of it, I love who I am and I know my convictions. Art has helped me in many ways ranging from, blossoming my artistic talent, to thinking back on the things I love and treasure and being able to talk about them and make artwork about it. So lastly, I want to thank my teacher because I have had an amazing first term in Art, and I can't wait to continue in the Winter. The only thing I hate about art.....is leaving, so not having it last term is going to be a struggle but I'll still be in here, don't worry.



Here are a couple more works of art!

 Positive

Negative

Chair With Coat

HOW did you find today's still life more or less complicated to draw than the still lives over the past few weeks (white paper, sticks, fabric)? Be specific.

* Well

HOW did you use some of the skills we've developed over the past three weeks drawing more complicated still lives to draw the chair with coat today? What are these skills?

Fabric Drawings

Back to D.E.A.D.!!! It's Tuesday and its time to draw. We had to draw a tower thing of different fabrics and I guess I could have done better, I saw one piece of fabric that I really wanted to do and so I did and I loved the way it came out but the thing is that I spent too much time on it. I wish I could have gotten some more of the really big things but its always a learning process! So it was nice, trying to get the folds in their but I think it was different than the sticks, I kind of liked this better for some reason.


Here is my artwork!

Found Object Sculpture Reflection Discussions

While we met in groups today, and had some  constructive feedback I found out that all the materials I used were being portrayed in the right way. Good thing for me to hear! I feel good about my sculpture.

I liked John's I liked how from the moment I saw it I knew what it was! Great job with using materials.


Here is my little guy!

The Changing Still Life

Today during art we had a unusual experience. My teacher had a still life set up and had one object on it, she then asked us to draw it with charcoal and after a while she would start adding things on to the still life, sometimes dramatically changing the drawing or maybe just having to erase some lines. At the beginning I didn't really mind it at all but as we got towards the end it started getting more & more difficult to add and erase everything and keep up with the pace. Overall I can't say I hated it but I thought it was fallry difficult at times, but there is nothing better than a good challenge so although it was tough at times I did enjoy working with charcoal and seeing how easy it is to make mistakes with it and just even seeing how it can enhance a drawing like that. This was my Tuesday experience in D.E.A.D. Art class! 

Three Forms Drawing

Today in art class we had D.E.A.D. (drop everything and draw), because it is Tuesday. So we had different tools that we could use like charcoal, both white and black and then three different objects, a small paper cup, wood rectangle toy block, and a pine cone. Seeing the examples that she had placed on the board I was kind of not really sure of what to expect coming into the project. We gathered all of our supplies and I immediately started drawing. I tried really looking at key details so that my drawing would come out great. After getting started I am not going to lie I liked it, I liked it because I don't think of myself as the strongest drawer, but with the outcome I was pretty impressed with myself and the fact that asking for help really also helps. Overall I liked this drawing in comparison to the other one we did the other day with the still piece. I had fun exploring new things and that is why I mostly liked it. I got to know the inner drawer in me!

Pour Paintings

When we were introduced to the new project I was pretty excited to give it a try without splatter painting. It was a new thing that I was excited to try. Once we began it was just sort of experamenting a lot with making different colors and then putting them on the paper to see where it would lead my partner and I. Once we had done two of those types of painting things we were quite please with the result. We saw so many different objects in each of the pieces.