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.

PuZzLe PiEcE

For this portrait I have decided to make my parents, they are the cutest couple in the world in my eyes, and that will never change. Its like they were made for each other, they came together to form the last two pieces of each others puzzle. I chose to do them both because they are such a huge and important part of my life, my family is something irreplaceable and I wouldn't want to change them for the world. I want to make something worthy of hanging in their room, something to remind them of their love, and  strong bond that connects them.

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!

You are always there for me.

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?