These are my reflections

 I'm really happy with all of the work that I have produced this marking period. Being around art really does make everything better. I took the shoe drawing and collage as challenges to improve my skills and I love the way they turned out. It is also important to be creative just for fun. I love doing the middle school projects because it gets me to think outside of "project" criteria. I can take their projects and make them my own. My factory piece has turned out to be one of my favorites, it is so different and it will look awesome as a book page. I also really enjoyed the blossom tree because I didn't completely know what I was doing. I just started coloring and hoped it worked...which it usually does and in the end it was really cool.
          Looking ahead, I think the next marking period will be really interesting. I have taken art for 3 years but have yet to make a lantern. It might be a challenge but the reward will be very exciting!

They'll judge it like they know about me and you

The second project of this marking period was the "Next President" collage. I decided to take on the idea of gay rights and that although Obama said he originally opposed it but, he views were evolving. I think that is the most important point of all.. even if the congress doesn't pass gay rights now, they will when our generation takes power. The world has EVOLVED and people simply don't "care",for lack of a better word. 

My collage still needs work. I will continue to work into it and bring out more of my message. I have always had a little trouble with collage because in my mind I am very organized. I have a process and the idea of not knowing where this is going is difficult. This time I pleasantly surprised my self and I'm very happy with the way this piece is going.  

Who wears these shoes?

      This marking period we were challenged to draw piles of shoes. Each student had a different view, even those that sat in the same seats. I wasn't too worried about my final project considering I had done shoe drawings sophomore year also. I enjoyed the process and overall I'm very happy with the way it turned out. My favorite part about this project was finding my shoe drawing from 7th grade. I love seeing my progress from year to year and how I have evolved. At the start of the project I barley thought about composition, it came naturally to create something interesting. I started to realize how long ago 7th grade was...like really..that drawing is ancient. My life is so different from back then, I've walked in my shoes, I've grown into them , I've dirtied them, they have holes, they have scars...but there more ME than ever.

Our fingerprints don't fade...

       Going into my third year of creative arts, I have a more complete vision of what I want to do.I have all of the kinks worked out and I know what I have to do now to achieve my vision later. I'm super excited about working with a theme this year. It may even be cliche to call it a theme...I'd like to think of it as more of a message. My message for this year is, "Our fingerprints don't fade from the lives we touch". We touch peoples lives everyday, whether through art or a simple act of kindness. Everything we do has an effect on others, and our environment, even if we don't realize it. In my book, I want to symbolize the effect that art and certain people have had on my life. I want this book to really showcase how much I have changed and learned since my first book in sophomore year. This is my senior year, the fingerprints I make now are going to last forever...and I want them to matter.

Over the summer...

School may have been on break, but I sure wasn't. Between a ridiculous work schedule and various family trips, I made sure to set aside some time for art! A trip to the magic garden in Philadelphia was the perfect start to my summer. The garden really is magical and always a source of inspiration. My first project was a portrait of my friend Sam. I LOVE this piece..it really displays Sam in more ways than just her face, from the blossoming roses to the simple quote "Do you suppose she's a wildflower?". Possibly the most exciting part about drawing this was that I finally decided to buy my own prismacolors...yes..I spent 120 dollars on pencils.

Reflections

As a second year art student I knew that I could expect great things this year. I knew I would make some things I loved and somethings I didn't love so much. What I didn't know is that this year art would truly become apart of me. I've always loved drawing and creating new things but I took complete advantage of every opportunity that crossed my path this year and surprised myself in ways I had never imagined. I ended up creating drawings, not even for art class, that simply blew people away. I never realized before how much of an impact I could have on people. I sit in class and draw...silently observing other students staring in awe at what I am doing. I fully recognized My "talent", if you could call it, that and I don't plan to waste it. Going into my book project this year I knew what it would entail. I had a clear vision of what I wanted it to look like instead of just winging it. I feel like for the most part my visions were brought to life. I wanted to create something with a message. I didn't want to have to explain it to people,it needed to have a strong statement and I think I achieved that. I am completely satisfied by the work that I have done this year and I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

This is what its about....

       So as you may know I uploaded my slideshow yesterday and watched it with Mrs.Kiick this morning in class. She started jumping in circles and crying; I realized this is the sole reason why I love art. I was trying to get a message across in my video and clearly she received it. When I went back to art for the next of many periods i spend in that class room Mrs.Kiick had gone to buy me a muffin because she said she "just loves to be impressed" in which i responded that, I just love impressing her. Its not only the delicious food that made this day remarkable but that I think I finally understood the true impact of art. If I could wake up everyday and have MY art make someone that happy, I think I would be happy every single day.

This is real, This is me

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Note: The images in this slideshow play through twice for the effect and message of the song attached.

 For my metal working project I decided to make a closure for my book. The dome in the middle will serve as a hook to close the book. After sawing out all of the parts it was time to solder. When the flux was painted on we didn't mean for it to show up in any certain pattern. As always, art worked it's magic. This piece turned out better than I could have ever imagined. This is one of the main reasons I love art so much. Sometimes things just happen, there's no way to predict what's going to happen and that's what makes it so beautiful.

My Dinner Party Guest: Tribute to A Day to Remember

I chose to invite a band that has had a large impact on my life. Each part of my place setting represents a different song; the plate represents the song out of time, the cup is inspired by sticks and bricks and the bowl  is inspired by The Downfall of us all. These pieces do not actually sit together like a normal place setting but that too is representative of the band. They want their fans to know that they are not alone but they can stand on their own. Each part of the place setting has a meaning but together their meaning has a larger purpose. 

        Last year, we made metal panels to hold our sketches together. This year I'm planning to use it as a closure for my book. I started by making sketches to see what design i liked the best. I chose the upper left design because i thought the shape would be better to put on my book. I've already cut the leaf portion out and will start the inside with negative space next week. I'm adding a bowl shape in the middle to become the closure, that should be interesting because i've never made one of them before. I'm excited to have new and different experiences than last year and hopefully and can learn something more!

        I started my collage with the CD cover of my favorite band. I initially did a transfer of my friend and I inside of the hour glass. I wasn't pleased by the collage at first. It lacked depth and emotion. After taking a chance and pulling off a large part of my collage to uncover the crowd of people below, everything else fell together. I didn't realize until i was finished that a teardrop was created in the middle, this finally gave it the emotion that i was searching for.

A Tribute to the Prince of Pop

ANDY WARHOL

                    Andrew Warhola was born August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, PA to Slovak immigrants. His father was a construction worker and died when Andy was only 13 years old. Andy showed artistic talent from an early age but was stricken with a neurological disorder also. His art was his escape. He studied commercial art in college at, Carnegie Institute of Technology. After moving to New York City in 1949 and working with magazines such as Vogue and Harpar's Bazaar, he became one of the most sought after artist in the city. 
                  In the 60's Warhol painted objects like soup cans and coke bottles. He also produced silkscreen prints of Celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Warhol liked depicting mass produced products and believed that art should be mass produced saying, 
                "When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums",


In 1962 he opened The Factory, where workers mass produced all of his art and silkscreens. In July of 1968 Valerie Solanis attemped to assassinate Warhol and while he did survive he never fully recovered from this incident. After this he started making more individual works instead of mass productions and even opened his own night club. 
                 Andy was...flamboyant to say the least and most thought he had a bizarre personality. His friends described him as a workaholic. He knew the only way to succeed was through hard work and said that "making money is an art". Andy died in 1987 at the age of 58 due to gall bladder complications. 


This brief biography just scratches the surface of Andy Warhol's life and achievements. To express his effect on the art world would be impossible with words, it simply speaks for itself. He is the epitome of the 60's and 70's, the rebellion, the change, the "bizarre personailty". 

          I love that Andy made whatever he wanted, he was daring and didn't care what other people were going to think about it. And he wasn't obsessed with making random paintings that would end up being world treasures either, not that that's wrong. But he wanted to share it with everyone he could possibly get it to. Andy had a message to get across, whether about life or politics and he wasn't scared to tell people. Art was Andy's escape and he wanted to spend every living second engulfed in it. Even after his death, Andy continues to effect the art world. His prints are still being sold and in accordance with his will The Andy Warhol Foundation was founded. It serves to encourage and support the work of new contemporary artist, like Andy was in his time. Andy understood that art was interpreted in different ways to everyone of every culture and these new artist just needed someone to understand.