Final Reflection

Over the course of this term I have learned to create art work without over thinking what I am going to create. I have learned that I do not always need to go into my project/art work with out a plan, but that I can just create what ever comes to mind. As the term progressed I pushed myself to just sit down and make many samples on scrap pieces of paper to see which materials I liked using. I also learned that I can change my ideas for the project in the middle of the term. In the beginning, I had an idea in mind that I felt I need to execute. Through out the term, however, I realized that I did not need to stick with this one idea and that I had the freedom to change my project as much as I wanted.

I am very proud of the artwork and my final piece that I created this term. It was really exciting for me to see how different my final piece was from my original sketch. My final piece was 10 times better and much more developed than I had ever imagined. I was proud of my self for going out side of the box and trying new ideas and I am glad that I choose to use the spray painting on my final piece. I had a great term and I was so glad that I took senior studio! It was a great opportunity to push my self and see how real life artists work.

cool paintings

street art

Although this type of artwork has no relation to what I am creating I saw it and thought it was very cool and it inspired me.

Inspiration

Cool Artwork

Crit notes #2

• They like the wood I had bought to display my final piece on
• They said that the reason the white dots look funny is because my background is faded and the white dots are so defined and are a perfect shape making them really stand out. So instead I may use less dots and not put then in a straight line like I had before.
• They also said to try and use more spray paint because they liked the way that had looked

I did not really get any information about what I should put on top of my collage background, but they did say that overall they like where I am going with my project.

Being a genius vs. having a genius

I thought it was really interesting what Elizabeth Gilbert had to say about your genius/having a genius. In particular, I liked when she talked about the major error of people no longer having a genius, but becoming/being labeled AS a genius. I agree with Gilbert when she said labeling someone a genius only boosts their ego and provides them with a lot of pressure. Labeling someone a genius essentially means that they are the person of all divine creativity and no one else can ever truly match up to their work. Other artists will always feel that no matter how hard they work, they final project will never be as good as this 'genius'; this feeling of failure will eventually begin to kill of young artists.

In Gilbert's speech she talked about a 'pit of dispare' where she felt all her writing and her entire book was awful and was going to be a huge failure. I had a similar feeling halfway through the term. I was creating these mixed media collages, but kept feeling that they were never good enough and had no meaning to them. I was unsure of myself and was unsure of how I wanted my final piece to look. For at least 2 days, I was unable to come up with any ideas that I was really happy with. Finally I told me self (my genius) that I just need to stop over thinking and just create artwork. I googled artists for inspiration and ideas and from there I was able to continue with my piece and take it in a new direction. I told my genius that I just needed to push though and was just going through a slight mental block.

Rachel Perry Welty

I went to the De'Cordiva museum and saw this artist and really liked her work

Week 5

This week I accomplished a lot. I stopped thinking about what would look good in my piece and just used random materials on my art work. No specific item was really inspiring me so I just found items I thought seemed cool. My objects was to mess up my artwork and from there I would find the strategies I liked and did not like. I also experiment with spay pain on my piece. This coming I am going to start creating my final piece, I just bough the wood to put my project on.

Austin Kleon Blog

I really like the quote, "If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research,” by Wilson Mizner. Recently, I have been researching many artists to see if I am inspired by any of their pieces and often times I feel as though am I just coping their ideas and their work. This quote is saying that people take ideas from artists all the time, but it is not "plagiarism", it is just part of the research process for an artist. By taking other artists ideas I am just gathering and collecting some background information to see which techniques and images I like. From there, I can take those techniques and make them my own.

A strategy that was in the reading and that I have been doing more of is to just stop thinking so much and just create art. In the reading Austin Kleon says, "If I waited to know “who I was” or “what I was about” before I started “being creative”, well, I’d still be sitting around trying to figure myself out instead of making things. In my experience, it’s in the act of making things that we figure out who we are." This helped my to realized that the more art I create the easier it will be for me to find out what kind of artist I am and what strategies and techniques really work for me. My creative will evolve the more I create artwork.

Week 4

In the first new piece that I made this week I experimented with the sander. I painted black paint over my images and tissue paper and then once that dried I used the sander over the entire piece. I then experimented with putting other images and tinfoil over the tissue paper. After I created that piece, I realized I really liked the way my piece looked after I had sanded it and I liked the way the black paint looked. So, in my second piece I used both the sander and the black paint, but I changed the way I was displaying my 50's images. Instead of just cutting them into basic squares, I cut long strips of newspaper, colored paper, the 50's images, and magazine images and placed them all side by side. I then layered on the tissues paper and black paint and used the sander. I was really pleased with the way this piece turned out.

More Influences

Inspiration

I might try doing long strips of newspaper then tissue paper, newspaper then tissue paper. Or try layering tissue paper over the newspaper. I can also layer with strips of my images.

Inspirational artists

Artist: Peter Blake

Crit notes #1

I found this critique to be extremely helpful. My group was critical but also had very good/helpful ideas and comments that I can definitely incorporate when creating my final piece. They really liked my tissue paper idea, but I told me that I could even experiment more with different textures. I though this was a very good idea and I am going to try using hot wax and then placing different objects over it to create these different textures. They also said that I use different colors of was so now I am going to try and use a blue wax over the tissue paper. They also suggested that I maybe use images that are more meaningful to me. For examples, pictures of my family of hobbies that interest me. Their last suggestion was that I try and cut my background images into more interesting shapes rather than just squares. After hearing this comment I might now try and collage my background images together.

The Critique Handbook by Kendall Buster and Paula Crawford

For me, the critique period is very helpful as I am trying to create my artwork. The combination of constructive criticism and my peers ideas are very helpful to me. I am able to see how others view my work and hear the changes they think I should make in order to improve my art work. The critique period is also a great and helpful time for me to ask my peers and teachers questions about my artwork. I am able to ask questions like is my art work is engaging and if my color pallet is working or not. I have learned not to take these comments to heart and not let them crush me or my vision for my art work. Instead, I have learned to view them as a way for me to just improve my pieces.

Even when I have my parents or teachers critique my school papers the comments can be harsh and hurtful, but in the end those are the comments that helped me to become a better writer. I am able to learn new skills from their comments and ideas and then incorporate them into my next pieces of writing.

In class, I think it is extremely important to slip the class in groups so that people can critique others artwork, but also ask questions about their own artwork. I think this will help each person become a better and more confident artist.

Artists I Like

Mixed Media Pictures:



Artist:Linda Levin
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Week 3 reflection

This week I tried to execute my original idea but I did not like how it turned out. I no longer wanted to put the silhouette of the United States over all of my images. I then began to play around with putting tissue paper over my images and liked how the images began to look. Although I still did not know what I was trying to create anymore I kept on making samples. I realized that I liked the idea of the tissue paper and then I also like the way the wax looked over my pictures. When we get back from the weekend I am going to add on to this project and see where it takes me.

Alternative Exhibitions Formats Response

Personally, I find it more interesting when the artist displays their work in clever ways like Barry McGee. I sometimes find framed pictures to be simple and boring to look at. This type of setup fails to grasp my attention and interest me. With Barry McGee's work, I feel as if I am apart of the artwork and his format is visaully very appealing to all ages. His unique style/format helps me to understand the type of crazy and individual artist he is. It shows that he is not afraid to take risks with his artwork. McGee takes up a lot of space when displaying his artwork, spreading his work across various walls; some of his artwork even pops out from the walls. McGee also places his artwork so that they make interesting shapes and patterns. I think art work that is displayed in a fun and different format automatically attracts viewers.

Art & Fear, by David Bayles & Ted Orland

1. "But while you may feel you're just pretending that you're an artist, there's no way to pretend you're making art." (pg. 26) I can relate to this quote because when I first started taking art classes at Beaver I did not really consider myself and artist and was not taking my artwork as seriously as I should have. I did not think I was good enough to be considered an artist. By reading this quote I realized that I could not pretend to make and I to be an artist you have to create art work and that is exactly what I was doing.


2. "Your finger prints are all over your work, and you alone know how they got there." (pg. 36) Many times only the artist understands the meaning of the work. The public does not always understand or receive the message that the artist is trying to portray; the artwork is just simply meaningful for the artists. I like this quote because it is sending the message that even if the public does not understand your artwork and do not like it, the artist knows the message that he or she is trying to express.

3. "The lessons you are meant to learn are in your work. To see them, you need only to look at the work clearly- without judgment, without fear, without wishes or hope." (pg. 36) A lot of times I feel I have a lot more to learn about my artwork and my style, but am unsure how to do this. This quote helps me to understand that I need to just look at my work with out critiquing it or criticizing it and see how I feel and what are the message I get from my art work.

Week 2

This week I got most of the pictures that I am going to need and I though more about the message that I want to portray. I am going to look at more mixed media collage artists this week to see if I can get anymore ideas.

Week 1

This first week has gone well so far. I know that I want to make a mixed media colleague piece. I want my piece to show that objects and items from the 50's to now have modernized. We still have the same objects but they have just modernized over time. The background of my piece will be old fashioned t.v's, washing machines and telephones. I also want to cover the background in wax. On top of this, I want a silhouette of the United States and cover it in these modernized objects. This week I have been looking for images and then I am going to play around with them to see how I want the placing to be and which images I want to use for my final project.

Brainstorming

1. Everyday objects and what are the necessary objects that we need in everyday life and what we want.
2. What were the objects and that people had in the 1950's and what we have now in2011
3. Are these objects or are the similar-- just more advanced
4. Why do we have so many more objects that we need now? Fitting more objects into a tiny silhouette.
5. What are the objects that provide us with convenience
6. Show how we have most of the same objects but how they have modernized/transformed
7. woman's rights now and then


Similar Images:
TV
Washing Machines/Drier
Phone Car
Coca Cola
Woman's Rights

Different Images:
Cell Phones
I Pads
Laptops
Email
Facebook
IM
Struggle for women rights then show a picture of Hillary Clinton

The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp

I definitely agree with Twyla about the idea of 'scratching' as a way to brainstorm. I often have trouble coming up with ideas on my own so it was interesting to see how she generates her ideas and gets the ideas in her mind flowing. Twyla suggests listening to music and just moving around the studio space to see what types of ideas formulate. She also suggests going outside or reading books to help generate new ideas. I thought it was interesting that she wrote about how musicians and movie writers use the scratching method as well, but I think she should have focused more on artists rather than other people.

Although I like her idea of scratching, I think she had too many rules involved. For me, brainstorming does not have rules and I can brainstorm at any time. I do not think that their is one right way to brainstorm. I like Twyla's idea of listening to music and moving around to help me think of ideas. I also realized that before I start my work I need to sit down and really focus on what messages and ideas I want to portray in my art work. From there, I can begin to experiment and try out different materials.

Artist: Jane Maxwell

Inside the Painters Studio by Joe Fig

How do the workspaces and routines of these artists support the work they do?
It was very interesting to see how different each artist works and what kind of atmosphere they need in to create their best works of art. One artist for example, Ross Bleckner needs complete silence when creating his artwork. He hardly leaves his apartment and cannot listen to the TV or radio. He works 7 days a week because that is the only way he can stay concentrated and stay in the rhythm of creating art work. For Mary Heilmann, the location of her studio really impacts her work. Her studio is in a barn and the wide open fields that surround her cause her to include a lot of green into her work. The barn and the wide open space surrounding the farm influence her to show the difference between deep space and flat space in her paintings. Alexis Rockman travel a lot to the Amazon and Long Island so location definitely influences his art work.

Which artist did you relate to the most and why?
I can relate to the artist Mary Heilmann. For her, the scenery really effects her paintings and I feel the same hold true to me. If I am in a place surrounded by mountains my art work will probably look different than if my studio were on a beach. Heilmann also takes breaks through out her day and is not working on her art work all the time. Similar to Heilmann, I cannot work on my artwork for an entire day. I am able to sit and work for 2 hours but I definitely need to take breaks and remove myself from my art work for a little bit. Lastly, Heilmann listens to the radio or her i pod while she works. I cannot work in a silent room, and I also need to be listening to music while I create my art work.

Looking at Artists Studios

I saw a lot of the same objects in most of the studio spaces. I noticed a lot of i pods, stereos, cluttered desks, sketch pads and coffee cups. All of these objects are very common objects that help people to focus and make art. I would probably have most of these objects in my art studio as well. Music and i pods were probably the most common object that I saw.

Me... The Senior Artist

When thinking about my process as an artist and my strengths I realized that a common theme was collages and mixed media.
When creating artwork, I have had the most success with using paper cutouts and magazine cutouts/pictures. Creating collages and mixed media pieces are definitely my strengths and favorite types of art work to create.
Although it was my hardest and most frustrating piece to create, I think my dice still life drawing stood out. Drawing is not my favorite or strongest medium to work with so it was definitely a struggle to create that piece. When thinking about my ultimate studio space I would like to be in an open spacious room with plenty of windows creating mixed media/collage pieces. I started creating art because I have a lost of fun doing it and it is a nice, relaxing break from a busy schedule. to music or the radio definitely help me when creating art work, but in order to create the most work possible I just need to try and stay very focused!