Looking back.

Taking Creative Arts has been such an amazing experience. I must say one of my favorite parts of taking this class was being able to see the amazing things the Creative Arts students were capable of. The class is so filled with talent and I find myself constantly amazed by everyone. Art has been such a breath of fresh air this year. I loved having this creative outlet! This year in art I've learned how to look at things differently and I now see beauty in so many things. Something rather funny about this year is that looking back, I think my favorite piece to work on was the metal art. Ironically I had assumed this would have been my least favorite. I guess I had the chance to surprise myself. I hope the surprises keep on coming.

What a Year.

art - slideshows

Amélie

The clay pieces that I'm working on currently are inspired by the French film Amélie.  I chose Amélie as my inspiration because after I watch the film it leaves me with a certain happy feeling.  It makes me feel so excited to go out and live life.  The pieces I'm creating inspired by Amélie are a ripped up photograph plate, a old toy box bowl and a Gnome cup.  So far I've only finished the clay work for the plate and bowl.  I think a lot of the pieces character will come from the glaze because the pieces themselves are relatively simple.  I really like working with clay so far, it has a mind of its own.  I am a bit  nervous to start my gnome cup because of the amount of detail, but I'm p for the challenge.  If you have not seen the film Amélie yet, I absolutely recommend it, even if you hate reading subtitles!  Its wonderfully invigorating. 

Metal head

I wasn’t expecting to like working with metal as much as I did.  I didn’t think I would like it because it seemed kind of technical and super precise, and I enjoy more abstract art. However, to my surprise I really enjoyed the process of metal carving.  I didn't find it tedious at all, in fact i found it of relaxing.   I love the effect that the torch gave the metal.  It took it from clean and boring to wild.  After I finish my clay piece I plan to make a little background on paper that will play into the shape and color of the piece.  

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."

My collage represents a few things about me. Some are purely physical, like my love of neutral colors and cursive hand writing. But it does go deeper than that. My optimism is represented by the tree, pushing up through the earth. The heart on the back is my love and passion for life. Buried beneath the layers of modeling past and paint, I have a quote. It says "what a beautiful day to be alive." This quote is my philosophy. The world has so much to offer, we just have to reach out and grab it. 

Title quote by Soren Kierkegaard

Heavy metal

I had a bit of trouble coming up with a design for my metal work. To me metal can look graphic and contemporary, which isn't really my style. I wanted to bring an aspect of delicateness to the piece. The design I created brings some softness to the hard brass plate. It has many curves, spirals and flow. It reminds me of a elaborate seashell. I hope I don’t tire of the design, because I have a feeling I will be seeing it for quite some time. Brass takes a long time to work with!

My giant face

I enjoyed painting my large portrait. I found the process relaxing. After I inked my portrait, I let it sit over the weekend. I was nervous to rinse my ink off because it’s somewhat like playing art roulette; you never know what you're going to get. When I rinsed the portrait off, a large part of my chin chipped off in shingles. I was, at first, dismayed. However, after looking at it for a while I thought it looks interesting and quirky. I used very little colored pencil to work back into the portrait. I liked the stroke marks and the painterly look of the piece. I did work into the eyes with pencil, because I wanted them to stand out and bring a certain presence to the painting. I was bored with the hair because it lacked texture. I worked back into it with water color to give it some curl. I think the final product looks interesting, and I enjoyed the development of my giant face. 

peculiarity.

I chose Rene Magritte for my research post.  I've always been drawn to his style.  I find it to be unusual and delicate.  I love his use of soft colors, because it fits my personal taste but I also love the abstractness of his art. His painting force you to think "I wonder what this is about." Out of the variety of artist we had to choose from, I am most drawn to his work.

René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist.  He began to explore drawing and painting in 1910, and expressed a interest and displayed a unique point of view on art. In 1912, while Margritte was still young, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Some reports say, when his mother was found, her dress was covering her face. This is interesting because  many of his paintings show peoples faced clothed with material. From 1916 to 1918, he studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Artsin Brussels but he felt uninspired by his classed and teachers. A period of his paintings from 1943 to 1944  were colorful and cheery in style.  This was considered his "Renoir Period" because Renoir often painted happy and beautiful scenes. In 1947–48, Magritte painted in a provoking and crude style. During this time he made his money by the production of fake Picassos, Braques and Chiricos. (I found that amusing.)

At the end of 1948, he went back to his original style and themes in his surrealistic art. His work was shown in  New York in 1936, the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer in 1967 at age 68.

 Magritte's work frequently displayed ordinary objects in an odd way, which makes people look at everyday things differently. Magritte described his paintings as "visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."

 Something I found funny and interesting about René Magritte is that he chose most

titles of his works at random. A lot of people, including myself, put a lot of thought into a title because I feel it can sort of sum up the work as a whole.  I do however, like the idea of random titles.  It definitely plays into the peculiarity of his art. 

Final Thoughts

This marking period I surprised myself.  Working on the blog has definitely been a

highlight the marking period. I really enjoy working on computes artistically.  I think

my blog is a pretty good representation my thoughts and feelings.  The shading of fruit definitely made me look at apples differently.  It is in fact not just an apple but also a canvas of color and dimension.  Working on the self-portrait has been awesome.  I can’t wait to keep working on it and seeing how it comes out.  I’m really looking forward to the second marking period.

Self Portrait

I've really enjoyed working on my self-portrait for the last few weeks.  I didn’t think I

was going to like it as much as I do because I didn’t think my drawing skills were good

enough to pull it off.  I found that when drawing our “cartoon outline” of our faces, I

didn’t feel so pressured to make it look perfect or exactly like me.  I’m happy with my

finished outline and excited to work into it with paint, ink and colored pencils.  I experimented with paint on my miniature crop and I like it.  I do look a little bit like a

witch, but it’s funky.