End Of The Year Reflection

When the year began, I was very eager to finally have an art class again. I've always loved art, even though I'm not that good at it, and I was looking forward to improving my skills. Looking back on this year, our class has completed so many different projects. I learned more than I thought I would and I'm grateful. Almost everything we did was new to me. I had sketched and collaged before, which I was glad to do again. However, working with clay, making stamps and prints, and even sewing pages into a book were things I had never done before. Most of theses projects were very enjoyable and I would love to do them again. One of my favorite projects was my rose painting. That was definitely the thing I was most proud of, especially when I saw it hanging in the library. My painting was something I worked very hard on, so it was really nice to see it being displayed with other great artwork. Overall, these experiences have been very beneficial and have made me into a better artist.

                                                           My original picture:

                                                         My painting before ink:

After ink:

Time Capsule

In the beginning of the school year, we were all given white cardboard boxes to use as time capsules for the future. As the year progressed, each student was able to decorate their box however they wished. We were each given a list of item suggestions to put in our time capsules. I liked this idea because at first, I had no idea what to put in my box. I started with a letter to my future self. In this letter, I described my life this year. I listed each of my friends, my favorite movies and bands, what I like to do for fun, and talked about my family. I'm the only one who has read this letter, and I probably won't let anyone else read it in the future either. Some other things I put in my time capsule were movie/concert stubs, pictures of friends and family, a piece of art I made this year, my phone number/locker combination, an article from Rolling Stone, etc. On the outside of my box, I tried to decorate it to reflect the year 2014. I made a collage of pictures I had cut out from magazine- some things I like, and some things I don't like. The thing I'm most curious about is how my taste and personality will change in 20 years. I really enjoyed this project and I can't wait to open up my box in 2034!

Totem Pole Story

Ever since I can remember, I've wanted a little sibling. I guess this is partially because most of my friends have younger brothers or sisters. I'm also the youngest of three girls. For some reason, I didn't want to be the youngest anymore. Luckily, this all changed about three years ago. The day my step-mom told me she was pregnant was a day I'll never forget. I was completely ecstatic and couldn't wait to finally have a little sibling. After a couple months, we found out that my step-mom was going to have a girl and that she was due on January 10th. By the time January came around, my mom had something to tell me. She told me that we had the chance to go on a cruise around the Caribbean. It sounded amazing. The only downside was that the cruise was during the week my step-mom was due to have her baby. When I realized this, I debated whether or not I should go. After talking to my step-mom about the situation, she convinced me to go. I was upset that I most likely wouldn't be able to be there when my little sister was born, but I'm glad I went to the Caribbean. On the third day of the cruise, we were docked in St. Thomas. My mom and I woke up at around eight and we went to the back of the ship to get breakfast. When we got there, we saw a bunch of people crowded around the railing of the ship. I went over to see what they were looking at, and there stretched across the clear blue sky was a rainbow. I took a picture, but it didn't compare to the actual thing. It was so vivid and beautiful. I just knew it was going to be a great day. The next thing I remember was my dad calling me. We weren't allowed to use our phones until that day, so I couldn't wait to talk to him. I answered the phone and the first thing he said was that he was at the hospital with my step-mom. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I was finally going to have a baby sister. After my dad hung up, my mom and I made our way to the stores in St. Thomas. Today was the day we were going to get souvenirs for everyone. There were stands all around, so we stopped at a few. Then I found a homemade doll for my new baby sister. I felt bad that I couldn't be there when she was born so I had to get her a great present; and that doll was perfect. After shopping all day, my mom and I returned to the ship. I still hadn't heard anything more about my little sister when we boarded. I didn't want to miss the big announcement, but the ship was leaving and I was losing reception. Then all of the sudden, my phone rang. It was a text message from my dad. Along with exact weight and length measurements, he had sent me the first ever picture of my new baby sister. I was so happy that I had actually started crying. I just sat there for awhile, staring at the picture. I couldn't believe she was real. I also couldn't wait to finally meet my little sister. That day was definitely a day I will never forget.

Fortune Cookie Inspired Book Page

This assignment was inspired by fortunes from fortune cookies. For this project, we had to choose six fortune cookies from a bag. We examined the fortunes and brainstormed how to use them in our art. Most of the fortunes I chose were associated with time and the future. So, the first thing I did was found a picture of a clock in a magazine. Then, I cut out a hole in my piece of paper and glued the clock picture to the back so the clock peered through the hole. The fortune I decided to use in my art teaches you how to say "this is a clock" in Chinese. I thought this particular part of the fortune applied to the clock, representing time and the future, so I placed it under the clock picture. After that, I mainly used tissue paper and different paints to decorate the background. I didn't really get to finish it the way I originally hoped to, but in the end it turned out okay. Here is my book page:

 

Art x 3

The inspiration for this project was "celebrity". For this assignment, we had to create a collage for two days and then anonymously pass it on to someone in another class. Then, the next two days we would continue to work on someone else's collage. After we had finished working on our second collages, we received one last collage which we worked on for about a week, or until they were finished. No one knew who they were passing on their collage to, or who they were getting their new collage from. This project was stressful because you never knew what you were going to get, and you couldn't really get attached to your first two collages. However, the last collage was very fun because we were finally able to finish a collage the way we wanted to. This was my final collage:

 

Pop Print

This assignment was inspired by Andy Warhol and his pop prints. For this project, we each had to choose an item to draw and eventually print. The item I chose was a paper folded crane. I chose the crane because I liked that it was very simple and I was excited to see what it would look like when I was ready to paint it. The drawing portion of this project was definitely the easiest part. Then, it became a little difficult when we had to carve the drawing into the stamp. Carving was probably the hardest portion, but then it became easier when we had to print. This part was really fun and I ended up printing a lot of the paper cranes in many different colors. One of my favorite prints was this one:

 

Our Class Collection

In Creative Arts this week, one artist we talked about was Portia Munson. So for this assignment, we decided to model our work after hers. Each student in our class was required to bring in two blue items. Once everyone brought their blue items in, we collected them on a table in the middle of the classroom. It was very interesting to look at the pile after everyone had contributed to it because everything was so different. I think this collection reveals a lot about our class. Our pile of blue items contained all sorts of things such as phone cases, colored pencils, nail polish, cleaning supplies, etc. However, most of our collection consisted of useless items that people probably just found lying around their house. I think this shows that most people these days have a lot of random items that they don't use on a daily basis and probably don't need. Some people prefer to live without clutter; others never throw away anything. In my opinion, no matter how neat you are, there will always be at least one thing that you hold on to that has absolutely no use in your life. And I think that's what this pile is for our class; a collection of random items that no one had the heart to get rid of.
                                         
                                       


Here is the picture of one of Portia Munson's sculptures that we modeled this project after: