Just Some Reference Photos/Sketches

This is just a really rough sketch of something I would like to do on the wood. I want to have everything around the spine decaying--through the muscles to the bones. I want to have the figure fade out into the gain of the wood. Almost like the body was weathered over time and is now fading out into the weathered piece of wood. Pouring out of the spine I want to show "the beauty". Having the spine turn into dust that is blowing out of the body along with some splotches of watercolor and some butterflies. The butterflies and the dust are a representation of my aunt who passed away eight years ago. I'm taking the positive things that remind me of her and letting them flow out of the body, still very much there as the rest of the body decays.

---This is just a start. I'll have a much more detailed sketch and plan uploaded very soon!

Phase I: Materials Exploration

The material that I want to explore for phase I is wood. I'd like to focus on wood burning, carving, and possibly experimenting with watercolor. I have very little experience with wood burning, but I think it would be interesting to try and take a 2D drawing and turn it into a drawing on a piece of wood. I have never used watercolors on anything other than watercolor paper and hand made paper. I've heard that watercolor is very unpredictable with how it reacts to different surfaces. Especially surfaces that aren't made to retain it. I'd like to explore this myself and see how the watercolor will react.

5 Questions about Wood:


1. What type of wood?
2. Does the type of wood matter and does it affect the wood burning?
3. What should the shape of the wood be? A square? Rectangle? More Orgainic?
4. Difference between found wood vs. store bought wood? Does it matter?
5. Does the stain/color of the wood matter when it comes to burning or watercoloring?

A lot of the answers to these questions are going to be found by trial and error. I'll need to be able to test out the materials myself to figure out how they will react to each other. The other answers might come with personal preference to my project and the connection to the concept that is going to drive the piece.

Photos of Work

My Work

Inspiration- 

A lot of my work has to do with the human body. I have always found parts of the human anatomy very interesting. I am most intrigued by what we cannot see on the outside, and what lies inside of the body. There is something so vulnerable about showing the insides of something. With the body, it's like showing a part of you that no one has ever seen before. The body in general is such an interesting topic to explore because there is so much we that we know about it, but so much that we don't know at the same time.

I have tried to explore many concepts within my work. I really like idea of nature and the idea of the body, and connecting the two. As humans, we depend on nature, and nature depends on us. Those ideas have been a huge inspiration for my work. Not only has nature been a huge influence, but the ideas of hiding and exposing have also been draw into my work in various ways. All of these ideas have heavily influenced my work.


Working Environment- 


My work has been done in many different atmospheres. I've done some work in my dorm, workrooms, my apartment room, classrooms, and my room at home. I like working somewhere where I have a lot of space to layout everything that I am working on. Music usually helps me concentrate and helps me get through the process. I like to work by myself, but the company of others is always nice. Especially when I need help or would like feedback about the piece that I am working on.

For me, I think working environment is important as far as getting organized and focusing on your work. I can't work somewhere that is really messy and disorganized. I also can't work somewhere that is super loud and distracting. If it is music that is loud, then thats fine, but its really hard to focus somewhere that is overly noisy. A lot of times, I like to switch up where I work because I get bored or easily distracted with certain areas. Other times, changing areas might be more appropriate for what I am working on.

Working Process- 

I like to do a lot of research to start out my working process. I really need to sit down and gather my thoughts and write out different ideas before jumping into a new piece of work. Usually, I do a couple of sketches to plan out some ideas and try to come up with a final plan. A lot of the times I like to find picture references if it applies to whatever I am working on. After doing that I start working.

A lot of the times, I come across obstacles while working that may not have been in my original plan. Those take time to find solutions and figure out how to make everything work. Also, sometimes the process of working on something allows new ideas to pop into my head. When this happens, sometimes they add or even change the direction of the project. Overall, I'm very cautious with my work and I like to take my time. I don't want to rush through something and have it come out the opposite of the way I wanted it too. Every piece means something to me, and if I can't do the best of my ability on it, then I don't want to do it at all.

Motivation- 

Once I come up with an idea for a project, I am usually pretty excited on it. Working on something and getting deeper and deeper into the ideas and the process keeps me really interested in what I am working on. The best is when I am working on something and love the way that it is coming out. It makes me super motivated to continue working so I can finish and share what I have created with others.

To keep myself motivated I try to always be working on something. It can be a project for school, just a sketch in my sketchbook, or even just doing some free writing/poetry. There are a lot of inspiring and motivating ideas out in the world. For me, just reading a book or a simple poem can be motivating. Seeing other people's work and success is also a motivation factor for me. I want to be successful in my art and in what I am doing in life, and seeing other people's success is very motivating.

Reading-

I really enjoy reading poems and books. Some people just have a way with words that inspires me and motivates me to create. For me, reading helps me stay inspired and motivated. There is nothing like a good book that you just can't put down. Especially one where you want to highlight and underline a bunch of different lines that mean something to you. It is hard for me to read a book without doing that.

I have had poems inspire some of my work as well. There is something so amazing about connecting words to a visual, and even the other way around. Reading can also be a huge part of research for me. With my work about the body, I love looking at anatomy books. Reading and doing research is so important with a topic like that because there are a lot of things that need to be done anatomically correct.

Most Inspiring Person-  


I would have to say that my most inspiring person is actually my high school ceramics teacher. One of the reasons why I want to be an art teacher, is to be that person in someone's life that helps them achieve their goals and dreams. I want a student to look back on their high school years and say that I was a teacher that helped them get to where they are today. I can truly and honestly say that about my ceramics teacher.

She helped me realize that art was something that I loved and wanted to do later on in my life. While ceramics was never my favorite thing, she made me love it. In the years that I have known her, she has started a family, expanded her own artwork, and continued to help teach kids everyday. She is a huge inspiration because not only is she a great art teacher, but she continues to focus on her own artwork. She has participated in many many art shows and is making another career out of doing what she loves. I can only hope that when I become and art teacher, my work on the side will be just as successful as hers.  I am still very good friends with her today and if I have students that still come back to visit and work with me, like I do with her, I think all the work I put into teaching will have paid off.

Ken Robinson- "Schools Kill Creativity"

Ken Robinson talks about how kids today get educated out of creativity. Creativity is such an important part of the mind. I think that any art student, or really any student can back up that statement. One quote that he says is how "everyone is born an artist, but the trick is not growing out of it as we get older". A lot of students get "educated" out of their creativity because they do not get as much schooling in the arts as other subjects such as math or science. He makes a good point about how arts are always put at the bottom in almost every education system in the world. Why not teach dance as much as math? What makes math more important than dance?

In reality, all subjects should be integrated easier because when you think about it, they all involve some sort of creativity--not just the arts. Math, english, and even science are also used in art. I think that schools need to encourage kids to be more creative no matter what the subject is. If every child is born an artist, that creativity is something that should be expanded upon, not something to be taken away from. Ken really tries to get this point across in his lecture. There needs to be some sort of balance between education and creativity and that is something more schools should focus on.