My Plan

For the rest of this week, until everything is due, I am working at Beaver and at home. At home, I have made stencils. I printed out pictures from the stereotypical 1950's housewife, and cut them out. I am also using issues concerning sexism, for example woman being shown in provocative and degrading ways in vintage advertisements. I will use different spray paints and regular paints to accent different parts of the pieces. I will make two pieces there, and here I am working on posters that I am drawing using marker with similar themes. I am a little worried about the pieces that I am drawing, but I am doing my best to complete the vision that I intended to complete.

In the end, I should have at least 5 pieces (and possibly more, if I do not mess up or if I decide I like everything)

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As this week has gone by, I ended up creating 6 pieces. three of them are 24 X30 and the three others are 12 X 12. I altered my idea, and made stencils and used spray paint to create a different affect. the three large ones are one series, and the three small ones are one series, but they connect with similar themes so the do not need to be separated.

here are three layouts, each one works fine for th gallery, which ever one takes up the least amount of space (take not that the picture is backwards because I used my computer for it instead of an actual camera)

Also, the three small pieces, the 12 X 12s, need to be in a certain order, they work together as if they were one piece.

Response to Field Trip

The field trip to the galleries in Boston was a really fun and educational experience. It was really interesting to see the different styles of the artists, and what type of work that the galleries were displaying.

My Favorite pieces were the paintings that were very textured from using layers of oil paints. The colors and the way the paint was used made it look like it was an over used palate. other favorite pieces were the photographs of very detailed dioramas. They had the look of abandonment, one of a laundromat and the other inside a huge building. The only aspects that gave the pieces away as being a diorama was the fact that some objects inside it were disproportionate to the proper scale, meaning it was not an actual place but made specifically for the art piece. the pieces were fascinating, with mini shopping carts, chairs, plants, washing machines and more.

I really enjoy looking at art, I like to see what other artists are doing besides myself. I especially like to see what gallery owners like, and what they place in their galleries. I think that more art classes should be taken to Boston, part of an artists education should come from viewing galleries outside their school galleries and student work.

Overall, all the galleries were impressive (and even the vintage shop, which I couldn't resist walking in first, sorry) and I am very happy that we went.

My Thoughts On Senior Studio

Senior Studio is the first art class that I have been able to do my own thing. Although structured classes have been helpful, and really improved my skills in certain areas, having a class about producing work is very useful, especially because I will be attending art school for college. I need to have experience being on my own, and although college classes will be structured, the sense of being on your own in this senior studio class prepares me because I will be much more on my own in college. It is also important as I become an artist to realize that when I get out of college I need to find the inspiration to create work on my own. It will be trying to make a living, and therefore this class is a very minor version of what that will be like especially because I am producing my own work and own ideas without an assigned project.

My goal in this class is not necessarily produce as much work as possible, but to get a good educational experience out of the time that is given. I may not end up with a lot of pieces, but it will still be a learning process and important to my studies. I will be content with what ever I end up with because I realize that I have worked hard and sometimes that ends up meaning creating fewer pieces.

Reflections Over the Term

Week 1-2: I had a rough start to Senior Studio. Because I had joined a week and a half into the term, I was stressed about catching up. Experimenting with different projects was what I had originally liked to do for the first week and a half, but because I had missed that period of time, I did not have as much time to brainstorm and come up with solid projects. As the week before break came, I was a little stressed on what I would end up doing. However, I gave myself time over break to help brainstorm for the time that I had lost the first week of class

week 3: After break, I started an oil painting which I was worried about creating. I have been oil painting for two years now, and I thought that I might not have the same enthusiasm and inspiration. I found it hard to paint, but I kept at it for a week to see if I could come out of my procrastinating stage. Now, I am still working on it, although I started another project so that I can go back and forth, and not get too frustrated with one piece for too long.

week 4: For my Parsons Challenge (the extra three pieces for portfolios) I had come up with an Idea about taking every day items or necessities and questioning their need. I drew them out simply, and put a word with a question mark at the end, questioning their every day use. For example, I drew a lip stick tube and wrote "BEAUTY?" at the bottom. I had been inspired by a project that I had completed for Installation Art as a junior, but this time drew the objects. I came up with another branch of that project for Senior Studio. However, this time I used the theme of stereotypical 50's housewives, feminism, sexism, gender, and male 'dominance'. there is a poster aspect to the design, they are supposed to be simple, and to the point. I am currently working on a piece that has a 50's housewife in a blue, frilled apron, looking at a broom with the work "TYPICAL?" under it. I have recently become interested in feminism, and think that it is important to show my beliefs through my art, I want my artwork to be a message. I have been inspired by Luba Lukova and Kara Walker who send messages and present significant world issues through their art. Two more will follow that "TYPICAL?" piece, to create a series of three.

In the last few weeks, I hope to make a few series of these poster like drawings, highlighting important issues that are relevant to modern and historic culture.

Articles about the "Boston art scene"

Over the past year, many galleries have been closing. It is upsetting to the regulars who visit there, however many of the artists and gallery owners thing that it is best to draw out before finances get rough. I think that there has been a relatively big shift in the art scene of Boston. Many artists and galleries have not been able to promote or advertise their work as much because they need to cut back on costs. Many artists have been decreasing the amount of work displayed, or others are trying to continue to sell work. Artists have been switching galleries, shows have been moving to other states, and the art fairs are getting more and more artists wishing to display their work.

These changes could affect the art world because with less galleries and less art, not only does the artist find himself or herself not getting enough money, but there is less of a promotional aspect of the art world throughout Boston.

I have been to art galleries, I love them. I love them because they all have a distinct style, and are very cheery. It is almost better than a museum, because the paintings, sculptures, and installations, are not just hung one after another, spacing the work is almost another art. In my opinion, its breathtaking and satisfying to go inside a gallery and see an artists work all finished off inside frames. Galleries show that there is appreciation for art in the world that is not necessarily from famous Italian, French, and Spanish artists from the 17th and 18th century.

Surviving The Critique

A critique is all about constructive criticism. In the classroom, students need to respect others work, and realize that not everyone will like certain pieces. It is important to be able to see the strong aspects of a piece of work, as well as aspects of a piece a student can work on. In other words, a comment like this is valuable: "Although your brushstrokes are strong and really develop a sense of personal style be careful to define the edges of the pear so that it pops our from the background" instead of "the pear sucks, paint over it with a better one." Another important part of a critique is to lean from mistakes. If a teacher, or a critique does not like a piece of work, getting defensive is not the right thing to do. Take advantage of the advise, because more often than not it will help a person become a better artist.

When people critique my work, I listen carefully to people's opinions. Although some may contradict, it is valuable to understand where everyone's opinion comes from, and then choose which advise is best to improve my piece of work.

I can be a helpful participant in my classmates critique by not giving vague advice, or avoid giving good advise by saying its overall a good piece. I would highlight the good aspects of a piece, as well as suggest a few places that might need improvement.

Scratching, by Twyla Tharp

To Twyla Tharp, Scratching is to come up with the foundations of a piece of work, to find ideas that launch her pieces though studying others, to improvise. Through looking through everything she has, Twyla scratches ideas. The ideas and methods that I see myself using from Twyla Tharp are looking at my surrounding, and what I already have, to create an art piece. I have already done a little "scratching" before, however I just call it brainstorming (from lack of a better term). In the studio, scratching would be to look at the people around you, see how they are working, and individually look through your own work, own space, own organization and gather ideas from the way you use your space. Assuming that studios are usually messy (and usually they are) it is safe to think that there will be a lot of mess, and paint, and clay, and cardboard or whatever materials you work with. taking the mess and using it it an advantage, because any of that "mess" can create ideas, or how Twyla calls it, Scratching.

Alternating Exhibition Formats Responce

The artist that I found most interesting in this presentation was Christo. I really liked how he used simple materials, cloth, to make a magnificent piece of artwork. The Gates and the Valley Curtain were very powerful installations through their size, color and layout. I am not going to be creating anything like the work that Christo has done, but the idea of simplicity is a very interesting concept. To be able to make a piece of art that is simple but magnificent at the same time is a challenge to accomplish, and a challenge that I want to experiment in Senior Studio. Chisto uses simplicity in a few ways; In construction, and in the product. Yes, it is hard to put pieces together that are either massive in size, or massive in quantiy, but the general idea and general process of construction is simple. As an artist, I wish to work with art that is simplistic, and I hope to play with that concept in Senior Studio.

Another thing that is interesting about Christo, is that he is using fabric. I have a love for fabric, and his work inspires me to use fabric in my art pieces. whether I use the fabric for draping, painting or cutting, Fabric is interesting to play around with and that is a material that I would want to test in Senior Studio (that is, other than when making garments and costumes).

Notes from Alternat Exhebition Formats Powerpoint (sorry for any misspelling!)

Week 2.

This was supposed to be a response that leaded in to the second week of Senior Studio. I was supposed to talk about my accomplishments for the first week of class. I was not available for the first week, However I can talk about my first few days of the second week of class. Coming in to class, I was not sure what to expect. I was a little overwhelmed with the idea of having no assigned projects, "what will i do, there are so many options" was my first thought. However overwhelming the idea is, i love it. I spent the first few days of my time in Senior Studio experimenting, and brainstorming for possible projects that I might make over the short term. I came up with an idea of doing some abstract painting, as opposed to my usual interest to still lifes. That would fit with my goal of challenging myself outside my normal comfort level. For my first week, I did not get much done, however over break I plan to brainstorm more so that I am fully prepared the Monday class starts back up again.

Art & Fear

Art & Fear by David Bayels and Ted Orland

There are a few quotes that stood out as i read this article. The first one that caught my attention was about talent. "There is probably no clearer waste of psychic energy than worrying about how much talent you have--and probably no worry more common. that is true even among artists of considerable accomplishment."

I have had problems throughout the years concerning if I had enough talent as an artist. I would get discouraged if i got stuck, or was having a hard time accomplishing something. At one point I was worried if I would even get in to college. I would come to such blanks when making my portfolio, that I was worried that I had no actual talent at all. I learned that worrying and procrastinating about it was the worst thing to do, and that just attempting was better than nothing.

Another quote that I found interesting in the article Art & Fear was on perfection. "The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. all those on the left side of the studio, he said would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality...Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works with highest quality were produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work--and learning from their mistakes--the "quality" group sat theorizing about perfection, and int he end had little more to show or their efforts than grandiose theories and and a pile of dead clay"

I love this quote because it proves a very good point. Every good artist wants perfection in their work. However, rarely comes the time where they will get it on their first time. This used to happen to me every time I would want a perfect oil painting. I would get frustrated because I wanted pefection, when really I should not have been over analyzing anything. However, a very similar instance with that Ceramics class happened to me recently, in Sculpure class. I had to make a bunch of mini books for a project. The first books were the worst looking things I had ever seen. If I had originally tried to make only one, that was perfect, I have a feeling that would not have happened. However, after I had made the 10th mini book, the quality had improved incredibly.

A third quote that spoke to me was in the section "Expectations." "Conversely, expectations based on the work itself are the most useful took the artist possesses. What you need to know about the next piece is contained in the last piece. The place to learn about yuou r materials is in the last use of you rmaterials. The place to learb about uour execution is in your execution. The best information about what you love is in your last contact with what you love. Put simply, your work is your guide: complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work. There is noother such book, and it is yours alone."

I agree with this quote, and I am a big believer of learning from mistakes. My favorite part of that quote, although a little cheesy, is when it says that artwork is your own reference book. That idea is a good way to think about past pieces, and I have had that happen to me through my painting. Over the past year, I had been unsatisfyed with some of my paintings. As I was trying to figure out how to improve my paintings, I realized from my previous paintings that I needed to be more loose and not worry so much about detail and perfection. My teacher in France helped me realize that as I was getting scared to loosen up and really experiment. I got so frustrated with my paintings, and then all a sudden I had a "lightbulb" moment as I decided to trust myself and be loose with my brushstrokes. In the end, there was a huge difference between my paintings from my junior year at Beaver than over the summer, and the fall of senior year. My Junior paintings helped me learn from my mistakes and it has made me a better artist.

The Artists Studio

Answering Questions:
What types of things do you see in more that one artist's space?
Why do you think these things appear in so many different artists' studios?

In an artist's space, you often see work in progress, finished work, sketches and sketchbooks, and materials that make up final products (or that help a piece along the way). An artist is an artist, and no matter what kind of art they make, all artists have tools, ladders, brooms, work tables, art pieces, sketchbooks or planning books, canvases, paper, paintbrushes, pencils and pens, charcoal, scissors, pallet knives, wood, cardboard, paint, clay, and much more. Those things are what make them an artist. Everything that is in an artist's studio appear in so many studios because they define the work that the artists do. On top of that, these 'things' are used to make art pieces or have some sort of significant involvement with the pieces that each artist works on. the items are in an artists studio because they are the "necessities" that are used in the process of making art and the final product.

Brainstorm

Artists At Work: Workspaces and Processes

How do artists develop spaces and methods for making their most authentic work as part of a daily artistic practice?

These artists step out of the usual norm of what people expect an artist to be. Carrie Pollack said that she needs to go out and find her source materials, and cannot always do everything inside her studio. She lets her surroundings inspire her, with a daily walk outside. Hamlett Dobbins said that he does not let the space affect his work, and that no matter where he is; it’s about the work itself, the content, and not the environment that he is working in. Many artists to choose to religiously work in their studio days on end, However these artists prefer to work in their studios only when they think it is necessary. Another important aspect to artists that Dobbins brings up is that artists need to pay attention to whoever they are with in the studio, complete ignorance of people there is not a good think because they miss sentimental moments. It is not like that point is going to inspire me to just leave my work and socialize, but its important to see what other people are doing, and what they are working on. Certain people are messy, and no matter what, while they are working, they create a mess. That is common, and often if artists stop what he or she’s doing to clean, it often stops that spark of inspiration that is keeping them going. Those few methods, to me, are how artists develop methods to keep their work the most authentic and as a daily artistic practice, and to keep producing their work. If an artist over analyzes everything, tries to be spotless, becomes so self oriented though their work, and does not take the time to have a breather outside, they will get frustrated and progress know where. These spaces are what develops and artists, whether it is being outside or creating a mess in their studio, its what motivates them to produce their work.