​Over the course of Art 4 I have had the freedom to discover new stylistic techniques and habits. I have experimented with canvas, drawing utensils, coloration, themes, and different forms of subject matter. This year I focused more on my technical abilities rather than solely focusing on the conceptual meanings behind my pieces, sometimes there were none. The mindset that I had was that in order for me to achieve a more sophisticated level of art making I must first have a good set of skills in order for conceptual meanings to be clearly portrayed. Throughout the year I investigated subjects regarding the influence and power of technology, my personal experiences with dreams, and the loss of innocence.   The process of turning my ideas into real works is fairly simple. I start with a simple idea, I then brainstorm and develop it, and then starting painting or drawing. I sometimes sketch out what I want the piece to look like but I generally just start and see where I go with my ideas.
                I think that my investment into becoming a better artist is more mental than physical. I’ve become more willing to discover ideas without the barriers of insecurity and a fear of judgment. I’m willing to overcome my setbacks in order to better my creative work.
                If I could re-live this past year as an art student there would be a lot that I would do differently. I would initially put more focus on productivity and the type and amount of work that I am making. I would set more goals for myself as an artist and I would not allow my fear of judgment silence my voice. I would experiment more with different ways of thinking that do not follow trends but instead come from a genuine thought.
                What I am proud of most from the last two years is the way my work has evolved. I’m not anywhere close to where I want to be regarding works but I can see it becoming easier for me to visualize pieces and make them the way I want to.
So far the most memorable experience from my time at DRHSART is when our class was brainstorming together how we can change the dynamic in our classroom in order to breed more creativity and comfort. The reason this memory sticks out to me is because it was a moment when everyone displayed their eagerness for an environment for our class and future classes to have a more welcoming energy. Everyone conveyed passion and that moment in itself inspired me to work harder in the future.
The advice that I would give to future students of this program would be very basic. I would tell the students that in order to benefit from this program you have to be willing to put in the effort and let go of your fears and prior systems of thinking. Take this class as seriously as you would any other course in school because it will benefit you whether you see it immediately or not. Take advantage of your resources, the creative environment filled with your peers and teachers, diligently work and you’ll see progress, and most importantly don’t be afraid to speak up. 

1. While doing this project i learned the importance of design. I learned how to arrange my work and make it cleaner and more precise. 
2. If this project were to be assigned again in the future i think it would be more interesting if students were allowed to research and explore designers of their own choosing. 
3. When we were first assigned this project i wasn't very excited to start because design always seemed constricting and simple to me but throughout our discussions in class i learned how you can make any piece more appealing to the eye through the basic principles of design. 
4. If i could re-work the image i created i would make the image have more contrast and make it a little more clear. I'd spend more time on the typography to make sure it all lined up. 

My three-pieced art series was created in a spontaneous sort of way. I didn't have an idea of what i wanted to do but i saw a picture online and i was inspired to paint it. And from then on the concept behind it came to me naturally. So for the first piece which is a  painting of a girl who is covering herself with her sweater visually represents insecurity of femininity. To people feminine things can be looked
upon as gentle, soft, not aggressive, light, inferior, and weak. There's a stigma with femininity that says that someone who is feminine cannot be bold, strong, or have the capability to uphold themselves. On the other hand, females who aren't as feminine can be ostracized from society.They don't fit into gender roles and they're looked upon as being too confident, full of themselves, and egocentric. 
Soceity doesn't want you to be to bold but if you fit into their definition of acting as a female should you're suddendly weak and  inferior. So with piece i wanted to show how these stigmas affect all females. 
      The next piece is a photograph. I wanted to make sure that this summer i tried working with different types of medias so that i could gain experience and find what i am passionate about. My brother has dabbled a bit with photography so he helped me to visually  represent what insecurity feels like. I want my viewers to look at this and be able to connect with it. Everyone has dealt with insecurity
whether it's about physical appearance, their way of living life, the things which they create,their intelligence,or basically anything  that makes up a person. I didn't want this photograph to specify what the person in the photograph is personally insecure about. I wanted
it to be open to interpretation. I want to allow anyone to look at this photograph and think,i understand this, i know this feels like. 
      The last piece is very personal to me. I think that a person can go on living throughout life creating things, writing, working, without a meaning, without a purpose. You can create beautiful things that have no worth. You can live a beautiful life without it having  any worth, any meaning. So i struggle with the thought that the art, the writing, the music that i make, the life that i am living is worthless. It doesn't mean that i am worthless it just means that i have't found my mission and my purpose. I think a lot of people struggle with this throughout their lives but some people don't think about it and they carry on living without purpose. Their body is just a  vessel that has no other purpose other than to just carry the body. In this piece i wanted to express this empty vessel. In the end, all people are the same. We're just skeletons, just bodies. What distinguishes us humans from animals is our intellect, our ability to think 
and grow. But when a person lives without purpose they become animals only living on instinct and needs. 

`I think this project was assigned to us as a creative challenge because it allowed us to get rid of our anxiety in starting a piece of work, and instead just start. When everyone first started we were really confused and felt like we weren't getting enough information to start the project. (When we obviously had all the information we needed.) It was because we were not used to doing a non-objective piece, we were so used to having a specific objective. Teachers say paint something relating to politics or draw a realistic self-portrait. Now, we were put on the front lines by being told to just do it. At first I was working too thin, I didn't know what I had to put on the piece of glass to complete this assignment. As the time went along, I started to get the hang of it and I’d add textures, splatter paint, and layer my work. I think I enjoyed learning how to master some techniques and allow my hands to make something beautiful without knowing what I was doing.

                I loved this project because I learned so many things during the process. I learned how to successfully splatter paint, texture, layer, and print. During this project I learned how to not be afraid of thickening my layers and adding texture. The cool thing about printmaking is that you start off with an image on your glass but on paper it could be completely different than how you imagined it. This is why when you add contrast with your layers, colors, and thickness you get a bold image. The printmaking process itself was very simple and allowed to have a glimpse of what professional printmaking can be.

                I think in the amount of time I was given I improved a lot, but there is always room for more improvement. I would really like to improve on my dripping skills. Even though, I became a lot better during this process I wish they would flow more and look more natural. I also want to mix my colors and give a sort of cloudy effect on it. In general, I want to experiment more with printmaking.  Overall, I really enjoyed working on this assignment. It allowed me to experiment with my painting and learn many techniques. It also allowed me to be freer when working on my pieces. 

      I think there are several reasons why Mrs. Guyer assigned us the "In Our Time Project." I think that this project allowed us to learn a lot about the creation of any piece of art. When working on this project we had to learn to stay in the lines. We had to know what nice craftsmanship is. We had to learn to be neat, detailed, and efficient at the same time. I think we also learned that it is important to have meaning in your work. We also learned how to use Photoshop during this project, because technology is a great tool to incorporate in your projects. 
    I got to experience the creative process in a different manner.  I got to work with a group on brainstorming, and we built off of each others ideas. I also learned how to incorporate an artists style in my piece. I got to know Photoshop better which allowed me to have an easier time with painting. When painting, i learned that sometimes brushes can completely change your experience. It's hard to paint very geometric images with a bad paintbrush. 
     If i had more time i think i could have taken more time with my painting. I wish i would have bought finer brushes so that i could really make everything look more "complete." I wish i would have taken more time overall to complete every piece of the painting. I really needed to improve some small problem areas. I also would have liked using a different method to transfer my image. I had some wrinkled spots on my piece and i felt like it made it look poorly done.  I think that time and some of the materials i used made my experience a bit harder than it should have been, but if i redid  it i think i would have done a lot better. 
     

      As soon as you come into the gallery you get a mix of emotion. The first thing that catches your eyes is the hanging origami cranes above you. Then you take a look around and you see these large gleeful cartoons surrounding all of the work. It's quite fascinating how all the artwork in this gallery incorporates imagination of the mind, in seeing a different world.  All the artists are imaginative and have thoughts running through their minds of "other worlds." They show this through all of their pieces and you get to experience the feel of these "worlds" in this gallery. 
   Joanna Gray, Alex Turner, and Jinny King all have their work showing in the gallery. If you take a glimpse of Johanna Gray's work you can see she has a love for drawing and painting people. She makes her work pop with experimentation of color. She has many self-portraits which are really great to look at but one that stood out was the one in which she incorporates colored pencils with painting. Then, Jinny King is an artist which loves to work with experimentation of detail. She has pieces of great detail and other pieces that only use enough detail to get a small understanding of what the objects are. I think an outstanding piece with much detail is "One Step Back," it also shows a lot of expressionism. She uses a lot of expression in her work, a lot of it obviously has some sort of meaning behind it. She has deep meanings in some of her pieces but in others you get to see her really open up and have fun. You get a sort of fairy-tale feel where you feel like a kid again. On the other hand, Alex Turner's work is a bit darker than the other two artist's. His work show's the world he sees in his mind. Unlike our world, he sees his world as hazy and "in slow motion." All his work has a tending "sad" theme in it. You can stare at his photos for hours and still be confused. He doesn't always have a meaning behind his work,and this causes you to use your experiences in life to find a meaning for his photographs. One of his photos that made me stand and stare for a while was "American Beauty l." You see a flowery bush but a sort of ghostly girl in the picture. I never found a meaning to this but there is some element he put in it which catches your gaze. 
   Overall, this gallery is quite successful in how it incorporates the sadness and happiness in our minds. Once you walk through this whole gallery you don't exactly know how to feel. There's a happy and light vibe that is everywhere and is a big theme in this gallery. Then,  Alex Turner's work allows you to go into the darkness of your soul where you don't visit often. You start to feel the dullness and kind of pain that he incorporates. I think it is amazing how this gallery can make you visit so many "worlds" and different parts of your mind that you start to forget about. Lastly, I would like to end this blog with two quotes. The first is Alex Turner's, "My work should serve as an escape from the so-called real world." The second is from Jinny King, " Art is my friend, my listener where I tell all my secrets and tales that no one will be willing to listen to. Ever."