College Art

Guess who's taking Drawing I in college!! This girl is! :) I know I haven't posted in a while so, sorry about that. This drawing class is very fast paced, or at least a lot more fast paced then I was expecting. But so far I really like it. We've turned in two assignments already! The first one was an "eggscape," that is a landscape made out of eggs. It was definitely different from anything I've ever done. I also used a really big piece of paper, which was really hard, because well eggs are small. And also I've never worked that big before. Another hard part about this project was that we used charcoal, which I've never used before.

I'm not a huge fan of this piece, except for my deeper meaning behind it. I always liked how eggs had shells to protect them, and so I used that in my piece. There are two eggs in the foreground of this piece. They are isolating the other egg, and breaking it down. The egg in the background's protection is breaking. To me the piece is about bullying, and how isolation can feel. I hope you like it!

The second project we did this year focused on negative space. I really enjoyed this project, because we had to start out taking pictures, which gave me the opportunity to play around with my camera, which I loveeee to do. :) We used pencil for this project which I'm a whole lot more comfortable with.

I chose the top picture to draw. It doesn't have a deeper meaning like the eggs, but I love how it turned out!

Can you even here me??

 Yes, I know I spelled hear the wrong way in the title! But I did it on purpose. Well actually to tell you the truth it was more of a Freudian slip (psych class word!!!). In my top drawing you can probably see that I have the wrong hear as well. That was me being an idiot. But when I finally realized my mistake, I liked it. It seems like that simple question is becoming more complex. Can you hear me?  Do you even know that I'm here? Do I matter to you at all?

These two drawings are based off the same theme. I drew the one on bottom first, but decided that it would be deeper if you only saw the lips. The premise of these drawings is that a lot of times I feel ignored. Mainly because when I talk people stop listening. They tune me out, or start talking to someone else, or sometimes even walk away. I even had a friend once who would tell me "I'm not listening anymore." As you can imagine, this made me feel very unimportant. Which is a very hard thing to feel.  Not in the sense that its a lot of work, but in the sense that it takes a toll on you. It's depressing is basically what I'm trying to say.

Build Bridges Not Walls!

"I'm beginning to think walls are a very unhealthy thing...."

"Walls to keep the sadness out also keep out the joy...."

Many people build walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to break them down. I am coming forward now, and admitting that I am one of those people. I built a wall around my mind so high, I thought it would never fall. But now brick by brick its coming down. The problem is if you build your walls without any support, the higher they get, the less sturdy they become. And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love...(guess the song).

Anyway this is a picture of my brain behind a wall. As you can see, there is someone at the wall. I haven't decided if he/she is knocking or waving yet, so I'll let you decide. Either way this person is trying to get my attention. It is often thought that people will keep building walls even after someone tries to break them down. We get scared of getting hurt, or hurting somebody else. But the thing is. We have to at least try to break down these walls, and let people in. Because if we don't, people will become tired of trying to break down the walls people will begin to give up and walk away.

So in the wise words of Joseph Campbell "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you, where there were once only walls."

Warnings

Warning

Images in this Mirror may be distorted by socially constructed ideas of "Beauty." 


This piece of art was inspired by Ms. Kiick's Art x3= U project.  Unfortunately I did not have any partners in crime to help me with this project, like the kids in her class. However I was only able to answer questions #1. I do not consider this piece of work complete, as if i had more supplies I would like to add more to it.

In the first question that I answered, Ms. Kiick asks: "How does the media influence what we do or who we become?" Personally, I believe that the media has a very strong affect on people, even at a very young age. The best advertisements determine which product you chose; a kids favorite actor/actress becomes their role model; and the appearance of celebrities become a young persons obsession to be just like them. I use generic terms, because unlike what most people think girls are not the only people effected by the need to look "beautiful." Boys also struggle with the way they look. This is something I've struggled with, looking at the people in magazines and on tv and thinking that I wish I could be that pretty or skinny. That being said, when I think of how the media influences who we become I think of the many girls and boys out there who try so hard to become like their idols. Therefore the silhouette in the mirror could be anyone. A girl, boy, kid, adult, famous or not. Everyone is influenced by the media, even those in it.

X-rays and Band-Aids

On facebook I was asked to make a status with 9 facts about me (I still haven't done that yet...oops). First I thought I would post it on here. So here it goes:
1) I was a competitive gymnast for eight years.
2) I have been swimming on a team since I was seven.
3) I will never turn down chocolate, unless it has nuts or something icky in it.
4) I love hugs, but I hate kissing.
5) This year is my first year in college at Lebanon Valley
6) I always wear matching socks, mismatching socks make me anxious
7) When I was little I slept in my closet for three months because I wanted to live in a cave like a bear.
8) My favorite song is Marchin On by OneRepublic
9) I spent three months in a back brace

Fact #9 also happens to be my inspiration for this next drawing. I had a back injury for two years. But now it's starting to come back :( so I drew this. Enjoy:

Not broken, just cracked

Hello world! After a bit of a respit I've been making some art again. Well a lot of it actually. But for now I want to start with this one piece of art that I made. Last year Ms. Kiick helped me to learn that just because you are cracked it does not mean you can't still be whole. She taught me that there is a certain kind of wholeness to being broken; that you must accept yourself for who and what you are before you can truly love yourself. Loving myself has been a struggle for me, especially in the past year. I've felt very broken at times; more broken than I would have ever wanted to feel. Sometimes I still feel broken, but everyone does. I realized I am not the only one who is broken. I also realized, with the help of my fevorite author, John Green, that we are not broken, we are cracked and that is how we see one another. So here it is: "Not Broken Just Cracked." Can you see it?

~Marchin On~

"We put one foot in front of the other, we move like we ain't got no other, we go where we go we're marchin' on."


Wow I can't believe Senior year is already over. In just 8 days I'll be graduating. Wow. This year has certainly been an eventful one. I honestly don't know what I would have done without art class. School in general not a place I particularly wanted to be, but I could have stayed in art class all day.  Art was and will continue to be my place of complete honesty. In Ms. Kiick's classroom I could really be who I wanted to be. I even let my bad moods show through.  My art often reflected my moods, and honestly I love how they turned out. So although life itself was a bit stormy this year, I don't think I could have had a better art class. So I want to take the time to say thanks to everyone who helped me through these past four years, and to Ms. Kiick for always being understanding, motivating, and helpful in every way possible. I will truly miss this class in college.