Art Show

This is my last post of the semester, but our ART SHOW is coming up and I am so very excited! I have three pieces that are going to be in the show: my suitcase, my wooden boards, and my plexiglass frame. They all focus on the same central idea: text. I finally named my pieces. The suitcase is named "Thoughts on Travel", the wooden boards are "Unforgettable" and the plexiglass frame is "Christmas Memories". I am really excited to see how the audience reacts to all of these because they are all so different, yet very much the same. They are all focusing on different memories and thoughts, but they are all a way for me to get my thoughts out of my head and to be able to share them with others.

That's A Wrap!

I am officially finished with my work for this semester and couldn't be happier. I have been focusing on the same central idea for a year now and that is working with text and using text to express myself in a bit of a discreet way. I enjoy making work that does not completely reveal everything about myself or my whole story. I love using text to express myself because I enjoy writing. It's fun to be able to write down everything I have always wanted to say but could never say out loud. It brings me a sense of relief and satisfaction. I enjoy documenting memories in my art work and sharing them with others.

Artist Watch

This week, I was researching for an artist to blog about that related to me and my work. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I've never blogged about an artist before like I am supposed to be doing(whoops). But, it's mainly because I have never really been able to find one to relate to. Well, I am so happy to finally say that I found one when I came across Donna Rumble-Smith. I have found my woman, people! Woohoo!!! Okay, anyways. Donna Rumble-Smith is an artist who works with text. This text "makes up handwritten letters, poems, stories, and thoughts of the past, present, and future." Her work tends to "capture special moments and reflections of conversations which are personal and intimate." My favorite thing about her work is that her work is often inspired by ramblings of opinions and life's wonders and annoyances. This has all been used in my work and I believe that my work relates to this because I use text in my work, but I also like to use excerpts of my favorite memories and ramblings of my opinions about certain things in my life.

New Project

I am going to be starting a new project for next semester. I don't know if this new project will be done in time for the winter show, but I can try. I am not sure what I want to do yet. For my last project I used text to represent my memories. I absolutely love to tell others about myself in indirect ways. For example, in my last project I was able to show everyone one of my favorite parts of life, but I carved into plexiglass and made it kind of difficult to see. I liked this because it gives it a secretive vibe. I enjoy opening up to others about my life, but at other times not so much. I think that for this next project I may want to do the same type of thing, except focus on another memory besides Christmas. Maybe another holiday, or maybe just another family tradition. I am still trying to decide what memory I may focus on, but I will decide in time. I love producing work that is personal because I feel like I can get things out of my head, even if they are absolutely crazy. And, if they're crazy enough, I can just make it more discreet!

Complete

I'm very happy because I have finished my Christmas project! I finished painting the frame to go around my plexiglass. I painted it a dark red because I feel that a darker red is more Christmas-like. It gives it a warmer feeling, as do the memories, so it kind of all goes together. The words carved into the plexiglass were originally supposed to look nice and orderly(because yes, I am that type of person) but I found that the more I carved the more it went in a downward direction and started to slant a little. I was a little upset at first, but then I realized that it made it more personal and more humane, because it is just human nature for us to write in an un-orderly way. I also think that the words are supposed to look like someone wrote them and that is why I chose to write in cursive. I think that cursive handwriting portrays jumbled thoughts and memories more than if it were written in manuscript. I am most likely going to display this project on a white wall for the winter art show coming up in December. I want it to be visible, so I am going to have a string of colorful Christmas lights under or around the frame to give it more of a Christmasy feel and to make the words visible. I'm so happy about this project and am extremely satisfied, because I can't wait to share a huge part(and one of my very favorite parts) of my life with my friends and family.

Christmas Project

I have officially started working on my Christmas Memory project! I am starting to carve my memories into the plexiglass with a sharp object. I am continuing with the cursive handwriting because I believe that it makes it look more jumbled together like thoughts are supposed to be. I am also currently painting the frame that is going to go around it. I am painting it a dark red because it gives it a Christmasy feel. I am going to be adding soft coats of paint to it every day until it is finished. Here are some pictures of what I have done so far:

New Work, Same Idea

I have finished my suitcase piece and am very happy with the way it has turned out. Since I have finished the suitcase project I am now ready to move on to something else. I have decided the central idea for the next project and it is going to be something that I love very very much: CHRISTMAS! I have always had a passion for the Christmas season and am going to be interpreting that into my next project. One of my favorite Christmas memories is the special bond between my grandmother and I. We both enjoy decorating her house with all of her vintage decorations and love to bake and make hot chocolate during our breaks. Since I loved being able to express my feelings through text on my last project, I am going to be doing the same thing with this project except with feelings about favorite Christmas memories that I am passionate about. I have not yet decided what media I am going to be using but I will keep y'all updated as I figure that out!

Suitcase

Hello! Yay another year of super duper ART! I am so excited to be starting a new project and will be posting updates about it weekly. I have decided to take one of my absolute favorite suitcases that I worked with my freshman year and make it my canvas for this next project! I love love love words and writing/painting them, which is why this project is centered around text. I am using the central idea of travel and putting into words how a person may feel about a journey to a new place on the outside of the suitcase, and then I am going to be putting feelings that may come after a trip inside the suitcase. I am going to be using calm/cool colors such as blue and purple on the outside and I will be using warmer colors such as orange and red on the inside. I already love this project because I feel like I can speak my mind indirectly, which is something I love and tend to do in most of my projects. The words I put on this suitcase are either directly from my mind and/or worded by me, or they are just quotes from music or Pinterest that relate to traveling.

Objective

This blog focuses on the development of my central idea which is using text in my work in a variety of formats.

I have really enjoyed blogging this semester! I feel like I have really discovered who I am as a person and it's been so much fun to be able to express myself through the text in my artwork. I feel like in away this has been an escape for me because I feel like there is no judgment when it comes to artwork. I feel like I can be my complete self and express myself and my feelings and the situations that I have been going through in my art and that isn't something that I am comfortable doing directly. My favorite part about this journey of using text to express myself in art is that I get to choose what I want to say and whether or not what I say is easily understood to the audience. I think that blogging about this has been a great way to be able to explain to others what my work is about and the central idea behind my work as a series.

I have started on the project that I mentioned in the previous post about Puerto Rico. I am currently sketching out the teen center building. I think I forgot to mention that this trip was a music mission trip. We prepared and sang several different songs for the trip and shared the gospel through music with everyone that we encountered there. I am going to be writing in the lyrics to the songs that we sang in all of the blank space that I have in the building. I'm going to paint the building after I write out all of the lyrics with a watercolor purple, because the building is actually purple! I'm very excited about this because I love expressing myself in my art and I am excited to express the joy I experienced in Puerto Rico.

This spring break I took a mission trip to Puerto Rico with my church. I took over a hundred pictures of the buildings and people there. The trip was more incredible than I ever could've imagined. There was a special bond there between us and the other kids our age that was indescribable. I was looking through my photos and found one of the teen center downtown. There are a lot of fond memories here between us and the other kids there and that was when I decided that I wanted to do an art project of about my trip. I am not sure what I am going to do next but I am going to try to possibly draw the teen center and find a way to put some text into it since all of my artwork features text.

Here is the finished product of my project! I am very pleased with the way each piece of wood turned out. It is exactly what I envisioned and I think I really got the point across.

I have already completed the board of words of encouragement. On the board, there are about 7 different quotes that people have said to me in the past that have stuck with me these past few years. I used materials such as marker, pencil, chalk, oil pastel, and crayon. I chose these materials because they are all materials that can be easily washed away or smeared and that is the point that I am trying to get across on this board is that the kind words are the words that can stick with us but they do not stick with us forever all the time, because the harsh words often overtake them.

The new project is a work in progress! I started with the board of encouraging words. I have already finished two of the quotes and have used chalk and pencil to write them. I have decided to use materials (such as chalk and pencil) to write out my quotes because materials such as these can be easily gotten rid of or erased. In other words, they can be removed easily. I am using materials that can be removed easily for the encouragement piece of wood because often in our daily lives the words of encouragement stick with us, but they don't always stay around forever, unlike hurtful words, which are burned into our hearts and minds.

I have already started on the new project that I mentioned in my previous post. I am waiting for the wood to get cut so I can start. This gives me the time I need to start planning out what memorable things people have said to me and which ones I should put in my project. I am probably going to have about six different quotes on each board and spread them out in no particular order. I am also currently still deciding on the types of materials I should use to form these words. I have to keep in mind that the materials I use will have to represent the idea that I am trying to get across to the audience.

Hello! I am excited to announce that I am starting another project and I have it all planned out. I will be cutting two pieces of wood out. On one piece of wood I will be painting words and quotes that people have said to me that have lifted me up in a positive way and that have stuck with me. On the other piece of wood I will be painting words and phrases that other people have said to me that is either categorized as criticism or just words that have brought me down that I have never forgotten. Each piece of wood is going to be life-sized, because I want the audience to be able to relate to the pieces as a person. The piece with the discouraging words is going to be just a little taller than the other piece because I believe that sometimes the criticism and discouragement we get from others sticks with us longer and kind of towers over us. As for the colors of the words, the encouraging piece will have bright, lively colors and the discouraging piece will have dark, dull colors. The whole idea behind this project is that some words are unforgettable no matter how hard we try to push it out of our brains.

Many people have asked me if the colors of the words have any meaning or if they are significant. At first, I didn't intend for them to, but I realized that they did. There are two sides to each petal, a side with words that are not my own, and another side of words that are my own for the most part. Without thinking I decided that I would paint the side with the words that were not my own with just regular acrylics that I didn't mix, and I decided to paint the side with my own words with mixed and customized colors. As I began to paint, I realized the association between the words and the paints themselves. On the side with the quotes that are not my own, the colors are not my own. On the side with the words that are my own, the colors are mixed and made by me. I thought that it was neat that without even thinking, I was able to make the project more personal and have another thing to talk about during critique!

Hello everyone! I've had several questions about what I will be doing for the center of the flower. I actually hadn't thought about it until the day before people started asking. I spent some time debating about whether or not I was going to have just a plain center or a central quote. And, I thought, "If I have a quote in the middle then how am I ever going to decide what that quote should be?" Then, it hit me! I am going to use a quote in the center that defines the entire purpose of the piece. This piece is a reflection of my personality and a way for me to express myself freely without worrying about the opinion of others. I will be choosing a quote that has something to do with that, and I actually think I already know which one I am going to use. I am super excited about this and I haven't decided about the color for this quote yet.

Time flies when you're having fun! I am super excited because my first petal is DONE. I'm very pleased with the result and am so excited to do 4 more! I have made some slight adjustments in the plan for my project while working on it. I've decided to cover each petal front and back with words and phrases. If I do this then I will present the piece hanging in mid air instead of hanging on a wall. I've never done this before with any of my pieces, so YAY! Also, I realized that there probably aren't enough quotes from just my Pinterest board to cover 5 huge flower petals front and back, so I am going to also being using some appealing song lyrics and excerpts from books that make me happy and/or speak to me. I've attached a picture of the first petal along with some of my favorite quotes and words from my Pinterest that are featured on it. Feel free to explore through the words in the petal. Some appear upside down, so be careful not to drop your computer in the process! ;)

This one is in the center

And my absolute favorite. Love this one!

Lately I've been thinking and I've realized that I want to discontinue the word walls and start on something new that expresses myself and my personality. I want my art to be more personal and to have a meaning. I like to express myself and what I love, and I believe that through this next piece I will be able to do just that. For my first project this semester I'm going to be sketching out a giant flower with at least five petals. In each petal there are going to be random words and phrases that appeal to me, my personality, and what I like. The freedom of this project is my favorite thing about it. I am referring to my quotes pin board on Pinterest to find little phrases and words that represent me, my personality, and my outlook on life. I cannot express how much the sight of a blank space and the freedom to do whatever I want with it excites me! I am sketching out the words and phrases in bubble letters that sprout out of the petal. After I draw them all out I am going to paint inside each of the letters. I am super excited about being able to paint and outline text again because I did this in set design and discovered a skill I did not know I had. As for the colors of the words, I am planning on using bright ones. I have not yet decided if the colors of each word and phrase will be significant to each other yet. I am REALLY excited about this project and I am so excited to be able to put my personality on paper. Below I have attached a picture of a flower I drew myself that I am using for inspiration. The flower is going to look similar to this, minus the crazy amount of curly Q's, which will be replaced with words.

This blog focuses on my study of text in art and how to define text by using materials that I believe represent the text.