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.