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.