Kelly Mark

I have always loved neon lights. I love the boldness, the brightness, and the shine of them. I never viewed neon as artwork until I came across some artists that produce them and call it art. I was so happy to have stumbled upon Kelly Mark, who is an artist who uses neon lights. She often uses neon lights to construct thoughts and phrases. I really love the way she chooses to express her thoughts. She doesn't always use neon lights, but other materials.

I am happy to have come across her because I have been fascinated with words for a long time, but had never really realized how much I loved neon. I had always thought of neon lights as a way for restaurants to show that they were "open" or "closed", or for them to show what they are serving. But, when I saw the way Kelly Mark combined the thoughts in her head with neon lights, I loved it.

Another reason I got so excited when I discovered her was because I discovered some of her artwork on Pinterest and would often pin it to my art board, but I never knew who the artist was or if they could be discovered. I think this is inspiring because it would be neat if I could find a way to do one of these projects myself.

 This is my absolute FAVORITE piece of hers. I love this because this is something we can all relate to, the obsession with calling "shotgun" in middle school. Plus, its just a simple thought. I love that.

Not neon, but I love this one too. Just because it's her inner thoughts and show us a little about the artist as a person, but without revealing too much. 

Robert Montgomery

Robert Montgomery is an artist who deals with texts and personal beliefs. He lives in England, and his work is displayed in different places around the world. His work often expresses his personal philosophical beliefs and the display of it is often illegal(which is actually pretty fascinating to me).

I love not only that his work expresses his beliefs, but also that he displays it in popular places where other people can see it. His pieces are like signs, and signs are made to get peoples attention and convince them to either buy a product, use a service, or to get them to think. In this case, I believe that his work gets people to think. It gets them thinking about what they believe in relation to what he believes. Or, it may make them wonder. This is also one of my own goals in my artwork. I love doing things that make people wonder or question why I write what I do.

 I like the display of this one. It's mobile. Great idea, because a truck can be parked anywhere and can be moved if necessary. It gets the piece "out" more. Also, I love that it is just a simple thought.

 One of the pieces where Robert Montgomery expresses his views.

Really really like this one because I feel like I can really relate to it. Not so much to the words, but more to the display and the way the words are jumbled together. I have done some pieces in the past that remind me of this, like the flower.

Colors

I have officially started the second side of my flower. I have decided to use paint on one of the petals, but will finish that petal later. I thought I would move on to some of the petals that take less time to finish. I am currently coloring in a petal with crayons. The crayon does not look as well as I expected it to look, in fact I think it looks a crafty and unprofessional. I was a little upset at first but then realized that this was something that I could work with. I realized that this made it a little more humane. It makes it look more like myself. I think that coloring the petal with crayons makes it more personalized also.

Second Side

My second project for this semester is going to be the other side of the flower. I have the words already drawn on, but they are much smaller than the words on the first side. I have already begun to paint some of the phrases on this side, but I decided not to paint everything. I think that I am going to use other forms of media to complete this side. I may think about using colored pencil, crayon, pastels, and more paint. I decided that I wanted to do this because I believe that it will add another personal effect to the project as a whole. I think that the project will not look as repetitive if I use different media. I will update with pictures as I go along.

First Side

I finished the first side of the flower. This is considered the first project of the semester even though it is just a small part of a big project. I will be working on the flower for the rest of the semester since it is so big. On this side of the flower, I used acrylic paint to paint in the lettering. If you look at the petals, you will notice that the phrases are sometimes painted the same color. Phrases that are painted the same color are associated with each other. Each of these phrases have a special or personal meaning. In the center of the flower, I wrote a quote that I believe brings together the idea of the entire side of this flower. I have the quote "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." The things I have painted on this side of the flower really are things that only some of the closest people in my life know about and understand.

Flower Continuation

I am so happy to announce that I am going to be continuing to finish my flower from last year. This flower has been one of my most favorite projects because it is very personal and has a deep meaning. Just to remind everyone from last year, or for those who have not seen the flower yet, I am going to talk about the meaning and why this project is special to me.

When I was in middle school, I used to carry around one of those stereotypical Vera Bradley purses that every girl had to have. I remember that I used to try and doodle the flowers from my purse on random sheets of paper. One day last year while I was sitting in class, I realized that I wanted to start making art that was more personal. I realized that I could use one of the flowers that I used to doodle in the project. I constructed a HUGE flower out of paper and began to draw out letters on each side. The flower has two different sides and each side has its own meaning.

 On the side with the smaller letters, the petals are made up of fun and appealing little phrases that I collected over time on my Pinterest board or the camera roll on my phone. If you read it you will see that the phrases are completely random and some of them are a tad weird. But, that's why I love them! The middle of this side of the flower has the quote, "It's the little things", because I believe that these little phrases are what makes me, me. Some of them are just little random words that are nothing more than appealing to the mind. I'm a firm believer that the biggest feelings of joy can come from just the smallest things!

On the side with the larger letters, the petals are made up of my own words. At the time I first started this flower last year, there were a lot of different areas of my life where I was struggling. Some of the struggles have passed, and the others are still being fought. Then there are some other words on this side that are just good things that were happening in my life or situations that are special to me. This side is me speaking the words about how I feel without really revealing the situations I am speaking about. It's basically a feeling of relief. On the middle of this side is the quote, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

This is by far my favorite project because it is a reflection of who I am. I feel like I fully put myself out there with this project and I feel good for doing it!

Jenny Holzer

The artist I am focusing on this week is Jenny Holzer. She resides in New York City. She displays many of her pieces in parks, on bridges, and on buildings around the world. She often portrays a message in all of her work to get the attention of the public. Her pieces are light displays and she works with text. I really like this because I feel like she relates to me. Her work has meaning and it displays a message for the general public. Everyone can relate. I like the fact that she displays her work in large, public places to where it really stands out. I have always loved the idea of sending a message to people through artwork. I also like the idea of using light or a projection to do this.