Art without meaning is decoration?

To me, art is any expression of creativity. If art isn't meant to be looked at, what is it meant for? Art is meant to be seen, and appreciated, which makes most art decoration by definition. However, in cases where artists are poked and prodded into doing a very specific theme, the creativity in the work melts away, and it no longer is art; it becomes decoration. 

Essential questions

Is it good or bad to be lost? I chose the word lost because I think it's a vague word that all humans can relate to. Is being lost mentally or physically a peaceful or sinister thing? In my painting, the path disappears, becoming the trees. Whoever is walking on the path has nowhere to go, though it may look like there is an end destination at first glance. 

Olivia Gude

Olivia Gude does not want art to be confined to a few elemenets of art, but she does want people to recognize new postmodern principles that are emerging and changing the way we look at art. My favorite is Juxapostion and Recontextualization because they both create a new idea using old ideas or creations. I like the symbolic meaning that can be put behind these two elements and I think it contributes to the beauty of art.

Color Project

For my first Art 3 project, I chose to use color as my theme. Color is such a vast element that the door was wide open to to create whatever I wanted, and I could make something lively and vibrant. I chose to use acrylic paint because I've always enjoyed painting more than any other medium and I feel that I am most skilled when using it. Paint is a great medium to create any color one can think of, so it went with my theme. I had intended on painting a beautiful scenery picture that reminded me of fall, my favorite season. However, the painting ended up looking a bit apocalyptic, and I went with it. 

Melt Illustration Friday

Final Project

• Has your definition of art clanged since from the beginning of this class?

My definition of art has evolved throughout this class in a variety of ways. The most significant difference in myself and the way I view art is in realizing that art does not have to be perfect. I prefer to paint and draw rather than to sculpt, and I like precise, "perfect" looking art. Sculpture is not my best area, and this resulted in many projects turning out to be less exact because I had much less control over my piece. My dwelling project is the best example of this change, because it is an abstract piece that is not nearly perfect, but is unique art. 

              Dwelling Porject 

Do over: If given the opportunity, which project would you do over? Describe why and how you would redo this project. Reasons might include choosing a different theme, using a different medium or creating a different idea completely. Include photo.

                 Human and Nature

For this project, I came up with what I think is a unique idea that wasn't carried out well. I made a vase containing a human heart/rose to match the theme. The rose/heart looks a little messy, but overall I think it looked okay. The sculpture ended up exploding in the kiln because I didn't hollow out the case and it must have contained air bubbles. Now that I have more knowledge on how to work with clay, I'd redo this project and use my new knowledge to successfully create this sculpture. 

 

                      

                      

Choose 1 piece of art that you used skills and techniques learned from previous projects.  Discuss your growth as an artist and how you incorporated these skills and techniques to create the piece.

           

                     Animal Head

I have already explained that I don't particularly enjoy working with clay, so I dreaded having to use this median again. However, I found that making my fox head was much easier than I anticipated. The skills I used in the Human and Nature Project (picture above this one) really helped me out and taught me how to work with clay more delicately. I learned how to correctly hollow out my piece so it wouldn't explode in the kiln. Although this piece isn't perfect, I believe that I improved so much in my use of clay. 

•  Which project was your most successful? Describe the theme and or topic and the process you went through to complete the project. 

                        Free Project

This project was the most enjoyable and the most successful for me throughout this class because I was allowed to choose anything I wanted. I love dream catchers and have always wanted to learn how to make one. I used a recycled hoop, beads I already had, string from the classroom, and only had to purchase feathers; all of this was roughly 3 dollars. I spend an hour on YouTube learning how to create the inside of the dream catcher, which was tedious at first, but when I finally caught on, it was easy and fun. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to do this project because I now know how to make something new that I truly love. 

•  What is a technique you used in your artwork that worked well? Explain what technique it was and why it was successful.

                     Pit Firing Piece

I loved learning the foil sagging technique throughout this project. My ability to create out of cray had already improved so much, and learning to pit fire helped me create new and unique pieces that were so vastly different than the artwork I had created before. The pit firing technique to bake the clay create strange and unique colors on my price, making it interesting and distinct as art. Learning this technique helped me to improve as an artist, giving me more options in the future to use while working with clay. 

Pit Firing

                 Bowl of Strawberries

Although I am not a big fan of clay, I really enjoyed this project. I wanted to create something that I could put in my room or bathroom and still use, so I made a simple bowl. To make my project more interesting, I made some little strawberries to put inside. Shaping the strawberries took the most time, and I wanted to get them just right. I never had the piece fired in the kiln regularly ,and I was excited to see how it would turn out after the pit firing. I put my bowl and the strawberries seperatly in aluminum foil with sticks and leaves. Because I didn't fire the piece beforehand, it my bowl has a very dark look on the interior, which I love. I wish that the strawberries had turned out darker, but I love the parts of them that turned out red. I enjoyed learning a new method to bake clay, and I would definitely pit fire again.