My Ridiculous Blog Post

How am I? What has this portfolio class done for me so far? 
-Well, I don't exactly know how to explain how I am. I'm pretty much going to try to explain myself, but it'll just end up being a bunch of jumbled words of confusing crap. So here goes nothing! . .I'm pretty well, just a lot of weird/different things are going on in my life right now, but I'm actually incredibly happy. <--this hasn't quite showed up in my art yet though. My goal is to just be open minded (I do fail at this goal occasionally...ok, maybe a lot). I want to approach everything that is thrown at me without anything making my opinion based on biased thoughts. I NEED to be more willing to receive new ideas, knowledge, and experiences. So that's my goal for the next few months - BE OPEN MINDED! :) Now I just have to repeat that to myself a few hundred times to get it to stick. 


Now that I've successfully trailed way off topic, I get back to what I'm supposed to be blogging about:


1.) What are 3 art related things that you have learned so far this year? What have you tried, improved upon, or conceptually thought of?

1) I've have discovered a few artists that are new to me and whose work I really enjoy. Sally Mann and Levi Van Veluw , just to name a couple. 

2) I learned that focusing on one topic/concentration can really help further my abilities/help me come up with new ideas. When I did my first self-portrait, it actually turned out way better than I had expected. I sort of discovered a talent I didn't really know I had, so when I was encouraged to explore it more by my teachers, I did, and it has grown into a portfolio of self portraits and taught me a lot about myself, my art, and has really improved my 2d art capabilities. 

3) I have (sort of) learned how to put together, organize, and present my portfolio. I say sort of because I still don't quite know which of my pieces to keep in my portfolio, and which ones to just hide digital copies of somewhere in my flashdrive, only to be used as a reference later for what NOT to do. Also, I have found that the way in which I order my portfolio really does make a difference in the overall presentation and flow of it. I have done two 'real,' in person, portfolio reviews so far, one at Robert Morris which was still sort of laid back as there was nothing on the line, and one at Webster. Although I did feel way more confident in presenting my work than I did before this class, I know that I still have a long way to go with knowing what to say and how to present my work. 

I'm adding a forth too, 4) I have discovered that I really ENJOY writing this blog. Which I know, a lot of you probably think I'm a freak, because everyone else seems to hate the blog assignments. I have also gone out and looked for other blogs to read and follow. I have found a few artist blogs that I enjoy going to every once in awhile, they're actually quite motivational/inspirational. I also love reading baking blogs, but that has nothing to do with art. 

2.) What areas of art do you still need to improve?

I desperately need to improve my concepts in most of my pieces. As I have mentioned before, a lot my pieces seem to lack meaning. 

I also need to sketch out more ideas. I have such a hard time coming up with new projects, I often just waste whole class periods trying to figure out what my next project will be. This really has cut down on how many projects I have produced this year. I haven't actually gotten nearly as much done as I should have, considering I'm in the art room for all of 5th and 6th hours, and sometimes most of 4th.  

3.) Where do you see yourself, art related, in 3 years? Will you still be pursuing art and trying new things or do you think it will take a back seat in your lives?

In the next 3 years, I hope more than anything to be attending a liberal arts university, with an art major - as of now the plan is for that school to be Webster University or Alfred University. I see myself as an art education major, however, that may change. No matter what happens or where I end up though, art will be a big part of my life. I really hope that I am able to make a career of my passion for art. 

4.) What have you gotten out of this class?

I feel like I have already sort of answered this question in bits an pieces throughout the other questions. I have learned new things art related, I have discovered new things about myself and my art, and I have begun to learn how to present my portfolio. I have also pulled through with some of my strongest pieces I have ever done, even if it hasn't been as many as I had hoped for. I have become more confident with my abilities and myself as an artist, and I have found what I think I really want to do as a career, art education. To sum it up, this class has given me 90 mins everyday of art, fun, learning, and a bit of pure frustration! 

I think too much, then I write too much of it down. And confuse people. And myself.
And when I don't have an idea of a new project to start, I use most of the class period to write my blog. Ending up with all these ridiculous blog posts. 
I'm having a good week. I'm happy, and I love life. 
aaand since I don't think blog posts without any pictures are any fun . . . 

This is my most recent pieces. I really surprised myself, and think it was quite successful. There are definitely areas where I think it could be improved, specifically the ribcage, but I believe that this is so far my strongest piece, out of both 2d and 3d work. 

. . .Sorry about the long read! :)