Art 108 Semester

 I figured I should do my last blog about my semester in art 108. First off I would like to say that I have really enjoyed this class and I looked forward to it every week. Having an art class is such a nice break from the other general education classes because it’s a chance to be creative. I have really enjoyed all the projects, mostly because the have pushed me to explore how creative I can really be. I have never done anything in terms of sculpture so it was good to learn more about it and try it for myself. I appreciated the fact that our projects were unconventional because it made me step out of my comfort zone.

Beyond just the projects I learned an immense amount from the lectures. Surprisingly, I have never been in an art class where we explored a wide range artists and I loved that we did. I now have names of artists that I like and enjoy where as before I couldn’t give much of an answer. I learned a lot form the artists blog entries because it forced me to research artists, see their works, and then draw inspiration for that. I will definitely take with me what I learned to my other classes after. What I loved the most was seeing my classmates’ work. I always draw so much inspiration from the creativity around me as well as the talents of my fellow students.

Thanks so much for a great semester!

Photography

Ansel Adams a great photographer
who does a lot of nature shots

A Macro shot of a clothes pin
that I took

Photography is such a creative form of expression. I have always liked photography. I can appreciate some who captures a moment or a scene. Especially, when it comes to photographing people there are great emotions that can be caught. Not only that but photographs of landscape are great too because the capture a time in nature. The thing that is so great about photos and photography is that they are essentially memories that someone can have for a lifetime.

A great moment captured
at the Superbowl

I tend to go towards black and white photos there is just some thing that I am attracted to and they feel classic. I also enjoy macro photography, which is photography that is really up close so the detail can be seen. One thing that is so important in photography is the lighting and the settings on your camera. I learned a little about this from a class at my other university. 

20. Coosje Van Bruggen

Coosje van Bruggen was a sculptor who collaborated a lot with her husband Claes Oldenburg, who is a well-known sculptor from as well. Van Bruggen’s sculptures consist of monumental size objects that are usually every day items and are then placed outside. Some of these objects consist of a bowling ball with flying pins, a birdie (Badmitton), a safty pin, and a necktie; just to name a few. Her sculptors that she creates are mainly there for view pleasure and have a fun quality to them. She does a wonderful job at executing such giant pieces of work. Her works makes the view see this objects in a different light.

"Spoonbridge and Cherry"

 

I think her work is great. I love the playful aspect of it and the how accurately they are done just on a much larger scale. I appreciate the fact that she places them outside because it seems so unexpected that anyone would see these objects at such a large scale on display out if nature. Her work is really amazing and I think she makes people who pass by her works put on a smile. 

19. Sheila Hicks

"Pieces above and below"

Sheila Hicks is internationally known as a textile artist but work could also be considered sculptor. The works that she creates with fabrics and threads is quite amazing, on her website it was explained as; she works with “fibers”. Hicks has done commissioned projects worldwide, one of them in particular was creating a theater curtain for the Kiryu Cultural Center in Japan. Her work is bright and inviting and she obviously knows the materials she is working with because her craftsmanship is amazing. A great deal of her pieces are made to hang from the wall and more often the not the creations cover entire walls. Through reading about her I found that she uses a number of methods when “weaving” her works, which include knitting, knotting, bonding, turfting, and felting.

Theater curtain in Japan

"Silk Rainforest"

I love Hicks’s work because it so beautifully done not only that but her use of color is great. I appreciate the fact that she isn’t afraid to experiment and she really is about learning the materials that she works with. The scale of some of her works is quite amazing and are so detailed that its hard not to appreciate the work that goes into one of her pieces. I really enjoy the texture of her work, which is always changing with the various fibers that she utilizes. Her work kind of reminds me of that of Eliza Frenand because of her work with textiles and different fabrics. 

Ice & Snow Sculptures

In the spirit of the season I thought it would be fun to blog about snow and ice sculptures. Ice/snow sculptures are an art form and can be very detailed. A lot of ice sculptures are made out of things that are popular at the time, such as cartoon or movies characters. A great deal of ice/snow sculptures is done on a very large scale. During this season there are winter carnivals and contests all over the world where artists can show case their talents.

Winter Carnival in McCall

There is one locally that is in McCall. I have gone once and it is just a fun atmosphere and the sculptures really complete the town especially with the snow on the ground. Some sculptures can be quite detailed and its pretty amazing what the artist can do considering ice/snow is the easiest medium to work with. Ice/snow sculptures are a great tradition for the winter months and I hope is one that continues on. 

18. Lin Emery

Lin Emery is an American sculptor. A great deal of her sculptures are done it aluminum. Emery’s sculptures have clean and strong lines both straight and curvy. They have great shape and form. Her sculptures are great because come in all sizes, some are at a very large scale and some are small.  In addition a great deal of he sculpture are on display outside which add in a new light and feel to them. Some are even in water, like ponds, which is so neat because it adds in movement. 

"Twirl"

"Whismy"

I like her work because it is simple and clean. Emery is very talented a creating a strong shape and line as well as taking into consideration negative space. I appreciate the fact that she puts a good portion of her works outside because they fit well in nature and add a whole new meaning. She is good at working with aluminum and her craftsmanship is commendable. 

17. Robert Chunn

Robert Chunn is a contemporary artist who does still life paintings and drawings. His paint of choice is usually oil or water color. Chunn captures the essence of how things are left, its like he is taking a photo but instead paints/draws it.  In an interview he was asked describe his work and he said, “I mostly paint clutter. I like how objects cluster together on tabletops, in kitchen drawers, on my printer, etc. I try to take a documentary approach to the subject by painting things as I find them”. I thought it was easiest to show how he describes his work because it’s different from painting a landscape or a person. Chunn does a great job at showing light a shadow in his paintings and how they reflect off of each object.

 

I really enjoy the Chunn’s paintings. I like that he captures something that seems so simple like “clutter” but makesme realize the great line and shadow in those objects. Chunn has a great eye for color and his paintings feel really rich. His work shows that the things just setting around our houses can look really interesting without us even knowing it. I think his work is wonderful and he is definitely a talented artist. 

16. Mindy Shapero

Mindy Shapero is a sculptor who creates abstract pieces and installations. She uses a variation of mediums and creates interesting patterns within these sculptures. Shapero’s  work sometimes features a multitude of color or just black and white, depending on what she is working with. Her sculptures have great shape and line and most of them are asymmetrical. Some of her sculptures remind me or forms that would be seen in nature but she put her out spin on them. In addition the scale of some of her works is quite large and very appealing to the eye.

"The Smoke Bomb"

 I really like Shapero’s work and I enjoy the abstract aspect of it. I like that all of her works are different and their shape changes with different views. The patterns that are seen in her work are very attracting to the eye and keep your eye constantly moving through out her piece. There is also this other dimension that some of her works have because they look like they are in motion because they have an explosive quality or the pattern creates and illusion. Her work is great!

15. Marsha Pels

"Dead Mother. Dead Cowboy."

"Dead Mother. Dead Cowboy"

Marsha Pels is a contemporary sculptor who works with found objects and explores transforming them with a variation of different materials. Pels is well known for her labor-intensive cast and fabricated objects as well as multi-media installations. All of her works hold such strong meaning that obviously mean something specific to her but could be interpreted differently by the viewer. Pels’s recent work title “Dead Mother. Dead Cowboy” is about he mother and ex-husband and there is this eerie feel to it because many pieces feature a skeleton or pieces of one. Early on she did some site-specific worked in Edman, Germany where her ancestors are from and it was based off the Holocaust. Her work seems to be a mash up of things and I think she creates her works based of what she is feeling at the time.

Holocaust piece

I can’t decide how I feel about her work. She is very talented in her sculpture craft there is no doubt about that but some of her work leaves me confused. I appreciate the fact that she creates works that have a deep connection to her and it shines through in her pieces. There is this underlying theme of death in her work, at least to me, which I think is neat because it adds a whole new dimension and emotion to her work.  Pels is a talented artist and I enjoy her wide range of works and the oddness of it all. 

etsy.com

I wanted to write a blog about etsy.com because it’s a site, kind of like ebay, but it’s a place where only goods that are handmade can be sold. I love the idea behind this website and I think it’s a great way for people to share there talent with others. Not only that but it allows people to do hobbies that they may not be able to make a living off of but can still make money. It’s a great way for artists all over the place to have their work be seen and potentially bought. Someone in one of my photo classes at my other college referred it to me. She really liked the photos I had taken in class and she said that I should sell them on etsy. It’s really a great site for college students who have a craft and what to make extra money on the side.

There is a small fee to have your items on the site but it is very minimal. There is a wide range of items that are sold. Everything from paintings, photography, to hand made jewelry and wallets. I just thought I would share this because it is a site that is reinforcing being creative, which I think is fantastic. Homemade goods are hard to come by so go check it out!

14. Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist who works both in fine arts, such as painting but also in commercial media. When researching I found something that said he blends the boundaries of high and low art, and I think this is a good way of describing what he does. A great deal of his works has a pop culture feel and he uses a lot of bright and fun colors. Murakami will sometimes take something that is seen as popular in the Japanese culture and turn it into a large scale sculpture. He uses patterns in is work that are repeating throughout different works and one creation that shows up a lot in his work are these colorful smiling daisies. Murakami’s work can be seen on commercial products such as shoes and purses and he has even done work for Louis Vuitton. He is very skilled in painting and even his paintings, which may be seem as fine art feature great color but also glimpses of pop art.

 I like his work because it is fun and playful. I think that he plays well in to the pop-culture field and has obviously done some great works with poplar companies. I enjoy the bright colors in this work and the reoccurring themes. I have respect for his skill set and he is a talented painter. His work is fun and I enjoy the Japanese culture that shines through.

 

13. Ron Mueck

I remember looking at some of Ron Mueck’s work; he is a hyper-realist sculptor, when the class was preparing for the body project. I recall thinking that it was so odd and almost creepy. I still sort of get that feel when I look at his work but I do appreciate his craftsmanship because it is outstanding. Mueck creates sculptures that look like humans but he brings about great emotion in he way her positions them and the their facial expressions. If it weren’t for the scale of his is work, which is either monumental or doll size, it would be so easy to mistake them for real people. Mueck is so detailed down the lines and wrinkles in the skin and the color of the skin, its almost eerie because it resembles so closely to a real human being. However, in some of his sculptures he feature parts of the body but in an over exaggerated way or out of proportion. This has intentional purpose.

I would love to see Mueck’s work in person because even from viewing images online it is still mind-blowing. I have such respect for his attention to detail and I appreciate the time that he puts into each of his creations. These sculptures are necessary some thing I’m attracted to but I find beauty in the craftsmanship. Not only that, but I like that Mueck makes the viewer see the body in a different life. It is any up close and personal experience with the body that he is creating. 

Children's Book Illustrations

I thought it would be fun to blog about book illustrations because they are something that I have always enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. Book illustrations come in such a wide variety, and I love all types whether they are simple or quite detailed. One  thing that I really appreciate about children's book illustrations is that they have a playful quality to them and I like the innocence of the art work. One of my all time favorite book illustrations is in "Where the Wild Things Are", the author Maurice Sendak did the pictures. I really appreciate the how he created each "Wild Thing", I enjoy the detail and color scheme  throughout the book. He truly makes the each monster come alive, I appreciate the texture that he gives them and his attention to shading that really makes each page pop.

Another children's story the I love, not only for the story but the illustrations is in "Olivia", which are done by Ian Falconer. The illustrations in this book are quite different from that of "Where the Wild Things Are" but I like them equally. The illustrations in "Olivia" have a simple color palette that consists of white, red, gray and black. I appreciate the simplicity of Olivia who is the main character in the story and is also a pig. She consists of a simple line drawing with shading to give her more dimension. None the less she is portrayed as a cute pig just as she is said to be in the book and Falconer did a great job at connecting the two. 

I think I will always appreciate the art in children's books and I think a part of that is because it will always remind me of my childhood. 

12. Henry Moore

Henry Moore was a modern sculptor who did large-scale sculptures. He is best known for his larger than life bronze sculptures that are around the world as public works of art. A great deal of his works represent the human body, but it’s not a direct representation. The figures featured in his sculptures are more abstract but have parts of the human body that make it recognizable to the viewer. The lines of his work flow so flawlessly; both concave and convex lines show throughout his works. A lot of his sculptures can be found outside, in parks or outside of museums. Moore sometimes features more than one figure but they look like one because of the way he connects them, which adds interest to his pieces.

"Reclining Figure"

It’s hard not to appreciate Moore’s work as a sculptor because his execution was pretty amazing. I enjoy the scale of his sculptures and I like that he places these large sculptures outside because it brings a new dimension in. His craftsmanship is awesome and the lines of his work are beautiful. I think it is safe to say that even though Henry Moore is no longer with us his work will live on because it beautiful and timeless. 

11. Jean Shin

'Unraveling'
yarn of sweaters

'Sound Wave'
records

'Chance City'
discarded lottery scratch cards

I did a search for contemporary sculpture artists on Google and I was looking through the images when I can across Jean Shin. Shin was born in South Korea but is an American artist who works and lives in New York City. I thought I would pull a quote from her website about her work because it really explains it best; “Jean Shin is nationally recognized for her monumental installations that transform everyday objects into elegant expressions of identity and community”. Her work is very labor intensive as well as tedious. Shin collects tons of obsolete materials; which in turn is the basis of her sculptures. She collects things from worn shoes, lost socks, broken umbrellas, discarded lottery tickets, and prescription pill bottles.

I personally think her work is amazing and she is now one of my favorite sculptors. I love that she collects out of the ordinary objects and then creates something so spectacular and pleasing to the eye. Not only that but her work makes me view these objects in a different light; plus she is recycling and reusing materials, which is always great. Shin’s craftsmanship is outstanding and I appreciate the cleanliness of her work. Her work is also very pleasing to the eye. I appreciate that scale of her sculptures and the arrangement of her installations because she takes it to the next lever. I hope that Shin will continue with this line of sculpture cause I absolutely love it. 

'Chemical Balance'
prescription med bottles