A Final Look at School

This semester was a great end to six years of undergraduate work. I can't believe where I started and where I am now.

This is one of the first pieces I completed after graduating high school:

This is one of the last pieces I've completed as an undergraduate:

This is a good thing for every artist to remember: it really doesn't seem like you're improving in the day to day grind of being an artist. And in reality, maybe the improvements you make each day are pretty small, but the important thing is to continue working so that you can continue to make progress.

Anyway, what do my final projects look like? I've finished the first 50 pages of a screenplay (and I hope to finish it this summer) for one thing. I also...

Finished a portfolio for my printmaking class...

...made three rings out of bronze, one out of thread, pins and paperclips, a bell, and a brace...

And spent the entire semester trying to learn and enjoy where I'm at as much as I can. This is definitely not where I set out to be when I graduated high school with dreams of working at Pixar, yet I don't think I would trade where I am and where I'm going (even though I'm still not quite sure where that is...) I hope I continue to grow as an artist throughout my life.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who's been reading my blog! I've reached my 35th post since starting this blog back in 2011 and I've really enjoyed sharing my work with you! It's great to have an audience and I hope that my art has been bringing you joy. Please share my blog with others, I love showing people what my work means to me!

Creating 3D Outside of the Computer - Part 2

This week I've been working on the time consuming task of cleaning up my bronze pieces. This usually consists of sawing off sprues (which I absolutely loathe...you would not believe how many times I break saw blades), polishing, assembling and applying patinas.

This final project was the most challenging one I've done this year. I think I tend to think bigger than my abilities, which isn't a bad thing, but it can definitely end up challenging my current abilities. In this case, I decided to make a brace that I could wear, which involved more fabrication than I've ever done (though considering I've never really done any, that's not saying much.

After I sawed off the sprues and polished, I got to do two things that secretly terrify me: brazing and drilling. Thankfully I had a lot of really invaluable help from the awesome people in my class. As much as I would have liked to avoid those tasks, they were vital to getting the finished product I wanted.

Here's some close up shots of the work.

A huge, huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who helped me undertake this pretty ambitious task. Thanks to Yvonne, Shanna, Andrew, Justine, and Laurel for all your help!

Printmaking with Watercolors

Although I've been working with oils and inks while I create my own prints, I've also had the opportunity to experiment with using watercolors in printmaking. I also wanted to experiment with printmaking without a huge printing press.

Here's a demo that I'm hoping to teach my students someday:

Making Up for Lost Time

I guess not making artwork or posting on my blog as often as I'd like to have done this year has sort of lit a fire under me. Thanks to my brand new smart phone (I've finally entered the 21st century...) I've been able to catalog my artwork right as I'm finishing it. Here's some more of the prints I've been making:


After I finished my series on my cultural heritage, I got kind of stuck for new ideas. I ended up making something that has the look of parchment...

 This one ended up looking like a microscope slide.

 I tried to go deeper into the histories of each country, but there is so much history, especially in certain countries, I didn't know where to begin. This represented the all reaching power of Rome, including the Italian word for almighty, "Altissimo"

 After that, I went back to my specific family names and crest, and let the design elements of my family crests inspire me.

 I wanted to take that idea and abstract it more.

And now for something completely different. I was listening to a song by Rend Collective and let the words inspire this piece.  I'm also excited about this piece because it was my first opportunity to work with actual tyesetting. May I say, thank goodness for computers!

Creating 3D Outside the Computer

I guess the theme of my last year as an undergrad is stepping outside of my comfort zone. Not only am I faced with worknig more abstractly, this semester I'm trying to learn a new skill, casting in metal. Now, I've worked in 3D before, but I've only worked on a computer, where there is an undo button and there's very little danger of injury. I've always been interested in making my own jewelry, so I decided to sign up for a class that focuses on making jewelry and small sculptures.

People who know me best probably know that I'm not big on fire. I don't like handling it (and some even joke that I shouldn't) because I worry I'm going to become the next "don't do this" example. So the thought of working with soddering irons, kilns, molten metal and open flames in general sort of concerned me. But I'm also so glad I've taken this class; I even wish that I had explored this sooner in my school career.

I've been planning on posting pictures of my finished work, but today I've decided to post the pictures of the process. It's not exactly a demo, but it's cool to show the process. The photos are a combination of the last two projects I've done.

First, I made a plaster model that I'll build the wax mold on top of:

 

Next, I'll either dip it in wax (sort of like candlemaking) or I'll build wax on top of it.

    

After the wax hardens, I carved and sculpted (pictures of that coming in a future post). After I finished, I mixed up investment and poured it over the wax model to be baked in the kiln.

Once that's done, it comes out of the kiln, and if nothing seems wrong, I can start getting the meta ready. I've been working in bronze (mostly because it's cheap, but I also like the color of bronze).

 

Metal goes into a cruicbe to be metlted, then it's centrifugally casted (basically, put in a washing machine for a couple of minutes)

 

Once it's done, it's time to quench and cool off the metal.

This is usually one of my favorite parts, but yesterday, a combination of steam and scorching hot water left me wishing I didn't have to do it.

After the casting's done, I spend the rest of the project cleaning it up. The piece I'm currently working on is only in the beginning stages of clean up, so it only looks like this:

But I'm looking forward to cleaning and assembling this piece. Keep watch for a post in the next couple of weeks where I show off my finished projects!

 

 

Abstract Exploration

Over the last semester in my monotype class, I've been given a lot of freedom to explore my own ideas and methods.  Although some might find this freeing, doing stuff like that has always sort of overwhelmed me. Without a lot of boundaries, I start questioning whether or not the ideas I have are right or wrong.

Still, the days of living with strict artistic guidelines seem to be leaving me, at least for a while. With my graduation coming on a few weeks, I'll have a lot more opportunities to get really creative, experiment, and grow as an artist.  So, am I comfortable with leaning towards more abstract pieces? Not exactly.  But I recognize that by pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, I'm growing as an artist.
Here's just a taste of what I've been working on.

Exploring My Roots

Even though I had hoped to update my blog every couple of weeks, I guess my life is busier that I expected it to be. I've been knee-deep in projects lately, but I also feel like I haven't been wasting my time, so I'm happy with the way things are going.

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks in my monotype class, I've been exploring the different cultures my family comes from. One of my hobbies is researching my family history, and I've uncovered Dutch, Irish, English, Welsh, and Italian roots. I've been using my roots as a springboard for a series of projects I'm hoping to explore further over the rest of the semester.

To start with, I was really intrigued by the idea of using writing and well-known imagery from each country in my prints. After completing almost 25 prints over the course of two weeks, I've ended up with the best one from each:

Each of them incorporates some poetry (mostly pre-20th century if I remember correctly), as well as taking design inspiration from each culture.

Some close-ups of each:
Ireland -

The translation:

I am Irish
I am your language
I am your culture
The poets used me
The nobles used me
The people used me
and the children used me
Proud they were
And I flourished

The Netherlands:

The translation:

A new spring and a new sound

I want this song

Sounds like the whistling,

I often heard from a summer's night

In an old town along the water canal

England:

Wales:

 The translation:

I broider the world upon a loom,
I broider with dreams my tapestry;
Here in a little lonely room
I am master of earth and sea,

Italian:

The translation:

Most high, all-powerful, good Lord,

Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,

To you alone, Most High, do they belong,

and no human is worthy to mention your name.

This has been a really interesting exploration for me and I'm really anxious to continue and see where it takes me.

On a somewhat related note: Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh (Happy St. Patrick's Day)