Reflection

Art class this year in all honesty become almost a haven for me. Having last period art was the greatest way to unwind and relieve stress at the end of the day. The low-key "chill" vibes that the class room gives off makes the class welcoming. Art class was the class that I looked forward to the most to all year. This is the only class that I was graded on how much effort I put into my projects and I couldn't be wrong. This class was a very expressive and eye opening course. I learned to think more open minded and to realize that if I just try hard enough, I can do and finish things I put my mind to.   Even though some projects I didn't enjoy, they still taught me to make the best of things. I was particularly proud of our mixed media collages as well as my bike drawing. I was proud of myself and all the effort and work that I put into these projects. I think that every high school student should be required to take at least a year of art class and experience what I experience this year. I couldn't be wrong for my creativity which I loved. In some classes where being different or outspoken is frowned upon, in art it's embraced. Everyone always did their own thing and was independent. This year, this class really opened my eyes to look at things from all perspectives. For example, our bike drawings. There are a large number of art students and I believe that no two students picked exactly the same angle to draw-each one was different. Art class this year was a fun, free spirited class that I look forward to taking again next year. In the beginning of the year, I was shy, naive and slightly embarrassed of my ideas but now I have no shame because it's art and I can't be wrong. It's just art. I have improved tremendously, I used to not know how kt shade or use any of the techniques that we learned this year but now I feel as though I am thoroughly well rounded in the basics of creative arts. The best thing about art is that there's always more to learn and more to do- you're never really done. Which is what I love. All in all, art class was very enjoyable to me this year.

Time Capsule

In 6 months from now, my box will be hopefully opened. However, my box will not be opened by it's creator (me), but by  my boyfriend. The reasoning behind this is simple; around the time of this assignment, my boyfriend and I had our 6 month anniversary. So, inside of the box I put in personal items of ours- (movie tickets, pictures, game tickets, previously written love notes, etc). As a person, this says to me that I am a thoughtful and loving one. To me, it shows that I am one to keep small things simply for their memory. Which is true. I am known to keep bits and pieces of everything and always am taking pictures. However, as carefully as I put items into my box for my boyfriend, I made the outside of my box for me. The outside of the box shows things that once had (or still may have meaning to) me. On the outside, I put a written piece I pulled out of a magazine several years ago. This magazine clipping really stuck with me for some reason and I felt obligated to keep it for some reason- so I put it outside my box for all to read. Also, I put a lanyard on it too because not only does it have my name but it reminds me of getting and losing my first set of keys. So, though this box may seem like a hunk of junk to everyone else, each item inside and out of my box has meaning to it- whether or not it is intended to have meaning to me or not.

Wanderlust

A dream that I have always had throughout my life is to travel. I dream to travel all over the world. Whether it be by plane, car, foot or even boat; I want to see the world. I'll do whatever it takes to reach my destination. But that's the thing, I don't have a specific destination. I aim to go any where and everywhere. I plan to get lost somewhere exotic or tropical or foreign. I want to see the natural beauties of the world. I want to go and see and live how the natives of these places live. I want to experience their day to day struggles and become cultured. I dream to eat exotic foods, meet new people and to expand my comfort zone. I aim to see as many natural and unnatural things as I can. Cities, farms, suburbs, mountains, beaches. I want to see as much of the world as I can before I die. I don't want to live in a small corner of the world for the rest of my life- I have a wanderlust filled soul and I aim to fulfill my desires to the best of my abilities for the rest of my life. 

Fortune Cookie Collage

The fortune cookie inspired collage was a struggle for me. The collage was to be inspired by the fortunes we received as well as a representation of ourselves. For me this was a hard thing to begin. What inspired me the most was the 'Learn Chinese' on the back of one of the fortunes. On it, it said: "Do you know?". This could mean anything. Do you know about me or life or anything I decided it to be about. So I decided to make it about me. I put in my name, and little bits and pieces that make up who I am. The sillier ones or the more serious ones. It all made up who I am. So, that's what inspired me for my Fortune cookie piece.

Art x3

The art x3 assignment, personally I was not a fan of in the beginning. I found it very hard to get "into" the collages at first. And once I began to enjoy my work, we had to let them go. This was difficult for me as I don't like to let others do or even help me with my work. During the creation of these collages, I got angry at it. I became angry because I couldn't "get into" the work. However, on my final piece of the art x3, I did not have much to work with. I had the out line of a person and that was just about it. I spent days doing almost nothing on my piece. Then, when I found the right magazine clipping-a plug being plugged into the wall; that was when my art began. From then on, everything dominoed. One after another, I did more and more and got into my creation and fell in love with it. It is probably my favorite piece of work we have done this year. The life lesson that I learned from this was that it's okay to let go and allow others to help you. It's okay to let go and just let what happens happen. And it's okay to have others touch your art and add their input on your work. That was what this piece taught me.

Pop Print

This pop print assignment was Andy Warhol inspired. What we did, was pick a mundane, well known item. The item that I picked was a Donald Duck iPhone case. The item was mainly blue, with white and yellow on it. What we did, was we drew the item that we chose, and then traced over it numerous times to darken it. After that, we rubbed the darkened drawing onto the material that would become the stamp. Then, we began to carve out the shape. For me, I struggled with this. It confused me slightly and I didn't really have the patience for it. It took me several days to complete my carving of Donald Duck. Once I finished carving, we began stamping. I enjoyed this part. However, I didn't like how tedious it was to constantly have to be washing off the paint on the stamp. I made several works with the stamp and different parts of the stamp. For the print that I handed in, I faded paint colors into one another. Also, I used different parts of the stamp. I used halves, arms, faces or even the whole thing. I layered the prints over one another on black paper. The overall result was a graffiti looking piece which was different than anything else I had created this year. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this project. 

The reasons I had for choosing this print more than anything else was lack of creativity. The phone case that I drew, was not mine-it was my friends that I had taken that morning. However, once I drew the case, I really enjoyed it, and thought it would work well with the assignment as well as it being an item Andy Warhol may have chosen to draw if he were still here. That, is why I chose a Donald Duck iPhone case to do as my pop print.

Our Collection

Our collection in class is all blue. Blue is a basic color that is found everywhere. It says many things about us all. Who we are, what we like and what we as a society has become. Our collection says many things about the time we live in. It says that we are a society consumed with name brand things. The collection has everything from name brand cleaners, perfumes and foods. The time we live in is obsessed with name brand, factory made items. In our collection, there is maybe one handmade thing-a pillow. This pillow looks similar to the ones the eighth grade students make here at HTHS. It seems as though it was something lying around a students bedroom, forgotten for the longest time. The time we live in is materialistic. That, is what our society says about the time we live in. Our collection says many things about our interests. It shows the prefered brand of perfume or cleaner of somebody, it shows the atheletes in the class with the achievement ribbons and balls. The collection in the class room shows things from our inner child with the stuffed animals and the trouble we as students get into daily with the office notes. The collection in our classroom shows many things about our beliefs as well. It shows that we believe in fun, cleanliness (in both personal and material hygenie) and that we believe in the world as we know it. We believe in the world as we know it just by bringing in the items on out table. The name brands, the toys, the household items. Our group collection does reflect few of my personal tastes, interests and beliefs. Yes, because I am 15 so I have been raised to enjoy these things. Not only enjoy them, but believe in them as well. I am a part of society and have been brought up to fit in to society and to like everything that everyone else does. That is what our collection means to me. The picture included are my favorite angles of the collection as well as things that relate to what I wrote about moments ago. http://www.google.com/search?q=portia+munson&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=b16FUp3tB_HK4APGqIHwAg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAA&biw=320&bih=533#biv=i%7C4%3Bd%7CRhBmEGKteRk6tM%3A