Wow. I can’t believe this was our last week of senior projects. The unceasing forward progress of time continues to astound me :) It’s a bittersweet time. Anyway, for this final post, I’ve been tasked with a self-reflection, specifically regarding my goals that I set in the first week. So, here we go!
I had three primary goals for this project. The first was to experiment with a variety of mediums and techniques. I think that I probably could have gone a lot further with this goal, but I did end up fulfilling it in some ways. While I mainly did use mediums I felt comfortable and inspired in (photography, poetry), I also worked in pen and some watercolor-esque paints (a hybrid type I found in my house), which are not my typical go-tos. There was also the additional aspect of working on-site, which I have not really done before (except photography) so that was new and exciting.
My second goal was to continue developing/identifying my artistic style. I would say that undertaking this project definitely revealed things about me and my working processes. My consistent return to photography as medium of choice didn’t really surprise me, but I did notice I really like the close-up kind of shots, as opposed to landscapes. This isn’t to say that I don’t love landscape photography or I can’t appreciate a nice panorama, but more to do with framing. A lot of my favorite shots from this month were really macro, where a single entity that drew my focus fills the whole frame. Also, flowers. I love flowers--and my artistic style was able to capture them in a variety of ways, including photos, and more abstract pen, and more realistic pencil.
Lastly, my goal was to assemble a portfolio or chapbook of my work. I am still in progress with this as of this blog post, but will finish soon. I don’t think I will get to the self-publishing now, but that does not mean it's off the table! Its journey may just have to be postponed until after the completion of this project. I’m currently working on the chapbook route (but if that doesn’t pan out I will reshuffle to make a portfolio). So, all in all, I think that I’ve solidly worked to meet all of my goals and I really enjoyed the process of doing so.
Now, I think I would recommend this project to other students, just because I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m not sure if everyone would exactly choose the “art in nature” path. I thought this was great and right for me because spring in Portland is beautiful and I really enjoy doing art, but another focal point might work well for someone else. But, yes, I recommend!
Thank you to everyone who followed along with me through this! It made me happy to read your comments :) Au revoir!
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| Yellow |
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| Sea Fern |
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| Circles |
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| Forest Shapes and Shades |
Hi Thea (it's Brett again) -- congrats on your final blog entry, and well done! I appreciate your sharing your synthesis of your learning and your display of another selection of photographic compositions. Your work presents a variety of textures and shapes that draw interest in part through your chosen framing of your subject -- I can understand why you favor the macro photos, which particularly highlight how your skill with the camera transforms the viewer's experience of what you're capturing. I do hope you'll share some of the pairings of text and image when your chapbook comes together. Please reach out if I can support you in prepping your presentation -- looking forward to it! Thank you again -- Brett
ReplyDeleteNew Thea, it has been really cool to see your pics, drawings and painting throughout the last couple of weeks. I know the project is finished, but am curious what steps, if any, you are taking to keep space for your art as you move on to college and college soccer?
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