This is from Tim. he forgot his password.

To put it in the most cliché way I can think of: “I’ve learned a lot about myself this semester”. As cliché as that is it’s true both in terms of my growth as an artist and as a person. Although I’m not exactly sure whether my growth is positive, negative or just different…In any case, I have used this semester as an opportunity to experiment and develop my paintings and the concepts in a way that in my opinion suits me better than previous semesters.

The concept behind my latest pieces has been my personal discovery of obsolescence in some of my die hard opinions on life. To be more specific, the idea that strength, persistence, stubbornness will always keep you “on top”. I carried this idea through the majority of my “adultish” life and it probably was first conceived during my early teenage years working on farms, where strength and hard work were all you had to know and stopping or slowing down wasn’t an option. I applied these ideals to almost all aspects of my life and this is the first time in my short stay on this planet that I’ve had to question their effectiveness. The shown painting from my latest series depicts those ideals in the form of an American flag bisecting the piece and serving as thought space for the crumpled man pondering on his toilet. The man is accompanied by his dog who may be the last person/ being to still believe in him.

The best learning moment of the semester may have been participating in the BFA critique for the first time. Getting feed back and constructive criticism for the first time from the majority of the studio arts department was humbling and needed. Since then I have been trying to take more time and observe and ask members of the department for advice in arts and also looking more and more into artists who may share similar thoughts or techniques with myself.

The most inspiring artist I have discovered would probably be a toss-up between Jerome Witkin and Francis Bacon. Both artists deal with dissident themes and handle paint and form in similar ways to myself. Beyond technique, Witkin uses thought space (which is a looser conceptual rendering of ideas that is usually juxtaposed with a more recognizable form(s)) in a very way that makes sense to me and in my opinion doesn’t require a degree in psychology to understand. Which in my opinion is sometimes a nice thing.

Unfortunately, the only shows I’ve seen where those hosted in the dowd gallery (not unfortunately because they were bad shows, unfortunately because I wanted to see more). Apart from that my class mates have been a constant help to me. I have been lucky enough to be lumped in with people with similar or compatible tastes in humor. And, naturally, being a sketchbook-aholic ideas and interpretations spread like wild fire. Nine times out of ten they are funny drawings of naked people and animals but I am not adverse to looking to those monstrosities for inspiration.

My best critique moment didn’t happen at the BFA critique, there have been a number of times where I have had impromptu critiques by members of the art department, all of which were valuable and yielded enough time for an in-depth analysis.

My perspective of the arts has changed with the undertaking of my new surface for painting and the challenges it presents. When building outward into the three dimensional world I realized that “Things look different when you actually build them” (to which Professor Vaughn replied “uhhh…YEAH.”). That is an isolated happening but I think it eludes to a greater idea that the arts are not really pure-bred. Most of the times they share one another and create strange hybrids so it is important to try and understand the point of view from different disciplines.

My goals for next semester are to be excepted into thesis one and relentless build a thoughtful cohesive body of work.

Final

These particular pieces have been my most successful this semester. This was the turning point in my work and overall direction for series to come. This piece is 9.5ft by 5ft on the left and 10ft by 5.5ft on the right and done in an acrylic medium.

Statement:

I am exploring the emotion of uncertainty through abstracted landscape paintings with ambiguous forms. People react to uncertainty with fear, nervousness or even a feeling of indifference. My goal is to bring out those specific emotions by allowing the viewer to experience a setting, overwhelmed with atmosphere, that will make you question possible states or outcomes. I work in washes of acrylic medium on top of partially gessoed canvas with charcoal. The physicality of my work is intended to not only create literal movement throughout the piece, but also to create an emotional movement within the viewer. By using aggressive brush strokes and the intermingling of charcoal, I create a texture that puts a weight on the viewer yet forces them to continue throughout the entire piece. I primarily referenced two painters, Dutch Romantic landscape painter Maja Lisa Engelhardt, and American landscape painter April Gornik. The physicality of Engelhardt along with Gornik’s placement of viewer in a space is where I draw most of my inspiration.

Throughout the past semester I have been more motivated than ever. I am producing at a fast pace and really feel as though I'm working through my ideas, really progressing. April Gornik and Maja Lisa Engelhardt have been a huge inspiration to my work as discribed in my statement. Having the motivation this semester I have been able to incorporate both artists styles into my own, which has not only excited me on a personal note but also has opened a new world of exploration into abstraction for me. My mid semester critic was most benefitial, at this point I had worked through the variations of this new style and really started to come into my own. In the mid semester critic I was able to really bounce my new ideas off of everyone who I have been working with for years now. I was and in many ways still am questioning how to resolve the edges of my new pieces. There where many ideas that pushed me through into my next pieces, eliminating and stumbling blocks that I usually become caught up with causing my work to suffer.

I have also been working in ceramics attempting to take my concepts that I have been exploring in painting on a two demensional field into a three dimensional field. This is where I would really like to go next semester. I am working on a solo show and can only hope to have not only my paintings but ceramic wall hangings as well. There is a new physicality that ceramics brings to the table as far as uncertainty goes, it becomes almost a more interactive experience which beyond excites me.

Final Goals:

-resolved edges and further exploration with space within my paintings

-production of ceramic hangings to show along side my paintings in a solo show

-graduate, annnnddd get into grad school. eek.

Final Paper

Although I am not an art major of any kind, my media communications courses allowed me to experiment with advertising, as displayed with this piece that I did in high school. It was a project on emphasis, using the larger image to attract the viewer’s attention first when the viewer flipped to that particular page in a magazine. Since high school, I have been unable to do any work similar in nature to this one because I was preoccupied with general education courses my first two years at Penn State and transferring to SUNY Cortland only extended that dull period. I hope to encounter more opportunities in the upcoming semester because I’m finally enrolled in courses that pertain to my major.
The best learning moment of the semester, for me, occurred directly after the Raquette Lake trip. I had finally realized exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my academic career through my experiences over the weekend. It was a combination of realizing my interests and viewing how other students approached their artistic interests and it changed my perspective on how I want to spend the rest of my life.
The shows I attended included “Girl” and “Shared Experience: The Steven Barbash Collection”, the latter being the more profound for me. I found his diverse collection very comforting in a way that I don’t normally feel when I visit museums and the like. His attitude towards his pieces was strangely paternal and I enjoyed his humor, specifically when his wife had to correct him on a date and he just laughed it off. I believe the work was not chosen by him, but instead, they chose him, for they knew the passion he possessed for fine art.
The best critique I ever received was on the graduation programs I designed in my junior year of high school. I was told they were the best the area’s technical schools had ever seen but I should’ve spent a bit more time on detail because I spelled several things wrong but it was too late to correct these errors as I had already printed out 600 copies. This taught me to never take the power of detail for granted because a great work can be minimized to nothing if something as ugly as a spelling error is present. However, the positive part of the critique was inspiring enough to force me to do the programs again the next year, this time being very careful with detail. My perspective has changed a great deal since the Raquette Lake trip. I saw how passionate people were about their art and the way it influences them. Art isn’t merely expression, it is release and friendship and impulse and structure. These things may not describe everyone’s views but I witnessed all these and more as my fellow students were presenting their projects.
For next semester, I hope to regain my opportunity to experiment with advertising, seeing as it is my concentration in the communications field, and allow for more time to appreciate the art that I encounter. Time management seems to be a huge issue for me at the moment. An issue which I hope to correct by the time the spring semester rolls around.

Final Post

This semester was a tough one for me and it was hard to find time to get into the studio. I really enjoyed drawing two and I feel like I have improved in both drawing and ceramics which was my other studio class. This semester I was trying to focus on learning how to use the wheel in ceramics and I wanted learn how to draw people.

Drawing people was a lot harder them I ever imaged it would be. I knew how to draw eye, nose mouth and ears but my problem was making the person look like themselves. We used a lot of different drawing materials and I found that the pen and ink was my favorite to use. Instead of doing cross hatching I use all dots to draw a horse and deer skull which made me be able to show the cantors of the skull. Since the skulls were porous it made them looks more lifelike and neater then having lines. Also since the ink had tendency to drip all over the paper doing the picture of all dots made it easers to cover up the mistakes.

In ceramics this semester I wanted to learn how to throw but since I was practicing throwing so much it was hard to find my main focus for the class. It took me awhile to really get the hang of throwing but once I got it I got interesting in making what I throw abstract. I like to call them melting pots and I like the idea of them flowing into one another. Since I have a hard time with making my foot and rim smooth I like to mold them and play with the idea of keeping the edges imperfect.

The picture I am posting is one of my finished melting pots. This was one of my first things glazed this year in ceramics and I like it because it is simple but at the same time complex because it looks like some of the pots are floating. Next semester I want to learn how to trim the things that I throw.

This semester has been an interesting one for me in terms of production of work. Due to the restraints of my schedule as a senior I was only able to take one studio class so I became more about me exploring my work strictly through painting. This happens to be where my biggest interest is so it was not necessarily completely negative.

I find in my work I am constantly drawn towards depicting individuals, in a generalized manner that is less intended to portray a specific person and more to speak to an overall concept. I found this semester I was attempting to move the figures out of an empty space by relating them to surrounding figures. I also wanted to address this by altering the shape of the canvas I am working on.

This piece is my most successful of the semester. I am inspired by the notion of passing people in the world. In a fast moving society we often brush by each other and become numb to the splendor of one another. In this piece I attempt to pause life for a moment to view the blur of passersby. It is ultimately simply nothing more than an instant due to the fleeting nature of life.

The best learning moment for me was when I came to the understanding, that regardless of outside factors, schoolwork always needs to get done so I should always plan ahead and work ahead of schedule. I was sick with various things for the better part of the semester. I was able to get other class work done from my bed but I cannot exactly paint from there. It was the first time that I truly experienced there not being enough time in the day to produce the way I expect myself to. Regardless of this being a set back, time was a good motivator for me. Ideally this piece would have one more piece on either side but because of time restraints I felt it was more useful for me to spend my time focused on the center three.

I am currently taking Barbara Wisch’s Northern Renaissance Paintings class, which has inspired my alteration of the canvas. We have looked at diptychs and triptychs and I feel they are ultimately extremely affective and interesting ways of breaking up the space. One of my favorite artists for about a year has been Storm Tharp. His ability and method used to develop characters is really inspiring to me. I have also looked at artists who address multiple figures within a crowd like setting. I find some of Kate Kendall’s work does this nicely.

Having worked with a lot of the same students for a while now, it allows for a really nice exchange between classmates. I often find myself coming to them for assistance on things and because I value them as artists I am able to trust their opinions. I also think that being surrounded by students who produce strong work is motivating in itself. I have also really enjoyed watching their processes and their own work develops as well.

I would have to say that my best critique moment came from a class where we were not in a formal critique but where we discussed our ideas for our topics. I really enjoy developing the conceptual aspect of work and I felt that in sharing my ideas I was receiving great feedback and stimulating discussion about my ideas.

I plan to next semester really focus on painting and devote a large chunk of my time there. After next semester I will be going on to get my masters in Art Education and hopefully work in a high school someday. So I am excited to work next semester as the teaching assistant for Lori’s painting 1 class. I am really looking forward to learning how she approaches students with developing concepts for their work and learn her methods of teaching. I have always felt that her style of educating has been very affective for me individually, so I feel I can really personally grow from this experience.

I feel that my perspective on the arts has changed this semester in that I am more interested in other peoples work than in my own at this time. I love the exciting time when a person is developing a new idea and hearing them discuss it. I feel that I am finding myself uninspired by my own work at this time, yet increasingly excited about the work of others. This seems to be reinforcing, at this time in my life, that teaching is the route I should ultimately be taking.

final essay

Although this semester was a busy one for me, it has been a great semester for new developments in my work. This fall along with my ceramics, I have been working on some painting. Being a ceramics concentration, I like to try and connect my ceramics with other mediums that I am working in and this semester I have been working on, what I call, clay paintings. The piece pictured above is one of the first pieces I created. I use the minerals that I normally mix with water to make clay, with acrylic medium and a gel molding paste. Through many experiments with the new material, I have learned the best ratio of clay to medium, which gives me what I want when the paint finally dries.

These paintings are a play on special relations as well as an expression of chaotic emotions. Looking at them, a viewer can get lost in the series of small cracks and extreme textures that sometimes you forget how small the painting actually is. Being painted on small 10x10 squares also causes tension because the material seems as though it should expand beyond the edge of the actual painting. The 10x10 square form of the painting helps create tension, but also contains the chaos.

I believe that my best learning moment of the semester was participating in directing the shows that have been in the Beard Gallery on Main Street. Being president of the art club for the first time this semester, I have learned a lot, but most of it has taken place in patching and painting walls, hanging artwork and vinyl, and writing press releases. I think all of what I have learned from working with the Beard Gallery has been extremely important and beneficial for my future and myself as an artist.

I have attended the Girl and FAX exhibitions in the Dowd Gallery, along with FLASHBACK, the Dingle show, in the Beard Gallery and Tara Evens BFA thesis show Down to a Science at the Corset Factory.

The most inspiring artist that I found this semester is Barbara Nanning. She works with a lot of different mediums, but it is her ceramic work that I am most drawn too. She works with extremely abstract and organic forms, and in relation to the wall hangings I am working on with clay; I believe she is a great reference for me to be looking at. I accidentally found her when I was surfing the web for people who do paintings with clay. When I saw a picture of one of her ceramic works, I followed it to her website.

I love being in the studio with friends and other classmates. My peers are the best people to ask advice and gain support from. I am lucky that there are a lot of good artists in the ceramic department, and I believe the best part about it is that we all come in everyday with totally different ideas. It is so nice to have people to bounce ideas off of and work with to develop your own ideas.

My best moment in critiques this semester was during the first BFA critique we had. Bryan Thomas made a comment that he was excited and happy to hear me talk about the importance of form in my ceramic wall hangings. In the same crit, I was also really happy with the response I received from my clay paintings. It was very encouraging.

As for my perspective on art, I am always really open to new and interesting ideas. As well as learning my history, I have also been looking at more modern artists work and really trying to open my eyes to what is out there and what is being made now.

In the next semester, I would love to continue my clay paintings as well as my ceramic wall pieces. I have an idea to connect the two, and also I would like to work on making my own molds to throw my ceramic work at. I finally feel like my ceramic work is where I want it to be right now and I am really excited to mix the paintings and the ceramics together.

The Great American Nightmare

Only taking one studio class this semester has been a much needed breath of fresh air since I have been taking multiple studios since I began as a New Media major. I believe that it gave me more time to focus on individual projects and they seem to turn out more finished than many of the projects I've done in the past. For "The Great American Nightmare," which is my final project for Design II this semester, our goal was to demonstrate "metamorphosis" in a non-literal way. I chose to show the metamorphosis of the American Dream turning into the American Nightmare through a series of animations created with Adobe Flash.

By telling the narrative of a man losing his job from the recession and the sacrifices he and his family have to make, I am criticizing the government (at all levels) and how their inaction leads to terrible outcomes for american families. I've seen first hand the effects the recession has on people close to me and it can be a very tense and emotional time for everyone - especially for the children who don't know any better and can't understand the situation. The loss of a family car or even moving to a smaller home can be manageable, but the inability to provide food, clothing or even some simple Christmas presents for their family can really cause people to despair.