The end of a brand new beginning

It's hard to believe that this is my last year of art class in my entire high school career. My, oh my, has the year really quickened. It feels really weird to sit here and take it all in. In all the years I've taken art class here, I've always had Mrs. Hargrove as my teacher. Actually, I've had Mrs. Hargrove as my art teacher for as long as I can possibly remember (looooong time). She's absolutely the best and I was pretty crushed when she left. I always signed up for her studio arts class, it was my comfort zone. However, that didn't stop me from choosing art class once again (for the last time). I've always acknowledged Mrs. Kiick as Mrs. Hargrove's right hand buddy (or the crazy, cooky art teacher next door). That's all I really knew of her at the time being. Well, since Mrs. Hargrove was leaving, Mrs. Kiick was my only fallback. I was actually quite eager to discover her way of teaching. I have to say, I was right. Mrs. Kiick truly is crazy and cooky, but I really admire that about her. Her ways of teaching art are unique. There's been a whole list of firsts for me over the year. She had us working with all different types of medias though twisted ideas. I must admit that at some points I became frustrated, or annoyed. But overall, it's been a real accomplishment for me. I've really enjoyed myself and her class. I'm very thankful for her wonderful assistance, and guidance throughout the year. She has helped me go beyond my comfort zone. Now that I know I can do much more, it makes me willing. I am confident. I wouldn't change anything about this year if I could. I'm going to truly miss having art class with the wackiest, yet most admirable art teacher here at Haddon Township High School. Best wishes, I'll be on my way to who knows where from this point.

My journey through the year

Ceramics In-Progress.

I feel like everything is a first for me in Mrs. Kiick's class. Well, everything we've done besides sketching, and we only spent a very short amount of time sketching. It's funny because I rarely ever like change. However, with Mrs. Kiick as my art teacher, she's unpredictable. So now she's got us working with clay, another first for me. I've always wanted to work with clay, but I was just never given the opportunity. I absolutely find so much joy working with clay. I love the feeling of it when it's soft, and all mushy-gushy. It's gives me this feeling of youth, like I'm a 6 year old, oozing Play-Doh out between my fingers again. It's just so cool that this certain clay Mrs. Kiick has got us working with, can go through different phases of texture and dryness. I've only made two bowls, and partially Khaelyss's face out of clay. The first bowl was just to get the idea of working with the material. My second bowl, I am still currently working on. It's for my plate setting, actually. I'm basing my plates on someone who has played a very important role in my life, and still does. I don't get to see her as much now, but that doesn't mean her importance to me has lessened. She is who I must thank for giving me the most memorable childhood anyone could ever ask for. You'll learn more about my person as I proceed with this project. Hopefully after all that I tell you, it'll start to show in my work. All I'll say for now is that those hot sunny days I spent at the pool, and watching The Little Mermaid with that particular person, has got me creating one very interesting-looking bowl.

Metal Work: Success!

Honestly, I'm so proud of myself! My first time working with metal, and I can now say that I'm not too bad at it! I'm very satisfied with the outcome of my metal piece. I know I was a bit iffy in the beginning, but I'm really glad I gave it my all. After weeks of sawing, it began to come easy for me. I would only break one or two saw blades a day. Pfft, I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty impressive to me for a first-timer. My metal piece consisted of a lot of curves and sharp turns. The curves, I actually thought were pretty darn easy peasy! Now, those sharp turns gave me some frustration. However, they weren't so bad in the end. Crazy that I'm even going to say, but....sawing is fun! I didn't even get any boo-boos! HA! Take that, saw blade! I resisted your sharp edges, and completed my piece in one piece (see what I did there? He he). Sanding wasn't much of an issue either. I'll admit that while soldering, I was pretty nervous though. I had to have some people help and guide me through that process. I even jumped when I threw my metal piece into the bowl of water. Oh, but that "sizzle" sounded delightful to my ears. Overall, it was a very fun, interesting, unexpected, hard-working experience working with metal. I became pretty devoted to my piece that I even skipped lunch on some days. Something better be THAT important to make me skip out on lunch!! I love food. Well, hopefully I'll get another chance to reunite my love for metal sometime again soon. It was fun while it lasted. Until next time, metal. Try not to be so harsh on me when I return to you. I must reunite with my graphic pencils, I hope you don't mind. I just miss them so, toodles!

Identity Collage

     Boy, oh boy, I can say that doing this collage was a lot of fun. Getting started, I drew blanks. Only because Mrs. Kiick told us we had to make it personal, I wasn't sure how to go about doing so. I even brought in a few meaningful things to inspire me. I ended up not even using any of those materials though. I put those materials back into safe-keeping, and reached for other inspirations. I painted a girl in gray-ish tones, not to resemble me completely, simply because I felt like doing so. I made sure her collarbone was noticeable, I have this thing for collarbones. Odd, I guess.. I just find them to be beautiful. I used modeling paste to add some texture into her hair and to some areas of the surface. I wanted to add a lot of color in the background, shades of color blended into each other. Different colors and textures to add depth, a little mystery, and wonder. So I did just that, and I really started to love it. What became a favorite part of my collage was the Koi Fish. I actually drew that onto my hand and wanted to incorporate it into my collage. I find Koi fishes to be beautiful, serene creatures. They can symbolize a lot of things, like good fortune, luck, family, peace, determination, courage, etc. I just took a large piece of tape, rubbed it onto my hand, then peeled it off. The ink on my hand transferred onto the tape perfectly, and I stuck it onto my collage. I love the transparency of it, kind of like the Koi fish is driftting in a sort of galaxy. I added little cut-out letters to spell "Dreamer", because that is exactly what I am. A dreamer. I felt like everything fit wonderfully together. My collage doesn't easily give away my identity, but it really does reveal a part of me.

Decorative Medal Panel

     Honestly, when Mrs. Kiick told us that we'd be working with metal, I wanted to give up on the spot.  I've never worked with metal before in my career as an artist, and I wasn't too happy about starting. So we had to create a design on paper before actually touching metal. I was frustrated at first because I couldn't come up with a decent design.  After cutting a bunch of shapes out, and shifting them around, I came upon a complex design! Mrs. Kiick cut the pieces of metal out for me, and then I traced each piece onto the corresponding metal. I started cutting into the metal today, it was not so easy... D: Khaelyss actually had to help me get started. It took me awhile, but I started to get the hang of things. I broke 3-4 saw-blades in the process. I also succeeded in my first turn today, I was thrilled! I'm only on my first piece of metal, this is going to take me awhile. 

Self-Portraits!

          

     I was a bit iffy about doing this, at first. When Mrs. Kiick told us that we'd be doing self-portraits, I got nervous. Back when I was in Studio Arts with Mrs. Hargrove, I struggled greatly with self-portraits. I never thought I was any good after that, so I never bothered to try again. However, it's been years since, so I thought I'd give it another try. I've only known Mrs. Kiick for a short amount of time, and by now I found that she likes to add a little twist to things. This was no ordinary self-portrait, but a little challenge never hurt anybody. Drawing myself surprisingly came at ease for me this time, and tracing it over with a Sharpie was no biggie either. Now, it was time to start painting (I dreaded painting). It's not that I thought painting was a pain... I just thought that I was horrible at it. Well, it turns out that I'm not so bad. After mixtures of paints, I found the right color. I was really pleased with the outcome of my portrait painted, but it was time to take it to the next level...inking. I love the outcome of my portrait inked, I thought it made it look much more intriguing. After letting the ink dry, it was onto rinsing. I was afraid to put my portrait directly under the faucet, so instead, I held it off to the side and brought the water over to it. I wanted to highlight some features of my face by rubbing the specific area with my fingers. While doing so, I was unaware of what was happening at the bottom of my portrait.  This accident resulted in a great success, and in my opinion, actually made my portrait that much better, it became the main focus point of my portrait. I can now say that I throughly enjoyed the process of it all.