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Wow. As you can probably tell, I am very bad at "blogging". I don't know why, since I've kept a journal for years, but anyway I do want to keep this blog interesting and up to date for all of you awesome people who come and take a gander at my site from time to time! So where to start, where to start. I've got a lot of projects happening right now, and of course I'm pumped for my studios this semester. I'm taking Sculpture (Hello, welding and plasma cutters and plaster veggies and other crazy adventures that will surely occur!) and Figure Drawing (the awesomeness is implied). I wasn't as excited for sculpture at first, but I think it will be fun to mess around with some new media and learn a few new things. Of course figure drawing is awesome, I've already learned a lot and I love to draw people. I think it will strengthen my painting a lot too, because I'll have a better understanding of the human structure. I haven't really gotten far enough in either class to talk about new projects or anything, BUT I'm working on some things outside of school, like an oil painting for my grandma. Yes, that's right. An oil painting, coming from me. Oh AND it's a landscape (a photo she took of a South Carolina wetland). The world must be ending, because those are two of my least favorite things (oils and landscapes in general, not the wetland), but I'm actually enjoying this painting and I think it will turn out well ! I decided this painting had to be done in oils as soon as Bumble asked me to paint it for her den. If you knew my grandma, you'd agree. She has a very classic sense of style, and in my mind, there was no other way to go. I'll post a picture of the progress sometime, my goal is to have it done by Christmas. I kind of miss painting class. Even though there was a lot of work (not to mention pressure, even though that basically all came from me anyway) it has still been my absolute favorite studio. (Good thing I have 3 sections of advanced left to take!) I feel like I've made my most meaningful pieces in paint. Even going back to things I painted in high school, I can still remember exactly what I was thinking when I painted them. There is just something about it that I have loved ever since I can remember. Even the properties of the paint itself (fluid, ephemeral, changeable, mixable, you get the idea) mean endless possibilities. Anyway, I will try to have pictures (and possibly more organized thoughts) in my next blog, and I will do my darnedest to write it in a more timely manner than say, nine months. Cheerio!
Hello all! I've added a few more pictures of work I did in painting and metals this past semester, and if you may have noticed the rather random Venus Flytrap ring among all of the faces and figures. For my metals class, I also made an anodized titanium flatware set with a plant theme, but it stayed at JMU for the break to be photographed, and I didn't take any good pictures of it before I left. So, those pictures are soon to come! I'm not entirely sure how I started to run with the idea of plants in metals class, but I decided to continue it through each of my projects for the class because I really liked the idea of juxtaposing such organic subject matter with the industrial nature of metal. This proved to be a challenge, and I made plenty of mistakes and some not-so-great looking rivets along the way, but all in all I was happy with my work and excited to explore a new medium.
As far as painting class went, I came out with six paintings, two of which were the mandatory still life (which was somewhat bearable because it was painting after all) and nude model, each done in oil. It was my first time working with oils, which was exciting, but I quickly realized that I am much happier working with acrylics. I went back to acrylics for my final series, and experimented with modeling paste, sand medium, glosses, varnishes, and all of those other fun things you can mix in with the paint. I wanted to use the figure and its positioning to express the ephemeral, and show an appreciation for every unique moment I am given. This is why I placed each figure in a somewhat precarious position, and created a fading effect using the pebble-like patterning. I included water in each painting to unify the set, but also because water is something that's always in motion, just like time. I was very happy with the series, and I feel like it was probably some of my most successful work yet. I am anticipating intermediate painting next semester, and the growth that will hopefully come along with it! Thanks for reading, I'll post new work as I finish it! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the art! There will be more paintings coming very soon.
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Rachel's Blog
current projects and some random thoughts Archives
October 2012
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