Mandala

I created a mandala, and the requirements I needed to fulfill were that it needed to be symmetrical, and it needed to represent who I was. Starting from the middle, I created a flower-like design with two diamonds that had each had their own unique form of a line. Then, I created a blossoming flower because I feel like I should always bloom where I am planted, and I am still growing. Next, I drew earth surrounding the flower because I would give anything to travel the globe. On the outside, I created a symmetrical sunset on the earth’s horizon. Who doesn’t love a vibrant sunset?  By creating this mandala, I learned that this art originated in India and it “is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe.” I really enjoyed this project because I was able to truly personalize everything from the design to the color pallet.

Non-objective Squares

There was only one objective with this art piece, and it was that any type of line had to reach from one corner to another. Seemed simple enough, but I’ll admit, I had a hard time coming up with something to draw at first. Since there really is no right or wrong reason to create something that is non-objective, I decided to go for it. When I created this, it reminded me of my high school doodles I drew on my notebooks, folders, and notes. I also really enjoy the resist of wax and watercolor, so I drew my art piece with a black oil pastel. I then took watercolor and painted the square in sections to have a sunset-like vibe. This non-objective square fun to create since it was very open ended.

Gesture and Contour Line Drawings

Gesture drawings are very light, swoop-like, and free. I learned that they are certainly not perfect, and that’s what I like about gesture drawings. I drew my favorite headphones in the world for my gesture. It was sort of an easy object to draw because it was very rounded with half circles and full circles. The contour line drawings were trickier to draw because they were clean-cut lines. If it didn’t look perfect, it seemed that the picture would look odd. I chose to draw my favorite polka dot shoe because it had curvy lines that seemed easier to draw than an object with straighter lines.

Alien Names

To create our crazy little aliens, we folded a colorful piece of paper in half (hotdog style) and wrote our names close to the crease. When we opened our names, they definitely looked like crazy aliens. The theme of this art piece was “what is beauty?” This gave me a chance to create a world that would be beautiful to my alien’s world. I decided that color and texture is a must in any world. I had the trees have a literal fuzzy texture as the leaves, and the ground made of sandpaper for a contrast in the texture. I also cut out my dog’s name, Gracie, because the world isn’t beautiful without your puppy.

Australian Aboriginal art

Before completing this art piece, it was interesting to learn the symbols that the Aborigines would used to use to tell stories. I also liked learning how to stipple and to use crosshatch designs to give my artwork a bit of that authenticity of original Australian art. I enjoyed creating my artwork because it was extremely expressive. Created three roads that lead to a flower because these roads have shaped me—and are still shaping me—to be the person that I am today. The first road on the left is the path of my education. It’s been tough, but it’s been a journey. The second road in the middle represents my family and death that I have experienced. Without that road, I would be lost. My last road signifies my religion. It’s been the most joyous, hard, and bright path that I have experienced in my life.

Weaving

Weaving was certainly a fun project to do.  Working with textiles is always seems to create an extra twist to an art piece. Learning to weave our small Barbie-sized rugs was interesting to learn that there are warps and wefts in the pattern of a weave. I decided to choose the pattern of  using the colors purple, blue, and pink. However, instead of sticking to the same textile pattern, I decided to change up the patterns but keep the color scheme the same. I like the eclectic look, so I thought that it would make the pattern more interesting to look at and study. I also added the straw to the weave to give the art piece texture and a subtle twist.