Some Advice:

If you do AP art next year be ready to work, I can't stress this enough. You don't necessarily have to stay on top of everything all the time, but if you wait till the deadline to work then you better be able to create good work under alot of pressure. But really arty is fun, so why fall behind in the first place, if you love art enough to be in the class than you will do well and learn alot. I would also caution you to think of a really good specific concetration. Since all your work will be about this one idead make sure you have are excited about it, and that you have room to grow in your concentration. If this sounds tricksy, it is, so spend some time just thinking about your concentration and mapp out some possible pieces before you decide.

My Favorite:

My favorite piece was the Jesse reno piece. It introduced me to a different way of painting, and helped me to relax a bit about being a perfectionist. I also loved that i was able to use my fingers and really have fun with the colors before I even had a vision for the piece. It was extremely freeing to create this way. Also it won me a prize and I had never made money on art before then.

What I Learned:

I learned that I work best in my own space. I have alot of trouble being inspired or doing good work when I am around other people or in a place that I am not comfy in. I also learned about being created and how to make something out of my own head and not just copy it from a picture. I found that I am not quite able to draw directly from my head, but if i see some amorphous shape I can turn it into a creature in my head and then draw that. Its alot easier for me to be creative this way.

ACTIVITIES!

I absolutely adored the Jesse Reno workshop. He had such a unique way of doing art, and it was wonderful to learn from a truly succesful professional artist. His style was so much fun to emulate and I think it helped everyone to let go and have fun with their work a bit more. For me personally he helped me with layering, and in allowing the paint to form its own picture instead of forcing it and controlling it. He allowed me to be free with my art and his own peices were inspiring.

I also loved the art field trip downtown. I enjoy looking at art, and being about to gallery hop and experinece a whole bunch of different artists was inspiring and definetley helped me to decide on my concentraion.Plus who doesn't love getting Voodoo doughnuts in the morning? Ithink it helped bond the art class and Made us more of a art family, instead of a bunch of spereate groups.

I wish that we didn't do the LO reads book, since it was a terrible book and the art that came out of it was hardly inspired. I also wish we did mroe things with the AP 3 d class. When the classes were at the same time, last year, it was really nice to bond between the two AP art groups. I loved the comraderie between the two groups, and that it created a whole art community. This year we didn;t get the same opportunity and I missed it.

In ten years i see myself raoming the african savanah and the jungles of south america, doing feild research that is funded by government grants. I will also be keeping an artsy journal and drawing all of the things I get to see.

A Thoughtful Song lyrics

Well I feel just like a child, Yeah I feel just like a child

Well I feel just like a child,Well I feel just like a child

From my womb to my tombI guess I'll always be a child

Well some people try and treat me like a man

Yeah some people try and treat me like a man

Weel I guess they just don't understand

Well some people try and treat me like a man

They think I know s*** But that's just itI'm a child

Weel I need you to tell me what to wear

Yeah I need you to help me comb my hair

Yeah I need you to come and tie my shoes

Yeah I need you to come and keep me amused

From my cave to my graveI guess I'll always be a child

Well I need you to help me reach the door

And I need you to walk me to the store

And I need you to please explain the war

And I need you to heal me when I'm sore

You can tell by my smileThat I'm a child

And I need you to sit me on your lap

And I need you to make me take my nap

Could you first pull out a book andRead me some of that

Cause I need you to make me take my nap

And I need you to recognize my friends

Cause they're there even though you don't see them

They got their own chair, plate, and a seat

You know I won't touch my foodUnless they eat

From the roof to the floorI crawl around some moreI'm a child

And I need you to help me blow my nose

And I need you to help me count my toes

And I need you to help me put on my clothes

And I need you to hide it when it shows

From be my daddy's spermTo being packed in an urn I'm a child

And when I steal you gotta Slap me til I cry

Don't you stop til the tears run dry

See I was born thinking under the sky

I didn't belong to a couple of old wise guys

From sucking on my mama's breast

To when they lay my soul to restI'm a child

Well I guess I'm always be a child

This song represents what I want to be when I grow up, a kidlet

Well the AP showcase is behind me and all thats left in art is the ap downloading. Its a strange feeling, like the beginning of the end. I know we all did a great job and i was blown away by the art work that everyone showed. All the guests were stunned. I am sure that AP 2d can loook back on this year fondly and without regrets. I know the incoming seniors will grow even more next year, and those of us who are going to college will continue to pursue our art there. Before this art year I want at all sure that I wanted to spend any time with art in college, but after this year I know that I could not be happy without art. While I did not end up going to RISD, an art school I will stil be doing a double major with art and bio. The success that I have had this year inspired me to pursue art as more then just a hobby, and what little art I did make gave me a glimpse of how many more ideas I have.

Anyways good job everyone!

and thanks

This past weekend I went on my college visit to Miami. I was potentially going to go there and become a marine biologist. While I love the area (and the cuban food) I will not be going there next year. I heard that the teachers there are more about research then teaching, and thus the classes suffer. Also the classes outside of the marine bio and pre med weren't all that great. Instead next year I will be going to Whitman, a small liberal arts school in Walla Walla Washington.

Whitman has a beautiful next arts department, it is 4 stories tail and shaped like a credent moon. On side of the building is entirely glass walls. and the studious that they have for seniors are entirely glass rooms. They had a wonderful printmaking shop, a wood shop and a metal working shop. I must say the ceramics left something to be desired, however I spoke with the head of the art department and he was very supportive. I know that next year I will either double major or minor in art, and become a part of the small but strong art force at Whitman.

well Ive been out sick for almost a week now and it hasn't been alot of fun, but on the bright side I have had alot of time to work on my paintings. I will finally be back in the classroom today to show off what I have done. I have only finished one of the three! but I drew out the other two and they will be much smaller then the 5 ft tall monster I have been working on. As much as this deadline is scaring me I am really, finally, excited about the work I am doing. Its taken this whole year to get in my groove, but these last few pieces are ones that I can truly be proud of. they are definitely strongly influenced by dali, but theres a bit of jesse reno in there and a bit from some new artists I discovered on a art website called Fecal Face. The art on it is wild and fun.

Im off to Miami tonight for a college visit, which should be wonderful on my sinuses :( but really i can't complain. I even found an artist named Jeff Soto, who did a art blob about his trip to miami for an installation. It got me all excited for my trip and the art that I might get a chance to see there.

till next time

I am definitely feeling the crunch right now. The end of the year has snuck up on us so quickly! I am struggling to come up with the conceptual piece of my paintings. I know what i want in them to a point but I'm missing that picture in my mind of what I want the finished project to look like. I know myself and I need to have that finished look in my head if I want to create something I can be proud of. I got some books to be inspired by but this deadline doesn't leave much room for inspiration! So I am just getting my whine on for a little bit and then I can man up and dive into it. I love art and I love getting into it I just need that flash of inspiration to get me going... anyone have any great ideas they aren't using?? probably not. well ill see you all in class Monday for some high pressure creation.

I went on an amazing road trip this spring break. Nikk and I packed up everything we thought we might possibly need and drove from here to the redwoods to sanfransico to santa barbara LA and finally finished at the san diego zoo. San Diego zoo is the most amazing zoo i had ever visited and the animals are all set up in their cages so its always easy to see them. We got to watch two huge grizzly bears wrestle (playfully), they would tackle eachother and throw seaweed and one divebombed the other into thier pool of water, they were great. I sketched the whole time and got some interesting drawings. It was a bit of a struggle because the animals were always moving. Santa barbara was the most beautiful place I have ever been and I am probably going to go there for school next year. LA was crazy and hetic but I loved Venice beach and I have this great new dream to be a street artist and sell my stuff on the boardwalk. Some of the things they were selling were ridiculous and Im sure some creature art and felted things would be snatched up in a hurry. Of course San Fransisco was wonderful and I got to shop on Haight street, which is home to my favorite store. I got to play with my grandmas art stuff when I was in San Fransisco. She lives right by there and she does art all day everyday. One of my pieces was done there. All in all it was a wonderful inspiring trip. I came home full of ideas and I can't wait to get back down there this summer