Posting Assignment for Mon. OC 14

Consider an artist that has influenced or inspired you to either create a certain series of work or move into a particular direction. Collect images, videos, URLs etc. and create a post this week that highlights who this Artist is. This does not have to be an artist that works in the same media as you.  We will have an in class discussion on these Artists next week.

Richie D'Onofrio_first draft

-richie donofrio_first draft


Creating art is not just something I love to do. It is a necessity in my life. Art is my escape from the mundane day  to day affairs in this world. With it I can be instantly transported to a world all my own  outside of  reality filled with bizarre creations and oddities of my imagination. My art is a jump into this world I have made, where I draw ideas from repressed memories which are usually remnants of dreams. Fueled my music, I replay these events in my head and let my emotions counter act with them spewing out surreal creations that give me an instant sense of euphoria not only because of their likeness to the images replaying in my brain but to how I was feeling emotionally at that point in time of the creation the piece. I do not like to openly express my emotions to others but with my art I can do this, allowing me to slowly dive deep inside my mind and become at peace with the world around me.    

first draft

All my life I have always had this fantasy of living a very simple life, I grow up meet a boy, fall in love with that boy, married him make baby's mostly live out my life as a home maker for my husband and kids. This ideal life was manifested by the fact that my mother was a single parent. My mother was only twenty one when she gave birth to me and since then I was my mother whole world, she worked to support me, she work several jobs to feed me and to make sure that I had a roof over my head. 

My mother is a great influence on my life and how I see the work force, I always though that I was going to study to become a Doctor or work in a sort of blue collar work force. I have always wanted a way to  live this perfect life, so that I Could sort of escape from who I was and where I came from. I believe because of this view I was susceptible to influence from my peers, I remember thinking I had to be live my friends their lives are perfect. But as the older I got the more I realized that I had to chose my own path in life and not follow what everyone else was doing. 

Photography became my out let express myself in a safe enviorment, and a way to express my true feeling's, my photography is meant to express my fears of life and my fear of what society would see of me.  

meagan_firstdraft

I think photography was always meant to mean something to me. I grew up in front of a camera due to my lovely, proud mother. I never thought that being her life-size Barbie could guide me to what I really hope to do in my life. For a long time, I didn't believe that I could actually make photography a respectable career, worth working for. 

I'm very obsessive about the way I want a photo to look. I'm very detail oriented and every last detail has to be exactly how I see it. I tend to get easily frustrated when I can't express what I see in my mind. Even though photography is my world, I love to experiment with different mediums. 

I'm very passionate about art and I want to be versatile with it. I like creating and destroying, only to recreate, and I can't always do that with photography. Photography is my art and I plan to continue to incorporate it into whatever medium peaks my interest at the time.

amanda jones_first draft

Making art is something that I love. It's always been a constant in my life, and it always will be there. I feel that it's not only a record of my life, but it has become an extention of my very being. I have always been shy by nature, and in the past I've had a hard time expressing myself with the ease which most everybody else seemed to be born with. But I don't have to tell people how I view the world, because my artwork does it for me. It is my way to connect with people, and with myself. At this stage of my life, my work is very experimental, as I begin to build up more knowledge of how materials act, so that I may know how to use them in the future.  I am beginning to understand that there are many ways to accomplish any task, and I like that I can look back and see my progression. There is always a a small thrill that comes from finally making sense out of a bunch of chaos.

erika_First Draft

    My artistic journey started later in my life. I didn't believe (due to my upbringing) that design can be a means of making a living and that one can be happy creating art. I struggle with my mother's voice telling me that what I do isn't practical. Versus my inner voice that reassures me that following my dream of being a designer is what I'm suppose to do because it's the best thing for my soul.

My work is truly ever changing. I get inspired by many things in my environment. An ad in a magazine, a geometric pattern on fabric, an instagram photo, my daughter's artwork. I'm drawn to geometric shapes and finding basic shapes out of convoluted things. I get inspired by colors and patterns and their relationship to one another in something. I'm primarily attracted to colors of something then the pattern.

I try to interpret what I see into digital piece typically a digital mood board then into a blog header. At times I will sketch what I see in my notebook that I carry with me at all times. I love to write as well so jotting down my thought of my sketch is something I like to do. I'm a bit obsessed with dates and time so chances are you'll find that in my sketchbook. It may seem organized but it's only because I like to know when the inspiration hit me. I'm always trying to find patterns in my inspiration since I have major peaks and valleys of design motivation.

I go through bouts of design creation and written word for days sometimes weeks. One thing that has been constant throughout my life is that I journal ever since I was 6,  so I like looking back through my journals to seek inspiration there. At times even my own handwriting is inspiration for me. That is the reason why most of my work features typefaces. I'm constantly trying to find balance between white space, color, and type. It is a never-ending struggle for me. A struggle that I welcome and is the driving force behind what I do.
   

cwicker_firstdraft

              Artist Statement

              The exploration of thought and the oddities of an unknown universe are perceived as dreams. The subconscious, acts as a guide for narratives from the ever expanding unknown  to our tangible reality. With my work I search for an answer, "Who are we and who are we to become." I look into the unforeseeable future with no preconceived notion of triumph or tragedy. As my characters gain life, history morphs a new period of great change. Within my collection of work, I travel from reality to the unknown or other worldly. Throughout this body of work, I represent human form by depicting futuristic historical portraits of nameless men. Taking odd seemingly manmade commodities left behind as lost children of this unborn land and recreating entities of a new power.

                Cody William Wicker