Now that we are in the month of December, inch by inch we are getting closer to finals! Usually this time of the semester is very stressful due to tons of homework, projects, and tests. Fortunately, I am lucky this semester because I only have one class that I have to take a final in. There are few times that this has happened to me but I am glad that I have a lighter load for my final semester here at Marywood.
Besides only having one final test I unfortunately will not be creating anything else in ceramics because there is not enough time in the semester to dry, bisque fire, and glaze fire, so my career in ceramics is over until I (hopefully) get more opportunities to work with clay in the future whether in my career or just for fun. However, on the other hand, I have created two final artwork pieces for two of my art therapy classes along with the last project for my conceptual design course.
For the first art therapy course, I wrote a final artist statement and created a final artwork. In the statement I spoke about the different approaches in art therapy that I really enjoyed learning about and how I may use it in my future career, and in the artwork I created a line drawing with a female head and emotions written around her (picture on the right). I chose to create this because these elements are part of different techniques to use in art therapy such as flow, mentalization, being in tune with emotions, and how to represent what and/or who protects you. This piece was fun to create because I was able to base it off of myself and enjoy the process of art therapy.
My second art therapy final artwork is based on a group project that I partook in this semester with other students. The project that we made was based on women’s safety and the importance of understanding the dangers that a woman encounters on a daily basis. Since this was the subject of our project, I chose to create a final piece that contributed to the same idea (picture on the left). In this piece I drew a female head in the center surrounding her with themes of necessary items that women need including, a tampon, pepper spray, and a whistle. I also included a few words that describe how women are treated in society: “fear”, “silence”, and “object.” My intentions for this final is to continue my passion for feminism, and keeping women safe because I believe it is incredibly important to know about no matter what gender someone is.
Finally, for one of the last projects that I am doing this semester, I have created a piece based on an instrumental song for my conceptual design course. The song that I have chosen is “7 Nation Army” by Pete Cottrell. This has been a challenging project because it is difficult at first to determine what shapes and lines I was going to use because this is the first time that I have used music directly to create art. After listening to the song a few times I eventually came up with an idea. I decided to use some jagged lines, shapes, and circle figures. I also chose warm colors for the shapes and lines because the song screams warmth to me but I did notice some cooler tones which is what led me to color the background blue and orange.
It has been fun creating all of my projects throughout this semester, even the ones that have been a bit more difficult. I hope to use the skills and knowledge of art in my future career, wherever and whatever that may be.