My Visit to the Memorial Art Gallery

All of the artwork that I saw at the Memorial Art Gallery here in Rochester, NY was wonderful! I was born and raised here, and in my 23 years of life here have never been to this gallery! It was truly an amazing experience. All of the pictures I uploaded were the pieces that impressed me the most. That is why I chose to take pictures of these specific pieces. There was also a new exhibit called "Fiber Art International" which was by far my absolute favorite. But, unfortunately they did not allow us to take photos in this exhibit. Some images of the fiber art exhibit can be viewed at http://fiberartinternational.org/exhibits. I really enjoyed Sara Nissims "Children of the World" (from fiber art exhibit). She hand wove and embroidered this piece with metallic and cotton threads of many different colors. It was very stimulating to look at.Out of all the pieces I saw today, Jacob Lawrence's "Summer Street Scene in Harlem" made the greatest impression on me. I would say it is because he did a marvelous job in reproducing the energy of what it would feel like to be in the streets of Harlem on a summer day. The pastels are still soft yet vibrant all at the same time. You can see the movement of the people in the way their bodies are positioned on the canvas. Another piece that was cool was Devorah Sperber's artwork. Her piece was made entirely of hundreds of spools of thread! With the human eye it was more difficult to make out the image, especially because it is upside-down. But when I took a picture of it, the image was more clear and I was able to make out the shape of a man and a woman.

The piece i felt a connection with is Robert Lee MacCameron's "New Orleans Man." The thing that drew me in to this painting was how familiar the artist made the man seem. He had this real, warm, inviting smile and expression on his face. It was almost as if I was standing in front of someone I knew. I loved how he softly blended the man's shadows and the colors of his jacket. I also felt a connection to Trautmann's "Galaxy" and Gwathmey's "Non-Fiction." I connected with the colors of "Galaxy" because it seemed to have a lot of personality. It reminded me of myself somehow if that makes sense. When looking at  "Non-Fiction" you can't help but feel or at least sense the emotion on the little girl's face. The title and image are quite puzzling, and for that reason it is also a piece I would like to know more about.

"Landscape with Garage Light's" is another one that puzzled me. I want to know what exactly the author trying to say or show by creating this piece. Lastly, going back to my friend, "The New Orleans Man," I want to know who he is and what the artist chose to draw him. Below is the link to a slideshow of all of these images. I attempted to share it directly to blogger by following the steps in the powerpoint, but it kept giving me the same errors.
http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x394/sramsay87/Memorial%20Art%20Gallery%20Visit/

My Logo: The Love of Learning is What Keeps You Earning

Creating this logo was fun for me. Although I don't consider myself to be the most artistic person, I feel I was  able to effectively represent myself with this logo. The thing that helped me the most was a tip I found in the D.I.Y. Lupton document. It said, "The first ideas that come into your head are generally ideas you have experienced before." I found that to be very true. So, I sat and thought about it and the idea just popped up in my mind. I know that I love learning and that without my education i wouldn't be able to earn the things I want in life. This is the idea that I always try to present to my second graders when they don't feel like trying or caring about their education. So that is where the sketches I began to draw in the second image at the bottom of this blog came from.

As my creative thinking techniques I used mind mapping, brainstorming and the buzz word technique. The words I thought of were "learning", "love" and "earning". Then another suggestion form the same document came to my mind again. It said to "combine letter forms with graphic elements." So then I tried to think of how I could somehow put the three together to create a single image.

The most important discovery I made in the creation of my logo was how much easier it became for me once I started to think less and just draw more. I just let whatever came to mind flow out on my paper. As far as what I found to be interesting or important from the videos, i would say it was just how much goes into producing these logos and brands. They were so detailed in their methods and you could see just how much really goes into the whole process.

 

Color Theory, Value Scale and Color Wheel

Creating the value scale and color wheel were fun but difficult. I found the value scale was the easier task. However, the difficult part was getting my squares to gradually get lighter. When it came to the color wheel...something went terribly wrong! I went to several different art stores and none had cyan, so I got the closest thing to it. But when I had to mix the three primary colors to make black, it came out more of a brown color.
     The media I enjoyed working with the most was the pencil. I liked it because I was able to manipulate and control the outcome more. I could press hard to get a darker line, or lighter for the opposite. I also was able to use my finger to blend and shade.
      The most important discovery I made in creating these color wheel is the importance of having the right shade of blue. From the video I learned that you can't just mix half-and-half with the primary colors to create the secondary colors.

Elements and Principles

Below I have included a link to a slideshow I created. In the slideshow are various images that show the different elements and principles of art. I have always enjoyed the work of photogrophers who take pictures of items they find around them in every day life. Therefore, I tried to mimic their style of photography by taking pictures of various things around in my home. I hope you enjoy the images I have created.

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Color Theory and Emotional Effects: Elements and Principles

In the first video about color, the narrator says, " color has a powerful and unpredictable effect on our emotions." I could not agree more with that statement. There are so many different hues and shades. The way in which an artist blends different colors, and the intesity of those colors used, all have an effect on how we respond to them emotionally. Each individual person has what is called a direct  emotional response to color.As mentioned in chapter four, color is something that people take pleasure in. I love the color green, and tend to gravitate towards objects and works of art that use that color. The color green makes me feel happy, calm and energized all at the same time. But someone else who detests the color green will feel differently. One key statement that June Redfern made when she was finishing her painting was, "It's a very psycological thing actually, color... It has lots of meanings, sybols and ideas behind it... It's how you feel, and it's the feeling that color evokes you have to hang on to."



<div style="width:480px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w1179.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http%3A%2F%2Fw1179.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx394%2Fsramsay87%2F874afb89.pbw" height="360" width="480"><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x394/sramsay87/?action=view&amp;current=874afb89.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a></div>

Video Review

One of the key concepts I learned from the first video on aesthetics was form a philosopher of the 18th century, Imannuel Kant. His theory was on how there is no exact science of the beautiful. His made the most sense to me because not everyone will react the same or experience any one image the same way. In the second video however, I was not able to take much away from. I have a difficult time with accents, and his was very strong, so it was hard for me to focus on what he was saying. However, he did mention that we have a bottom up processing of visual images emotions and feelings. I never noticed before  now how true that is. Whenever I look at a picture of structure, my eyes always scan from the bottom to the top. As my eyes continue to move upward, the more the emoting  or feeling that object evokes in me increases or becomes stronger. The videos relate to the readings because they go into more depth on the origin and meaning of aesthetics. The first video is more about the theory and history of it, and the second takes more a scientific approach to break it all down. They were both definitely a great supplement to the chapters we read during the week.

My First Blog for AED 200

So, I just set up my Gmail account and I'm writing my  first blog now. I must say that the process of both setting up the Gmail account and creating a blog were quite easy. In this course i expect to learn more about art in a way that will help me to read deeper into specific works or art and to discover its importance. I am excited about taking an online course because it affords me the convenience of continuing my studies without having to drive all the way to Buffalo. I currently live in Rochester, NY, and I am a non-traditional learner in the Bridge to Teaching program. I look forward to getting to know all of you throughout this course.