Studio Journal Entry#9

What I did to my parents' bathroom

So for drawing class we had to "extend line out into the environment", so i decided to make a grid out of my parents' bathroom.  It was pretty funny, and it also kinda pissed my parents off :O).  I think it sort of transformed the space in a way- it turned something so "homey", like a bathroom in a house, into a sort of industrialized, structural, formal space.  WOOoOOOoooooo0oooo0o0o

I'm gonna stretch a new canvas and work on it this week- FINALLY.  This is the busy part of the semester so I don't have as much time to produce as I did in September.  No excuses, though.  

I've been looking at Cessily Brown lately.  I really like her in a weird way.  I figure she's a good artist to be looking at when doing landscapes in the style I am ultimately aiming for.  Some of them have a stamp-like quality which reminds me of my use of paper towels as a sort of paint brush.  I get a destruction vibe from her paintings.  The majority of them have a centralized, sort of cluster of paint that is very abstract.  You are still able to recognize the painting as a landscape, but the finer details are lost in her brush strokes.  I really appreciate how simultaneously descriptive and NON descriptive her paintings are.  This is something I could work towards for my next painting.  This is the picture I want to work from next, and I think looking toward Cessily Brown is a great reference for me: 

  

This is my grandma's house after the hurricane.  I really need to plan this out and really consider the surface of my canvas and the manner in which I paint.  

Cessily Brown

I read this article about Brown online to get a better feel for who she is as an artist.  It's called "The Aura of an Expanded Painter", by Nicola Trezzi. Here's the link: 

http://www.flashartonline.com/interno.php?pagina=articolo_det&id_art=268&det=ok&title=CECILY-BROWN

I like the fact that her paintings "represent a fragment of a more complex situation".  With painting, you don't always have to be completely representational.  This is something I am battling with.  I can give just a litttlllee bit of information without revealing the whole.  Does that make sense? probably not.  Essentially, I think I can convey my point by just exposing a fragment of my "complex situation" (or overall thesis idea...).  

GOALS

Get on with it.

Studio Journal Entry #8

HI.  I've been sick so not much has been produced this week... I'm almost done another painting, however.  I kind of ignored the whole color scheme of the picture I have been working from to loosen up my style a bit.  At first I didn't like it, but now its growing on me.  The background is kind of post-apocalyptic because I used mostly oranges and yellows.  I'm making more impulsive decisions which has been yielding different and varying results from my previous work.  Now it's time for me to get my 4x4 canvas- I believe I'll have that ready for next class. 

Last Friday we saw a work space for the Bruce High Quality Foundation in Brooklyn for thesis class.  It was interesting, but I left feeling confused on what their overall purpose was.  I have heard of the foundation before, but never really knew what it was all about.  I decided to read an article on the foundation to better figure it out. I know this doesn't exactly pertain to my thesis ideas, but it does relate to my future as an artist.  I really like how empowering and positive their overall mission is.  There's not much positivity going on nowadays.  Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/arts/design/13roberta.html

Here's a quote about Bruce High Quality's mission I really enjoyed: 

"The Bruce High Quality Foundation, the official arbiter of the estate of Bruce High Quality, is dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of the late social sculptor, Bruce High Quality.  In the spirit of the life and work of Bruce High Quality, we aspire to resurrect art history from the bowels of despair, and to impregnate the institutions of art with the joy of man's desire."

Professional Challenges, Amateur Solutions 

My next blog will be a lot more happenin'.  Not feeling so inspired this week.  BLAH

Latest painting.  Trying to avoid paying too much attention to the pictures I work from.  I think this is my biggest stretch yet and perhaps most successful.  The color scheme is more toward what I'm going for with my future paintings.

Studio Journal Entry #7

HIHI.

SO, had a critique in painting this week and got a lot of good artists to start researching.  HERE THEY IS:

Tom McGrath

Turner

Keith Mayerson

Dana Shutz

Tomory Dodge

Dirk Screber

Richard Misrock

Edward Bertinsky

Jimmy Leslie

and.. Japanese Woodcuts

Tomory Dodge

I really like how ambiguous this painting is while still being descriptive.  I've been dealing with light a lot in my paintings and I think it is used intelligently and subtly in this particular piece.  Dodge keeps his brush strokes very gestural, but still creates a contained, sensible landscape.    

Keith Mayerson

Like with the Dodge piece, I was initially drawn to this painting because of the way Mayerson handles the light.  Everyone can relate to experiencing a fuzzy, out of focus nocturnal city scape.  The way in which Mayerson handles the light in this painting is like nothing I have ever seen before.  He is using the same traditional landscape format that I have been using.  This is proof that you can still be traditional and interesting at the same time.  There is something that I find unsettling about this painting, however.  The color choice and ambiguous flashes of light in the sky give me an uneasy feeling.  Everything appears to have a yellow tint.  Perhaps that is where the unsettling feeling is stemming from.  This reminds me very much of my boat painting.  I appreciate the manner in which Mayerson suggests forms and shapes in this painting without being too exact.

I read an interview with Dana Shutz with Peter Halley today.  I really appreciated how informal and personal it kind of was.  Dana Shutz seems like a hip chick.  Here's the link: http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/dana_schutz.shtml

I really like how Shutz says she got the idea for her paintings of the "self-cannibalizing" people from her own doodles.  Sometimes artists don't need definitive, meaningful areas in which they gather material from which to paint.  Sometimes we just paint something because we want to and not for some deeper meaning.  Sometimes the question "why" really irks me.  ARGGG

GOALS:

PAINT.

Studio Journal Entry #6

Herro....

Been working on my drawings more recently than my paintings. I want to somehow fuse the two styles and see how it works out.  My drawing somewhat resembles landscape as well.  I think that's interesting being that it was unintentional- a lot more of our artistic impulses could be subconscious.  Anyway, I think it's kind of Mehretu-esque. 

 Oh, and this is a painting I just started working on.  Boats- SURPRISE!  Gonna continue with this guy and start on a new painting simultaneously.  

I figured I'd read an article concerning Catherine Murphy since she's a hit at Mason Gross nowadays.  I find her to be EXTREMELY talented.  I used to only draw photo-realistically so I can truly appreciate her renderings.  In the article, "Art Show: Catherine Murphy" by Peter Terzian, she speaks about her super realized approach to art.  Here's the link : 

http://www.elledecor.com/decorating/articles/art-show-catherine-murphy 

I found this excerpt particularly intriguing- "people ask, aren't noses hard?  I hardly know I'm painting a nose.  If the stupid thing will stay still, noses are apples are floors are whatever.  The more precise I get, the more abstract the painting or drawing is." This quote reminds me of something my mother always says to me (something her father used to say to her)- paint what you see, not what you know.  Sometimes paintings and drawings can become unsuccessful if an artist begins to overwork something.  With me, I sometimes become stuck if something doesn't look like what the actual object is.  This year, I'm trying to become more expressive in my work in attempts to avoid nitpicking.  With Catherine Murphy, however, her ability to paint and draw so realistically has become an abstraction in itself.  She overlooks the actual landscape, body part or image and focuses on the smaller components as individual pieces.  The individual parts become abstractions on their own, and when completed, they form a highly photorealistic work of art.  Depending on how you look at it, abstraction is EVERYWHERE, even when looking at photorealism. 

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK 

Continue on with painting.  Re-gesso the painting I don't like and put that modeling medium stuff on it to create more texture.  I think working on a more textured surface will allow me to paint more freely.  I think it's a psychological thangg.  More goals will surface when I man up and start on a larger painting.  

Studio Journal Entry #5

SOOOOOOOO... Kind of slowed down with painting this week and got a lot more material to work from.  I came home and got a bunch of cool pictures.  I went to the same location as my nocturnal boat painting and took pictures throughout the day as the light changed.  Different atmospheres arose which will make for interesting paintings.  I think I want to keep painting the same location.  I am being redundant.  I took some pictures of the dock during daylight and some during dusk.  It will be interesting to see how different emotions arise when viewing the painting of this location during various times of the day.  That didn't make much sense- I think I am having trouble articulating today.  It makes sense to me though so I'll just have to execute so I can show all of you!   Here are some of the pictures I plan to work from-

We'll see how this goes.  For the thesis show I may just show boat and landscape paintings.  I still wanna try out painting pictures of my Grandmother's destroyed house but I am nervous to see how they will come out.  We shall see. 

Catherine Murphy showed a drawing she did of buttons and I was inspired.  I had a revelation, or idea rather, and want to try incorporating buttons into my paintings.  I want to start introducing collage into my work.  My future plans involve this- Button and cardboard.  Before painting on a canvas, I want to glue down these things and paint overtop.  It will create a unique texture and visual dynamism.  This is a huge project so maybe that will be what I work on all next semester.  

So I've been reading from the MOMA's, "On Line" by: Cornelia H. Butler and Cathering De Zegher.  I found some interesting reads concerning collage and the space it creates.  On page #34 of Line/Plane/Space: In Tension (1910-1960), it reads, "By now it had become clear that tearing and cutting into patterned or colored papers withdrew the line so that contour accrued instead to the paper's edge, and became increasingly coextensive with real space.  This transference directed the viewer's attention to outlining new relations; collage opposed the simple literalism of figure against ground, allowing a visual play of discrepant scales and styles.  Increasingly, the focus was on relation and on line.  The marks once used to augment representational resemblance- shading and modeling, hatching and crosshatching- all these faded in importance."  

My take: I think that relating mixed media and collage to "actual space" is interesting.  I agree.  For me, layering creates multiple dimensions that are not otherwise present.  Even if this layering or collage technique does not represent a recognizable space, it definitely creates a space with depth.  I want to start utilizing collage.  Ripped paper, cardboard, buttons etc.  It is so much more interesting to observe artwork, especially paintings, that are three dimensional due to the use of collage.  I read a few other excerpts concerning collage that I enjoyed, but other than that I found the book a bit jumbled and confusing.  The authors went off on a few too many tangents.  Oh well, can't like everything you read.

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:  

Since I have more material to work from I can continue on with my boat paintings.  My ideas are starting to evolve and make more sense.  I like my idea of painting the same location during different times of the day.  I won't have an idea concerning the outcome until I begin.  So, I gotta get on it.  Also, I want to start making more sense of my collage idea.  I have to start collecting materials now.  Things usually take a lot longer than I expect.  I also want to paint over my painting of the dock and sunrise.  I think it sucks and is on the verge of becoming one of those corny oceanic landscape paintings.  I purchased modeling paste so I think I am going to make a textured surface over that painting and start over.  We must flunk sometimes to further succeed as artists.  I'm excited for this upcoming week.  

Studio Journal Entry #4

NEWEST PAINTING

I feel very pleased with my latest painting.  I have been taking more risks as the semester moves on-  I guess one has no choice when working from photographs, right?  I'm home in Cape May this weekend so I'm gonna go around to the local docks to take pictures for more boat material.  My research has slowed down a bit while I'm concentrating on producing more.  I'm excited to continue painting like this.  I just hope everything keeps flowing as smoothly as it has!  

CRITIQUE FRIDAY OCTOBER 7th 

Critique went really well.  Catherine Murphy stopped in to ours and had a lot of constructive criticism for each of us.  She is really open to and interested in all genres of art.  I found this great being that the majority of her work is photo-realistic.  She urged me to continue with making my paintings engaging and brooding.  She suggested I begin working larger.  I definitely want to heed this advice, but I'm terrified!  I have not worked larger than 4'x4'... It's about time to face my fear though and just dive in.  Larger paintings make more of an impact on their viewers, and that is undoubtedly what my overall goal is.  

For my next painting I want to utilize the similar techniques of Peter Doig and Egon Schiele.  Both of their styles are incredibly unique, and a fusion would be nothing short of intriguing.  I especially like the fragmented quality of Schiele's landscape paintings.  They are kind of awkward in a sense and give me an uneasy feeling.  

Egon Schiele: Autumn Trees    

       

" Art cannot be modern, art is eternal"- Egon Schiele

So I have been reading a few excerpts from "Between Ruin and Renewal" on Egon Schiele by Kimberly A. Smith.  Here's the link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=U_xpaF86M8IC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=egon+schiele+landscape+interview&source=bl&ots=8S21rdsmmv&sig=WwMupfNnyOmA6bKMpw7w6qL_ZL0&hl=en&ei=5viVTtvIG-X10gGRnJC9Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false

One particular section focuses on the painting, Autumn Trees (pictured above ^).  The "composition remains focused on the trees' striking presence within an empty landscape".  "Aside from the trees few objects are present, adding to the sense that these organisms are as capable of transmitting important content as any human body" (pg 141).  Sometimes, less information is more.  Perhaps I can try focusing more on the object I want my viewers to pay most attention to.  I just hope the object will not seem disconnected from the ground in which it lies. I have a few photos of boats in the water with little surrounding information.  Perhaps I could take this further and put the surrounding landscape on the back burner.  My pieces could then become figurative in a sense- kind of like a silhouette painting.  I guess it all depends on the way I handle my paint and brush stroke.  This is a relatively new idea so I need to flesh it out more.

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK

*BIGGER CANVASES! 

*Collect more images of boats and docks from home

*Do sketches on site so more emotion and preciousness can become evident in my paintings- after all that is what I am aiming to do

*Keep taking risks

Studio Journal Entry #3

 PETER DOIG MODE! 

This week Marc gave me a pretty extensive list of artists to consider for my landscape paintings.  I've been looking into a few pretty specifically.  I think it is time for me to really push my approach to landscape painting.  I feel that I have been pretty cautious with the paintings I have been working on so far this semester.  I want to become more impulsive- over the years I have realized that "just going with it" can yield rewarding results.  I have taken a break from researching the concept and theme behind my thesis idea and have continued with familiarizing myself with all sorts of landscape painters.  I feel it will help me realize various techniques and styles I could possibly practice myself.  Lately, I have become especially intrigued by Peter Doig and his sort of washy approach to painting.  I particularly appreciate his use of solids to depict surrounding plants and trees.  Layering seems to be a crucial technique throughout the majority of his paintings.  Doig treats the manner in which he paints flora and architecture quite separately.  He paints trees and plants more freely with organic shape, and then buildings in a more geometric, hard-edged manner.  I think this creates an interesting dialogue when used in the same painting.  It seems Doig takes a great deal of his own personal interpretation of a certain landscape when constructing it in the form of a painting.  He takes risks.  Successful ones, at that.

I recently read an article about Peter Doig's landscape paintings by Beatrix Ruf.  Here is the link: 

http://www.postmedia.net/999/doig.htm

In the article, Ruf states that Doig takes " His own and other people's photographs, the sum total of the media image archives, the images of art history, the cinema, music, architecture, sports, landscapes- they are all realities in his studio that call forth but do not model his paintings".  This particular quote really opened my eyes.  Because I paint primarily from photos, I CAN NOT let them restrict me.  I am letting my photographs model and control too much of my paintings.  I need to take the emotional and personal aspects related to the places I paint and let them become evident in the finished product.  "In Doig's images we enter spaces that appeal to several senses at once, because they operate with the structure of our memory, because of smell, color, the accidental collision of a familiar architectural detail with a detail from a landscape can set in motion our own, individual 'films'".  This quote pretty much sums up all of what painting is about (for me)!  I want people become fully immersed in my paintings.  I want all senses to play a role when experiencing my works of art- I think this discerns how successful a piece is overall.  I need to stop being so concerned about how much my painting resembles the picture in which I am referencing. I should let my own personal experiences and feelings about the place take precedent.  After all, art is about expressing THE SELF, and not necessarily all about illustrating to a "T"!     

Egon Schiele,"Trieste Harbor"

Egon Schiele has always been my favorite figurative painter/drawer.  I came across this boat painting by him that stylistically resembles his more figurative work.  I appreciate his use of the line to depict reflection in the water.  Once again, like Doig, utilizing various techniques can draw a viewer into your piece.  

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:

*Listen to Heather Darcy Bhandari: DON'T ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RULES!

 *Look to different landscape artists I like and reference their techniques to make my very own

*Build up my current paintings- layering is key

*Try and start a landscape painting that has nothing to do with boats to see if I take more chances 

*PAINT!

Studio Journal Entry #2

More organized/cohesive thesis thoughts:  Painting professor, Marc, introduced me to the idea of a "post-apocalyptic" approach to my landscape paintings.  Being that my theme is so personal and unfortunate, exaggerating my palette and subject matter can help further push the emotional boundaries I want to reach with my viewers.  I want my viewers to sense a sort of looming danger when they see my landscape paintings.  

                                         
Progress thus far...

   

     I think I am becoming successful with portraying a stormy and menacing sky, but I want to push it.  I want to see how dramatic I can make my paintings without them becoming unrecognizable or phony.  The last painting shown (the one with the dock) is the most unsuccessful to me.  I find that painting sunsets/rises can become cheesy and for lack of a better word, boring.  This painting definitely needs the most work.

Currently looking at...

     I've been looking at movie stills and interviews with Werner Herzog concerning his 1992 film, "Lessons of Darkness".  The film is based in the oil fields of post Gulf War Kuwait.  The film reveals a "post-apocalyptic", foreign terrain that is hard to recognize as the world in which we live.  The stills are almost unrecognizable- They appear to be photos on a planet from a distant galaxy.  Here are some stills:

One can truly sense the danger when looking at these photos.  In relation to my thesis ideas, I'd like to create a similar scenario.  I want to show the dangers and uncontrollable power of the ocean by exaggerating the skies and terrain in my paintings.  Though these stills from Herzog's film have little to do with the ocean and natural disaster, they show disaster inflicted by man on our own planet.  The destruction is overwhelming and extremely troubling, and I hope to look to this as an artistic reference.  

READING: http://www.wernerherzog.com/52.html

     ****This is a translated interview I read with Werner Herzog following the screening of "Lessons of Darkness".  In this he states, "There is not a single frame in "Lessons of Darkness" in which you can recognize our planet"..."From the cries of the public I could make out only 'aestheticization of horror'".

Though the seriousness of the war waged in Kuwait is far greater than my idea concerning the seriousness of the ocean, the themes kind of relate in a sense.  Unless an individual was directly involved in the Persian Gulf War, or a part of the loss experienced due to a hurricane or ship wreck, one can not truly understand how unfortunate both are.  I hope to create a sort of "first-hand" experience for my audience.  We can watch the news and see pictures and documentaries concerning war and natural disaster, but we can not help to become jaded by it.  In a world so guided by the media and technology, we are bombarded by images of disaster and ruin on a daily basis.  Often we oversee the magnitude of sadness and misfortune these disasters bring individuals and their families.  I want to resurface what has become perpetually overseen in an artistic manner.****      

"Life in the oceans must be sheer hell.  A vast, merciless hell of permanent and immediate danger.  So much of a hell that during evolution some species-including man- crawled, fled into some small continents of solid land, where the lessons in darkness continues."

 -Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  April 30th, 1999. Werner Herzog

Still from the 2010 film, "Book of Eli"

Still from the 2009 film, "The Road"

Each movie depicts a post-apocalyptic world and the few individuals who take any measures to survive. Visually, the movies are beautifully surreal and disturbing.  I can look to these as artistic material as well.

THIS WEEKS GOALS: 

Tweak palette

Warp perspective

Use similar colors to make series cohesive

Paint thicker

The sky is the focal point- MAKE IT MOVING!

Studio Journal Entry #1

J.M.W Turner: The Slave Ship

Budding Thesis Ideas: I've recently become very intrigued by landscapes.  This interest developed by accident over the summer while I was painting abstract organic forms.  My thoughts and ideas have since developed into a cohesive idea for a series of paintings.  I love nocturnal scenes and BOATS.  My family has owned commercial fishing boats for decades now.  They are responsible for all that my family has.  Recently, in the wake of hurricane Irene, My grandmother's house (which is right on the water) was destroyed.  I find it ironic that the ocean, something that has brought my family all of its income, has destroyed what it created. I want to paint this.  My ideas have not fully developed yet so I want to find a way to make this interesting and relatable to an audience greater than myself and my family.  I want to emphasize destruction on a personal level and on a more worldly level.  I'm having trouble trying to convey this in an art form.  We'll see how my thoughts develop.   

Tom Mcgrath: The Dry Strip

This is an artist I have been researching lately.  He paints mainly landscapes.  Some are more abstracted while others are more literal and recognizable.  Marc Handelman, my current painting professor, asked me the other day if I have a thing for nocturnal landscapes.  I immediately answered no, but this question has stuck with me throughout the weekend.  Maybe I do?  I look at a lot of nocturnal landscapes because they speak to me.  They create a mood that would not be there if painted during the day time.  McGrath's use of brush stroke and accent of color creates a foreboding mood.  This piece feels like it's warning me of something bad that is about to happen.  The overwhelming use of darks can be attributed to this mood.  If I want to convey a certain feel in my paintings, nocturnes may be the way to go.  I find them unsettling and interesting.  This could go hand in hand with my theme or idea concerning "destruction".  

Kristopher Benedict: Meditation

I'm hooked on this piece because of the power of the silhouette.  Silhouettes are mysterious but straight forward at the same time.  I like the unknown about them.  They provide little information about what they are representing and are open for personal perception/interpretation.  It leaves the viewer responsible.  For me, silhouettes read very lonely and sad no matter what the rest of the painting looks like.  I could also utilize this technique in my own paintings to further create a certain mood. 

Mini Landscape Paintings I worked on this summer...  I'm useless when it comes to taking decent pictures so the quality of these is pretty crappy, but I suppose you get the point.

 

First Critque: Gerry suggested I go to the site of my landscape paintings and paint them on location.  This could help further illustrate the emotion I feel when I'm at these places. It is difficult to convey this emotion when I paint them from photographs months after I have visited.  I'm having trouble articulating what I want to say.  Essentially, if I paint my landscapes on site, my feelings will become more evident in the finished product because I am experiencing and painting SIMULTANEOUSLY!  

I also have a thing for drawing old people.  The more wrinkles the better- they tell stories about the person.

READING: "Tom McGrath: Landscape Redux". In Tom McGrath: Paintings 2002-2007. New York: Zach Feuer Gallery, 2007; pp 3-13. Text copy-write Robert Hobbs. 

http://roberthobbs.net/essayandexcerptpdfs/mcgrath.pdf

I found this interview/reading concerning McGrath's landscape paintings.  I found a particularly interesting segment concerning his use of "nocturne" painting.  One part reads, "The over-coded subject of the scenic overlook at night, and its iconic teenage make-out potential, provides a link between the dazzling opticality of vision and the other senses; there is a physical perceptual and sensate dimension to the work for what otherwise might come off as purely retinal"(pg. 10).  I found this particularly interesting because of the underlying narrative night paintings posses.  Since I am trying to convey certain emotional ties with my own paintings, choosing night scenes might be the better choice.  Day light leaves little room for mystery and obstruction of view.  In the dark, visual information is taken away or obscured.  For myself and most, darkness is terrifying.  It deems once familiar places and items unfamiliar.  In utilizing this "nocturnal" technique, paintings can become something more than "purely retinal".    

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:
PRODUCE, PRODUCE, PRODUCE.  Search for nocturne photos involving boats.  Develop a style that is unique.  My process has a large part to do with the finished product of my paintings.  Try and make this process more evident to my viewers.  Try and use a consistent color palette throughout my paintings.  I need to work on creating a more cohesive group of work.  WRITE CONSTANTLY.  Any ideas that come to mind can be developed into something that can be explored.    

Interview: Jenny Hang

     I interviewed Jenny Hang from Mason Gross who has a concentration in Graphic Design.  I looked over her digital and mixed-media works and asked a few questions concerning her inspiration, subject matter and possible ideas for thesis.  She has created art in numerous mediums and hopes to continue and further her mixed-media approach to art.

Linley: What is your concentration at Mason Gross?

Jenny: Graphic Design.

Linley: Has your concentration always been this? If not, what was it before?

Jenny: Yup!

Linley: You seem to have a good feel for a medium I am not at all familiar with- Computer/Digital art.  How did this become your artistic niche?

Jenny: Ever since I was young I always looked at things from a design perspective.  Every time I go shopping, I see things that catch my eye and I always wonder, "How did they make that"?  So when I was exposed to the computer/digital world, I really fell in love with creating fun and cute images and personal websites around my middle school year.

Linley: What kind of classes have you taken outside of the digital realm ie: painting/drawing?

Jenny: I took almost every kind of art possible either at Mason Gross or during High School, such as ceramics, sculpture, paper making, graphic design, drawing, painting, photography and currently video.  I feel like art should be versatile so in order to see what is your strongest and weakest points.

Linley: Did these classes help further develop or change your more digital pieces?

Jenny: Sure, I think it definitely helps me develop a versatile eye for design.  By experiencing so many different mediums I can get an idea of how to incorporate and display different styles and mediums together.

Linley: What artists do you look at most?  To what degree do these artists influence the outcome of your pieces?

Jenny: I know it sounds bad but I don't have a specific artist that I look at.  Since I didn't have a strong art history background when I was younger, my inspirations came off of other designers in forums.  I taught myself through the internet and tutorials to learn different programs.  I would say that pop culture influences my work the most.

Linley: Have you ever thought to deviate from your attention to exactness in order to create a piece not like anything you have ever produced before?

Jenny: No, not really.  I like to attract viewers by visual appeal first.  If it doesn't look pretty or interesting then people wouldn't look at it.  The design world is competitive so in order to attract the audience I feel like I have to make it coherent.  I'm not sure how to "let go" and make something that's totally not "in control" but I know I should.

Linley: Do any of your previous pieces point you in a direction for what you would like to do with thesis this year?  If so, what underlying theme or idea would your idea be based upon?

Jenny: I want to make a progress book of my work but with a twist in the end?  I'm not completely sure but I do want to keep it in a digital/print realm.  Maybe add some other mediums in there as well.

Linley: You seem really immersed in the "commercial" aspect of art.  Are you interested in sending a message to your viewers?  Is it something you find important?

Jenny: Graphic Design, to me, is about commercial advertising- I do want to send a message to viewers through visual art by conveying the information of subject through words and pictures.

Linley: Would you ever consider creating more figurative work?

Jenny: I do some abstract work but not for school.  I have paintings and other craft projects I do in my free time outside of Mason Gross.

Linley: I noticed you say in your "artist statement" that you like to work fast.  Have you ever tried to challenge yourself and work at a slower pace to see what the outcome would be?

Jenny: I'm not sure how "slow" you are talking about but the more time I spend drawing, the more detailed my work gets.

Linley: It seems you have a passion for vibrant colors.  Does this have a lot to do with catching the eye of your viewer or is it more of a personal preference?  Is it a fusion of both?

Jenny: Both.  I like the bright colors and they make me happy.  Color is extremely important in my work.

My Thoughts: As a painter, I found it very interesting and eye opening to interview someone with a concentration so opposite of mine.  During this interview, I was able to get raw details about Jenny's art that she may not have been previously aware of. Jenny's serious approach to mixed-media, bright color and attention to detail is something I could even consider utilizing in my own work.