I think whats inside my box says a lot about me. I have a lot of memories in there. I put things in there that will remind me of the most important people in my life. I also put things that express me. I have a big list of all my favorites bands and ticket stubs from movies I saw, but my box mainly has things I've been given. I want to remember these things and these people because they're what makes me who I am. My older sister was the one who got me into the type of music I listen to now, so I put in one of her CDs. I put in pictures of me and my little sister when we were around the same age because we look exactly a like. I hope I'll be able to tell the difference. Probably one of the most important things I put in there was the letter to myself. It says all of my hopes for future me. It'll be interesting to see what I've accomplished. I think what my box says about me as a person is that I'm just myself and there is no other way to explain it.

I've learned so much in this class. It pushed me try new ways of art. There were a lot I loved and others I pretty much hated. I think my favorite project we did would have to be the books. I loved putting it together and I love using it as a sketch book. Another favorite of mine were the collages. It was something I had never tried before and I ended up really liking it. I learned about the packing tape transfers and the gloss medium. Another fun one was our big paintings. Before that I hadn't really tried blending with paint, but it's a lot easier once you practice. I'm most proud of my book. Just because it has so much art in it and there was a lot of work put into it. I really feel like I've grown as an artist. Still I know there is still so much more to do and I can't wait to keep learning.

Japan

I've always wanted to go to Japan. It seems so exciting and I would love to learn more about my heritage. My grandmother is from Japan. I used to go to her house all the time and she would teach me some Japanese. She told me that my great great grandfather was a samurai. How cool is that? Her and my dad have given me a lot of little trinkets from there. Like fans, little statues, and even my dad's old kimono from when he was little.  Growing up I've been surrounded by things from Japan or that are related to it. My dad used to make this delicious sushi and other all kinds of dishes. One of my favorite things about my old house was that we had a cherry blossom tree out front. It only bloomed for about a month or so, but it was so beautiful. In Japan the cherry blossom represents the beauty and fragility of life. Another thing I love about Japan is origami. My sister and I are obsessed with it. I just think all the little things you can make with just paper are so cute! I really hope I can travel to Japan one day. It's one of my biggest dreams. Of course I'd have to learn Japanese first, but I would love to do that also. Hopefully this is a dream that will come true!

Fortune Cookie Inspired Book Page

I thought it was really cool to use the fortune cookies for inspiration and they were really yummy. I read through all my fortunes and picked my favorite to use for the project. The fortune contrasted beauty and wisdom so I tried to do that in my drawing. I wanted it to show the difference between the worlds image of a beautiful girl and a smart one. It seems a lot of people think pretty girls aren't smart and smart girls always look nerdy, but a lot of times that isn't the case. 

Art x 3

At first I didn't really like the idea of having to pass my art away and I didn't really know what to do with it. My first piece was pretty bad. I didn't have a lot on there and it didn't really go together. My second one was better but it still didn't fit. When I got my last piece I freaked because it had no theme and a bunch of random pictures, but I really started to get into it. I found a theme to work with and I started using paints. I actually had a lot of fun with it. I probably wouldn't have done the things the other people that worked on it did, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. 

Pop Print

I was pretty excited when my art teacher said we were going to make our own stamps. I've always wanted to do something like because it seemed so fun and it was. Drawing the design was pretty easy but the carving was hard at first. Once I got the hang of it I finished pretty quickly. I loved mixing all the different colors to make cool patterns. It was annoying having to wash everything after each stamp though. I choose to do the video game title zelda because I really like it and it's pretty popular. I think printing in mass production can be really cool. If you really like a design you can test it in different colors and mix it with other designs without having to redraw it every time. 

Our collection

We created a collection of all blue things. I think it represents the time we live in because a lot of the items are common name brand things you could find in anyone's house. It also shows some of our interests because of the personal items people added such as the blue mask or zelda lunch box. I don't think it says anything about our beliefs because it doesn't seem like there are many important items in the collection. Our group collection in some ways shows my personal tastes and interest. I have a lot of the same items that are in the pile. I liked using the one color theme like Portia Munson does with her work. By using one color she showed how colors were stereotyped to gender. 

Our collection

Portia Munson's work