Thursday, October 28, 2010

Thesis Work

Some recent stuff I've been working on...



So I've been on this importance of value and destiny one track mind so to speak for months now. My paintings naturally are a reflection of that. I've been using my photos from my time in a Haitian refugee camp as sources and have been placing the figures in dream-like spaces. This is all in an attempt to create the figures "head space" as their surrounding. This thesis year will be my last year of school in my fine arts honours degree and it has been challenging to continue to be motivated with very little supervision. I'm on track with my goal though to have 5 paintings completed by my winter critique in early December.


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

what do you want to be when you grow up?

Mmkay, so I've been horrible as of late with the whole "blogging" thing... and well tonnes has happened since my last post but oh well life goes on. Anyways, between work and school and life I have been running around like a crazy person, taking photos, painting, studying and keeping up with all of that stuff pretty well.

Today I wanted to take some time out to talk about what I've been thinking about all year as far as what I want my painting thesis to be about and what is the most important thing to get across and how to do all of these things simultaneously.

I just keep coming back to the importance of the value and destiny of every person,
and how we all have the ability to dream. I think that comes off really corny. But its all I have been thinking about.People keep asking me what I'm going to do after I graduate, I honestly have a vague idea but I'm not too worried about it. I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up. I know the type of person I want to be and I know I want to be a mom, but thats all I know for now.

Being different, and creative is part of my identity.
That being said, this is the beautiful quilt that my mom is making for me. One of my moms favourite stories to tell is how when I was about 4 or 5 years old, I looked at something she was sewing and said "mom you are like an artist with fabric!" This still holds true in my mind, my mom is not a traditional artist by any means, but she makes beautiful quilts (something I would put equal value in verses say a painting or something).

My mom has been a teacher in the public school system for around 30 years and through it all she has continued to pursue her creative interests. I feel like this entire "you need to decide what you are doing for the rest of your life" thing is more than bogus. My mom has a physical education teaching degree with a french minor. She is now a Reading Recovery specialist and is passionate about teaching the kids who the school system previously failed in teaching how to read. The job she is doing now didn't even exist when she finished school.

When you were a little kid did you ever think how stressful the very innocent "what do you want to be when you grow up" question would be? What if all you know is you want to be enjoying a book on the dock at the lake in 30 years? I think we will all figure it out, some more quickly than others. And the pressure from the world to figure it out can hold off until we know for sure.