SPRING SEMESTER 2010
Community Connection #5
5/26
Emma Decker
WSD Art show
-text
-colors
-dyes
-paint
-texture
-various canvases
Emma Decker uses many different things to get a message across to the viewer with words. She uses text in almost every piece and uses stencils and sometimes doesn’t use stencils. She uses variety of colors and textures in each piece. Sometimes her words are hard to read but other times they are crystal clear. Most pieces are really small but some are very large. Each piece is trying to convey a message and I feel I can relate to each one with the words she uses. Even with the words used the viewer can interpret it different ways that she might have not meant for. Overall I absolutely love her work because it is so different from mine.
Community Connection #4
5/20
Micheal David
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-abstract
-colorful
-texture
-mixed media
-layering
-simple
Micheal David is a very diverse artist. He does a lot of abstract work but also had some human paintings with his collection. I am choosing to focus on his abstract works. He has very simple design elements. He layers paint on wood and it looks as if it is sprayed on. I really like the simplicity of these pieces because it allows the contrast of the colors to be the focus. He also has three dimensional pieces that protrude outwards towards the viewer. These are simple colors with maybe an accent of another color. I also really like these for there simplicity and oddness. It is just weird to look at pieces that are layered up and out to you. I really like them though and I love how he uses mixed media in his work.
Community Connection #3
4/26
Kimber Berry
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-canvas
-mixed media
-bright colors
-contrasting colors
-very busy
-abstract
-patterns
-small details
I really like the wide variety of colors she uses but sometimes I feel it is a little too busy and too much going on in the pieces. Overall I like her work and the techniques she uses. Her work is extremely abstract but she differs from me since she uses really small details in the paintings which I really like and think is interesting. I also really like how she uses mixed media. Its something I struggle with trying to do so its refreshing for me to see that and maybe I’ll get some inspiration from it. Her pieces are extremely different from anything I;ve seen which is why I think I liked them and was drawn to them. Hopefully I can try to incorporate some of her techniques into my own pieces but that might be difficult. We shall see.
Community Connection #2
3/16/10
Mark Bowles
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-canvas
-bright colors
-abstract
-overlaps colors
-contrast colors
Mark Bowles is another abstract artist on the Bill Lowe Gallery. He uses acrylic on canvas. He uses bright colors and overlaps the colors to create some really cool pieces. For most of his pieces there are no distinct shapes, just blobs of colors. On a few of them you see lines or squares which really contrasts against the free forms. I really like how he contrasts with bright colors since I really like working with bright colors myself. i really like his work overall, and I think I might use some of it as inspiration for my next pieces, so I can keep things fresh and exciting.
Community Connection #1
2/23/10
Tom Flanagan
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-splits canvas
-bright colors
-multiple colors
-contrast of colors
-overlaps colors
-abstract
-lines and shapes
Tom Flanagan is an abstract artist featured online at the Bill Lowe Gallery. I really like how he splits the canvas into separate pieces and treats them as individual pieces but uses them together with the other sections of the canvas to contrast or add to the piece. I love how he contrasts the colors and uses bright, vibrant colors so they stand out and so you can really see the contrast. He also overlaps the paint which is awesome since it is something I am focusing on right now, so I really like how he is approaching each piece. He uses simple lines to create a texture with the overlap of the paint. I really like his work and maybe for my next project I can use his style and work as an inspiration for my own pieces, since his are very interesting to look at and I can only imagine ho difficult and interesting it would be to create pieces like his.
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FALL SEMESTER 2009
Community Connection #4
1/5/10
Heidi Thompson
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-uses one color
-texture
-simple
-acrylic on canvas
-some lines or shapes
-overlapping of colors
Heidi Thompson’s pieces are very simple. They are single colors most of the time but she creates a texture by using darker or lighter hues and shades of the same color on top. By overlapping she creates very simple beautiful pieces. I don’t love her work, but it is definitely something I find interesting, and something that will be useful to my own work. Some of her pieces overlap colors that contrast one another. These are the ones I like best of her work but her singular colored pieces are more of my focus since that is something I am trying to achieve with my next pieces. I don’t want my work to be quite so simple but it is helpful to look at someone else’s work and use it to help create a path of direction you want your pieces to go. I admire her work and think it is beautiful, just not my favorite or what I intend on doing for my own project. I hope mine will be very different and not so plain and boring.
Community Connection #3
11/28/09
Alexis Berman
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-uses many colors
-uses colors that contrast in some pieces
-very abstract
-some pieces have more of a picture
-seems to splatter paint a lot
-uses different painting techniques
-techniques create texture
-paints on canvas
Alexis Berman’s pieces are very abstract. I do lke how it seems she just threw a bunch of paint on a canvas and then felt the piece was done. Some pieces seem to have many colors when other just have contrasting colors. I like the ones where it is more contrasting, they just seem to be stronger and more thought out. The other ones are interesting too. I also like how she uses the splatter paint technique on her pieces. It also looks like she paints many different ways on each separate canvas, or piece. This makes for each piece to have different textures, and to b more interesting. I really like how some of her pieces are abstract but there still is a picture there, of flowers or some other subject. It makes the pieces even stronger. I really enjoy her work, and maybe I’ll take some of her techniques and use them in my own upcoming pieces.
Portfolio Day Reflection 11/28
For portfolio I didn’t bring any of my work to show since I don’t want to attend art school, and some other factors, but I still thought it was really cool and interesting. It was really neat just to see that many art students in one room and be able to see some of their work as I was walking around, or if they walked by. I think it is awesome that so many colleges have representatives that will come and take the time to look at students work and critique it. I think it is great for art students to be able to learn and grow from a strangers point of view on their work, not someone who is familiar with you or your work. I think that it was a good experience for me just to go see. I never realized how many art students there were who are passionate about their work. It makes me feel like I’m in some sort of special society full of people passionate about one thing, which is art. Overall I think portfolio day was really cool, a good experience and something that is going to help art students become better at what they love doing.
Community Connection #2
10/24/09
Jun Kaneko
Philadelphia Museum of Art
-sculptures
-abstract designs painted on the sculptures
-shapes
-overlapping of the colors and designs
-obscure shapes for sculpture
Jun Kaneko creates sculptures. The sculptures are simple shapes and designs. The painting done on the sculptures can be more complex. He uses a variety of shapes, lines, and variation in color as to create a texture and make the simply shaped sculptures more interesting. I like how he overlaps the colors and shapes since it is similar as to what I am doing with my abstract paintings. I like his painting on the sculptures as it is some new ideas I may be able to incorporate in my own pieces. His pieces are very different in how he has simply shaped sculptures and uses abstract painting to create one piece, I really like his style and his pieces.
Community Connection #1
9/21/09
Christopher Cousins
Bill Lowe Gallery (lowegallery.com)
-uses muted colors or sticks to a single color palette in one piece
-uses simple shapes
-uses no words or text
-some free form shapes
-typically uses oil and canvas
-uses texture in some pieces
Christopher Cousins’ pieces typically are oil on canvas but don’t have a defined subject. His work is more abstract. He uses muted colors and a single color palette in each piece. He doesn’t have a defined subject, and thus tends to use simple shapes like circles or lines, or free form shapes in his pieces. In some pieces he does use texture but not all of them, and in this collection he uses no words. I really do like his work because of how simplistic it is. It is open for more interpretation since there is no clear subject. His muted colors help not to overwhelm the pieces, and also add peacefulness to the simplicity. The muted colors also blend together very nicely to create great overall pieces. The texture, and the way he paints also helps make the pieces more interesting since the pieces are so simple and abstract. His work really is inspiring for the current projects I am working on since I myself are trying to create abstract pieces. His work is beautiful, simplistic, and abstract. It really is something I am trying to attain myself which is why I think I like his pieces so much.
