My Poetic Final Reflection

As my art career at Haddon Township comes to an end 

Without art I would may my only friend

I have the ability to draw whatever's on my mind

With art my imagination I shall find 

I have expressed my feelings through pencil and clay

Art class has always made my day

I'll miss the projects and awesome times

Which is why I'm creating these flowing rhymes 

The memories of these past two years I will never forget 

Leaving this class forever will be my only regret

These past few months I've compiled posts on this blog

Posting is much more fulfilling than being a bump on a log

My favorite moment was sculpting the last project 

Art was by far my favorite subject 

I finished my year by sewing pages in my book

Taking this class was definitely the look

When I scan the world I now see in new eyes

I've grown up and I'm ready to gaze upon new skies 

With art in my life a better person I will be 

I will be more creative living my life by the sea 

Mrs. Kiick I wrote this poem for you 

For I will always remember Haddon Township and Art Class too 

Underground Memories

This time capsule project was a perfect art project for my senior year of high school. I have been feeling very nostalgic during these last few months at Haddon Township High School and this project helped to seal all of my favorite memories up, both physically and mentally. My time capsule although not finished on the outside yet holds a lot of memories from within. Inside have some of my favorite memories from school, track and cross country, my friends, and much much more over these four years. I plan on opening it up in somewhere near 20 years, rehatching old memories, and looking back to this awesome blog that I have made over these past couple years of art. I'm very glad that the time capsule was part of the art class this year. 

Life

I wake up to the sound of my alarm. It's an early August morning and it is 6am. Normally I wouldn't even wake up for school at this time but this was different. There was an unusual summer swell coming in this morning. I ride my bike down to first and boards to check the waves. It's chest to head high and clean and the sunrise is almost just as good. The next few hours is just barrels after barrels and some slashes at the lip. All of the First Street Crew was out and we all were super amped throughout the entire session. I get out at 10 change into my work boardies and head to work. The waterpark was busy and there were tons of people on the slides all day long. I half lifeguarded and half watched the waves at 7th street from the top of Serp. The waves died down as the day went on as many summer swells do. I was blessed that I paddled out as early as I did this morning. I got off work at 6, went home, threw on my shorts and trainers, and went on a run. I hyped over the season ahead while I strided over Longport Bridge and enjoyed the cool early evening breeze. I cut through the Gardens and headed right back to first street beach. As I got there I popped off my shoes, darted toward the ocean, and went for a dip. It was amazing to think about how calm the warm ocean was now, as it had been so big earlier in the day. I got out and watched the sunset on the beach while I sat on the jetty. After a quick shower and dinner I was getting calls from all of my friends who were stoked over a party that night. The night was very similar to many others. A bunch of brothers with a similar love for the sea, having a great time just living life. 

Days like this blend together each summer and hold a special place in my heart. They make me who I am and lead me toward the life I want to live. They keep me working hard and set me free. 

Fortunes of the Future 👽

Our last project of the marking period and currently still a work in progress for me is the fortune cookie project. Each student was given 5 fortune cookies and we had to interpret our fortunes and make a collage/painting based on our fortunes. Two of my fortunes said I would be expecting a pleasant surprise in my future. The other one said I am versatile and can balance a lot of different things. Shortly after I got accepted into all of the schools I had applied to. Hopefully my next surprise will be that I will figure out where I am going to go to school soon. My collage is weak right now but I hope in the end to include the schools I want to attend, have some aspects of the beach in it, and tie it in with running too. 

Stamps

The stamp project we did this marking period was something completely different than anything I have done before. We created our own stamps and then made artsy prints with them. We took our inspiration for our stamps from the blue collection we made in the center of our classroom. I chose a 1st place ribbon because awards and winning races is really important to me. I get this drive to win and I don't know where it's from but I thought it would be the perfect thing to make my stamp of. The carving of it was difficult and it turned out not perfect but it made it look pretty cool. I made tons of prints with it but liked this one the most. It's simple and that's why I like it so much. 

Collage, collage, collage

This year for our collage project we went off the path of what's "the norm". Our topic was to visually express the theme "celebrity". There were many ways to go after this theme and everyone had a different view on the topic. What was
so different about this project was that after the first two days you a handed your project in and got another students at random. I was pretty attached to my first one and was pretty upset to have to let it go. The progress I made in the first two days was remarkable. Then we got the new project and I was dealt a good hand. Again we worked for two days and after putting my signature final touch on it I handed it off and got my last and final collage. The interpretations that the people before me had on the theme was a lot different than mine. I did a complete 360 on the theme and did the best I could to turn this collage into my own work while still keeping parts of theirs in it too. It didn't end up how I had once hoped it would but overall I'm satisfied with my final work. I thought the concept of this project was cool because it taught me a couple life lessons. The first lesson is that everyone has different views on different things. The second one was that you may not always be happy with the hand you are dealt in life, but you need to do your best to turn it around and make it how you want it to be 

Our Lives on a Table

Our collection to the eye may seem like a pool of blue. Perhaps even a blue jumbled mess with no organization. But as you look at each individual item, you start to see all of the classmates lifestyles all sort of placed onto one table. There are countless blue school supplies on the table, such as pencils, pens, and markers. These utensils are used every day in the classroom and at our homes when we are doing our homework. Some people brought in blue balls and first place ribbons. Showing the class how important athletics are to a lot of the students. There were rappers and bottles of both food and drinks that the students enjoy and eat daily. Someone brought in a Vans shoe. A fashion statement in today's world and a symbol of the laid back lifestyles of some of the students in the class. What seems a disorganized and random display of objects ends up being much much more. It is a symbol of how us art students live our lives. 

Portia Munson does the same thing when she does installation artwork. She adds important objects of her life into her amazingly creative installations. This is one of the reasons that she is as popular of an artist as she is and one of the reasons she is so successful. 

http://portiamunson.com/installations/reflecting-pool.html

Collectors Edition

Thirty-six magazines are what my collection consists of. It continues to grow every month. Once a month a new edition of Runners World Magazine comes out and I always snatch one off of the shelf from the Running Company. I started as a freshman in high school when I got my first copy for Christmas and at first I was obsessed with them. I would read every issue cover to cover the second it came out. Anytime I had free time I would read my Runners World Mag and it would pump me up for practice the next day. As I started to get older my school work and number of other priorities got much greater than they had been when I was a freshman. I don't have as much time to read all of the issues in my free time anymore. However, I still collect them and read the articles that really strike my interest. I also check out the "rave run" photo on the inside cover of every issue and it inspires me to travel and see the world when I get older. The artlicles in those magazines pertain to just about any problem a runner may come in counter with and they are a good resource to help cope with your problem. I think that I will collect Runners World for as long as I run or stay in running. It is a great thing to collect and the collection will always keep on growing 

Black & White v. Color; Comparing and Contrasting

This year we did two types of drawings instead of one. One of these drawings was in regular graphite pencil, and one of the drawings was in colored pencil. The graphite drawing was of a bike that was set up in our classroom. I had drawn and shaded in graphite last year. I definitely improved on my skills and I was excited for the colored drawing as well. The colored drawing was of a jar of candy in the room. The shading ended up being much more difficult with the colored pencil but all the different colors made it fun. I liked the technique of blending. Not just shades but also blending the different colors together to make unique color creations. We got to do a third project with coloring our boxes and I really enjoyed that too. Drawing in color made the project feel much less stressful than the graphite drawing had. But I'm glad we got the experience of doing both. 

The Art of Cycling

This year our drawing assignment was drawing and shading an angle of our choice of the bike set up in the art room. My intriguing angle presented a big challenge in drawing and shading my bike. I do think my skills in both of drawing and shading have gotten better than they had been last year. This was definitely a challenging project and drawing is one of the things that I find most difficult in art class. I'm just glad that it's all over and I'm excited for what's next 

A Sweet Temptation

As the Halloween season approached, we were tempted by sweet insides of the jar. This colorful and delicious drawing of our candy was a fun and exciting way to end the marking period. Adding color to our drawings made them really pop. And coloring on the pre decorative paper made it even better. Shading with the colored pencils was pretty difficult and making the jar look realistic was even harder. However, I went for it and drew what I saw from my perspective. With drawing not being one of my favorite techniques in art class, I am satisfied with the way my drawing came out. Now I can't wait to eat all of it!

Art 2013-2014: New Year, New Challenges

As a new year starts I am excited to be getting back to Mrs. Kiicks art class. There will be lots of things keeping me busy this Fall such as SATS, college applications, college visits, cross country, and school work. I am happy that I can come to art class and just put all that aside for one period each day and just really relax and "Express Myself" on paper. I am excited to make the best of this year and my final art experience and I know it will be a good one.

Final Reflections

As this year is coming to a close I have been looking back on how I have grown throughout the year. One really important decision was taking art class. Although I am really tight with time at the end of the year, taking it was a really good idea. Everyday I could come to art class and forget about all the other stressful classes I have and just enjoy myself. I could really open up my mind and see the slightly creative side that I never thought I had. I amazed myself with the works I created this year and it was a big feeling of accomplishment. My favorite thing all year had to of been either the lantern or my short story based painting. Cutting paper was a really sick technique that I'm happy I learned. Investigating and learning about Keith Haring's life was really cool and I got to learn what life of a professional artist was like. Wrapping it all together in the end by sewing the works together into a book was a great idea because I know I will always have my book. The relationships I developed with Mak, Matty, Trish, Mrs. Kiick, and the rest of my classmates are amazing and I'm happy I got to become closer with all of these people. This class was a great experience and I am going to always remember it. Everyone should find their creative side on them and this class helped me do just that.

Slideshow

An overview of this sick year of art class. Its been real fun.

art - slideshow

A Day in Wrightsville Beach

I woke up in the morning to the sound of seagulls out my window. It was spring break and a chilly April morning, around 50 degrees. The rest of the town is silent; mainly because it is pretty much empty. Our 4 mile island is really a summer destination and not many people live here in the winter. Nevertheless, I love where I live. Between the peaceful island, my close friends, and the waves all to ourselves, I would say we have it pretty lucky. Wrightsville is a great place to live.

I throw on jeans and a hoodie and walk down to Oceanic Pier to check the waves. The ocean is less than a block from my house. The waves are chest high and clean. A couple guys are out already but I don't recognize them. They probably go to UNCW and ditched their AM class to catch some waves. I put on my 4/3 and paddle out. After about 10 minutes my friend Chandler paddled out too. We enjoyed some clean barrels for about 2 hours and then I checked my watch. It was 11:30 and I had work at Vito's Pizza at 12! I hurried home and showered really quick. I hopped in my skateboard and headed to work.

The curbs in Wrightsville are slanted up like ramps so you can practice your turns on them and can get better at surfing just from skating. The roads are also paved which makes them real easy to ride on. There is no need to worry about traffic because there are very little cars on the island. The people who do live here are at work and there are not many tourists at this time of year. I get to work 5 mins late but my boss is cool with it. Business is slow during the offseason and my boss knew the waves were good because he surfs too. Work is boring but there is a surf movie on the tv so I watch that. It is called Dark Fall. It's a movie about surfers from New Jersey and their surfing through the cold snowy winters and flat summers. I couldn't imagine living there. I can barely stand the 40 degree days in January. My boss lets me off early and it gives me a couple of hours to surf before dark. I grab a slice of pizza and a Pibb Xtra and then hurry home on my skateboard.

I was a little disappointed when I saw that the waves were choppy. The winds went onshore and there were a lot of college kids now surfing in the water. I paddled back out anyway but didn't stay out for much more than an hour. I was pretty upset with how I surfed and wanted to clear my head. I called my friend Taylor and we went to the bay to watch the sunset. It was beautiful like always and I realized how lucky I was to live here in Wrightsville. Living in the peaceful paradise that I get to call home.

Hollow Bowls

Every other year HTHS holds magnificent fundraiser for the hungry people of South Jersey, the Empty Bowls Dinner. This year I was lucky enough to contribute and create bowls for the dinner. After 3 weeks of molding, firing, and glazing the bowls, we created over 600 bowls, plates, platters, etc. I made a couple of decent bowls and got to see tons of amazing bowls too. All profits from this dinner will go towards the food bank of South Jersey and will feed hundreds of hungry citizens all across Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, Salem, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties. This was a really good experience and I am really glad I got to be a part of a fundraiser for such an important cause.

Selfie

Currently I am working on my blind contour self portrait. It is a work in progress at the moment but it is really coming along well. The questions I had to answer about myself were surprisingly challenging and took some thought, however, I eventually answered them. I'm planning to build them into my blind contour with drawings, words, and symbols. I'm excited to see what the finished portrait looks like.

Cutting Paper

Our first task of the second marking period was to make cut paper lanterns. I was a little uneasy on the cut paper art at first, but it ended up being my favorite thing we have done so far this year. We got to do it on a season and I choose the beach, so my season was summer. The biggest challenge was drawing and cutting out the wave. It was really a challenge but eventually I got it down and made a pretty good wave. The project brought me back memories of the beach and has me looking forward to summer and Ocean City. What started off as a mind boggling challenge, ended with pure enjoyment and accomplishment.

Midterm Artist - Keith Haring

As I resarched artists form the list I was given, one artist really stuck out to me. This artist is Keith Haring. I really enjoy the colors that he uses in his artwork and the simplicity of it. At the same time each piece of art is very unique and different from the others. Most of his artwork also has meaning behind it. He is very famous for displaying the awareness of AIDS in his later pieces from the time he was diagnosed with AIDS up until his death. His artwork is shown all around and there is a very good chance that anyone reading this post would have seen some sort of his artwork in your life. Haring's artwork, which may seem simple, is filled with messages and meaning. The Keith Haring Foundation was created to keep up the awareness of AIDS, and to help prevent the disease. Haring created and published his artwork from 1978 until his death in 1990. He made tons of awesome things over these 13 years including drawings, editions, paintings, and scluptures. My favorite piece would have to be the skateboards that he drew on in 1986. The artwork is really sick and its on a skateboard deck which is something I like to do. Skateboarding was also starting to become very popular around this time. Haring is a inspiration to many including myself; thanks to the help of many, his artwork lives on and is still very popular today, 23 years after his death.   http://www.haring.com/!/introduction

Reflection Post MP 1

I have to say I am super glad that I chose to take art this year. I didn't really know what to expect at first but I'm super stoked on what I got. The projects are challenging but at the same time open your mind and show you what you are actually capable of. The students that you get to be around are awesome and lots of friendships were made. They keep me encouraged and keep me striving to be the best art student I can be. Of course this all couldn't be possible without the phenomenal guidance of my art teacher Mrs. Kiick. Classes like this are what make all the stress of high school go away for about 45 minutes a day.