Metal Panel

Creating a decorative metal panel has always been my favorite and least favorite experience.

I love the brainstorming that has to be done in order to come up with an original design as well as the planning and the final result. My least favorite part about it would be the sawing. Like last year, we're using metals that have to be sawed, filed, than welded together. The sawing has always been my least favorite part; it's like an arm work out in itself because of the pressure that's needed and the never-ending line you have to follow. While creating an intricate design may be creative and nice to look at, it all changes once you're faced with a saw and the need to follow your lines till the very end. That is why when doing metals; I personally like my pieces being simple.

We haven't gotten very far in the metels process, but so far I've finished cutting out one of my three pieces. The feel the other pieces may take around a week and a half to complete, but only if I put all my focus into sawing. Which as I said before, is my very least favorite part.

 Here are my pieces I'll be cutting out over the week and
above this is what the whole process looks like.

Identity Collage

 I would have to say my identity collage was one of my favorite pieces of art I’ve created. I liked the idea of putting so much of myself out there yet nobody knows what they’re seeing. As you look over my collage and your eyes travel down, it gets darker and more meaningful. I’d have to say the bottom is my favorite part because of the hidden meanings and symbols I’ve thrown in there. Everyone might not be able to read into it as much as I can, but in my opinion that’s the best part.

Self Portrait

Like last year, we did another Tempera Batik painting. Last year our subject was a vase of flowers and this year our subject was ourselves. Our self-portrait took place in two parts; we did a small version and then we did a larger version. Doing the small version we drew a portion of our bigger portrait and than did as we would do for the bigger version. Personally I don't think my small version came out very well. It looks nothing like the section of my bigger version but it was a good place to practice. I thought doing our small study was a good way to prep for doing our larger study.

As for my large portrait I was really pleased with the out come. The black ink made the right patterns in all the right places and it was really fun to paint. I suppose I paid more attention to our large study than the smaller one, but getting a feel of what I was doing first on the small study gave me more confidence to play around and be daring on the bigger one. I ended up surprising myself because whenever I thought it looked done I knew there was more I could do but I was afraid of messing up what I already created. Pushing through that fear, I ended up creating something even better.

With my large painting, I decided to enter it into The National Art's Program which is an art contest for all Camden County residence. I entered under youth and there was a reception for everyone's painting to be displayed. I ended up coming in first place for the teen category, which came to me as a big surprise. At the reception I saw so many other works of art from my peers that I considered better. They were all simple though, and whereas the other contestants used common pencil or paint, mine stood out by the use of mixed media. I was happy I decided to enter my painting, and taking a risk of putting it out there turned out to be more rewarding than I thought.

FRIDA KAHLO

For my artist, I chose Frida Kahlo, who is widely recognized for her self portraits. She didn't choose to be a painter, but painting more or less chose her. I favored Frida's paintings because it was one of the ways she could express herself and all the pain she was going through, as well as having great, bold, color.

I love the symbolism behind this piece and the saturation of color she has with the black monkey and feline against the greenness of the leaves. In her biography it was said she incorporated monkeys in her work because she wanted to depict them as symbols of tenderness and being  protective, where as Mexican culture usually described them as symbols of lust. Here in this painting, you can see how simple and innocent the monkey looks with her and that she wants the protect and comfort it has to offer in life.  Over all, I love that she shows both an innocent side and menacing side in the same painting.

 

 

To the left, this self portraits jumped out at me because of the earthly palate she has throughout the piece. It all looks very green and natural. At first glance, it looked very average but taking a closer look I noticed the necklace of thorns around her neck with drops of blood which again, signifies the pain she has. Plus her earring, which looks like a human hand, is strange to see but cool looking. These two things make this painting look out of the ordinary, which is why I favored it.

 

 

 

 

 Frida Kahlo - The Broken Column

Another of Frida's piece that had a big impact on me would be her painting, The Broken Column. I didn't put it on the blog since I suppose it's it may be a little inappropriate for school, but it has such great meaning that describes all her pain and how she releases it into her paintings. There's a lot of detail and very neutral colors throughout it, as to not take away from the over all imagine. 

 

 

 

Background information:

Frida Kahlo was born July 6, 1907, but she told people her birth date was July 7, 1910. She wanted her birth date to coincide with the Mexican revolution so her life  would begin with the birth of modern Mexico. She was born in Coyoacan, a suburb of Mexico City and at the age of six contracted Polio which left her with the nickname "Peg-leg Frida" due to the deformation of her right leg. She battled life long health problems, but the biggest of all came when she was eighteen years old and was involved in a horrific trolly car incident. Frida was riding in a car that collided with a trolly and left her seriously injured. Several of her injuries included broken  spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. So needless to say, she was in pretty bad condition. It took her three months to recover in a full body cast and even after her recovery, she suffered from relapses of pain that were so bad she would be hospitalized for days. This accident changed the course of her life, because Frida never intended to become a painter; she wanted to be a doctor, but since she could no longer pursue that profession she took up painting instead.

As a young artist, she began communicating with famous painter, Diego Rivera, whose work she admired and often asked for guidance in her own work. Diego recognized her talent and soon began intimate relations with her. They married in 1929, despite the disapproval of Frida's mother. Their marriage had always been troubled, with both of them having irritable temperaments and numerous affairs. Diego began his affairs with Frida's sister, Cristina, and in order to get back at him, Frida began her own affairs with both men and women. Their turbulent relationship continued till the divorced in November 1939, but they later remarried in December 1940.

Frida's most famous works were her self portraits.  She began painting when she was temperamentally immobilized, and her father lent her his oil paints and brushes. Frida once said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." Her paintings often described her ordeals with physical and psychological pain. 

Frida in a hospital bed, drawing 

a corset on.

 Interesting facts:

•  She was unable to have kids due to her Trolley accident where an iron handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus which severally damaged he reproductive system. She did get pregnant twice but both pregnancies were terminated due to her condition.
•  This made her paintings show more about loss, infertility, pain, and alienation.
•   She died in the summer of 1945 due to pneumonia
•  Her right leg had been amputated due to gangrene 
•  When she did portraits of other people they were unlike her own portraits and more abstract 

     Frida and Diego Rivera's wedding photo