Creative Expressions

Through my Art Immersion class, I developed multiple forms of creative expression as I learned alongside an array of professionals in the community. This page shows how I developed new, artistic ideas and interpreted, presented, and shared artistic work. It also illustrates my understanding of how the arts convey meaning and my ability to connect artistic work with personal meaning and external context.

Photography

The very first unit of the year was photography. We were able to work with and learn techniques from several well-acclaimed photographers such as Anthony Johnson and Wayne Henshaw who taught us various techniques to improve our photography and taught us the value of the art. A unit I went into thinking I would dislike turned out to be one of my favorites and I ended up very proud of my work.

Photo 1: Parked car

Photo 2: Car backing out

Photo 3: Car ready to drive

The idea behind the project we were assigned was to tell a story. Through the camera techniques I learned from photographers such as Wayne Henshaw, I told the story of backing out my car. It isn't the wildest idea, however I wanted to capture an everyday scenerio. The process of capturing the photos was not straightfoward. The photos and idea I started out with are far different than the photos I ended up with. It took time to aqauint myself with the camera and learn how to correctly edit, however, once I finally did the end result came out just how I wanted.

This project helped me build patience, time management, and respect for professional photographers.

What is Art?

The second unit of the year we focused on "What is Art?". Jackie Black from waterworks shared several videos, spoke to us, and instigated group conversations about the idea of what art is. She taught us not only what art is but what it means. My favorite part of the unit however was making our own stamps by carving an eraser like material. I loved it so much I purchased my own supplies and started doing it outside of class.

Sketching out the potential design

The process was fairly smooth. The only part I struggled with was sketching a design at the beginning. Once I decided on a design the carving and printing went very smooth.

This unit taught me how valuable art really is. It also taught me discipline and showed me what it really takes to succeed as an artist.

Stamping

Percussion

The percussion unit was the -longest unit in our art class. We practiced at St. Johns with the handbell director Kim Lentz to prepare for our showcase at exhibition. We also conducted a short percussion piece based of classical fairytales to teach to the lower school. This unit was very busy, and at some points I questioned my own musical abilities. In the end, the performence turned out beautifully and the lower schoolers did a great job playing the instruments.

This unit required immense collaboration with my peers in order for all of us to showcase our best work.

As far as choosing the story, it was not difficult. The hardest part was navigating with my group which character/words would have a percussion instrument, as well as which instruments to use. There was some tension, but when we finally sorted it out our story went along gracefully, and the students played wonderfully.

Handbell Performence

Playing the handbells had to be one of my favorite units this year. Thanks to my years of time I spent playing various instruments, it was not difficult to read the notes. The hardest part for me was not playing ahead of the group. It took several note-counting strategies for me to finally play insync, but it was all worth it.

This unit taught me the power and influence music can have on communities. It also taught me better collaboration skills, and patience.

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