I first became interested in art in elementary school. In 2nd or 3rd grade I remember art being my favorite subject. I remember liking  painting the most. In High school I have taken art foundations, ceramics, photography and drawing and painting. right now I enjoy drawing the most. in the future I would like to learn more about photography.

First I planned what I wanted to make by sketching it. Then I started wedging clay to get the air bubbles out. I made a rectangle that was big enough for the hand and than I cut it in to four pieces. I made the wrist first and then the palm and the fingers. I made everything separate first and then scored and slip them together. I added the texture on the fingers with the pin tool to create the detail of the hand. I then started on the person. I started by making the body first and tried to make the arms and legs next. Then I added the head. I let the clay dry out and then get fired. After it was fired, I glazed both pieces. I glazed the hand pink to try and create a skin color and the girl grey to show it sad like grey clouds. Then it got fired again. Once it was done, I attached the strings. I painted the wood base black and then attached everything together. 

The topic of my artwork is domestic violence. I chose this topic because it is an issue that I care about. The hand is meant to symbolize a man's hand and the body was meant to be a woman. The wire connecting around the neck of the woman from the hand is meant to show how manipulative and controlling domestic violence can be. However, I hope my artwork can bring light to this topic and empower others to speak out.   

In my art classes, I have learned how to plan each step that I need to do to complete something. They have also taught me how to fix the mistakes and work through the challenges. These skills will help me in the real world because I know how to work through steps to accomplish a goal and because I know that it is okay to make mistakes. After graduation, I want to find a job. The skills I learned from my art classes will help me with this because I know how to plan. I will make a plan to get a job. 

In the future I would like to change the colors. I would change the girl and make her purple because that Is the color used for women's rights in violent situations. I thought about it after I had finished it and thought it would have been a nice change.