Defining Place Tile

Essential Question: How do artists define place in their art? 

Visiting Artist: Tim Christensen 

Artists can define places by using aspects of that place that make it special. For my piece, I chose to base my tile around my trip to Iceland so most of the aspects I included in the piece were specific moments on the trip. Some of the aspects I included in my piece were mountains, an archway, puffins, cliffsides, and an ice cream cone. Elements like the puffins and cliffs help the viewer better understand that it is supposed to be Iceland. As for aspects like the ice cream cone they represent more specific moments from the trip making the tile mine and not an assortment of Icelandic natural features.  

Both my favorite element and also the most challenging element is definitely the ice cream cone in the middle of the tile. It was the most challenging part because it was the 3D element that I popped out of my tile. This was challenging because I wanted to replicate a specific sign of an ice cream shop that we went to. It was difficult to get the shape down correctly so that it looked nearly identical to the actual sign. It was also hard to get the lettering on the sign right because the font wasn't consistent between letters making it much harder to replicate. But it is my favorite part because that is one of my favorite memories from my trip and I also think it turned out super well. It also helps make the piece feel like my memories and not just random aspects of Icelandic nature.