I created a sculpture of a woman pouring paint. It is a black and white woman and the only color is from the color she is pouring on the floor. I wanted to recreate a famous photo of the well-known sculptor Lynda Benglis.  To create my sculpture, I used tinfoil, clay, acrylic paint, wood, hot glue and various clay tools. I first used the tinfoil to create a basic shape to mold the clay around. After I was able to mold my clay around the Torso I had created out of tinfoil, I then let it air-dry. I painted the platform and the clay woman in white and black paint and let it dry. Then I took plastic wrap and poured red blue and yellow paints on to it and then proceeded to swirl it around to create a pattern. This gave the illusion of poured wax on a floor. Once everything dried  I made a bucket out of clay glued the acrylic paint onto the bucket and then glued figure onto the white platform. My current work is very similar to my previous work because I created a clay sculpture in my last project too. A new technique that made my sculpture easier to create, was the tin foil method. By balling up tin foil, it made my project lighter and it caused the clay to crack a little less when dried. I am proud of this overall project because I believe it looks very nice, and it stays true to the original idea I had about it.

In my project I chose to create a clay model of a women’s open legs. In place of genitals, there is a large flower. The skin of the piece is comprised of patches of tan and brown to represent different skin tones. I want this piece to encourage an empowering message about sexuality and femininity and masculinity. It is often looked down upon to be open with sexuality and I want my piece to show that all people should not be ashamed of who they are. To create this work I used metal wire, air dry clay, acrylic paint and a fake flower. First I created the frame with the metal wire and then wrapped the wire in the clay, shaping legs and the bottom half of a torso. I then let the clay air dry, and painted over the entire thing with different shades of brown. I then hot glued the flower in between the legs of the sculpture. This piece is definitely more meaningful than my last. I chose to create this piece in the light of something I think about very often.

Another artist that has inspired me to want to start sculpting is Lynda Benglis. Specifically her exhibition titled Female Sensibility inspired me to go in the direction of sexuality.

http://www.cheimread.com/artists/lynda-benglis/exhibitions

The most important technique to my piece has to be the smoothing. Making sure the clay dries smoothly and not rigid was accomplished by wetting the pads of my fingers and smoothing over the surface. A new technique I learned has to be the ability to shave layers of the clay off. You have to remove and reapply to effectively shape the sculpture. I am most proud of the actual shape of the body. The legs and hips and everything else look very nice in my opinion. If I could change one thing about this project it would have to be the color of the skin. I wanted it to be a bright color like purple or green. I have learned to be more comfortable with clay.

This is a Digital Portfolio where I can display information about me and showcase some of my best works. In completing this Digital Portfolio I had hoped that I would have created  an easily accessible, professional platform in which I could represent myself to the world. This is precisely what I have achieved. In order to build a successful website, I first had to choose the best website creator for me. My Weebly website showcases all the necessary features. The process of creation for my website consisted of, using the elements available and writing brief explanations about myself and my work. An obstacle I encountered in completing my project was having to switch websites in the middle of the project.The Wordpress format wasn't working for me. But that was easily resolved. However, a success was the ease of revising my website because I was happy with the original design. One thing I have learned was how to write a resume.

Although this project taught me a lot, I cannot say that I am an expert. One thing I learned about myself was that I have an abundance of photos, none of them seem to be professional though. If I were to do this again, I would probably make sure I took better photos and spent time gathering information on myself to see what it is I did because I feel that my resume lacks substance. That would have to be my advice to others completing this project. Find substance. It’s hard to create a website if you have nothing to put on it. This project inspired me to complete more projects so I can put them in my website. I feel as if in this project, the message dictated the medium. A website was the best way that I could express myself and have it so that it is easily accessible to the world.

In this portrait, I chose to recreate an image I sent to a friend as a joke using watercolors. It is an image of me holding glasses in front of my face so that way my mouth looks bigger. I chose a bright yellow background because that is my favorite color and if I am choosing to display myself I want to be surrounded by things that I love. This work represents me as a person in the sense that I am very goofy and a lot of the things I like to do are pointless. However, I love to be creative and bright. I chose to use watercolors because of their ability to be layered. This way it was easy for me to maintain a vibrancy throughout the entire piece. The point was not to create clear precise lines with the paint. I wanted the paint to flow as freely as my thoughts. I then used a very thin, felt-tipped, black marker to outline my teeth and the glasses. This brought just a little more depth to the piece solely for aesthetic.

In order to complete this piece I first had to find a picture to replicate. My friend had made the suggestion to use the last photo I sent to someone. So I drew a sketch of the image in my sketchbook. I then grabbed thicker final papers because I wished to use paint, and I transferred my final design to the paper. I then began to work with the watercolors. I first painted my hair using a brown paint and a yellow color. The yellow mixed with a light brown for depth and then a thin brush with dark brown to add waves and layers to my hair. I then used a flesh tone to evenly shade my skin. Pink for lips, green for the eyes, black for the glasses and finally, bright yellow for the background.

I cannot say that a specific artist inspired this piece, but I will link an artist that I really enjoy which will definitely be influencing my future pieces. I enjoy Eugenia’s style so much and I hope to learn how to create art like her. https://www.flickr.com/photos/eugenia_loli/ . The specific technique required to complete her artwork is the eye for matching photographs together that typically aren’t supposed to go together. The key is to match the style of both images through manipulation to make it appear as if they are supposed to be together even if they clearly are not supposed to be. I am most proud of this work because of my quick ability to learn how to navigate the watercolor paints. The skill I learned through the completion of this project was that the paint to water ratio needs to be more water than paint. This high concentration of water allows for more layering and depth in the work. If I could change one thing, it would have to be the paper we paint on. I wish it was thicker.