HISTORY/HERSTORY/THEIRSTORY PROJECT
Final Reflection
1. Tribute
2. The inspiration for my project is a toy horse my grandad made for me when I was in kindergarten. I was inspired by his ability to use his artistic skills in a practical way. He usually used his knowledge in woodworking for carpentry or buildings as opposed to toys. I decided that I would try something like my grandad did and use my artistic skills to build something completely out of my comfort zone, a version of the horse that would be durable enough to use for decoration or place by his grave, something I couldn't do with my usual pencil on paper artworks.
3. This piece connects to my family, specifically my dads side of the family who view practical skills over artistic skills because they see them as more useful for everyday life and monetary gain. My grandad was a talented carpenter, woodworker and artist who used his skills to build a career making houses, furniture and doing home repairs. He also enjoyed sketching and painting and had a good eye for detail, though he rarely focused on his creative projects compared to his work projects. My grandad passed his woodworking skills to his sons, who didn't pass them on to their children. Fortunately, I have my grandads eye for detail and love of art, though I am terrible at building things.
4. The singular image in my artwork is a horses head. It is significant to my childhood dream of becoming a cowboy and most importantly, it is significant to my childhood in general. I was with my grandad when he made the horse, I even chose the picture he used as a model for the horses head. I didn't get to do many things one on one with my grandad and watching him build the horse was the first time I realized that art could be more than just coloring or making things from clay.
5. The horse is made out of plaster, which I chose because I would need a durable material that wasn't porous if I planned to leave the horse outside in the elements.
6. I hope the audience understands that the piece is significant to my childhood and creative ability. For me, this artwork is a tribute to my grandad, because his creativity showed me that there were different ways of lookin at art. It reminds me of when I was younger, because I would build things out of clay or cardboard and wouldn't care how they looked as long as they made me happy and served their purpose. As I got older I began to stop building things, because I was disappointed by how they looked and unknowingly closed the door to a creative pathway I could've enjoyed and improved at. Similar to how my grandads building skills were never passed down to me, I never tried very hard to learn to build things myself, which is why this piece is important to me.
7. I feel like this piece is successful because not only did I try something new using a medium I've never worked with before, but it also looks the way I envisioned and I am happy with how it turned out. Usually when I finish projects that involve building things I'm unhappy with the results because I feel I didn't do a good enough job, or that it doesn't look quite right, but I don't feel that way with this artwork.
8. I would give myself a 7/10 on creativity because my artwork is very connected to me, my childhood and my family history. It is very meaningful to me because it's a tribute to my grandfather and his love for creating things and how that love was passed on to me.
9. I would give myself a 7/10 on craftmanship. The horse definitely looks like the horse and closely resembles the original which is good because I worried the plaster would turn out contorted or misshapen. I made sure the details I painted on the horse resembled the original as closely as possible and tried to match the colors, though it didn't go quite as planned. I think it looks gallery ready, like most sculptures/figurines it's shape is easily recognizable.
3.
1. Tribute
2. The inspiration for my project is a toy horse my grandad made for me when I was in kindergarten. I was inspired by his ability to use his artistic skills in a practical way. He usually used his knowledge in woodworking for carpentry or buildings as opposed to toys. I decided that I would try something like my grandad did and use my artistic skills to build something completely out of my comfort zone, a version of the horse that would be durable enough to use for decoration or place by his grave, something I couldn't do with my usual pencil on paper artworks.
3. This piece connects to my family, specifically my dads side of the family who view practical skills over artistic skills because they see them as more useful for everyday life and monetary gain. My grandad was a talented carpenter, woodworker and artist who used his skills to build a career making houses, furniture and doing home repairs. He also enjoyed sketching and painting and had a good eye for detail, though he rarely focused on his creative projects compared to his work projects. My grandad passed his woodworking skills to his sons, who didn't pass them on to their children. Fortunately, I have my grandads eye for detail and love of art, though I am terrible at building things.
4. The singular image in my artwork is a horses head. It is significant to my childhood dream of becoming a cowboy and most importantly, it is significant to my childhood in general. I was with my grandad when he made the horse, I even chose the picture he used as a model for the horses head. I didn't get to do many things one on one with my grandad and watching him build the horse was the first time I realized that art could be more than just coloring or making things from clay.
5. The horse is made out of plaster, which I chose because I would need a durable material that wasn't porous if I planned to leave the horse outside in the elements.
6. I hope the audience understands that the piece is significant to my childhood and creative ability. For me, this artwork is a tribute to my grandad, because his creativity showed me that there were different ways of lookin at art. It reminds me of when I was younger, because I would build things out of clay or cardboard and wouldn't care how they looked as long as they made me happy and served their purpose. As I got older I began to stop building things, because I was disappointed by how they looked and unknowingly closed the door to a creative pathway I could've enjoyed and improved at. Similar to how my grandads building skills were never passed down to me, I never tried very hard to learn to build things myself, which is why this piece is important to me.
7. I feel like this piece is successful because not only did I try something new using a medium I've never worked with before, but it also looks the way I envisioned and I am happy with how it turned out. Usually when I finish projects that involve building things I'm unhappy with the results because I feel I didn't do a good enough job, or that it doesn't look quite right, but I don't feel that way with this artwork.
8. I would give myself a 7/10 on creativity because my artwork is very connected to me, my childhood and my family history. It is very meaningful to me because it's a tribute to my grandfather and his love for creating things and how that love was passed on to me.
9. I would give myself a 7/10 on craftmanship. The horse definitely looks like the horse and closely resembles the original which is good because I worried the plaster would turn out contorted or misshapen. I made sure the details I painted on the horse resembled the original as closely as possible and tried to match the colors, though it didn't go quite as planned. I think it looks gallery ready, like most sculptures/figurines it's shape is easily recognizable.
3.