Life Is Your Own Creation

Over the past few weeks, I have started a new mini sketchbook in which I jot down quick ideas of projects or drawings I’d like to work on during my free time. Since I have yet to show any of the work I do outside of the classroom, I will share some of my personal favorites. Enjoy!

Bonsoir

Resurrected

"Are You Ready To Become Born Again?"

Self-Portrait Study

The Boy With A Coin

The Escape // Magic Doors

Past Lives

Raw /rô/

Adjective

1.In its natural state; not yet processed or purified.

Imagine all stereotypes, fads, lessons learned in class, and opinions of others are drained from your brain. You are left only to rely on your own, 100% original thoughts. No one to help guide you. No one to tell you “No”, “You’re wrong” or “You can’t do that.” You’re thoughts are raw. Pure.

This is when I feel most capable of creation. This is the state in which I feel one can create something true. Something new. Something absolutely unique. A masterpiece perhaps.  Nothing holds you back while you are feeling raw. The tiny thought in your head explodes into a whirlwind of ideas and nothing is stopping you. Once your paintbrush, pencil, or pen, touch that piece of paper, there is no turning back. You let your imagination out of its cage, and it is ready to runaway and not come back.

Recently, I have found myself feeling this way when it comes to my personal artwork. I think as an artist, this is when one should explore. This is when you should do things you were always afraid to do. This is when you should shut your computer screen, your bedroom door, and your brain off to the rest of the world. This is when it is your time to create.

My advice to all: As an artist, you will be able to tell instantly when this feeling takes over. Please…stop whatever you’re doing, and let your mind takeover that canvas!

I haven’t had time to even sit down and update my blog for two weeks, so it feels good to be back! Although the workload is still tough, it is dwindling back to normal compared to the extreme crunch I’ve been going through recently due to midterms. FINALLY I will not have ­to wake at 6am and stay at the studio until close! I keep telling everyone I’m so excited because I do not have any homework this weekend. However, by “no homework” I mean: a drawing, finishing up some work on Adobe Illustrator, and doing research and a mood board for a new project! That’s the life of an Interior Design student for you.

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Anyways, this weekend I plan on visiting a few of my favorite spots in the city, since my time for leisure has been limited. Some of these spots include the Boston Harbor, The Brattle Book Shop, Fuel America Café, and The Museum of Fine Arts. Brattle Book Shop, which is conveniently located across from the 10 West Dorms, has a wide variety of not only classic novels, but also old books, which I like to collect for collaging in my free time. The Harbor is always a nice place in the city to sit by the water with friends to talk or just enjoy the view.  Since I am originally from “The Ocean State”, it is nice to have a little piece of home back in Boston. I especially need somewhere to clear my mind this weekend to! I also want to get back into working on my own art, so I am sure I will also spend some time sketching at the MFA and my new favorite coffee shop, (which I came across while researching cafés for an upcoming Studio project) Fuel America! My drawing professor, Linda Brown, has an show opening this weekend which I may check out.

In other news, I have made the official decision to minor in Fine Arts! I am BEYOND excited to continue with this and start also working with the wonderful Fine Arts staff here at NESAD! I loved my foundation classes too much to give up expanding my fine art skills. When I am not in school, I usually am working on my own art projects.  Although I will have to attend school here at Suffolk for a longer period of time due to scheduling and necessary credits, I think that having both experience with Interior Design and Fine Arts will help me further my career in the arts. I am receiving extra help and support from faculty members with figuring out my schedule and what I need to do to make this happen, which makes my life easier! Next semester I am going to register for either painting or printmaking along with three other Interior Design studios. At the end of the day it just feels wonderful to know I am going to make what I have always wanted happen!

This Wednesday, I was having a very very VERY bad day. The world seemed against me until 2:00pm, when I stepped into Drawing II. Recently, I’ve had a creative block in this class due to not being interesting in drawing spheres, fruits, and flowers. However, Wednesday’s class proved that our assignments are clearly moving away from traditional subjects in the best way possible. Linda had us look at paintings by Mark Rothko, an abstract expressionist, and use his method in order to get our minds to think abstractly. We used water-soluble pastels to create our drawings. The project was left very open ended, and we were able to do whatever we pleased. I was afraid of having another creative block, but happily as soon as I started drawing I created something I was really into. I was able to put my frustration and emotions into my work, which is evident through my color and stroke choice. After practicing a few times, we moved onto using the same method, but drawing abstract landscapes instead. At the end of class I was not only pleased with all of the pieces I came out with, but I no longer was feeling melancholy at all. Here are two of the pieces that I created on Wednesday:

Grand Canyon

Lumière I & II

After what happened in class, it got me thinking. That afternoon, drawing really got me feeling better (and this was not the only time this has happened.)  This led me to researching art and it’s relation to mental health. Art Therapy is defined as a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its main form of communication. Sometimes words are hard to get out properly, so sometimes it is easier to “create” your feelings instead.  Some of my own favorite pieces of my own, I have created while trying to cope with or express an inner struggle I was going through. A favorite artist of mine, Van Gogh, also clearly used art as a way of releasing his deepest feelings.  It is documented that he suffered from mental illness, and I do not think he would be known to be one of the greatest artists of all time if he did not use art as a therapeutic method.

In conclusion, I am glad I have the opportunity to have my own personal session of Art Therapy here at The School of Art & Design. I am so glad I can learn about design principles in the classroom, and also how to express my own feelings through art at the same time. So I guess I will end this post on this note: Next time you are feeling blue, pick up a pencil and some paper. You never know what your mind is capable of creating until you try!

After suffering through an extreme workload, never-ending fatigue, and accidentally sleeping in until 3 in the afternoon (missing all classes AND an appointment…oops), this terrible week is officially OVER!! Even though this week was rough, I can say that looking back at the work I created, I am proud.

First off, in my Advanced Interior Design Communications class, we had three renderings due within four days notice. Now when you think three drawings most people (who aren’t art majors, of course) would assume this is easy work. WRONG.  After the many complaints and a lack of sleep, I successfully was able to render three drawings of an International Bookstore inspired by Bazaars in Istanbul, Turkey.  We were to make a model on Sketchup then transfer them to trace with colored pencils. Here are photos of my drawings:

In other news, I plan on spending this Columbus Day weekend relaxing, catching up on my Mad Men seasons and homework, and doing some personal artwork to spruce up my bedroom! Maybe if I’m feeling up for it I will take a trip to First Friday or even enjoy some artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts =]

Coming back to school this semester brought lots of anxiety and questions about if I wanted to continue with the major I was in.  After my first Studio I class with Professor Clarke, all worries went down the drain. I am happy to say I feel confident about choosing Interior Design as my major and am excited to start to jump in! For our first project we are designing an urban loft for an imaginary client.  We choose a client profile and are now designing the perfect space for them. My client is a 27-year-old musician who enjoys cycling, throwing parties, and is a member of an imaginary Indie Rock band named, “The Wildflowers.” Although I enjoyed my classes last year, it feels good to have the basics under my belt and start diving into creating my own designs! Once my project is more developed, I will post some photos. Now off to spend my night drawing a still-life for homework!

This is my first blog entry ever, so I guess I will introduce myself to you all! My name is Emily and I am currently a sophomore at The New England School of Art & Design. I am studying Interior Design and plan to take a few Fine Arts courses during my time here at Suffolk University! I grew up in a small town in Rhode Island called West Warwick, but I am currently living in an off campus apartment in Brighton. Along with learning to adjust to commuting and living in my own place, I am also learning to manage my time between the four courses I am taking this semester! Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to become “an artist” and recently creating art has helped me overcome some personal roadblocks in my life. In my free time I enjoy music, drawing and painting portraits, collaging, and exploring the city of Boston with my friends.

I decided on the name of my blog based off an essay comparing life and a painting, which I wrote in my last year of high school.  As an artist, I believe that our lives are truly like a painting. We all start out with a blank canvas and each of us has the choice of what we are going to do with it. This “canvas” of ours is filled with different medias—moments, memories, lessons learned in life—things that make you who you are. How you live your life and the decisions you make are all up to you. Just like in a painting, mistakes can be made along the way. These mistakes are not “erasable.” You have to learn from these mistakes, incorporate them into your life, and move on. In the end people may or may not agree with your decisions. Some people may critique your actions, and help you become who you are along the way. But in the long run, did you do what you had to do in the situation? Did you stay true to yourself? Ultimately, it is only your opinion that matters. This is where I come to the conclusion that life is your own masterpiece, and not the creation of anyone else.

To wrap this up, I am looking forward to this semester, all of the new things to be learned, and all of the new things I am going to create! I will post again soon. Au revoir!