Upon occasion (well, quite frequently in my Fundamentals of Design class, actually) I get a project that seems like an impossible task.  This was (another) one of those.

Our assignment was to create a figure ground (which harks back to the Gestalt concept we have been dealing with for weeks now.)

The principle of figure/ground is one of the most basic laws of perception… In its basic sense, it refers to our ability to separate elements based upon contrast–that is, dark and light, black and white.

or…

The figure-ground principle captures the idea that the visual field is normally divided into two parts, figure and ground. The figure-ground principle is very much a part of our everyday experience. If we notice a book on a table, we see the book as a figure and the table as its ground. The edge that divides the book from the table bounds the book but not the table. The table is assumed to continue under the book. We would be very surprised if, when we lifted the book, we discovered a hole in the table the size and shape of the book.

So…black and white image yet take it a step further and make something similar to this famous image…

 Is it a white vase or is it two black faces? 

This was painfully difficult for my brain, but eventually I came up with a concept that I liked using our cat, Stitches. 

What I was not sure about was whether I satisfied the teacher’s requirements or not.  Was it too obvious?   I was a bit hazy about that, but after trying to work it out with marker first, using tracing paper and carbon paper to duplicate and then flip the image, I finally committed it to paint. 

 Arrgh!  Not being used to working with acrylic, I did not like the effect at all.  5th time is a charm and using airbrush paint (which is thinner and easier to apply) on a thick Bristol paper, I completed my final piece.

Ta da!!!

Side Note:  My Mom thinks this is creepy.

Critique (other than Mom’s):

• Teacher said I nailed it, so…happy teacher…happy student.
• He did say I could have switched to kittens instead of mice if I wanted it to be more cuddly (I told the class my Mom said it was creepy.)

A good description of my art over the past several decades would be 2 dimensional.  So when the Design instructor informed us that he wanted a 3D project made out of wire, it was a bit intimidating. 

That afternoon after class I sat on the back deck with all the proper tools around me (don’t forget the ipod! you need that when being creative) and it felt like a very blank space in front of me.  A blank 3D space. 

After wrestling with the wire and nearly poking my eye out, the project was shelved for the weekend while my head worked on various options. 

For some reason, the idea to take the wire to my Mom’s after church on Sunday took hold.  There is something very inspiring about having the kids around me when I am creating… so I packed up my tools and supplies (with the added item of safety glasses!) and Sunday afternoon I sat there with an audience as I created my little nephew at his fishing pond. 

[A pre-drawing gave me an idea of what shapes I needed to create. The kids were fascinated with it as they tried to work out in their little heads how such a funny drawing could mean anything!]

  The kids LOVED it! My siblings laughed at my glasses (but after watching my dangerous shenanigans with the wire they agreed it was a good idea for me to wear them.) My Mom said that at least my audience (the kids) were able to visualize my concept.  <g> 

He was really hard to grasp until I finally put the pole in his hands and stablized him. (Notice the fish on the end of the line?)

In class, the final part of the project was to draw our wire structure.  Ha…THAT drawing will not be included here!!!  It looks like a bunch of scribbles when put on paper!  Final resting place of this little guy will be on a shelf in my nephew, Nathanael’s, room despite protestations of his mother.

Those were the words my design teacher said to me when I commented that I was having difficulty with this project.  Funny enough, that is a big reason why I chose an art school… I had lost the “play” in my art, so he hit the nail smack on the head!  It sent little shockwaves through my creative spirit and this is becoming my mantra…play…just play!

Criteria:

• Take a photo with distinct repeatable lines and photocopy it
• Stretch the copy one direction per instructions
• In class, chop these copies up and use the resulting pieces to create a new and interesting image

My Response:

• Native American pottery has neat and fun images

 When I began chopping and arranging (remember there were 7 large photos of this image that had been stretched) the following began to appear

The final product was completed in week 9 when we took that pattern and replicated it on marker paper in a specific ratio of a grey scale using markers.  I was not so impressed with the whole process, so that probably means I missed the point.

Do you think there is hope that I can learn to play with my art again?