F U T U R E

This whole experience was by far the most noteworthy to date in relation to not only my illustration career but in my life. It pushed me to grow and understand what is required of an illustrator. Greg was such an incredible mentor and friend this summer, and I'm ecstatic to say that I get to continue to work with him on a couple of his upcoming projects. The book show in Narberth will be held in November and we still have work to do in preparation for that, so I will be needed to make backgrounds and working on extra details for the window display as well as set up for the show. Greg and I have also been talking about working on animating a trailer for one of his upcoming book releases with Disney-Hypereon. Here's a trailer for his last book, Templeton Gets His Wish, animated by UArts alum, Jimmy Simpson:


Templeton Gets His Wish from Jimmy Simpson on Vimeo.

Greg wasn't able to get Jimmy to work on this next trailer, but he really seemed to like my work on an animation I worked on last Fall and wanted to emulate the shaky style I work with for this trailer:


QUEST FOR THE DOG from Lizzy O'Donnell on Vimeo.

so I will be assisting Greg in storyboarding and animating a trailer for his amazing book Goodnight Owl! This experience was so great that I'm only so happy that it gets to continue.

Step 1- Organize

In this internship, I found myself working on a wide variety of tasks which varied from menial in labor or thought to ones that required a broad range of creative solutions and critical thinking to complete. Organization was the name of the game for the entirety of the internship, but especially for the first few days. We spent those days getting Greg's workspace in order so he was able to work and progress and so I became aquatinted to this new environment. Seeing the benefits of having this organized space made the process of our work a lot easier. Organizing spanned from just getting his space in order to working on sorting his flat files, taking inventory of his prints for his online store and eventually updating that store, and collecting names and numbers of schools for his upcoming visits. After getting everything sorted, then we began work on things for upcoming events such as the book store show for Greg's book Tricky Vic in Narberth, PA and a show with Philly Independents in Old City. I've helped review proofs of an upcoming book of Greg's, which gave me an insight on the children's book production process, I prepped textures digitally for Greg's future use, as well as preparing screens and inks for prints that we worked on together, without getting our ducks in a row before hand however, nothing would have been able to be completed in the fast span we accomplished everything.

Portraits of People on the Move

Spending my summer working with Jennifer Baker on the Portraits of People on the Move project was such a unique experience. I learned so much that I really don’t think I would have without being a part of this project. Gaining experience with InDesign, and practicing with sewing, book design, and set dressing is something I’m really thankful for. I had never really thought much about doing set work but it was a really fun way to use all of the skills I’ve gathered over the years. Through this experience I also learned a ton about different cultures and countries. I must admit my education on immigration laws was lacking and it was really heartbreaking hearing the unfair ways the system often works out. After working on this project, I’m hoping to go to Italy after graduation to meet a lot of my family that still lives over there. Most of my family was born in Sicily and was lucky with a fairly smooth immigration.

I think a really important veiw I got from this experience was how things work outside of Uarts. It is easy for things to become routine during the semester so having curveballs and last minute changes was very real life. I’m used to staying up extremely late working on assignments, but it was much different having Jennifer also up very late emailing along with me and reviewing corrections as I finished them. I also got awesome experience working with a printer other than Anderson’s imaging lab. Ben, who did our printing, was awesome and I really appreciate how patient he was with me and answering my questions. It was certainly different than dropping something off on the 6th floor and immediately being given your print. Learning how to send large files through the internet while keeping their quality will be huge to know how to do in the future.

Though the Portraits of People on the Move project is no longer in the gallery space, the blog is still continuing as Jennifer gathers more stories of immigration. I’m so thankful being included in this project and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Portraits of People on the Move- Performances/Independence Mall

After all of the hard work that Jennifer and I put into the gallery space for Portraits of People on the Move, it was really awesome to see everything come together for the four performance nights of Supper, People on the Move.

One thing I really enjoyed about being involved with the Portraits of People on the Move project was all of the unexpected things I got to work on. Not only did Jennifer and I work on unanticipated things like sewing and light arranging, but I also helped dress the set for the opening of Supper, People on the Move. Even though it was a simple long dinner table with settings, a lot of thought went into our arrangement every night. We thought about things like how to balance colorful fruits with items made of metal and clear glasses (especially since the glasses caught the lighting in a really beautiful way). Another thing we took into consideration was the heights of the objects across the table. We really made a nice set up using glasses and vases to break up the flatness of all the plates. Every night before the performance we would complete this set up before the guests attending the performance were let into the space. Once the performance began the dancers cleared the items from this table.

After we had arranged our set up, Jennifer and I moved back into the Portraits of People on the Move gallery space where guests would enter to speak to people about the project. We set two tables in the center of the gallery with the books we had put created along with some questionnaires so more people could add their own stories if they wished. As people came in, it was really cool talking to them about the project and hearing what they thought about it. One of the coolest parts was when people who were interviewed and photographed for the project came in to check it out. One of my favorite moments was when two young women with extremely different backgrounds who had been interviewed began to chat. When I saw them at the end of the night they were laughing really hard and looked like old friends. They both agreed that they wanted to meet up again.

One really neat part of the Supper, People on the Move project was that one of the nights the performance was projected at Independence Mall the same time it was happening at Crane Arts. While Jennifer stayed at the gallery during the performance, I went along to Independence Mall. Once there I met up with Elise from Mural Arts to set up a table along with one of the books near the projection area. We also brought some of the questionnaire print outs to spark conversation and invite people to add to the book. This experience was really cool. I wasn’t involved with gathering the life stories at the start of the project for the book, so getting to talk to people in person was very rewarding and different then just formatting their stories.

This Is the End

And so it ends,

This was such an interesting experience! Working at Say It With Clay really allowed me to flush out and develop some of my personal ideas and and career choices. Somethings were solidified while others were questioned. Originally I thought “I may be out of my element” (especially when it came to teaching), but as I watched the way they ran the studio I realized I was up to the challenge. Through a little guidance from Abbie and the other staff members I became a competent instructor and worker. My confidence in my abilities to buckle down and help someone has grown. Even though I’m extremely familiar with clay, I was initially nervous giving someone else their first experience with it. I guess I didn’t want to spoil their first time? This confidence in my leadership abilities will definitely help me in the near future. I am preparing to be an Orientation Leader at school and so the new students will really need a guide that is sure of their knowledge and abilities. To be able to fall back on your self is very important when you’re bombarded by eager students and a million questions. The beginning of their college life will be in my hands as it was with clay with the children and adults I taught at Say It With Clay. Working with Abbie also made me realize what kind of artist I want to be and how I want to utilize my degree once I graduate. Abbie severely flexes her degree in Art Therapy, at the heart of her nonprofit is the healing power of artistic creations. It’s in her heart to help and develop a space where people feel great. Unfortunately, from what I observe, she doesn’t really get the chance to put all of her ceramic knowledge to use though. Often she has to run around from meeting to meeting, and stay on top of the business aspect of Say It With Clay. Rarely does she get a chance to sit down and make her own work or make a collection. She has a few pieces here and there that she consistently works on over time but they instantly hit the back burner once she needs to handle business (this is something she is working on, giving herself time to create and express through creations in clay). Observing her delicate balance (or imbalance) has made me realize that in my heart, my artwork is what seems to be most important to me. I’m not sure I would be able to ignore my work for a month or two while I handle paperwork and networking. Her dream was to always run a studio like this and with that comes a lot of responsibility and lack of free time to get dirty. I think what I’m trying to say is that I want my life to revolve around the act of creating art and not the act of running a business. Overall being behind the scenes at a clay studio brought back memories of high school and allowed me to reutilize past knowledge. At the end of the day, I made great connections, wonderful contacts, and intriguing memories. Say It With Clay completed my Summer 2015! :)

Andi Out!

Decoration

Preface: This past summer and the months leading up to it have been really bloody, powerful, and complicated for America. 

I think one interesting aspects of the internship was the effect that it had on my work or the way that I view my work. I tend to lump my work into two different categories, decoration and true art. A lot of my ceramic work tends to just be explorations of visual beauty; the result, something that I’m making without much thought—without a concept. My ceramic work doesn’t command academic discussions or deep thought, I tend to make them as a bountiful glaze for the eyes. And then there’s the work that I create where I really am trying to pack a message into it. This work usually is trying to get the viewer to explore ideas in the world, relationships, power, power struggles, complicated and hidden displays of emotions. This is the work that I consider my “true art”. In my opinion, a piece needs to push someone mentally and get them to think, if it does not…it’s just something that’s pretty or interesting to look at. Over the course of the internship I really got the chance to reflect on my goals as an artist as I saw what other people were creating (even though most of these people were children). They would come in and make something that they could either use later on (a bowl) or a piece that they would just enjoy having (a wall hanging). And for the most part a lot of the pieces that resulted from the sessions showed a lack of care and intention (again, these were children). So I began to reflect and ask myself, are these pieces that are being made works of art? Are they challenging or exposing anything? Nope. So I then lumped them into the other category of decoration and from there I declared them works produced as a hobby or just something fun to do. Why of course these works brought joy to their owners! The pieces would last almost forever and would always give the creator a positive memory that they could cherish and keep every time they looked at or used their work. This everlasting joy is something that’s very dear to Abbie and it is this that gives her great joy and fuels her love for what she does! THIS IS GREAT! THIS IS AMAZING! But. As a Fine Artist, I think that I need to overstep the personal beauty and satisfaction that I receive from my work— it needs to be about more. As I stated, to me art needs to reach another level or else it falls short and becomes an everyday, ordinary object that sits on a table or hangs on a wall. In a way, I think artist need to move beyond the perhaps “childish” and easy route that only satiates the rudimentary want of work that’s fun to look at. The world doesn’t need more pretty things. The world needs ideas and theories expressed through accessible platforms such as stimulating, beautiful art pieces. I can no longer afford to make work that is purely aesthetically pleasing. The world can no longer afford for artist to bow down to representational beauty, creating work that throws a bandaid on a gunshot wound as it glosses over what really needs to be addressed. 

And with that said, here are three pieces I created in the studio. I was inspired by the loose nature of the work that passed in and out of the studio. All of them focus on being decoration (form texture, color). 

Talking to Aliens

Talking to someone you look up to is always a strange experience, especially when you haven't acquainted yourself with one another for too long. There are so many things you want to ask and say and pick their knowledgeable mind for but, like magic, your own brain seems to leave for a bit until it comes back later to remind you of the great thing you wanted to say/ask, and just leave you regretting not having what you wanted to be said come to fruition in an earlier conversation. I remember when I met a favorite musical/visual artist of mine about a year ago, I was overwhelmed when I had the opportunity to ask and just ended up saying something shallow and stupid like "so how's the tour? I'm a big fan!" I had so many questions on his process and what he was thinking, but I just froze.

This is where this internship comes in to end my anxiety about this issue. Having a prolonged exposure to an artist, ie Greg, who is someone whose work I admire and who I could stand to learn a lot from, made talking to people in positions I would hope to see myself in and those who inspire me a million times less horrifying. I think we always tend to view "our idols" as something other than what they are which is, just like us, human, and when our parasocial relationships with these people become something other than just admiring their work and into having the opportunity to ask questions and learn, we freeze as if a UFO just landed on our feet. My advice for speaking to someone  you look up to is to not treat them any more royal than yourself, at one point they were in your shoes, and they want to teach you. Think of things to ask and just ask, the worst that can happen isn't nearly as bad as what would happen if you froze up and didn't use the opportunity you were given.