Concentration #12

Concentration #11
This is a work based on a picture I took in Spoleto, Italy. I remember beng fascinated by the huge night sky, the city lights, and the highlights on the big tower. I would like to make the city lights stand out more but am a little uncertain of where to go from here. I am happy with the base of the tower but think that I could work on the top of the some more. Basically, it just looks unfinished to me, but I don't know specifically what could fix it. However, if I continue to work on I do think that it will fit into my concentration well. I think there is risk-taking in that there is really only the solid structure of the tower while the rest of the work is flowing colors and abstracted. I do think this provides good contrast though.

Concentration #10
This work is based on a picture I took in Austria of a train very high up on a mountain. I used the suggestions of grounding the train more and added some shadowing. I also tried to make sure that the mountains in the background seemed far away and did not compete with my foreground. I think there's rhythm created through my cut pieces of paper and contrast between the geometric and organic shapes. I do think this work fits into my concentration as it is a memory that has stayed with me. I think I took risks by using such bright, shiny paper on the train. I wasn't sure if I would like the result but looking back I do like it and am happy that I took that risk.

Concentration #9
This piece is obviously of New York. It is based on a few photographs I took while I was there. I wanted to make sure that I gave the city life while still maintaining some abstraction. I also chose to reflect the many colors of the city in the sky. I think I took risks in the abstraction I used with the people and cars. I also wanted to make the buildings huge so it would appear that the viewer was right there in the city. If I were to work back into this piece I think there would be some more thing I could do to really make the foreground stand out more..perhaps working with the cars some more? I do think this work follows along the idea of my concentration though.

Concentration Statement-Redo
The idea for my concentration stemmed from my experience growing up as a bilingual child, in which I constantly moved between the European and American cultures. I have grown accustomed to both the similarities and differences of the rest of the world to America and hope to highlight the beauty of both, in a concentration of landscapes. I began my concentration wanting to study contrasts of color, subjects, and environments in order to define what makes an American landscape. Ultimately, I decided that what I was truly capturing was my different memories of these places through painting, photographs, and mixed media.

Concentration #8

This work is based on a memory of Vienna. I remember the street performers who gave the city life and energy. It was suggested that I push the sky back by developing the foreground. I tried to bolden the colors or the tiles in order to do so. It was also suggested that I make the meeting point of the sky with the buildings more distinct so I outlined with marker. I took risks by not filling everything perfectly in. I hope that doing this will emphasize how it is suppossed to illustrate a memory. There are elements of repitition visible in the repitition of the buildings and the tiles. There is also movement by how the bodies of the dancers are placed. I do think this piece fits in with my concentration (although I need to change my statement-I will do that in my next entry). I really tried to create a more complex piece by adding the people in the front but hope that it doesn't vary too much from my other landscapes.

Concentration #7

This work is based on a picture I took in Costa Rica. I loved all the different colored boats in the water and how they seemed to portray the livelihood of the people who owned them. It inspired me to try and create a piece that symbolized the happiness that I saw. I tried to use Mrs. Danahy's suggestion to use paper to make the foreground more bold and to stand out more than the sky. I did this, but I think I may need to do that more. I feel like the boats seem sort of un-grounded or somethign and that the sky may still be competing. I like the repitition of the boats but may want to add more of them?? I do think that this work fits in with the rest of my concentration and embodies the scene that I wanted to create. I took risks by not finishing all parts of the work. I chose to do that in order to convey how not all parts of a memory of a place are always clear. Also, it is much smaller than my other concentration pieces so it forced me to work with a smaller scale. I do like this piece but I still feel like it needs something in order for it to be complete but am not sure of what.