For some art is just something you pick to hang above your fireplace, or to fill the blank spot on the wall between your kitchen and living room. But, for artists, it is WAY more than that. Now I’m not trying to say one way or another that art is this and not the other thing, I’m just merely pointing out that there is often a lot that really goes into an artists work. As i come up on my final weeks of school I’m learning a lot, I’ve probably learned more this year than i have in the last three combined, could also be that I’m paying attention this year 
As an ermging artist and a fourth year art student it is encouraged of me to research about the kinds of things that influence me and my artwork. For me this includes a LOT of different disciplines and therefore a lot of readings. Throughout this year I have done presentations and essays that discuss these findings. I am now required to do one last presentation for Wednesday that basically summarizes and visualizes the last essay i wrote. Being someone who is always a little unsure of herself in terms of her artwork this has been rather difficult for me, because i’m always changing my ideas. This isn’t a bad thing by any means but its pretty intimidating when you’re being told by people who “know what they’re talking about” that you need to stay true to your sense of direction. I’ve flopped so much that i’m finding it hard to believe that my current work even relates to my direction but, then again .. i never really know what the hell i was doing anyways and just went with it. I lucked out and got an advisor who truly understands my process and the way i think so whenever we meet he can always see where i’m going with my work, even if hes unsure if that is my intent he can make the connections which is good. Being an “artist” now a days at least from what i’ve seen in artist talks, talking to other artists and just listening to my profs… is really rather complicated, when i decided all those years ago that i was going to become an artist never in my life did i think it would require such attention. But, then again, I’ve always been in favor of making art for art’s sake and not really worrying about the rest of it. For the most part I’m still that way, but after being edcuated on the subject i can’t walk around with blinders on.
My artwork has always been about things that are either a personal interest (landscapes, use of specific colors etc) or just anything that really grabs my attention. My life, however; has always been about the outdoors, one way or another, so nature is one of those things i can’t seem to get away from, so of course, in my artwork its very much present. Over the last 9 or 10 years technology has also been a pretty big part of my life, I’ve been involved with computers, computer parts, cell phones, pagers, all kinds of technology and they all have played a part in my life one way or another. For a lot of artists this relationship between Nature and Technology has been a pretty big influence in their artwork. For me, this was my starting point, and up until recent I kinda used it rather obviously. I’ve never been good with subltly, it isn’t about hiding things and being all mysterious about my work, its about evoking emotion or some kind of gut feeling when they look at my work. Because of this, I find myself trying too hard not to include blatant meaning. This is why I’ve steared towards abstraction. It gives me the chance to not only break out of the constraints and just let the paint do what its doing but it gives me the chance to touch on the connections that Nature and Technology draw to each other in a different light. So far its been working really well, im still not there with it yet though, and honestly thats ok. I LOVE working this way because its incredibly stress relieving. Not only that, it makes things so much more interesting because I’ll do a bunch of work, leave it to dry over night and I’ll come back and it’ll look totally different then when i left it! Element of surprise!! lol But yeah, you get the idea.
This presentation I have to do *which i’m avoiding like the plague right now* Is going to be pretty difficult because since my essay I’ve kinda went the other way with my work. Even though my research and my direction is still the same, I’m focusing more on process rather than imagery. Not a big deal i just have to “make it work” easier said than done when you have half the brain of an organized scientist. *I blame my mother* We’ll see how it goes.
