I have completed my first semester of my UnBFA, and it totally didn't go how I expected. But that might be a good thing.
I set out an educational plan at the beginning of the semester. First, I wanted to teach myself surface design. I am proud to announce that I have achieved my goals in that regard. My work is very much improved, and people seem genuinely impressed when I show it to them. I get a lot of joy out of what I make. Through practice, I have grown so much as an artist. It's really weird for me to be tooting my own horn like this, but damn, I'm getting better! I can't wait to see what the next few months will hold as I continue to grow.
I finished my design book. There weren't as many practice opportunities as I would have liked, but I am starting to see the principles being applied to my work. My skills have improved enough that I can actually explore different ideas, particularly in form and color. So that didn't quite go how I thought, but it certainly has changed my work, and I think it's for the best.
I didn't get to work on drawing as much as I would have liked. However, my drawing did improve. This is partly due to the study of value in my design book, and partly due to having the tool of a blending stump. I did not learn to draw from imagination (something I am currently weak at) but I will continue to work on my drawing from observation, at least for a little while.
I didn't get to Art History at all! Fortunately I studied it a bit in high school, so I'm not completely clueless.
I didn't finish those business books that I intended to read. I had to actually run a business, though. I watched several Art of Photography podcasts, which did improve my photography a little. I listened to Art Biz Blog podcasts and read some of the website. This site is tremendously helpful and I hope to continue to study it. I learn something every podcast or blog post. Also, I am happy to announce my latest development in my business: I'm going to be in the Crafty Underdog craft fair! It will be January 8th. It's not a lot of time to prepare and I'm going to be scrambling trying to come up with displays and business cards and stuff, but it's a start. I'm also working on three large commissions that are consuming my time and energy. They are sort of like term-end projects. Very exciting. Furthermore, I am working on my first series that is intended to be more on the art side of the continuum and less on the craft side. I am hoping to get into a show, somewhere, sometime. So this business thing is going somewhere.
I did not get to go out to galleries and see as much art as I would have liked. Practicalities of life made this difficult. I did make it to one excellent lecture and one mediocre one (albeit with great art) and am keeping my eyes peeled for more. I have gotten to volunteer at the Museum of Contemporary Craft a few times now, and I'm making great connections there and learning some of what it takes to run a museum (it takes a whole lot!). One of the advantages of volunteering is that I also get to see the exhibits.
I am also taking it upon myself to improve my hand embroidery and am looking for a way to learn tatting. I'm not yet sure how I will incorporate these things into my work, but I am sure that they are important!
I am starting to form plans for next semester. I will have to continue to study surface design and am going to try my hand at some small shibori projects. These will involve stitching a design, pulling the thread tight to bunch the fabric, dyeing it, and then undoing the thread to reveal a pattern. I will have to do this on small pieces at first because it will take me a year if I try to do it on a tablecloth or something. Additionally, I'd like to work on my weaving a bit. I've only woven one project on my loom (due to lack of funds for suitable yarn) and would like to continue to practice. I need to learn to dress the loom by myself, which is a little daunting but I've done it twice now with supervision. So I will try to hunt down some yarn that will work.
In drawing, I need to actually get that drawing book out of the library and practice more. I might continue to work on drawing from observation for the time being and learn to draw from imagination in a future semester. Hopefully I will also be able to study art history this semester, but my focus will probably be on other things and I might have to let this slide a little longer.
Business study will continue unabated as I learn to run my business. I think it will be much the same, bopping around finding what I need and then implementing that.
I will also be taking my first "continuing education" class this semester. Really, it's just an hour or so class that cost me five dollars, and it's not even fiber-related, but there you go. It's something and it's getting me out meeting people. I will continue to listen to various podcasts (I probably have hundreds of hours of podcasts now) to learn more about the art world. My husband has also tracked down episodes of Art:21 online, which is a great series and very educational in contemporary art.
So, that's my end of semester report!
I set out an educational plan at the beginning of the semester. First, I wanted to teach myself surface design. I am proud to announce that I have achieved my goals in that regard. My work is very much improved, and people seem genuinely impressed when I show it to them. I get a lot of joy out of what I make. Through practice, I have grown so much as an artist. It's really weird for me to be tooting my own horn like this, but damn, I'm getting better! I can't wait to see what the next few months will hold as I continue to grow.
I finished my design book. There weren't as many practice opportunities as I would have liked, but I am starting to see the principles being applied to my work. My skills have improved enough that I can actually explore different ideas, particularly in form and color. So that didn't quite go how I thought, but it certainly has changed my work, and I think it's for the best.
I didn't get to work on drawing as much as I would have liked. However, my drawing did improve. This is partly due to the study of value in my design book, and partly due to having the tool of a blending stump. I did not learn to draw from imagination (something I am currently weak at) but I will continue to work on my drawing from observation, at least for a little while.
I didn't get to Art History at all! Fortunately I studied it a bit in high school, so I'm not completely clueless.
I didn't finish those business books that I intended to read. I had to actually run a business, though. I watched several Art of Photography podcasts, which did improve my photography a little. I listened to Art Biz Blog podcasts and read some of the website. This site is tremendously helpful and I hope to continue to study it. I learn something every podcast or blog post. Also, I am happy to announce my latest development in my business: I'm going to be in the Crafty Underdog craft fair! It will be January 8th. It's not a lot of time to prepare and I'm going to be scrambling trying to come up with displays and business cards and stuff, but it's a start. I'm also working on three large commissions that are consuming my time and energy. They are sort of like term-end projects. Very exciting. Furthermore, I am working on my first series that is intended to be more on the art side of the continuum and less on the craft side. I am hoping to get into a show, somewhere, sometime. So this business thing is going somewhere.
I did not get to go out to galleries and see as much art as I would have liked. Practicalities of life made this difficult. I did make it to one excellent lecture and one mediocre one (albeit with great art) and am keeping my eyes peeled for more. I have gotten to volunteer at the Museum of Contemporary Craft a few times now, and I'm making great connections there and learning some of what it takes to run a museum (it takes a whole lot!). One of the advantages of volunteering is that I also get to see the exhibits.
I am also taking it upon myself to improve my hand embroidery and am looking for a way to learn tatting. I'm not yet sure how I will incorporate these things into my work, but I am sure that they are important!
I am starting to form plans for next semester. I will have to continue to study surface design and am going to try my hand at some small shibori projects. These will involve stitching a design, pulling the thread tight to bunch the fabric, dyeing it, and then undoing the thread to reveal a pattern. I will have to do this on small pieces at first because it will take me a year if I try to do it on a tablecloth or something. Additionally, I'd like to work on my weaving a bit. I've only woven one project on my loom (due to lack of funds for suitable yarn) and would like to continue to practice. I need to learn to dress the loom by myself, which is a little daunting but I've done it twice now with supervision. So I will try to hunt down some yarn that will work.
In drawing, I need to actually get that drawing book out of the library and practice more. I might continue to work on drawing from observation for the time being and learn to draw from imagination in a future semester. Hopefully I will also be able to study art history this semester, but my focus will probably be on other things and I might have to let this slide a little longer.
Business study will continue unabated as I learn to run my business. I think it will be much the same, bopping around finding what I need and then implementing that.
I will also be taking my first "continuing education" class this semester. Really, it's just an hour or so class that cost me five dollars, and it's not even fiber-related, but there you go. It's something and it's getting me out meeting people. I will continue to listen to various podcasts (I probably have hundreds of hours of podcasts now) to learn more about the art world. My husband has also tracked down episodes of Art:21 online, which is a great series and very educational in contemporary art.
So, that's my end of semester report!
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