Agnes Scott

(Fall 1993 to Spring 1997)

Paragraph about the setting ... art class with Dr. Biedler ...

Alston Center Tree, 1994 Ballpoint on Paper This project was designed to help us see things differently. We were asked to draw a tree by drawing the spaces between the tree. It was really neat watching the tree take shape by defining the negative space. Since that time, the tree has been removed from in front of the Alston Center. To be exact, the Alston Center has been removed as well. Agnes Scott College is pretty lush and they are very protective of their trees, so I imagine this tree is now somewhere else on campus.

Ritmo Still Life, 1994 Ritmo on Paper My art teacher was encouraging me to break from realism and try to be more abstract. She said this was still to realistic ... whatever!!!

Sculpture Sketch, 1994 Charcoal on Paper This sketch was a study for my 'Breaking the Picture Plane' project. The object was a clay sculpture I did in high school. Over the years, the object has become a bit of a litmus test of personalities -- what you perceive it to be is an indicator of whether you are agressive or passive in nature. I know it's not the same as handling the original object, but feel free to write me a note with what you think it is and then I'll tell you what it really was designed to represent.

 

'You-Down' Study, 1994 Charcoal on Paper This was one of the studies for my 'You-Down' project, a form of self-portrait in which you depict your body as it is seen by you. The objects you include should reflect parts of your personality. I chose to depict myself painting my toe nails. This is part of my personality in that you will never see me that I don't have Revlon Raven Red polish on my toes. It has become a bit of a joke among my friends, one of whom (named Matthew) took a couple of pictures of my feet (See Sunshine Stories: Matthew Visits For Spring Break). The final 'You-Down' project is entirely too large to scan, but one of these days I'll get around to taking a photo of it and scanning the photo to include it here.

'You-Down' Study, 1994 Ink Wash on Paper This was another study for my 'You-Down' self-portrait. Ink wash is a medium where you build up layers of 'dirty' water (thinned india ink) to produce the picture. Ideally, you would keep the same consistency of wash throughout the process, but I cheated a little and added more ink to darken the wash for the darkest parts.

Stamped Sunflower Still Life, 1994 India Ink on Paper This project had us take the same shape (here, one of those pink erasers everyone used in elementary school), and stamp it over and over, to produce an impressionistic picture of a still life. This was my favorite project for this class because it really made me break from realism. You can just make out the 2x3 proportions of the stamp on the middle left side of the detail below:

Greek Statue in Finger Prints, 1994 India Ink on Paper I had some ink on my fingers from the previous project and so I decided to do something a little silly to wipe the ink off. I really enjoyed getting 'hands-on' instead of using an implement (like pen, pencil, stamp, or paintbrush).

Faux Batik, 1994 Pastel and Gel Medium on Paper This project was an exploration of mixed media, specifically the layering of chalk pastels and glossy gel medium. The result reminded me of the batik fabric art we did in high school. Real batik is the process of layering fabric dye and molten wax to produce areas that hold the previous colors and block the future colors. When the design is complete, you pad the fabric in newspaper above and below and iron the stack until all the wax is absorbed by the newspaper. This last step, which can be quite tedious, is what separates the tie-dye folk from the batik folk. If you don't have the patience to slave over a hot iron, just stick to tie-dye for your fabric art.

Mixed Media Scrap, 1994 Gesso, Gel Medium, Pastels, and India Ink on Paper This is a leftover scrap from a mixed media collage project.

[ NOTE: Do you like the virtual photo frames? Click here and learn how! ]