Alex's Third Post

So this week has really been informative about what I like and don't like as far as developing my own process of art making. I really loved the progression from drawing the shell of the nut to painting numerous gestures of it, from taking those images and photocopying and the creating something about which I'm really passionate: patterns. I don't particularly enjoy the visual mining just because I like to have something concrete first with which I can then run with. It's uncomfortable to try to look from within and then paint my memories or past. Yet, the one exercise that Janna had us do when we switched desks and had to describe what the qualities were on someone else's wall. At first, I was really off-put by the fact that someone else was going to be writing in my sketchbook. However, when I went back to look at what she had wrote, I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. I never would have even considered the word she used to describe my wall: rhythm. Since then, I've been thinking about it constantly. Collecting has been something I've really enjoyed doing too. I buy postcards of works that inspire me, or I've developed this obsession with collecting marbled paper. They're just stunning, unique art forms that I really want to incorporate into my art. Images in magazines are also really inspiring and I'm really fascinated by camouflage. I've been seeing it everywhere, whether it's in a magazine, on a bridge, or in a painting.
Yesterday I spent the entire day just collecting and gathering information on things that attracted my attention. I love seeing patterns in unusual places, like the market. I love mixture of the organic with the inorganic. I also discovered that I really like laying and transparency, laying one image on top of another so that the bottom layer still emerges. I've found these images on restaurant windows and advertisements. I think it's just another engaging way to create pattern and design. The other day, I was in Palazzo Pitti again, and I spent a half an hour just staring at the semi-precious stone tabletops. They're so fascinating! I don't know what it is about them, but I feel mesmerized almost when I look at the attention to detail and variety of colors that they use. I hate how they don't actually let you look at them up close. I saw the costume and tapestry exhibits too. There's this one costume that was so inspiring. It looked like paper. I wanna go make something it out of newspaper and then draw or something. I don't know yet, but I got a postcard of it.

Pictures