Inspired Artist Post (Feb 1)

   My chosen artist is Dustin Yellin ( http://dustinyellin.com/ ). He's currently 41 years of age and lives in Brooklyn, NY. So his artworks are generally a little tricky to describe, but basically he works in glass. He tends to build on the idea of layering, to create a 3D sculpture, but it'll emerge with often an incredibly amount of detail since each layer has some sort of image on it. He grew up in Colorado, but didn't feel that school was doing much good, so veered off the normal path. He studied for a year with a physics teacher; this surrounded him with the scientific approaches on matters and generally eccentric stuff (that's code word for hallucinogens).
   Alrighty, so to be completely honest I chose him because it was one of the first pictures that popped up that seemed cool. Now for me, for art to really be cool it has to fit my 'cool art checklist'. This means the following: would I not question why it's in an art museum? would I actually stop and look at it or would I slowly walk past nodding because I feel like people will think I'm ill-cultured if I don't pretend I'm interested? If this showed up on my pinterest board, would I re-pin it? Well his sculptures check these all off (I'm gonna look him up on pinterest after this assignment in fact). I think what really got me to stop scrolling was that I had to stop. His pieces are so incredibly detailed and are multiple art works in one; you have to really look at it to get the whole picture. Also, after I decided he's the guy for me, I found out he did a piece for the New York City Ballet, which is my wheel house. So to sum this up: I could justify why he's famous, I love things that can always show you something you hadn't seen before, and he did something ballet oriented so of course I love it.

Texture

                         Cloud:

What was hardest about the cloud texture was making it look soft and fluffy. I normally would rely more on the coloring aspect of an art form to shape it (ha pun intended) into what I want, but making it resemble a cloud when it's grey and dense purely from texture was pretty tough.














                          Rock:

What was hardest about the rock texture what getting some parts of it really rough looking but also really smooth and curvy. It was hard to do with the clay and really separate the two looks without it turning into more of a blob feel.













                        Fur:

Obviously I struggled the most with the fur. I just had a generally tough time. I don't really have a good grasp on how to physically mimic fur and things like hair; fine (lol another pun like fine hair) and detailed things. Also what was weird about this one was the angle that we were trying to create; looking from a birds eye view was throwing me off even more than it would have if I were to just recreate the look of fur.

Art Journal

Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project?
 Yes. I'm not use to the layering of the materials that I used. Using oil pastels over the paper that was glued down was really weird. Also, not only using the one, also having marker blended in is really odd because I normally don't mix things like that.

Did you pick a material or technique that was new or different over something that was familiar?
   Yes. I decided to layer with multiple things like I said before. I wanted to just stick with one and figured I could just add a ton of detail so it seemed busy and creative and all that jazz. Instead I used many things and tested it out.

What is this artwork intended to say?
(lets get deep here)   It's suppose to be for the word grow. It's meant so kind of show nature and how it's always growing and how humans strive for such a thing. From the beginning we want to grow, grow taller, grow mature, grow older, always growing. While nature constantly grows at its own pace, we become adults in only 18 years legally, and even when we're old and society see's those as frail and done with growing, nature still grows on taller and bigger, far more than any human could ever be. I hope it subconsciously would bring the thought of us wanting that,  that's a piece of why we love nature, it's a constant growing thing that's always there throughout our short life of 'growing'.

What issues are you examining through your artwork?
   *sigh* Basically exactly what I said before. That we rush growing up from such an early age, and we should take a lesson from nature. The lesson to just grow as it comes and not to force something that the world doesn't force.

How is this artwork about who you are or what you like?
    I like nature and a lot of different colors which I showed in this piece.

Nature Art

How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?
   We did multiple different colors and there was no pattern to it. Not all the color blocks were the same size or next to the same color as it was before. I tried to make it as colorful and bright as possible, putting warm colors next to cool colors and darks next to brights.

Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?
   Yes. The source was the stereotypical yarn bombing. Yarn bombing is often seen when the yarn is crocheted and then wrapped around the tree. We used this as an idea for the subject and what we should actually do. Instead of crochet, we just wrapped yarn tightly with as little gaps as possible. 

  How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked? 
     We just worked around them. For example when there were tiny branches/leafs we would just wrap around the branch. Also another example is the gaps, we would look and see that we left gaps so we would just re-wrap a few times until it got covered. 

Did your work take an unexpected turn due to a mistake or did something happen that was unplanned?

  No. Though we had some obstacles, we tried to stay as close as we planned as possible. If there were gaps we would re-wrap or weave it through the gaps. If there were branches we merely went around them. We tried to make it look like exactly how we hoped. 

Sculpture

Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project?
Yes. I tried the book carving, but I attempted multiple layers; the layers of the tree knot. I wasn't really sure how to make it pop out but still look like it was in the hole itself.

Did you pick a material or technique that was new or different over something that was familiar?
 Yes, I picked a new material and technique. I"ve never done carving or anything with a book. I had a lot of fun though and liked the idea of it. I really like the look of it and how it looks normal from the outside but when it opens it's like the story isn't just written on pages, it's 3D. 

What is this artwork intended to say?
 It's not really intended to say anything, but represent a story. I used the book 'To Kill A Mocking Bird', and used the tree that the kids and Boo traded stuff with. I really like the side story of Boo in that book, and the mystery and innocents of the whole situation. The tree was a turning point in the kids perspective of Boo, and that's one of my favorite parts. 

What issues are you examining through your artwork?
 As I said above, the tree represents the situation between Boo and the kids. He's seen as a mysterious maniac, but this tree gives an insight to Boo's life to the kids. I added gifts that Boo had left in the tree knot for the kids, because the gifts are what changed the kids thought about him. It also showed how shy and odd Boo was. 

How is this artwork about who you are or what you like?
  This artwork is about one of my favorite books. I've read this book in 5th,8th, and 9th grade. I think it;s a good book to read at different points in life because every time, something new shows itself and has a different meaning to you. 

Perspective

How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?
   I used a picture I found online to base the picture off of. I chose all the places I want to travel to on the signs. I really enjoy traveling and I want to travel as much as I can when I'm older. The places written are some of my main locations I want to be in. 

Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?
    Yes, I found a picture online but then added in my own hopes and thoughts for details. 

How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked? 
  When the challenges occurred, I just hoped for the best really. I had a really hard time and figured the mistakes and challenges wouldn't happen again because I would try to learn from them.

Did your work take an unexpected turn due to a mistake or did something happen that was unplanned?
   Yes. I did not expect to have such a hard time on perspective. I struggled a bit during the practice but for the actual project I had picked a piece that seemed simple. It was really difficult for me and turned out to be frustrating.

Shibori Dyeing

Artist: Laura Hunter
    Laura Hunter now lives in Washington State, making silk scarves using the shibori technique.She specifically uses the  itajime shibori, a technique where designs are created by dyeing the fabric while it is folded and clamped between tiles, wood blocks, or other shaped objects. 
    She said "I am also fascinated by fractals in nature, repetition on different scales, often caused by growth and change." This explains why she is drawn to dyeing in the technique that she does. Using the shibori technique shows the specific pattern. The specific material you use to cover the shirt with will protect that area from dye, which will then leave the imprint of what you did.  
    Her use for this art is retail, she dye fabric then sews it into a scarf that she then sells.She has been doing this for 20 years as her job. She has experimented with the shibori technique, which has led her to the Itajime shibori style which was mentioned earlier.
   









 I chose this artist because her work seems cool, and we have things in common such Washington State. Her works color and design is really eye catching and cool overall.