I’ve lived in a “house of glass” all my life, in a neighborhood of mid-century contemporaries. Living in a unique house has its benefits. My house introduced me to the world of art and design, acting as a gateway drug into my general interest in art. Using watercolor and ink, these pieces comprise a visual journal of sorts--collectively, they tell the story of how my house became a home. I’ve explored a lot of different ways of making art, but I always end up coming back to the same basic elements: the use of words and colors. Bright colors, for me, are inherently pleasing and I enjoy the challenge of combining them cohesively. In general, I find that words add meaning to my pieces; they help me to tell my story. I find it relaxing and rewarding to focus just on drawing individual letters and seeing each component of the art coalesce.
For my concentration, I went beyond just using words as a design element, but rather to tell a story--this is an expansion of what I had already been doing, but taking it to a new level. These pieces tell the story of my family, and all the little details that mean so much to us. The story begins with the juxtaposition of interior living spaces, with natural elements. Nature surrounds my family, both physically and in our hobbies. My parents were intrigued by seeing a newspaper ad of “house in the woods with walls of glass,” and then the hook was set when they visited the neighborhood. They knew this house was the perfect spot to start their family.
Samantha Dion Baker’s daily visual journals have been the inspiration for my pieces, the way she makes seemingly random objects all connect through the story she tells. Without her inspiration, I would have probably just illustrated rooms in my house exactly as they are. Baker inspired me to try to capture stories in ink and watercolor and she has taught me that art doesn’t have to be perfect—it just needs to happen.
Art infuses my life and fosters the creativity that helps me achieve all my goals. It has a meditative quality that helps me relax and focus, so that I see connections better and am more creative. To some degree, it’s the process that drives my art, not just the final product. Creating art ultimately makes me happy, and is something that I need to do in order to exist. It has made my family come together to reminisce about the memories we have made together and laugh about how things came to be
For my concentration, I went beyond just using words as a design element, but rather to tell a story--this is an expansion of what I had already been doing, but taking it to a new level. These pieces tell the story of my family, and all the little details that mean so much to us. The story begins with the juxtaposition of interior living spaces, with natural elements. Nature surrounds my family, both physically and in our hobbies. My parents were intrigued by seeing a newspaper ad of “house in the woods with walls of glass,” and then the hook was set when they visited the neighborhood. They knew this house was the perfect spot to start their family.
Samantha Dion Baker’s daily visual journals have been the inspiration for my pieces, the way she makes seemingly random objects all connect through the story she tells. Without her inspiration, I would have probably just illustrated rooms in my house exactly as they are. Baker inspired me to try to capture stories in ink and watercolor and she has taught me that art doesn’t have to be perfect—it just needs to happen.
Art infuses my life and fosters the creativity that helps me achieve all my goals. It has a meditative quality that helps me relax and focus, so that I see connections better and am more creative. To some degree, it’s the process that drives my art, not just the final product. Creating art ultimately makes me happy, and is something that I need to do in order to exist. It has made my family come together to reminisce about the memories we have made together and laugh about how things came to be