Reflections

Hi everyone!

We are now midway into June and that means two things: finals, and the end of the year! Only one of those things are exciting though...

This year, as you all know, I took the Creative Arts Elective class. At the beginning of the year I really thought that all of my projects would look horrible. Now I can say that only one is horrible! The rest are semi-horrible or actually make me look like I know what I am doing...hint: I don't:)

I am glad I took this class though. Now I know that while some art is fun, not all of it is for me. Like coming up with a creative design for my metals was really hard for me. I even lost a piece of it! Yet, when you look at the very first project I did(the shoe drawing) I really love that piece! I now know that I can do things like that. I never thought I could before.

I also know more about myself. I know what I can do before I am so done I have a small mental breakdown(BIG THANKS to the people at my table for listening/ignoring while nodding and smiling to those). This class also really makes you think about what you really like and who you are. It helps you grow up alittle because you have to say "I like that, this is what I want to do, this is based on this part of me and so on..." Yet, with all that thinking it was still fun to have this class. I would take it again if I could.

Sadly, I can't take this class again:( I am doubling up on languages next year and I am doing my best to get back in Band, so I have no more electives! If I could I would take art again though! It was a pretty good class overall and Mrs. Kiick really is a great teacher who is very helpful and always has great suggestions.

So I guess I am retiring this blog now. How sad:'( Maybe junior year I will be able to get it back in my schedule...cross your fingers!

Farewell and goodbye all! I hope to see you soon!
Truly Yours,
Jillian(not Jill)

Video Portfolio

Hi everyone!

So this is my video portfolio for this year! I apologize in advance for the blurry photos, but thats how they downloaded from my camera. There was nothing I could do about it:( Hope you enjoy my video!

P.S. The last 8 seconds were cut off when I exported it from iMovie to my desktop. That's why the music stops abruptly. But, I promise you aren't missing anything just the end of the song.

P.S.S The song is title "The Show" by Lenka.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmV_wmLBHU8

The Lonely Swim

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So that no one is confused I will give you guys just a little explanation. Henry, the sea turtle, is the main character. The school of fish are the only people to help him in his journey. The beautiful ocean is the setting, which Henry is lost in. The plot is confusion and not knowing where to look or turn, which Jackson Pollock's picture might just make you feel that way.

                                                           The Lonely Swim

           I couldn't believe my luck. I just managed to prove myself to be a responsible man. I can't believe I ruined it. Why did I have to get cocky and think I could do everything myself? Everyone knows the South Bend Current is one of the most confusing in the Atlantic.Why was I the one who got separated from the group? Now how will I get to the North Bend Turtles Swim Off? I am stuck in this small coral reef with no way to get home. Who can help me?

         First, I decided to try swimming around looking for anyone that I might possibly know. My home coral reef is so much larger than this...I thought maybe someone could have been visiting friends here. A lot of my friends back home go around to different reefs visiting. Apparently not in this one.

          Next, I decided to try and see if ANYONE can point out the South Bend Current. I must have talked to every fish, turtle, shark, seahorse, crab, dolphin, starfish, jellyfish, or lobster within a three mile radius. None of them helped me. I lost all hope of ever making it home. I would no longer be the responsible young turtle the group just recognized me as. I would just be another overeager little kid who was lost, and probably never to return again. I would be another sad textbook story of a turtle who was found years later, with his own new family and new coral reef he called home. I wrote a whole story in my head, until they came along. 

        They were like nothing I have ever seen before. Every single one different colors and blending in with their surroundings. As they swished their tails you could see every scale gleaming in the light. I was just wading around in circles, very glum and depressed. I was actually just yelling out words to anyone that would listen. This school did. 

         Immediately the entire school of fish stopped swimming, turned to me sharply, and swam as fast as they could toward me. They came to an abrupt stop about a foot away from me. One fish slowly made his way toward me. He seemed...older. In charge. He was slightly larger than just about every fish is the school. Making his way toward me he asked, "Did you say you needed to get to the South Bend Current? Are you traveling to the North Bend Turtles Swim Off?"

        I could have kissed this man, I was just that happy. "Well, yes sir I am. Do you know which way that is? I seem to be lost." I quickly asked of this fish.

        "Yes, we are. A few of us are actually the referees in the swim off." the fish replied, "And my name is Jeffery. Would you like to travel with us?" 

       I couldn't be any happier to hear those words. I immediately exclaimed, "Yes! Please, that would be amazing! I can't thank you enough!" 

      Chuckling, Jeffery just lead me into his school and I had my own spot in the middle. This school of fish lead me back home to my family. I even got a front row seat because the one guy was part of the security. All he had to do was wave his security badge and the crowd immediately made a space for me. 

      That day I even learned something new. Even when you have lost all hope, always go on. In the end, someone or something can always come along when you least expect it. And you never know, a nice thing like a front row seat could come out of it. 

 

The End. 

Empty Bowls Dinner

Every year, our school does a Pasta Pot Luck community dinner. The art students at the high school make ceramic bowls, plates and platters.  Anyone can donate food(must be or contain pasta) and after you buy a plate, platter or bowl of you choice, dig in! All of the proceeds from this dinner go to the Food Bank of South Jersey. This dinner is also to remind everyone the severity of hunger in our country and how some others bowls may not be filled every night. This year I am lucky enough to participate in the making of the bowls, even though I won't be here for it.

For the past few weeks I have spent my time in art class making bowls for the Empty Bowls Dinner. While making these bowls I have been thinking about the presence of hunger in our country. Every one in five children in America go hungry every day. This dinner will benefit so many people. I am proud to have made these bowls these past few weeks. I am sad that I won't be there on the actual night to see it in action but I am glad to have helped in some way.

I have seen the importance of helping others in need through this project. I have always done little community service here and there but mostly it includes volunteer field hockey coaching. From now on, I am going to do my best to change that. I think it would be great to do more community service projects through the school. This year I am a class officer and I feel we could have done more community service projects as a class. Next year(I plan on being an officer still(:  ) I will do my best to make the year about community service projects. I feel that being a class officer has to mean something more than just being a small, random group of four people that do nothing except what is asked of them.

Sadly, I cannot make the Empty Bowls Dinner. But for everyone else, it is on February 9th at the high school. Please come out and support our dinner!

Blind Contour Drawing

One of our last assignments for this marking period is a blind contour drawing. For me this is harder because it was a BLIND contour drawing. It took me a while to pick a drawing to use as my final draft. After that I had to think hard for my sentences too. Every sentence I chose though, took at least five minutes to think of. No matter how short the sentence is, it took a while to think of. Each sentence hints into my life.

The first few are obvious:

My name is Jillian Caputo.

I am 15 years old. 

I am an athlete.

Everything else means something more.

I am not tall.              Most people would think that is obvious but it really isn't. It has always bugged me that I am short because I love field hockey and I am a goalie. The average goalie is tall and big. I have to work that much harder to be faster and more aggressive than the other goalies just to make up for the disadvantage. Sometimes it is just annoying to be shorter and it is not fun. Also a lot of people know I don't like being short and they try to annoy me and it always works. Its hard not to get annoyed. Sometimes its just like, will you not?

I have OCD.              I don't technically have OCD but, their are certain things that make it seem as if I do. ALL of my equipment for any sport has to be perfect, clean and organized at all times. All my notes are super organized and anyone could figure them out. The only thing that isn't organized is my room. My room is a disaster zone.

I have bad knees.           I have a knee cap tracking disorder that leaves me in a lot of pain sometimes. I have to wear knee braces during all sports. Even walking around school hurts sometimes. Currently I am in physical therapy three times a week to try and prevent surgery.

I do not like failure.         It is not that I am over-competitive and will cry if I ever lose but, when it comes to certain things, I just don't like failure. I have straight A's because I freak out enough during studying that there is no possible way I can not get a good grade. During sports, I have to get into my focused mode right before games or I feel unprepared. I make sure that I have no way to fail.

I like playing field hockey and softball.               These are my two main sports and I love playing them.

I DO not like being call Jill.                 I have never once told anyone to call me Jill and have always specifically said call me Jillian if asked. Yet, all my teachers and any adult find the need to call me Jill once they meet me. I don't understand it but, I won't say anything.

I wish to get all A's on my midterms.                 I am starting to feel the pressure of midterms and I do not like it. I will now be going into hibernating/studying mode for midterms.

I want to be a teacher and a coach.              I have known what I want to do with my life for a while now. I have been volunteer coaching for over two years now and I absolutely love it. I really think that since I love coaching as much as I do then teaching won't be much different for me.

I dream to play field hockey in college.          I love field hockey. I want to coach it and play it for as long as possible. I play field hockey year-round and have already started looking for my school. Playing year-round is the way to get to on a college team. Next month I will be going to Orlando where I will play in a major tournament and there will be about 100 college recruiters there. I would do anything to fulfill my dream.

I will follow my dreams.                          Enough said.

The Lanterns: Don't Fly Away

In the first project of the marking period, my art teacher asked us to make lanterns out of cut paper designs. We also had to make the designs resemble a season. A lot of people thought this was incredibly hard but, somehow thinking of a season and design was easy for me.

Ever since I was in about sixth grade I have drawn these doodles of an intense vine with flowers all over it. I have no clue where it came from but I loved it. I drew it all over EVERYTHING. When I was told I had to create this based off a season, I immediately chose spring and wanted to use my design. To make sure I was right I even drew another design yet when I compared I knew there was no other design. When I started cutting, I was only using the spring season. As I continued to cut I realized I didn't just want to draw one season, but the changing of the seasons. In my lantern, as the seasons change, the petals fall and fly away.  In my original plan, I had a circular lantern. So all of the petals leave and then come back. It is a full circle, like the circle of life.  Yet, when I was done, my cuttings didn't work well with a circle so I creased my edges and made a oval lantern.

The only thing I don't like about it is that I don't know which side I like better for the front. Any opinions?

Artist Research: Jackson Pollock

I chose Jackson Pollock to research and study. I like him because he creates artwork in a fun way. He does splatters, some have extra things in there or less splatters but they are all basically all paintings were paint is splattered on the page. I have always wanted to splatter paint my walls in my room too (its never going to happen though ):  ). I find his artwork cool, fun and freeing. Its fun to look at too. There is no real pictures in it so everyone can see something different in it. I like that kind of work, where to everyone it seems different and looks different.

Here are some main basic things about Jackson Pollock(or interesting things)

• His full name is Paul Jackson Pollock.   
• Pollock lived January 28, 1912 - August 11, 1956.
• He was an American artist who played a major role in the abstract expressionist movement.
• Pollock is well known for his "drip paintings" style.
• To make his drip paintings, Pollock would put his canvas either on the wall or floor. Instead of using brushes he would pour and drip paint directly from the can or use sticks, trowels or knives.
• From 1938-1942 he worked for the Federal Art Project. 
• In 1956, Time magazine called him "Jack the dripper".
• In the 1950s Pollock was either strongly supported by critics, or was subject to harsh abuse and criticism. 
• By the 1960s he was recognized as the most important figure in the most important movement of the century in American painting(Post-Painterly Abstraction). 
• He had an unhappy personal life(an alcoholic) and had a premature death in a car crash. Both of which somehow managed to add to his legendary status

There is also a website.....

JacksonPollock.org is one of the most famous works of internet art. Miltos Manetas made this website in 2003. Steve Jobs said this website is the best website to experience the iPad and JacksonPollock.org is the best application for the iPad. JacksonPollock.org is People's Voice Winner of the Webby Awards. Time Magazine even listed JacksonPollock.org on the Top 50 coolest websites. JacksonPollock is also an app on the iPad and iPhone. Visit the site and don't be surprised if you see a blank screen! YOU make the art on this artist website. 

I like this piece because of how the white really pops out on the black backround. I also like the splatters of red and gray, it adds more depth to the piece. 

I like this next piece because it completely fills an entire page with almost only a few colors. It is really intense and it is hard to see what you are really looking at but when you do see it, it is amazing.     

I like this art because it has those big lines in the middle. They create a good space divider and give you more to look at than just the random lines and colors around them.