Art Forum

I attended the Friday Forum yesterday for Melissa Stern's art work. Her art was most certainly interesting and what her explanations of the art were creative and insightful but the art itself struck me in a weird way. One of the pictures she showed (on a powerpoint presentation) just seemed to be weird shaped faces and large "x's" over three faces. It was from a collection of drawings from her "back to school collection". But to me it strangely seemed creative. When I went and looked at more of her works, I noticed the layers and layers and the variations in the materials she used. Many of her drawings had hidden messages and all told a story. However, she was more interested in hearing other peoples’ stories and hoped to inspire and ignite their creative juices. I feel her artwork shows the different stages of creativity. She starts off with a blank surface and then adds to it and layer by layer it is built up into this really thick and thought out piece of art. The different materials she uses whether it be fabric, newspaper, random trash, plastic, etc. is what makes her art unique. She is creative for using something in a different way then what it was intended to be used for. She thinks outside of the box.

I do a little bit of art every now and then. I tend to only draw my “feelings”. What I mean by that is that I will take a blank surface, and mix different colors to match what I am thinking or what I want to express and then begin to paint. I usually just paint strokes and let the thickness or variety of colors tell the story. I seem to use a lot of blues and greens and then accent them with yellows and more of golden tones. When I paint, I do not think. I turn up my music and just do as I feel. I am sure there is some unconscious planning and when I am done, I’m done.