Artist Statement:

       Before the project I did not know what I was going to make. After reviewing an article read in class, I came up with the big idea of fantasy. In this  fantasy there were going to be diamonds, chandeliers and glass. Basically everything was going to be as white as can be so that the images would be as bright as can be. 

       During the project, I struggled finding chandeliers and glasses that I wanted to put in the images. I managed to crop out many diamonds out of pictures of rings that I found on Facebook pages. The diamonds do a good job of brightening the images and the aspect of expensiveness makes the images more fantasized. I decided to add feathers and/or rose petals to make the first and last images more graceful. The second image is a more cold fantasy than the others and has a harsher tone because raining diamond drops would probably hurt. I also retrieved the pictures of feathers and petals off of the internet and cropped some of them out. 

       I think the images turned out pretty good. I am glad I could use the diamonds in all three of the images and they are not all of the same image, if that makes sense. It was difficult to make an abundance of feathers and that's something that would have also been a nice addition to any of the images. Even though, I am happy with the outcome of the fantasy project that I created. 

The Final Thought Process

        My thoughts for the final project have mostly surrounded ideas of glass, elegant chandeliers and diamonds. After reviewing the Walker article on our carmen website, i decided that my big idea could be fantasy. This was actually one of the examples in the article. While I was home I took some pictures of little chandeliers in the house and also pictures of wine glasses and things. I will search the web for my pictures of diamonds and somehow incorporate these items in an image together. This final project would make me very materialistic if I connected it personally to myself, but I will anyways. I have always enjoyed elegant and beautiful things. I appreciate the craft of glass and gems and the way the beads and other decorations can be hung from the ceiling to create a mood in a room. I think the fantasy of these chandeliers , glasses and diamonds could be an unreal experience, a little like buying that diamond bra that comes out every year from Victoria's Secret. It would be ridiculous. I would say there are no rules or limits to this project, just to find the best way to portray my fantasy of the utmost superiority. 

Action Words

KNOT

I chose pasta as my object to describe the action word: knot. Pasta is a food that I eat very often and it is one of my favorites. In this image I knotted angel hair pasta. It was a little difficult not ripping the pasta strings, but once I found the right consistency of wetness it worked out fine. The red background contrasts nicely with the white bowl. 

MP4 Cartoon!

If superpowers are realistic in this project, then so is spongebob. I picked to pose myself in a spongebob scene because it is my favorite cartoon, actually the only cartoon i would enjoy watching. I left my face the same as it would be out of the cartoon because i am only making an appearance in the scene. If I had stayed maybe I would look like a cartoon character like spongebob does. I picked this scene just for fun and because it is so care free. The jelly fish were also put in the picture for a full "spongebob effect". This is the first time I have cut out my face or anything and replaced it, so in my critique I would like to be a little cleaner in doing the cut out. I like the blending and contrasting of colors that I made. 

Identity and Place

This is the place on campus that I chose to place my bed because I always want to sit down when I pass these benches. My bed is my object because there is never really a time that I don't want to just lie down in my bed. Relaxation between classes would be very nice. The bed is small compared to the rest of the environment because I'd rather not have anyone notice me

In this second image, you are closer to the bed and then bed is actually going to be higher than you expected. This is so once I climb up onto the bed I will be further away from other people.

This third image was took from a sleeping standpoint. The bed is still on the bench and people are walking by as if I am dreaming. I don't dream in purple flowers, bushes, and grass, but I would like to think so.

The viewer can interact with these images however they wish, but to me my bed is just somewhere that I can relax and be alone during the busy day.

10 of My Favorite Objects

This image shows my identity because it looks like there are so many objects in the picture and I love so many objects in my life. It sounds materialistic, but these are objects that I would not like to live without. This is what my image does not say about me: I do not want others to think of me as a very materialistic person. I do enjoy shopping and other sorts of money-spending activities, but when I purchase something, it's something that will receive a lot of use and pleasure out of. Appreciating and being grateful of what I have is most important to me.

10 Favorite Objects

Iphone: I chose my iphone because I always have it with me. I feel as though it is necessary to carry it everywhere so that I will be in contact with anyone if they need me.
my necessity
My dinner plate: This plate reminds me of my family when I sit down to eat dinner off of it. It belonged to my sister before me and I miss her very much. I mostly like it because of the nice designs all over it, the black and white contrast each other very well.
delightful design
Perfume bottle: Smelling nice is one of my most important things to do. I have multiple scents I can wear but in this bottle is my favorite. It is called heavenly dream angles.
heavenly
Puff brush: This puff brush is full of glitter. At competitions my mom always put extra glitter on my me and my sisters because it gave us extra shine. I use my glitter now because it's pretty and more fun than it would be to have no glitter on.
sparkle
Bangles: I chose my bracelets in my favorite objects because I wanted to include some of my fashion. These bangles are some of my favorite jewelry that I own and they help to share my style.
my style
Kitchen-aid mixer: This is definitely one of my favorite objects because it makes it so easy to bake. Baking is one of my passions and I sometimes I just have a need to bake. Baking can give me a release from the other things I have to do and it is a productive way to use my negative energy.
baking release
Necklace: This object is another one of my favorites not just because it is another piece of jewelry, but because it was a gift from my boyfriend. He gave me a different necklace at first, it was lost so this was the replacement. We ended up liking the replacement better and it means a lot to me.
love necklace
Bible: My bible is an important object in my life because without God I would not be here. I read at least a few verses a day and it helps me to stay on the right path with God.
Holy Bible
Cupcake Book: This object can be paired with the kitchen-aid mixer. With a book filled with Martha Stewart's cupcake recipes, you can never go wrong on which one to bake. Always follow the directions though, because Martha's never wrong with baking.
Martha rules
Spoon: My last favorite object is a spoon. Spoons are my favorite silverware piece because I like the smoothness of them. Also spoons can represent being close to somebody, like spooning.
smooth spoon

I would say that my journey to class is unique because I come from an already full morning with lift starting at 6:30 and another class before Art Ed. 252. Not all directions are the same here at Ohio State; we have a universal map of the campus, but we all have different paths to where we need to go.

The first few classes it rained all the way to class. I ride my bike, that's why my book-bag has mud stains on it. One of the worst things coming to class is all of the people who are not paying attention to their surroundings, therefor risking my safety and their own, because sometimes running into them is unavoidable. I'm actually on my 5th bike since I have been at OSU, maybe it is a sign that I should stop riding. 

Anyways, it's fairly easy to get to class, well once I'm past the intersection at Independence Hall. One of my favorite parts traveling to class is biking freely down the hill to the stadium. I normally arrive to class a few minutes early, just to take a couple deep breaths and enter the room. 

Explanation of project: 

My intent of this project was to cram all of my morning and trip to class in one picture. The photo looks very busy, because it is very busy. The different pictures of bikes are all of my own bike that i ride to class. There is a picture of my gymnastics team in the left corner because early in the morning, I have workouts with them. Also, the dark picture with the bike represents the morning, because it is dark when I wake up. I used a lot of fading layers and transparency in this photoshop so that we could pick out all of the layers. I used text boxes to make neat writing, but I also used the airbrush tool so that I could write with my mouse instead. I liked writing it myself because it gave the picture more of my personally and my own "touch". The map in the background is supposed to be something like the universal map that we all share. This map is what comes up when I search my directions from my first class to Art Ed. 252. The pictures were a little difficult to move around at first, I moved them by changing the scale back and forth.  This was a nice introduction to photoshop and it helped me learn much more about the application.

Another Trip to The Wexner Center

This piece is named Evolution, and is created by Alexis Rockman.

Media: wood, oil paint

Date: 1992

Viewing this piece made me think about the idea of evolution. I loved the details in the painting, but there were some gruesome ideas present also. Animals eating other animals or killing them presented a violence in this image of evolution. 

Denotations: a piece of artwork; one expressing his belief in evolution; imaginative 

Connotations: wish for others to experience the history of evolution; to share his picture on life

Big Idea behind Rockman's work: Rockman deals a lot with nature and the curiosity and imagination of evolution. He likes to express what he feels through painting scenes of evolution together. 

A Trip to The Wexner Center

This piece is called Crystal Garden, created by Paula Hayes.

Media: stones, minerals, crystals, gems, some fabricated items; these items are in a hand-blown glass. 

Date: 2010

This was my favorite piece of Paula's collection shown at the Wexner Center. I enjoyed all of the "pretties" and things and how they were arranged in the glass. I wouldn't have known that she created the glass also, had I not read the descriptions of the work. 

Denotations: a piece of artwork that shows creativity and objects that the world created and that human created

Connotations: a display for others to learn and enjoy from; all things can be alive together; immobile objects can be beautiful 

Big Idea behind Paula's work: she likes to make her artwork alive, sometimes it is associated with her life events and history

Introduction

My name is Victoria Aepli and this is the first of many blog posts made, V style. I am a second-year student athlete at The Ohio State University. My sport, gymnastics, is a large component of my time here at OSU. When I'm not at practice or with my team, I spend my time in class, doing homework, relaxing with my awesome roomies that I now have an apartment with, and also spending time with my boyfriend and family. One of the biggest factors in deciding to come to OSU was because it was so close to home, this way I can still see the people I love at home whenever I like. I plan on completing an Art Education degree to go onto teaching or what ever else it brings.