For this task we were asked to photograph objects that best describes who we are. I personally like to surround myself with art and music. As someone who studied music in the past I find it to be a big inspiration to me as a musician and also when it comes to also being a painter. Joni Mitchell is my muse when it comes to all things art and music, hearing my first Joni Mitchell at the early age of 10 I instantly fell in love, her vocal range and lyrics drew me in and her albums were such a safety blanket for a lot of highs and lows of my life. Following that is an old Francoise Hardy record that I found a couple of years ago in my grandparents attic, I’ve had this record since I was 16 and have always kept it with me. I really love the sound of the french language in music and especially Francoise as her voice is so angelic.

Other things I have included in my photos are my book called ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I pride myself on being a feminist and this book is a very good read for someone who understands the feminist movement and for people who don’t. It’s a short book on  how women’s rights are still a problem and that the only thing that feminism is is equality for all.
I placed a plant in these images as I am also a crazy plant lady. Constantly adding to my collection my house is turning into a jungle. I like the idea of taking care of something and watching it start out small and grow into something big and beautiful.

I have also included crystals and a moon earring. I like to think I have a relationship with the moon, I have taken part in moon circles and meditations a couple of times through out the years and have kept track of moon cycles and how the moon effects us all, also with my crystals I like the idea that they bring positivity but also they are just so satisfying to look at.

and last is my paint brush of course, I have been painting for years now and I find it to be a great way to express how I feel through colour. I like to relate to my emotions with colour so when I’m creating a piece with acrylic paint I tend to use that method. I really liked this task as I feel it has made me dig a little deeper into who I am and also force me to talk about the things that I love and why they make me happy to be alive.

Below are the photos I have taken for my painting workshop. I have printed 10 of each photo.

Anselm Kiefer



Anselm Kiefer is a post-war modernist artist who incorporates elements of literature fused with art to create bold, outside of the box and thought provoking designs usually to express political or social issues. 
focusing primarily on landscapes, Kiefer's work is heavily textured and almost tactile. As someone who enjoys creating textures with layers of acrylic, Anselm Kiefer really stood out to me with his use of tree branches and burnt books to create his own unique medium.

  

Mimmo Paladino



Mimmo Paladino is an Italian painter, print maker and sculptor. A pioneer of the Transavantgarde movement, Paladino's neo-expressionist themes and delivery are eye catching and equally interesting. His colours are very bold and contrast radically as shown in the work above, but despite the intangible message of the painting the viewer is drawn in by the stark nature of his presentation. This use of colour in such dramatic fashion is the aspect of Paladino's work that I can relate to the most.

Henri Matisse



Henri Matisse is a French expressionist painter and arguably one of the most famous painters of the 20th century. Mixing landscapes with abstract, simple with detailed, Matisse's style is difficult to truly pin point. Indeed, he managed to create seamlessly amongst a variety of parameters. Personally my favourite of his work is his range of 'Blue Nude' which evokes a subtilty and simplicity that can be hard to capture, something I'm always trying to achieve in my own work.

 

Leanne Surfleet



I chose Surfleet's work as my photographer of inspiration as I felt her work expressed a certain level of emotion that I related to. although this task is based around objects of self expression, Surfleet's work is mainly self portrait based. All about her journey through loneliness, nostalgia and fears of life. I chose her because her use of colour, tone and soft, dreamy, warm colours and use of shadow and contrast are how I would like to continue to present in my own work. Surfleet uses instant camera and film which I like to use myself.
 

 



 I feel that film is more raw and personal when it comes to photography, including specs of dust or perhaps little scratches on the film, giving the work a more rustic look. That is why when I see artists like Leanne Surfleet I instantly get inspired. Although I did not use film and used digital instead for this project as I struggle to get photos developed due to the current pandemic so I had to create with what I had in the house. I tried to include those warm colours and included all the things that I think represent who I am as a person who likes to create.

 

 

For this task we had to come up with a sculpture that would feature outside of the art college. the theme of this sculpture was to be about the concept of science and art. I thought long and hard about what to draw up for this task and then I thought about the left side and right side of the brain. One being logical, straight forward and well rounded and the other being creative, fun loving and emotional. I thought about how much everyone needs these two side of themselves and so does the world. So I started sketching a sculpture of a brain, one side being mostly rainbow colours, splashes of paint and the other side featuring numbers and and cells. 

I thought this sculpture would be best placed near the plants as I feel it would not be in the way of any main entrancing and will be fully appreciated.

Letha Wilson

Letha Wilson is an American Artist who works mostly with Photography and Sculpture. Born in Honolulu and now living in Brooklyn New York, she has had her work presented in a couple of different galleries such as Bronx Museum of the arts, The Studio Museum in Harlem, International Centre of Photography and many others. Wilson's work is mainly focused on landscapes photography, nature being her greatest inspiration she loves to involve trees, water and mountains in a lot of her work but all while making the audience look at these natural things in a different more interesting way when she sculpts these pieces. Wilson would have used things like dry wall to create her pieces but as of 2012 discovered her love for using things like concrete and cement. Wilson has a very free approach when it comes to her art as I have seen her explain while I was doing my research.

She talks about the process of going out and taking the photos and bringing them back to the studio to be printed, where she then goes to say that she 'destroys' the art work as in she takes a beautiful photo and further manipulates it by using concrete or mixing images together. She speaks about a lot of her work being very trial and error, having to go into a piece with the mind set that it could turn out horrible or it could be a happy accident. I really like Wilson's moto when it comes to her work, I find it very care free and you can tell every piece came from the love and process of creation.

Jess Riva Cooper

Cooper is an artist solely based in Toronto who has many loves when it comes to her creative endeavours such as the colour and drawing process of each piece she makes. Coopers work is somewhat of an emotional structure with faces being her main focus. Her work reminds me of Greek garden statues that an old mansion would have in a film. moulding her work so there are weeds and vines wrapped around each head and also in some cases coming out of the mouths, nose and eyes of the sculpture, adds a beautiful yet uncomfortable feeling as it is if the weeds are consuming them. 
'In my sculptures, the world sprouts plant matter. Colour and form burst forth from quiet gardens and bring chaos to ordered spaces. Nature undergoes a reclamation process by creeping over structures, subverting past states and creating a preternatural transformation.' - (A direct quote from Jess Riva Cooper).

Cooper got her MFA in Ceramic Sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design. after that Cooper spent her time exhibiting her work all over Europe and North America and is currently a teacher in Oakville at the Sheridan College for the Bachelor of Craft and Design Program.