This is a simple piece I made for my introductory digital arts studio, where we had to take an image and use Adobe Photoshop to add text to compliment the image or contradict the image.  I chose the peaceful image of geese flying over the water to complement the poem by Mary Oliver titled "Wild Geese." This is a poem that my ceramics professor, Chris Staley, read to my class last semester as an inspirational gesture to start the day.  I used it in this piece so I could share it with other people who might find it as calming as I did.

Figure Drawing sketches from today (2/9/2012).  We used compressed charcoal on wet newsprint with a live model.  I am very happy with the drawing on the right and the blending that occured to create some kind of contour shading around the model's limbs and framework.  You can still see some of the guidelines that I used to balance her proportions using ligher lines in her abdominal region.  The arm on the right is a bit thick and her shoulders seem a little too broad. I will try to work smaller next time so I can include her whole body including her head in the page size.

This piece from my printmaking studio was premised on the theme of "difficult differences."  I was thinking about the American idea that, as a superpower of the world, we are responsible for the rest of the world.  This is a very romantic idea and I believe that 'we' use it to justify invasive actions that will, theoretically, benefit us, or a choice few, financially.  I used Mexico as an example of a people who need and want our help, but we demonize them because they benefit us more if they stay where they are and provide a cheap source of labor.

This is a sketch derived from the figure of Venus in Benjamin West's "The Bath of Venus" in the Palmer Museum of Art on campus.  This was a in-class assignment for my figure drawing class.

Critique notes (1/2/2012): very accurate drawing compared to the painting although very elongated and not realistic, the feet seem a bit too small compared to the painting, nice variation in value and smooth shading, missing head and hands but does not feel incomplete as a study drawing.

I created this page to show off some of the recent work I have been doing in my studio classes this semester at Penn State.  These come from figure drawing, printmaking, digital arts, intermediate throwing, or from free time work.

I hope you enjoy my work!