Week 13: Essay 2 - Art
At the beginning of the semester, I honestly didn’t think of art being something other than paintings or drawings. I saw art as something being colorful, textured and overall something seen only in museums. I never saw things such as printmaking or sculptures as being very “artful” and my perspective on those things has changed drastically. Exploring different art mediums this semester and seeing different artists’ forms of art has given me a wider view on what art is. This semester I also learned that there is fiber art, something I had never considered to be an art form as I saw knitting/crocheting as more of a hobby. Art to me now means a lot of things, from photographs to dyed yarns, art can be seen in anything. I think art is finding the beauty and meaning in works through what that art represents or how it makes someone feel.
I am a third-year Public Relations major. With my major I hope to have a career working at an agency to produce content for different industries. I’m most attracted to the entertainment, beauty and fashion industries and hope to work with companies by helping them shape their image in the media. With PR there is a lot of writing. I’ve worked on writing email pitches, news releases and even radio ads amongst many other things; but there are also ways to be creative in the PR world. I have worked on designing newsletters, designing websites and creating my own graphics for social media posts. Although these things are considered more work tasks rather than artsy, I am still able to be creative in choosing different fonts and photos in order to get my message across.
During quarantine I’ve had a lot of fun exploring different art mediums. I think my favorite has been working with acrylic paints because I really enjoy mixing and creating new colors. I’ve also had a lot of fun with fiber art and have knitted myself and my dog matching sweaters, I crocheted a purse and am currently in the middle of crocheting a cute top. Through fiber art I’ve learned a lot about different types of yarn and what they are made of. Out of all the different types of yarn, wool, alpaca, silk and many others, my favorite yarns are the soft merino wool yarns and the traditional irish tweed yarns. They’re both a bit pricier but they are amazing quality and whatever I decide to make with them will last a long time. This art form has definitely taught me a lot and I’m glad to have learned new skills.
Art definitely matters because without it, I don’t think there would be much meaning in the world. Art makes us feel a mixture of emotions that many other things cannot. It affects our moods and can even change our perspective on things. I think engaging with artworks helps us be more complete humans because it provides both an outlet and it is something that can be enjoyed by us. If all art vanished from the earth then our lives would be pretty bleak. I agree with the National Endowment for the Arts slogan because all nations need art and culture. Without it our society would be really boring and people would lose their way of self expression.
For me this semester began with a lot of uncertainty and stress and I was glad I got the chance to do something fun every week for this class. I feel like if I hadn’t taken the time to relieve some stress by drawing or painting then this semester would’ve been a lot more difficult. I never would’ve done those things on my own and I’m very glad I took this class. This class has given me a lot more appreciation for art and the time it takes to create an art piece and I will continue to explore different mediums on my own. For my career I hope to tackle more creative projects and beyond just writing and researching. I really would like to improve my skills on Indesign, Photoshop, Audition and many other Adobe apps so that I can continue to be more creative in my field.
