Over the course of this year I have seen much improvement in my art. In the beginning of the year, I tried to avoid faces at all costs and had no idea how to deal with them especially in a setting where I need to put it down quickly. While I do still avoid the front I have taken more risks over this year and learned how to quickly put in the skeleton of the body instead of trying to do each part independently. I also learned about time management to do a basic sketch of the whole body and then going into more detail once I have the basics down. I think my biggest issue is time management especially considering my sculpture and home projects. If I had started many of my projects early I could have had a better final product. There is still room for improvement and I look forward to continuing this next year.

Matthew Wiley is the founder of the Good of the Hive initiative, and, like my sculpture project, focusses on the interconnectedness and reliance of bees and humans. He plans to paint 50,000 bees, the number needed for a healthy hive, in murals across the United States to bring awareness to the plight of the bees. Although I did not know about him when I started my project, the amount of commitment he has to seeing the project through has inspired me when I doubted my own work. I also appreciate his style of murals and how realistic they are while still keeping the cuteness of honey bees. 

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is a new building that was recently constructed in Richmond. My class was fortunate enough to be the first official school group to visit the ICA and get a tour. All of the artwork in the ICA is carefully placed to interact with each other, even the building's architecture works with the pieces exhibited to show meaning. My group particularly enjoyed their interactive art such as the recording studio and the watches that do not keep time. Everything about the way it is orchestrated makes you want to stay and explore the area forever. The three hours we spent there was not enough to truly experience all that the ICA has to offer.

Joseph Cornell was a surrealist artist who did assemblage sculptures using wooden boxes. Inside were artfully arranged found objects that are often creepy, nostalgic or both. I have always been interested in making shadow boxes and dioramas, so I think that his work could greatly influence me. Over the summer I plan to tackle one of these projects and hope to instead of drawing on the idea of nostalgia draw on the theatrical elements of the shadow box.