Pattern Study- Pomegranate and Acorn Squash

For the organic pattern study, I chose the pomegranate and the acorn squash. I wanted to focus more on the seeds (or the seeds and the fruit around them in the case of the pomegranate) instead of their outward appearance.

Pumpkin Carving

Making a Wearable Piece

The requirements for this piece were to print the patterns of our icons onto something wearable. At first I wanted to make a dress, but with no prior sewing skills and a very small budget, that wasn't doable. Then I wanted to make a shirt with bishop sleeves, but the same things from before kept me from doing that as well, so I altered the shirt to make it a long shirt with flowing sleeve. I wanted it to fit the person almost like a tunic.

Prototyping:

    



Sewing:





Printing:

Finished Product:

Carving/ Experimenting with Ink

Figuring Out Carving Design

Value to Icons

For this we had to turn our values into universal icons. I wanted to showcase love in different ways, through colour and icon:

Human/Animal Relationships (using American symbols):
Pink: admiration and unconditional love.
Dog: a common family pet.

Mother/Child (using Canadian and African symbols) :
Red Poppies: sacrifice
Elephants: unconditional love and sacrifice.

Lovers (using Chinese symbols):
Carp/Koi Fish: perserverance/ long lasting love
Blue: trust
Green: growing, patience vs. anger

Value Sketches

The value I chose for this project is kindness, because as simple as it is, I've noticed people don't usually go out  of their way to show it. The past couple of years I've had some major events happen that have forced me to rely on other peoples' kindness to survive, and as scary as it is, those few moments when someone helped made me feel like suicide wasn't the only option when you were at the bottom. Kindness has made me less bitter than I could've ended up, and I've started to notice even the 'little' things.

Kindness to me, is something that can make or break a person and make even the most desperate willing to keep on trying to make things better, but even in its most innocent forms (holding open the door or complimenting someone), it can brighten someone's day.

I ended up drawing 24 sketches- though they're more like thumbnails now that I think of it- and I hope they work, because that's what I thought of when I heard 'sketch'. They show me the basic idea of what my story is, but they might be a little hard to read if you don't know what is happening so don't be afraid to ask what's going on.

This first picture is of a little girl in her grandfathers lap. They're sitting in a recliner and the girl is eating an ice cream cone. She has bags under her eyes and bruises on her arm. There's a bandaid where people normally get shots.

The story behind all of the pictures I have are things I've experienced first hand. This particular instance is about when I was in elementary school. I would get sick a lot, and the medicine and the shots would always make me even more sick before I got better. I was terrified of needles until I was 10.

My grandpa was the only one who was able to take me to the doctor because my mom couldn't take off time from work, and he always took me to get my favorite ice cream after the doctor's appointments to cheer me up before my medicine. My grandmother hated when he let me sit in his lap int he recliner because I was 'too old' but when I was sick he would wrap me in his blanket and let me watch cartoons. It's one of the first things I wanted to sketch because I didn't think of it as kind until I got older.

When I was in 3rd grade, Tomagachis were extremely popular at my school to the point of teachers allowing them in class. During recess one day- I still remember what we were doing in class because of this person's kindness- I was playing with my friends under a tree and swinging the lanyard with my Tomagachis. My friend startle me and I let go, which made the lanyard go flying. It got stuck on one of the highest branches and no one could get it down. A teacher kept us from climbing the tree to get them back. It was too dangerous.

I cried the rest of recess and my friends calmed me down enough to go to lunch. I was devastated because mom had just bought me them, and I didn't want to tell her what happened. I never had to, though. When I got back to class, my lanyard was sitting on my desk with a note from the teacher who stopped is telling me to be careful next time. I found out later that she had climbed the tree while the kids were eating to get it down for me.

When I was little, before we stopped having money to have Christmas, I always had tons of presents. Mom never knew I noticed, but even though I got way more than was necessary, she would only get the one present I gave her and a gift card from my grandparents in her stocking. I mentioned it when I was older and she let slip that the years she couldn't cover for nice presents, she would work through lunches and spend her bonus to buy me what I wanted and clothes, etc. I haven't forgotten that since I found out.

When I was 7, I did something really stupid: I took our puppy out without her leash or collar on to go to the bathroom. She was my first dog and we had only gotten her a couple weeks before- it was my first time letting her out. 

She took off and because I hadn't put on my shoes, I ran upstairs to put them on so I could chase her down. By the time I got back, she was already gone. My mom and I drove around for 10 minutes looking for her, but I was going to be late for school so my mom made me stop. I bawled.

When we went upstairs to grab my Mom's purse and my backpack, we found our neighbor and my puppy Crissy by his feet. He had seen her on his way to work and used his belt as a makeshift collar, dragged her into his truck and brought her back. It made him late to work.

This is something that happened when I was in middle school. There was a homeless man in Springfield that owned a sweet pit bull named Molly. He always let people pet her and whatever money people put in his dish on Fridays (we had all of our major events and foot traffic on Fridays), he have to the local shelter for homeless teens.

My neighbor Linda was a sweet heart and not only did she grow multiple gardens and give all of the food to the local shelters, she kept a supply of vitamins enriched pet food for the stray cats and dogs as well as plenty of water and heated homes during the winter.

Before my mom and I went through the financial troubles in high school, there was a couple times in middle school when we had a hard time buying food. She made too much to receive help, but only barely enough to cover just the bills. She would go for days without eating anything so I could have a full plate of food for every meal, even to the point of giving me her money for lunch because I didn't get reduced lunches. Whenever I tried to lie and tell her I was full, she would nod and eat a few bites. I would get up to get water, and the food would be in the fridge for 'when I got hungry again'.

My dog Crissy and my Dad died around the same time, and it started the pile of animals that still happens now. Whenever I get sad or start to cry, the dogs and cats all wait at the door until I go lay down. All of them cuddle up against me and bury under me until I'm hugging them. It never fails to help.

I used this particular position because it started after Crissy died. Max cuddles around my face and the cats lay next to the back of my neck and in the crook of my knees. To me, this shows kindness because even though it isn't the traditional thing people think of, my pets really do take care and give me extra attention when I want or need it.

I've had a lot of surgeries in the past, and I remember the smallest details of them all. I know that tending to the patients is their job, but I wanted this to be a tribute to the nurses that have helped me during my visits to the hospital. I've had horrible nurses in the past that ignored me when I needed them, and so when a nurse goes out of there way to check on how I'm doing and keep me as comfortable as they can, always remember.

As much as someone could take this to mean "kindness is giving someone money" that couldn't be further from what I felt when I drew this. 

This past year was the hardest of my life. My mother was unable to work at all for over six weeks, and the only income we had coming was from my social security check. That didn't even cover her medicine alone. I can't express in this post the sadness and hopelessness I felt during that time. 

The first month my mothers boss loaned her the money for rent and she took out a loan for the rest. The second was the beginning of a long time of not making it, and it was the first month where we thought we would lose everything. If we lost the duplex, we would lose our things, but most importantly we would be separated, and all of our animals would've been put down because the shelter deemed them not adoptable because they were too old. We wouldn't even be able to afford to keep their ashes.

Two days before the rent was due, we recieved a check for one grand in the mail from a stranger who went to my grandparents church. She had written it when she overheard my grandpa talking to their pastor about it. It was enough for us to cover our rent and utilities for the month.

On my sixteenth birthday, I made an offhand comment to a friend that I wasn't going to be able to have a party in class. There was a teacher visiting with our teacher and she overheard the converstaion. When she asked me about why and what my plans to celebrate were, I told her the truth: we didn't have the money to have one, and I was going to be spending it at work either way. 

She was upset that I wasn't going to celebrate and asked me if I at least had a cake. I told her no- that my mom and I were too busy to make one and I didn't mind.

At the end of the day I got a note excusing me from class. It tolde to go to one of the offices. I was scared because when I got there, it was the disciplinary office. I got half way into the room before the lights went out and that same teacher came out with a birthday cake and lit candles. She told me that even though I said I didn't mind, everyone deserves a treat on their birthday and your 16th was a special day. Here only concern was if I liked vanilla.

Whenever I'm sad on call, my friends always go on camera and make faces and jokes until I laugh. 

The rest of these are just extra sketches I did.