Painted Wood

I started the day by creating a series of sculptures looking at my own use of symmetry. This helped me to see that when I sand down all the edges of the wood it becomes happier, making the particular piece much more approachable. This may be to do with the use of symmetry, sanding down all four edges rather than only one on earlier pieces, but I think it's also to do with the lack of sharp edges, which has started to feel like an angry emotion. When the two vastly different pieces are displayed together they do enhance each other well. 

I continued to experiment with the use of labelling, setting up some early sculptures on the wall and adding a label to the work near the floor. I then asked my peers to tell me how they felt when looking at the work and then at the label. This was interesting to do but I knew that most people would be feeling annoyed about having to bend down to see a boring title. I intend to experiment further with this, experimenting with naming the work differently and putting the label in different locations around the work. 

Throughout the day I experimented with watercolours to paint the sanded wood. This worked well up to a point, allowing the grain of the wood to still be seen through the paint. The more water I added the clearer the grain became. Through experimentation I learned to sand the wood before and after painting, to preserve the soft texture of the wood, which was lost if I didn't sand down the wood after I had painted it. I will continue to experiment with the use of colour to see whether it continues to work well with the wood. This use of colour would make the meaning more apparent for the viewer, painting a block red for example would signify that the emotion being conveyed through the sculpture was anger. I must consider whether I want to make my work easier to understand or not, and weigh that against the aesthetic value of adding colour.

I am also continuing to think about my research paper and have finally arrived at a title for the essay, "Aesthetic Choices and Meaningful Dialogue". In it I will look into artists that make aesthetic choices to entice the viewer to look into the deeper meaning within their work. I will also explore how I seek to accomplish this in my own work. I hope that I will make some interesting insights into my own work through looking into others.

Also today my business cards arrived, which is exciting, but I doubt I'll actually use them for a while which is a shame.