Mrs. Ana's Artistic Development

Mrs. Ana’s Artistic Development Ana C. Robles • Are 6933: 166D Artistic Development • October 13, 2013 • Self Study: Own Art Practice

Today, I am Mrs. Ana. I have been an art educator only for the past 6 years. Before this, I have been a daughter, a sister, a friend, an artist, a designer, a mom and a wife. I have enjoyed every one of my different stages in life. Life has been good. I love working with children, I always learn from them. I like helping people and making little differences in their life. I like to share my artistic eye with my students and give them new perspectives of the colorful world we are blessed to have. But, how did I become an art educator? What happen before 2007? How did I get shaped to what I am today? Well, here comes a short story of 38 years of my own artistic development.

Early Years

My mom managed to save some of my drawings from when I was little kid.

The earliest one I have is from 1976. By then, I was only 1 year and 9 months. My mom let me draw in a memory’s album to keep a few of my first lines. She even wrote the meanings of my drawings -who knows, maybe I told a whole story, a dog, a house, a duck and a figure with head, eyes, nose, mouth, arms and legs. This first drawing reminds me of the preschematic stage of Lowenfeld theory. I also found a few more drawings from preschool where I drew more human figures, houses, letters and what it seems my family. The family portrait included my nanny, who used to take care of me. I also found schoolwork where I had to color inside the lines, as we were taught back in the 70’s. I also added a nice printing project, with bright orange and white paint over black paper. It seems like the teacher gave us some sort of tool to make these print designs over the paper. This collection of 8 drawings from my early years pointed to interesting facts that surrounded my childhood.

Experimenting with letters, 1979.

Preschool -Tempera over Black paper

My Family, 1978.

Preschool -Color Pencil

School Years Perhaps because we had to move from one country to another in my schools years, I don’t have many drawings left from the 80’s but I do remember a few of the drawings I used to did, like a white bunny in a flower garden with a mushroom house in the background, I remember it was very colorful, and I drew it several times. I also liked to create things out of fabric or any leftover material I found at home. I was always creating, gluing and sewing.

In middle school, I used to either copy popular characters as Garfield and Mafalda, from the Argentina cartoonist Quino, or I used to draw my own characters like a little boy with colorful shorts, spiky hair, Oakley glasses and a surfboard. I remember all my friends loved my character and asked me to draw it for them. I did feel very privileged to be able to draw. By then, I was living in Guatemala, where cable TV was very popular, so my friends and I were very influenced

by American and Mexican programing.

In 1989, I experience what Csikszentmihalyi (once suggested that when a child can find enjoyment in every day life activities, especially in the acquisitions of new skills and development of new potentialities then the child is growing in an optimal environment, and that was I for the following two years. I started my first structured and formal art classes with a local artist and teacher, Roberto RĂ­os. First, I took a summer camp that immediately hooked me up; then I enrolled as a regular student. I went to the gallery every Wednesday from four to six pm. I learned several techniques as basic drawing skills, chiaroscuro, watercolor, pastels and oil. I was very motivated by my teacher, my family and my friends. I participated in a couple of art contests and collective art shows.

One of the most important art pieces I did was La Negrita, my first big scale oil pastel that my mom actually framed and hung in the living room. I remember staring at it every single day, feeling very proud of myself. I was only fourteen. What I liked about the picture is that represented a realistic Caribbean girl; I La Negrita, 1990. loved her expression, her eyes and the overall Oil Pastel.

hue of the picture. After La Negrita, I did numerous paintings that depicted Guatemalan people, traditions, landscapes and textiles. I have always considered that Central American country to be rich in culture and definitely influenced my style. Most of my artwork from that time was based in photos and it focused me in the mastering of techniques and proportions.

College Years In 1992, I moved back to Costa Rica to go to college. I was convinced that I wanted to study something related to art. I did not want to become just and artist because I also knew I would need something that would be financially viable so, I decided to pursue a BA in Graphic Design. As a funny note, before I went to Veritas University, I wanted to go to another school where I required an artistic Design Logo, 1995. assessment to get in. Believe it or not, I failed Ink and pencil. the test. Maybe my art was too realistic and not creative enough, I will never know the reason.

I was devastated, but it was a good thing that I knew what I wanted professionally, so I did not give up. I went to a private university that opened their doors to a very promising future and I enrolled to pursue my dream. Today, Veritas University is considered the most recognized artistic university in Costa Rica. I am lucky and proud to have graduated from there. I was exposed to great teachers who influenced me. Computers were just emerging in schools and I had to experience pre and post-digital production, which was fortunate since digital images became so popular many years after. I also learned photography and film development processing. Indeed, my college years were very busy, as I also learned about art production and communication. I had very little time to just paint as I used to do in former years, but also, I was getting used to be living in Costa Rica. I felt a bit lost. I lived with my grandparents for a while and I remember doing all my college projects but culturally and emotionally speaking I had little inspiration to paint. So, I photographed my grandfather, I painted a couple landscapes from our small farm, my mom and a few memories from Guatemala. I agree with Parson when he suggested that the context of making couldn’t be separate from the context of interpretation (Parson, 2002, p. 35), especially when you are missing where you grew up.

While I was in college I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland for a few months to live, as part of a youth cultural exchange program through the 4H Club organization. I also travelled

My Grandfather, Bito, 1993.

Photography

to France and Italy. Those months in Europe enriched my artistically views tremendously, not only because I learned and experimented other cultures, but also because I had the chance to visit famous art venues as the Louvre Museum, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. I learned a lot about art history, movements and trends. I remember visiting the Bern Museum of Art that held a large exhibit about Paul Klee and I also remember some of Jean Tinguely’s art pieces in public spaces throughout Switzerland. I got hooked to their colorful styles, I believe, both Swiss artists were very influential in my artistic development, especially in my latest pieces where I got to be a bit colorful.

Professional Years

Shortly I graduated, I moved back to Guatemala to mature professionally. For the following years I became the graphic designer I always wanted to be. I designed magazines, advertisements, logos, corporate images, brochures, and prints for national and international companies. My art became totally commercial. Commercial! I was not happy. Something was missing. I realized I needed more meaning in my life. I wanted to paint again. I enrolled to a few evening art workshops where I met a few contemporary Guatemalan artists as Roberto Cabrera and Daniel Shaffer. I listen their lectures to learn about their views and art practices. I went back for a while to my former art teacher; Roberto RĂ­os just to reconnect to my own artistic expression. I was definitely in the search for something more.

Ana-Laura, 2005.

Pencil.

During those years I met Francisco, my husband – I knew he was going to be Guatemalan.

He has been working for Colgate Palmolive ever since. The company offers him to move to Colombia for a year and them relocates us to New Jersey. I left my job, got married and went to Cali Colombia for a year. Suddenly, I had a lot of free time and I started painting again. I met a Colombian artist and I went to his studio as an apprentice. I did a lot of experimentation with acrylics and I create two of my favorite pieces, The Angel 2 and Dreaming. Key pieces in my development as artist because I did the leap to free myself from the realistic painting to try new things.

I came to New Jersey in March 2001. I had to start over in a brand new culture and to learn a new language. I was busy again. I enrolled in a Community College for a design class and a couple art history classes that enriched my art appreciation. In the meantime and only one hour away from home, New York City became a huge influence in my artistic views as well. It was easy for me to visit the city to enjoy museums, galleries and the rich visual culture that those streets offer. A few months later, I got pregnant with my daughter; then my son comes and partially I quit my art again for a few years. I gave myself time to understand what I really wanted. My early motherhood years lead me to determine that I like teaching kids to discover new things. I enjoyed my children childhood; I took thousand of photos trying new perspectives and play with my kids as much as I could. I took my time to notice everyday beauties. I reconnected to my artistic soul, I painted a few pictures of my children and I experimented teaching techniques with them. I also traveled

with my family and visited beautiful places in United States and in Europe that inspired me to create.

During those years, I wanted to get a job and I looked for several graphic design positions.

Unfortunately, in a changing society, eight years out of the market was too much time for me to be back in business.

Graphic arts were not for me anymore. I’m glad that happen, it leads me to what I do today, Mrs. Ana. I started volunteering at a nursing home once a week and I left some time to myself Globalization and Me, 2012.

Acrylic in canvas with tile details. to create artwork but with a new purpose. I also decided to have a summer camp for children in my garage with friends and neighbors. I created my own art program through my local Township in April 2008. I have found a balance between an artistic part time job and a stay home mom. God has been next to me through this effort, He is my big inspiration. This experiences have lead me to understand that art can have a positive purpose in society and have me reflect about the choices I made.

Last year, I got on board of one of the most influential experiences in my artistic development, the goal of getting a Master Degree in Art Education. The online program with the University of Florida has giving me the tools and skill to dig inside of my artistic soul, to get to know myself, my desires and the path I want to pursue in my career as art educator. This program took me out of my comfort zone. As an example, Globalization and Me is a piece about the merging of cultures through my life. This artwork helped me reconnect to my Costa Rica’s heritage and to my present. Hurricane Sandy artwork also means a lot to me. I created it as a representation of my own learning from last year hurricane in my community. As Parson quoted; “Artworks can be expressive of states of mind, that the detailed handling of the medium and the form can be significant, that artworks can reflect something of their time that their meaning is affected by their place in their tradition and culture”. Certainly my visual and digital skills have been

increase thanks to the cutting edge of UF Master Degree, because when art education is aligned with new media literacy education, both emerging technology and larger social agendas benefit greatly each other. (Delacruz, 2009)

In Retrospective

My art has been shaped by many factors, my family, the places where I have live or I have visited, my schools, my jobs and the people that has touch my life. By now, I am a blend of experiences expressed in my artwork. Good and bad experiences have form the Mrs. Ana that I am today. It is evident that I have had all kind of learning experiences. By now, I know I am a visual learned and I do understand that every child learns and express differently according to their experiences.

References Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1993). Contexts of optimal growth in childhood. Daedalus, 122(1), 31-56.

Delacruz, E. M. (2009). Art education in the age of new media: Toward global civil society. Art

Education, 62(5), 13-18.

Parsons, M. (1990). Aesthetic literacy: The psychological context. Journal of Aesthetic

Education, 24(1), 135-146.

Parsons, M. (2002). Aesthetic experience and the construction of meanings. Journal of Aesthetic

Education, 36(2), 24-37.