What I Have Learned From Art

This semester flew by really fast, but during this whole time, I have learned so much more about art than I already knew. I learned many new terms and learned about many of the different types of arts and art pieces. I learned about what conceptual art means, which might be one of my favorite types of art because it takes real objects in life, such as nature or the environment, and put it together to have deep meaning behind it. I also learned more about abstract art, which is very fascinating to me because of all the beautiful and bright colors an artist can use to show and express what an object can mean to him or her. The types of paintings I like the most are the ones with very different types of hues that consist of tint and shading. I also like the way that cross-hatching appears on paper.

There were a couple art topics that intrigued me. The first one was the topic was about controversial art. I loved learning about the art museum in New York, which was going to be shut down due to unfair decisions. I cannot believe that a piece of art could have so much damage to the state of New York. The other topic that I enjoyed reading about was Thomas Kinkade, the “so-called” artist. I found it very sad about what kind of art he was selling. To me it seemed like he was a phony who pretended to care about the American people by printing patriotic art photos, which in reality he just wanted to make money.

Art to me now is much more interesting because I can look at anything nowadays and try to find something artistic about it. There is a cherry blossom tree in front of my house and every day when I see it in the morning it gives me a sense of a beginning by the way the tree looks, but then when I look at it in the sunset, it gives me a different sense, like a winding down of the day and just a relief to see it because I know my day is almost over. Everything I look at I can see something artistic about it, and before taking this class, I never even thought of skyscrapers, buildings, roads, etc. being art. I truly have a new appreciation for it.

What I loved most about the class is the use of the new online technologies, such as the blogs and the voice threads. Unlike other online classes, this class seems like we know each other personally because the way each student personalizes their blog. I believe we are getting more out of this online class because one can say whatever he or she wants on their blog. I also loved the voicethread because we get to hear what Michelle has in store for us this week as though as she was right there in front of us and actually talking to us. I found those two tools to be very helpful.