Observation Assignment

 1. My Personal Working Preferences for Artmaking:

I've wanted a studio of my own for the last ten years because I am so particular about the space in which I work.  I must admit I'm rather O.C.D. about artmaking. I have to have all supplies I might need ready and close at hand or I can't work.  I can't count the number of times I have cleaned my apartment and laid out all of my art making just to have a roommate come along a get mad that my stuff is everywhere.  The other really annoying part is that I am slow and methodical about what I'm creating.  Over the years I have grown accustom to going to campus and taking over a classroom for the weekend.  I will clean and organize the whole room or floor in the case of the fibers department, camp out for two or three days, and work till classes start up again on Monday.  There used to be this old leather couch in the Fine Arts Building that was great for power naps.  Because I know I'm slow I have to remove all distractions or I never get anything accomplished.  In the printmaking room or the fibers department I would play movies on the projector but I almost always end up watching more of the movie than making art.  If instead I just play music over the speakers I get a lot more accomplished.
When it comes to planing out a specific piece of work I don't like to plan much at all.  I prefer to play until I feel like it's finished.  My teachers have never really appreciated that much, but some of the pieces I like the most and feel are the best quality had little to no specific design in the beginning.  Usually if I have a design planned it gets thrown out half way through.  As far as rituals go, COFFEE is the only requirement.  Four shots of espresso over ice in a small cup, to be more specific, and usually there will be four to six of them over a forty-eight hour span.  The first time I took fibers I made a needle-felted bag by hand.  I listened to the entire sixth book of Harry Potter on CD, over 100 hours in the fibers department during Thanksgiving break. 


2. Visual Exercise:



3. Observation Experiment Reflection:

I should not work with distractions.  I tried to do this assignment two or three times at home with my niece(3) and nephew(4) running around, but it just didn't work.  I was far too distracted by the kids to get anything accomplished.  I finally went to a friends house where this one drawing took me three hours.  It was painfully slow.  I watched the Sound of Music start to finish, had Facebook open, two different email accounts, three or four other web sites, Pandora and Candy Crush on my phone, and I was talking with the friends who's house I was at.  I even painted my nails neon pink because it was sitting there (I hate pink).  It just about drove me nuts trying to focus with all the distractions.  I know the iGeners think they are so on top of the multitasking thing, but I think they might be fooling themselves.
As a child my mom would play the piano as we fell asleep at night and ever since I've listen to some kind of music in order to fall asleep at night.  During the day I listen to music to drown out the noise of everything around me.  I don't know if it's a short attention span or dyslexia or ADHD but at times I can be quite easily distracted and by listening to music I distract myself from distractions.  If an art room is completely quite I feel like it becomes oppressive.  I want my students to be able to work in a way that makes them comfortable, but allows them to stay on task.  Quiet talking or texting, listening to their own music, or the music I might choose to play have all worked for me in the past.   The administration usually have pretty strict rules about cell phones and I found I am very conflicted about enforcing said restrictions.  At the same time, too much of a good thing can cause just as many issues as silence.  If students are determined enough to do something they will find a way to do it, rules be damned.  If instead students learn not to abuse certain privileges while in my room and they are being productive I see no reason why a limited amount of multitasking shouldn't be allowed or even encouraged.