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How I Came To Jam With The Angels Of The Dirty South: A Journey Into Art And Art Education, Miki Skak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper dives into my personal journey from a far-left activist youth into becoming an artist. It explains how a poet saw artistic potential within me, introduced me to the world of art and eventually art education. I reflect on the art education I have received from several different art schools and how they try to adapt to the demands of the contemporary art world that has been in a constant condition of reshaping itself since Marcel Duchamp’s readymade. As an artist who is less focused on the techniques of traditional artistic mediums, I investigate how the state of art …

Women's Work: The Sublime Is Now, Michelle Blackstone

MFA in Visual Arts Theses

What influences the lens through which we view art and the value we ascribe to it? This paper investigates the ways in which the historically gendered philosophy of “The Sublime,” a lack of institutional access, and traditionally gendered materials have acted as impediments for women in the arts. Discussion is given to the ways that masculine rhetoric in terms of “The Sublime” prevented women from attaining what was once considered the highest level of artistic achievement. Further attention is given to obstructions female artists face(d) in terms of gaining intuitional access within the art world. Finally, I examine the ways …

The Elemental Kingdom Project, Matt Drissell

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Music And Art Through Paint And Performance, Anna Eyink

Honors Projects

This project sought to find methods for translating musical compositions into visual compositions. After thorough analysis of each piece's structure, colors, rhythms, tonality, accompaniment, purpose, and extramusical influences, the goal was to conceptualize appropriate color schemes, shapes, mark making, paint application, and arrangements to create a visual representation of the music. As a result, each painting has elements that make sense from a musician's perspective as well as that of an artist.

Painting Ecological Change In Pacific Northwest Bird Populations, Rachel Rothberg

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The following four oil paintings are part of an ongoing series that visually explores bird populations and behavior in Northwest Washington, particularly in Bellingham and Whatcom County. I combine biological, detailed illustration with painterly practices to communicate fragile ecological balances to my audience through a medium seen less frequently in the field of conservation. My work examines the tension between life and death in the natural world to provoke conversations about environmental issues and to encourage compassion for local scenery. The work illuminates how birds, humans, and the ecosystems we inhabit are intertwined, inspiring a sense of wonder for our …

Thanks To You, I'M Alive, Antonio Scott Nichols

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Antonio Nichols

Artist Statement:

In this project I am using figurative painting to explore the meaning of relationships/emotion and my connection to the people I am painting. I question what this means and how each individual’s identity ties to mine and why it may or may not matter. “Thanks to You, I’m Alive,” the title of this project, encompasses the message I am sending not only to the individuals I painted but also to the viewer because there is a certain exclusivity in who I decided to paint.

I want the connection I have with these people to not only …

A Piece Of Me:Annierose Seifert And The Slo Cowparade, Annie Rose M. Seifert

Agricultural Education and Communication

CowParade is an international art movement brought to sunny San Luis Obispo, California during the summer of 2016. CowParade SLO showcased 101 painted fiberglass cows. Each cow has a different sponsor and artist. This event was created to give back to local charities, attract tourism and notoriety to hosting communities, and give local artists the chance to be on a global stage. CowParade is an international event hosted in more than 70 cities around the globe including Paris, France, Perth, Australia, China and Brazil. The event began in 1999 with the first parade being hosted in Chicago, Illinois.

Hands 2 Paws – A Canine Artist Story, London Labrador, Leza Labrador

The STEAM Journal

Artwork made by London, a canine artist.

Polygonal Provocateur, Abigail Daleki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis calls attention to what we interpret as a painting; an object hung on a wall for decoration, to be looked at, thought about, or just as an interruption to a dull, white surface. Historically, paintings were used in religious practice or to serve utilitarian purpose. Through the years, paintings have become less about content and more about catching the eye, making the viewer think. Paint, on a canvas, stretched over a frame and hung on a wall is, traditionally, a painting. I am focused on challenging that regime. I want to challenge the idea of what a painting …

Tried It With Glasses Off Too; Sometimes., Nolan John Fedorow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

I use a small wedge of wood as a tool to pick out food scraps that find themselves lodged between my teeth. I also use a small wedge of wood as a tool to keep a straight door from swinging freely on a crooked house. The small wedge of wood I stuff in between the floor and door as a tool is a controlling apparatus, much like landowners who use fencing to keep people from walking repeatedly through their land and inadvertently creating a path where they shouldn’t. A wooden door stopper will come to adorn a perpendicular-patterned patina across …

Concrete Painting, Stephanie Cafcules

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the evolution of my artwork with synthetic materials through influences of the Minimalist and Process Artists of the 1960's and 1970's, inspiration from natural forms, and my exploration of concrete painting. Each work reveals discoveries of different processes and materials, accelerating the creation of new works. It is my hope this thesis will inform viewers about the process and concepts that my work embodies.

Cooking With Paint, Jody Lynn Schwab

Theses and Dissertations

Graduate school has been a time of travel through experimentation. The journey has almost always been a search for materials and sources that match my need for working with the self-referential narrative within the framework of a process. Repeatedly, I would venture out and turn back, only to venture out again, packed with new materials and image sources, in search of a complete process. In retrospect, there have been no dead ends, only quenched curiosities that sometimes cleanly, often clumsily, lead one to the other. What is left is a series of explorations from which I can pluck similarities, clues …

The Feasibility Of Using Thermography To Detect Subsurface Voids In Painted Wooden Panels, Bruce Frederick Miller

Honors Papers

Thermography is a technique whereby the structure or condition of an object is studied by means of precisely measuring temperature variations over the surfaces of the object. The research which is described in this thesis was undertaken to determine whether thermographic techniques could be applied to the field of art conservation to detect subsurface voids within painted wooden panels. It must be stressed, however, that this research was carried out as a feasibility study with no attempt being made to establish or refine a technique that could be immediately applied to the examination of works of art.

The text of …

Exploration Of Watercolor And Elmer's Glue Combined As A Painting Media, James L. Ponti

All Master's Theses

In my study, an overt attempt was made to alter the relationship (or reaction) between myself and my paintings through various means. This was achieved by manipulating surfaces painted on, materials used, and varying selection of subject matter, or content, from a wide range of possibilities.