newspaper, magazines, cardboard
relief sculpture
by me Alicia Beale

plaster with vermiculite
embedded with sea glass and copper wire
by Me Alicia Beale

Apples and Limes

alla prime oil painting 

painting I

 

Final Photography Portfolio Alicia Beale 2013

Untitled

8"x11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Untitled

8"x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Untitled

8"x 11"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Botanical

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Botanical 2

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Botanicals 

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Cactus

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Artist Statement: Irises

Plants have always been a subject matter that I was interested in because I love the organic beauty of them. Constantly photographing plants became redundant and more like I’m making a record for myself. I decided to incorporate one of my favorite flowers, Irises, and try a more experimental approach to achieve a unique botanical image.

I personally chose Irises because it is my mom and I’s favorite flower. It is something we share together and that she has grown in her garden since I was young. They are delicate in their structure and the ruffled petals are an image of femininity. Irises also come in a range of types and colors making them vary in tones. In my mom’s garden she only had purple and dark burgundy flowers for me to use, so the variety of  tones do not appear in my black and white photos, however, the dark colored Irises created better contrast in my photographs.

By putting the delicate plant in clear and opaque liquids, it emphasized the physical attributes of the flower.  The liquid seeped into the folds and sat on top of the blossoms giving movement to the black and white photographs. The milk, glue, and soap keep the images light in color and it contrasts with the darker tones in the Irises. I found it interesting to place the perennials in non-organic liquids subtly showing the idea of the effects of chemicals on nature or the contrast between the organic and non-organic. The idea was never meant to be shown out right but quiet and thoughtful. I was more interested in the graphics. The size of the photos are “5 x 7” to keep an intimacy and attention to the details. Since the flowers were delicate and small I thought a smaller scale would appeal more to those qualities. 

My series Irises was to experiment in achieving a more interesting image of plant as well as use a planet that meant something personal to me. I wanted to achieve a contrast between the flower and the liquids that emphasized physical characteristics of the petals and create subtle themes. I can easily take this experimentation vastly further with a variety of other planets and liquids to create more of these series.

Irises 1

5" x 7"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Irises 2

5" x 7" 

Black and White Photography 

2013

Irises 3

5" x 7"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Irises 4

5" x 7"

Black and White Photography 

2013

Irises 5 

5" x 7"

Black and White Photography 

2013

My class experience

So, when I was told I had to take this class I was very anxious. Knowing I had to take this take just made me nervous because I had never done digital art. My only thought was that I was going to fail this class or that my projects would really suck. I thought I would really struggle trying to figure out how to use the programs(also the Mac computer) and that would make me fall behind. All the other class didn't worry me but this one. My un-technological brain dreaded this class.

Then it surprisingly became my easiest class. It really just took exploring the programs and it became easier. I think I just psyched myself out. I judged before I even got to class. I really began to enjoy the creative processes I was learning. Finishing project was fullfilling. I thought "Wow, I never I could do that and I never thought I would do that." So I was pretty impressed with myself even if I didn't like my artwork.

Illustrator will be something that I still need to learn to like. It was really frustrating, However, I think I can really utilize Photoshop for my other class. Especially next semester when I take photography(this class is making me more anxious than digital tools and concepts). Although I am taking film photography i think after the class is over I can manipulate the photos in Photoshop. The class turned out pretty phenomenal and I learned a lot from everyone.

for scuplture 1.
it turned out epic.
the technique is the same as the one i did in high school for ap studio.

only i less strips in the first one. did not really want to recreate it but more use the same technique.

guys. i found this on my apartment complex's street.
it resembles the pi symbol. No?
it almost looks done on purpose. i have a feeling it was unintentionally made when the gardeners were trimming trees or something.