For the Love of Turkey

This is the back of an envelope I made for my  Introduction to Art Concepts & Techniques course.  We are studying “Correspondence with Memory” this week,  which is Mail Art with a theme of Memories.  

Some of my favorite memories are those of travel.  I made my envelope from a map of Bodrum, Turkey, where I visited last year.  As I walked the streets of Bodrum, the map became well worn.  My best memories of my trip to Turkey involve the wonderful, kind, hospitable people and the fabulous ruins, so I glued pictures of these to the envelope.  Inside the envelope is a ticket to an archaeological site and a rose made for me by a waiter from a napkin.  I hope people will want to make a trip to Turkey when they see this mail art!

Here is the front of the envelope:

Introduction to Art Concepts

Thanks to a heads-up from a fabulous art friend, I am taking an on-line course through Penn State College of Arts & Architecture called "Introduction to Art Concepts".  In the first week, the assignment was to introduce ourselves through a piece of art, and write an "Artist Statement".  I've never done this before, and it was a useful process.

I drew another face (surprise!):

Here is my artist statement:

This piece is a pencil drawing over a Pan Pastel background.  The pastels were applied through various stencils.  I create backgrounds in my art journal and then challenge myself to draw or collage over top of them.  After watching this week’s videos, I used various drawing pencils to complete this drawing.

I like to draw faces over these backgrounds and allow the background to show through the drawing.   This illustrates the idea of the layered personalities behind the physical and social personas that people present to the world.

I created this piece to show classmates in my Introduction to Art class where I am on my journey of learning art.  I began this journey when I retired ten years ago, after a career in business.  I keep several art journals for experimentation and work with all types of media – pastel, watercolour, rubber stamps, acrylic, and collage.  I often incorporate calligraphy in my journals, and I am just beginning to draw.