Naima DeBrest: Quarter 1 Slideshow and Artist Statement

During this first quarter we eased into advanced art with three diverse assignments. I was extremely excited about the first assignment, which was to design and paint your own ceiling tile that would be hung up in the school. For my tile I decided to put a bible verse, I also wanted to incorporate my middle name which is Beloved. So I chose the Song of Solomon 6:3, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”. The to accent the piece I decided to put some of my favorite flowers: hibiscus. For the second assignment we had to design a fall wall hanging. I admit that I did not use all of my studio time to my advantage during this assignment. I did however have an idea of what tool I wanted to use to complete this piece. I had seen some art done on youtube where an artist used paper and stacked it on top of each other make an image. For my wall hanging I wanted to reflect something that reminded me of fall, for me that is sweet potato pie. So I used various shades of paper to make a pie. For the third assignment of the quarter we had to compose a self portrait. I think that this was the assignment that I was the most nervous about, because it had to look like something specific. I think that I took the most time actually drawing my face because I didn’t want to trace it. Then I made the decision to paint my portrait because I thought that it would be easier to make the colors that resembled my hair and skin color. All and all I think that this was a very successful quarter and I am proud of my work.