Part 1:

When I think of where I am artistically, I tend to put myself in this strange limbo of mediums. On one side of the spectrum, I enjoy 3D modeling and the process that goes along with texturing, lighting and setting up your composition. On the total opposite of the spectrum, I immensely enjoy glass blowing; which is a process that is totally opposite in every way, shape and form from modeling. With this divide being identified, I seek to marry my two practices in order to achieve the body of work that I have been striving for in my time at Bowling Green.

For my 3D modeling, I really like to focus on the hyper-real. Creating compositions that make others do a double take and realize that it is not a photograph gives me sense of accomplishment. Renderings and scenes with high contrast and color are other elements that I really enjoy playing with. As for my glass blowing work, I enjoy producing all types of forms from cups, vases, goblets, bowls, and some hot sculpted/abstract work as well.

Like I had previously stated, hyper-real is most definitely the style that I strive for with my 3D modeling work. As far as my glass blowing work goes, the idea of sleek and clean design is always something that has interested me. The modern, yet 50’s and 60’s retro futurism style is something that I strive for in my most recent body of work. Space saving and functional while still maintaining aesthetics and design elements. Aspects of both that I enjoy similarly would be the tediousness and attention to detail that you can have with both mediums. I enjoy spending hours on a rendering, tweaking the settings until I find that perfect shadow; or spending hours honing and tuning my fine motor skills while building a wine goblet on the pipe.

I think my modeling and glassblowing work do share the same theme and idea of clean design and everything else I have previously discussed. With that being said, I feel like this makes my work distinctive because of the obvious juxtaposition of the two mediums, and how regardless of that barrier, I strive to make them similar without really thinking about it. The only issue I still face is making the digital component for this body of work more prominent, and that will be the main focus of my time within senior studio. If I can find a way to do this, I know that it will only strengthen my works distinction from everyone else.

Part 2:

As far as artists who inspire me, I felt as though I would include a digital artist and a glass blower seeing as I just spent the duration of this essay discussing both of my practices. Ian Spriggs is a 3D character artist  based in Canada whose work completely baffles me. There is almost no distinction between his renderings and a photograph. I strive for my scenes and renderings to have this same level of detail, and he greatly inspires me to persist in my 3D modeling

Brad Turner is a Canadian glass artist whose work not only inspires me, but is also similar in content. His work seeks to maintain function and aesthetic similar to my work and interests.