It's been a while . . .

I'm in the 2D Foundations class (part of a BFA). I've raved about the Drawing and 3D Foundations classes. They were extremely well-designed, taught by experienced instructors - or easily picked up by newer instructors, so they were uniform and ensured a solid grounding in the drawing and 3D basics for all art students (BA or BFA).

I'm not thrilled with the 2D class. - apparently it is under the control of a single person who is not a great communicator and tinkers with it every year. It has the well-deserved reputation of derailing the plans of more art students than any other class. And my instructor is new, struggling with the course plan, and isn't much more mature than the students (who seem much more like an immature high school class than any other I've experienced). About 15 minutes of each class session consists of students putting on headphones, hiding phones behind their computer, or turning their backs on the instructor - followed by the instructor telling them to put their phones away, take their headphones off, and turn around to face her.

So with that introduction - here's the inside of my first major project:



Here's the outside/book pages (as discussed below - the three 7 x 7 collages representing (clockwise from left) increase, playful, and order - because of how the "book" is folded, the top row is upside down in the image), plus the new planning collages:



For those interested in the process of art education - what I've discerned (not at all clear from the syllabus or instruction).

The first project is a structured process designed to get us to think more abstractly.
We started taking photos (at least one nature, at least one man-made) that abstractly represent four words: order, increase, tension, and playful. (Abstract representation wasn't clear - and I tend to be literal . . ., nor was the fact that our photos would only be used for inspiration, not as part of the final product.)
Then we were to create 10 thumbnails for each word inspired by the photos (again abstract, again - not made clear until after the assignment).
Then we created 4 x 4 black and white collages (16 of them - 4 for each word).
Then we moved on to 7 x 7 collage for 3 of the 4 words - with (at least) paint added to one of the 4 mini-collages for each word.
Finally - we created a 14 x 21" digital amalgamation incorporating the three 7 x 7 collages (three different words) - emphasizing one of the 3 words (even though we used collages representing 3 different words to create it. The "pages" of the fold-up book consist of the three 7 x 7s + three new collages representing the planning stages for each 7 x 7.

I rebelled a bit - I used some of my photos. I also used some of the more literal photos (bits of my daughter's cats).