Self-Assessments

6-4-10

Yearly Self Assessment

When I was a kid, an aspiring artist, my art teacher’s prodigy student, I would come to the art show and awe at all the beautiful pieces I saw. I couldn’t wait until the day that I would have those big panels all to myself and win best in show for all my hard work. As I grew, my art ability and love developed as well. I went from winning the Spring Fling poster contest and the School Bus Safety Poster Contest (a very big deal!) to achieving the art award at Middle School graduation. My freshman year in high school I had every single one of my pieces displayed with prizes on majority of them as well. I couldn’t wait to be in honors art when I’d be able to have my own installation piece. I never thought all my skills and talents would disappoint me.

I hit a slump. I wasn’t able to adjust to this new version of art class I was now submerged in. I struggled through this art adaptation, trying to cross my technical drawing skills over to the abstract conceptional-ism thing that was called Honors Art. I felt that I needed to reach perfection. Experimentation was never an option before. Eventually I became accustomed to this new art class and I enjoyed it, but never felt the same satisfaction that I had before. I wasn’t able to get excited about art. I wasn’t able to be proud of my work. I didn’t put in the effort that I should have. Why? I have no good reason. There are no acceptable excuses. I spent two years doing the minimum in order to get by in class- an easy A to add to my 4.0 GPA. Was it because I had other priorities? Too much on my plate? Honestly, I’m not sure but I found myself very disappointed once the art show came. I would politely smile when people complimented my work. However, I knew I could have done better and I knew I deserved no compliments.

Senior Year. Twelve years of art leading up to this. This year I was supposed to win Best in Show, right? Well I’m going to have to apologize to my first grade self who had so much hope and determination. Did Senioritis get the better of me? I guess it’s possible. Sure, I turned out a few good pieces here and there but I didn’t put half the effort into my work that I should have. I struggled to find self acceptance within my art. I thought I had to change my style in order to be like the majority of my class and follow the path of absract, depressive pieces that I saw everywhere around me. I spent mojority of the year wasting time thinking about what to do and about what I should have done rather than just making art and doing what I loved. I thought I would be able to break the weird barrier I put up for myself. I can’t understand it and I can’t seem to break it. I apologize if you are disappointed. I am as well.

I think I deserve a B. For me, a B is failing myself and thats what I’ve done.

4-5-10

I believe that I deserve an A this marking period. Now that I’ve spend three marking periods trying to find my own style, I think I was able to get the hang of doing some more abstract type of work. I spend the period working on different strategies to make art in abstract ways and then after finding that I didn’t have enough consistency in my work, I decided to focus on a certain type of piece. I focused on series of pieces and I think that I was relatively successful considering I had accomplished the goal of making a lot of art that I could choose from. Although I don’t always love every piece I make, I have found much more successful in the risks I’m taking than the caution I used before. I also think that I learned from my mistakes last marking period and have kept up with my work, website, and sketchbook. I hope to knock out more good pieces before the art show this year. It’s coming up so quickly!

1-21-10

Unfortunately, I have not been as productive this marking period as I was last marking period. After being accepted to college, I was overjoyed with my accomplishments and used more of my time in art to experiment and do little things than I did to work on legitamate pieces. I enjoyed a more playful approach to art and I learned as I experimented but I didn’t feel that I was as successful in my art making this marking period.  My writing was not always on time but I did complete everything. I would say that I deserve an A- because I went outside of my comfort zones and tried different approaches to art although, to be honest, I was slightly embarrassed by some of my work and became frustrated. However, I think I matured from an artistic standpoint this marking period and hope that I continue to develop for the second semester.

10-28-09

I believe that I deserve an A for this marking period. I have put a lot of effort towards my work and have been productive in class. This is great improvement compared to my work ethic last year. I have pursued my project proposals, given meaning and purpose to my work, and did not give up on anything that I started. I have been working towards getting a portfolio together for college which has also kept me busy. I have photographed my collection of art over the past few years which has been a bitter sweet experience. I am happy to see the progress I have made over the years, however I am disappointed that I did not put 100% into majority of my work. I hope to rebute this pattern this year.  I have stayed updated with my writings and have completed my progress reports and community connections promptly. I have kept up with my blog to the best of my ability as well.