Undergrad Honors Thesis & Personal Art
For Some Reason, I Wanted to Paint A Mural
In order to graduate from the Honors College at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I needed to complete a thesis project of my choosing. I decided that Commerce did not have enough murals for a college town, so I worked with my advisor to find a location around town requesting a mural. The Post Office was in need. I designed several versions of a mural to look like a stamp in the USPS colors that depicted the university mascot (Lucky the Lion). The photo to the right is the final design that was created using a free trial of Illustrator (thus, I no longer have the original file, just a photo of the screen of my design, so I apologize for the lack of image quality).
This design was approved by the Postmaster General of the United States early in 2020. When the new Postmaster General changed some rules, I could no longer paint the mural on the wall, so I purchased, hand-cut, and painted large wooden boards. In order for my project to be a thesis, I am creating a video process journal of my work.
A few progress images...
As with any worthwhile project, if it could go wrong, it did! I applied for and was given grant money for the supplies for the project. Then, I was told it needed to be attached to the wall, not painted on it. BUT I also had to paint the wall one solid color, all without exceeding my predetermined budget.
I prevailed and found a way to get the materials and do some woodworking (during a pandemic nonetheless!). After that, I transferred the design onto the wood and painted it all with several layers. I then painted the wall of the post office.
The USPS recently approved the funding to hire professionals to hang the panels on the wall, the mural was hung on September 5th, 2020.
The mural is 10ft X 10ft in 8 separate pieces. It was hung on September 5th, 2020.
I also painted the wall that the mural was hung on, and sanded/painted the railing near it to match.
Here is one of several articles written about my work.
Art for Fun!
I Have Always Been a Creator
When I was little, my mother would take me to weekly art lessons, so I grew up constantly "working" on something. I don't have any particular mediums I work with or anything in particular I favor, so here is a wide variety of things I have made simply because I find immense joy in creating. Some of my works have been featured in art shows at the university and sold at an auction for charity.
I do have a very distinctive "animated" style, and I love to use Micron pens and Copic markers with watercolors, but I am constantly working to learn new ways of doing things in order to make my art better.
I do apologize for the lack of professional photos of my work, I didn't expect to be compiling a portfolio at the time.
Sold! Photography Worth Buying.
For my final project in my photography class, I created a series where I asked people I knew what dreams they had that they gave up on. Then, I used colors related to that dream and items to create a "dream" mood. This was done with milk, vegetable oil, paint, and glitter (2017). The final 10 image series was also noted to be the best in class. Two massive prints of these images were sold at an auction for charity. The originals of these images were lost when my backup hard drive crashed, so these raw images are all that's left.
The Squid Hat.
We were tasked with creating a hat only out of paper or a hat that could move. Naturally, I did both. This hat is made out of cardboard with straws running through it and string running through the straws. When the strings at the top of the hat were pulled the legs flexed and relaxed. Every bit of the paper is painted pages of a book, and it is covered in packing tape to give it a glossy appearance. This work was displayed in a campus art fashion show (2017).
Award-Winning Sculpture.
This piece was chosen to be displayed in the annual university-appraised curated art show. This is one of the highest honors you can receive, as very few pieces are chosen each year. The piece is a heart made out of surgical gloves (blue outside and white inside), and although it was not displayed lit up, I wired an LED light inside to make it glow (2017).
A Paper Dress. In 24 hours.
One of the tasks in my Drawing One class was to design something and create it entirely out of paper. In just 24 hours, I created the infamous paper dress project. I was only provided white paper, so each individual flower is hand-painted, and some of them had secret messages on them. Many people, including my professor, thought I was crazy when I suggested it. So, of course, I had to prove them wrong. Paper, paint, hot glue, blood, sweat, and tears (2018).
Playing with Fire.
I would just like to start by saying that this project smelled terrible, and I do NOT recommend driving in a car with it. This is a picture frame with chicken wire, book pages, and melted wax. The candles were lit and allowed to burn throughout the presentation of this piece, causing the wax to gradually melt, allowing the piece to evolve, to rebuild itself as it deconstructed itself (2017).
Dysfunctional robots.
Micron Pen and Copic Marker (2017)
Micron Pen and Copic Marker (2017)
Micron Pen (2019)
Tattoos.
I have designed a number of tattoos for a few friends. Luckily, my natural art style is similar to that of a tattoo or comic book sketch. All Micron Pens and Copic Markers (2017-2018).
Back at it again with Micron Pens and Copic Markers (2017-2020).
Some Painting.
In Greek life, I was often asked to paint banners for all sorts of events. The middle banner actually won banner of the year. Hogwarts (on the bottom right) glows in the dark. Wolverine (depicted as the school mascot) still hangs in the Greek life office on campus today (2017-2018).
High School Comic Book Yearbook Cover. Micron Pens and Copic Markers (2016).
Congratulations! You Scrolled This Far.
Meet the sassy sculpture lady. She is here to say 'thank you for your interest!' Funny enough she is an assignment from a Drawing class. Wire and tissue paper (2017).