Ashlynn Meyer's Art Portfolio

Bird Bear. Buff Clay with Acrylic Paint. 2017. When making this piece, we had to use two different animals and their features to make a whole new animal. I chose to use the body of a bear, wings of a bird, feet and beak of a bird, and I added a scaly tail to add something different to the sculpture. I wanted the piece to look dark but beautiful. I chose to do a dark body so the wings and feet stand out and look colorful and alive. I had this piece in a sitting position to give it a more friendly appearance, instead of a dark scary look. I also painted the eyes the same color as the wings so they would pop away from the dark fur of the body and face. 

Tree Waterfall. Corrugated Cardboard Sculpture. 2016. For this piece we had to create an abstract piece that tells a story, or that symbolizes something in real life by using cardboard. I chose to do trees that are growing in a waterfall-like effect. I would also say the trees look like some sort of Japanese buildings. I had used a razor to cut out the shapes and hot glue to glue them together. I wanted to add texture to the trees, so I removed the first layer of the cardboard to show the middle, wavy layer. I also built a fence around the piece to symbolize the protection of our society and nature. Finally, I cut out a small pond next to the trees and a small garden of flowers next to them as well.  This piece to me symbolizes a growing society and the beauty of nature.

Bubbles. White Earthenware Clay with Glaze. 2017. To make this bowl, I had used little pieces of clay, rolled them into circles, and pushed them flat to mold them into another bowl. Once I had the inside of the other bowl filled with the clay circles, I waited a day for it to dry then took it out. I wanted to outside to stand out, so to emphasize the circles I chose a blue glaze. I carved a heart on the inside of the bowl and painted it red to add more to the piece.

Vine Bowl. White Earthenware Clay with Glaze. 2016. For this piece, the main objective was to carve away parts of the bowl so other parts would jump out. I chose to have design as vines wrapping around the bowl because I thought it would look realistic. I decided to use a green glaze for the vines and a blue on the inside to look like water. 

Bird House. White Earthenware Clay with Glaze and String. 2017. For this clay building, I used white earthenware clay with glaze and string. I wanted to make something a little more challenging and outside my comfort zone. I wanted to the bird to be the object that was attached to the building by string so it would have some movement. I painted the house with reds and browns so the bird would stand out. This piece was challenging, especially in the building process. I wanted it to have an animated appearance instead of a more realistic one. I gave the roof texture with a needle to make it look like shingles. I would compare my piece to a koo koo clock. 

  Sunset. Tempera. 2016. For this painting, I wanted to have contrast with a black tree and a colorful, rainbow like sunset for the background. I wanted the tree to be the main focal point because it represents growth. The reason I had used black tempera paint to make the tree is so the background could show the outline of each branch and just to have a more eye catching appearance. 

 The Soldier's Blues  Tempera Paint. 2017. For this piece, I decided to have three scenes instead of one. I did this because I wanted there to be a lot of objects for the viewer to see and focus on. The first scene on the left shows a pregnant widow crying at her late husbands funeral. The second scene in the middle shows the mother with her toddler at her husband's grave site on the Fourth of July. The final scene on the right depicts a mother and her child, who is now a solider as well, at the father's grave site. I wanted to include the father's cross in every scene to show that even though the child never met his father, he still loved and admired him. 

Church Building. Pencil. 2016. For this piece, I used a reference photo of a church in my town. I used a ruler to get straight, neat lines, and drawing pencils to get different varieties of shades. The building itself has many details, including lettering on signs, shadows on bricks, and windows with intricate designs on them. I spent many class periods and some time out of the classroom to make sure I got every little detail in the drawing that I could. 

Sugar Skull. Tempera Paint .  2016. I was inspired to do this painting from Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keeffe with Frida being the inspiration for the thorns and birds, and Georgia being the inspiration for the flowers. I wanted the girl in the picture to have half her face painted as a sugar skull because it represents a departed soul and that she is grieving. I had the thorns and dead birds put next to her on one side because that represents her grieving, depressed side, and flowers put on the other to show how she can only grow from where she is now. They represent that life is full of growth, and that growth is beautiful. They represent that she is slowly starting to come out of her depressed state, and slowly moving towards happiness, which are the flowers. I put a bright red flower in her hair to symbolize that every person, no matter how sad, is still beautiful and can always achieve happiness.