Time Snapshot #1

So early on in my time project I feel like I'm on my way to achieving -"Artists Take Risks"

One thing I haven't really done yet with this project is "Artists Develop Art Making Skills". Although pine cones are an unfamiliar material to me, I am painting them with acryllic paint, which it turns out isn't all that different from painting on a canvas. I'm hopeful that as I progress with this project I am able to develop new skills as I craft the pine cones into a mobile.

I've never worked with pine cones before but I've always thought wanted to paint them. For my time project I am going to paint the pine cones and craft them into a mobile. Then I'm going to cover the pine cones with peanut butter and birdseed and hang the mobile outside. By exposing the work to the elements as well as the birds the painting underneath will slowly be revealed. Although I've made peanut butter-pine cone-bird feeders before I've never worked them into an art piece before. I'm not sure how long it will take for the seed and peanut butter to come off and reveal the designs underneath, and how the painting will react to being outside in the elements. One of the biggest risks is will the birds scrape the paint off as they eat the seed? I don't think this will necessarily create an undesired look, just a different look.

Although many people have made pine cone bird feeders, I feel as though the way I'm incorporating them into the project of time as an element in way that fulfills "artists create original art". My inspiration came from a time at work when I helped kids make pine cone bird feeders. When I was brainstorming for this project I wanted to think of a way that I could harness the constantly changing characteristics of nature to act upon my work. First I brainstormed what could act as my catalysts of change - I thought of weather such as wind and water and then I expanded my thoughts to include animals. Birds came to mind and so I contemplated ways in which birds could impact my art. I needed to ensure that they would interact with whatever I created. The best way to ensure this would happen was by enticing them with food. To make the mobile more interesting and the changes it underwent more visible, I decided to paint the pine cones, a technique I'd heard of before. I decided on painting the pine cones and then covering them with seed.  Lastly I decided to make a mobile containing multiple pine cones because that would be a lot more asethetically interesting than a single pinecone.