Final Project- Soundslide

For the final project of the semester we were assigned to create a sound slide using our own voice and music as audio. The subject of this project was something that we are passionate. It was easy for me to pick a topic for this project. The thing that I am most passionate about is my family. I chose to do my sound slide on my mother's artwork in particular. My mom is a role model to me in many ways, but one thing that I admire about her is her ability to transform thoughts, feelings and ideas into beautiful, meaningful pieces of artwork. I chose to incorporate pictures of my family and pictures of some of my mom's paintings into my sound slide. I also chose to use the song "Heart of Life" by John Mayer in the background of the sound slide because it reminds me of my mom.

Overall I really loved creating this final project. I think that it was fun to create because we were able to pick something that we are passionate about as the subject. However, I did find it incredibly challenging. It was difficult because we were completely on our own in creating this sound slide, and were not allowed to ask any questions about the project. I had a hard time overlapping, cutting and editing my audio file in garageband and then transferring it to itunes, and then transferring it to an MP3 file so that it could be used in the sound slide.

I am proud that I was able to overcome the challenges that I did face. I am also proud of the fact that this project really means a lot to me. Regardless of my grade, I created something that I am passionate about and that reminds me of many memories loved ones.

If I'd had more time I would have scanned small cards and letters that my mom has sent to me over the years that I have been away from home. Although the images on these notecards are not at all fancy, they reflect the relationship that my mother's art plays on my life. I am still very happy with the result of this project even though I did not have time to incorporate these pictures.

The script to my sound slide was as follows:

Art is an expression of one’s self. A work of art can reflect a person’s experiences, passions, opinions and hardships. One of the most amazing things about creating art is that there are no rules. No boundaries. My mother, Sheila Boss-Concannon, has been a huge influence in my life in many ways. One way that my mother has impacted my life is with her artwork.

Starting out as a graphic designer, my mother became an art teacher in the mid 90’s, right around the time that I began elementary school. Her artwork evolved during this time from sharp lines on the computer to picturesque landscapes, house portraits, and images of people she loved.

She primarily worked with watercolors, and brought her sketch book with her everywhere we went, capturing our experiences in paint, to look back on later.

Looking through my favorite pieces of my mother’s artwork, I realized a reoccurring theme. The subjects of my mother’s artwork are the people, places and things that are most important in her life. They are things that my mother is fascinated with.

As my mother’s life changes, so does her art’s style. My older brother left home to go to college in 2006. At this time I noticed a major change in my mom’s artwork. She began to create multimedia pieces in which she used multiple mediums. She started to create collages with photographs, fabric swatches, and clippings from books, magazines and newspapers that have meant something to her. She then paints on top of these collages. Her multimedia artwork means much more to her than the watercolors that she created earlier in her life. These pieces show the passion that my mother has for the subjects of her paintings.

When I left home two years ago to go to college, my mother’s artwork changed once again. Now that my brother and I were both away from home, my mother’s life had changed dramatically. She began to work on a new piece of art. This was a multimedia piece as well. This piece took her almost a year to complete. When I came home for the summer from my first year of college, she showed me the multimedia piece that she had just finished. The piece was painted on a small canvas covered in images of my brother and I with our parents during our childhoods. On top of those photos she had painted a bird’s nest. The nest had nothing but a few feathers inside. The painting was called the empty nest.

It was at this point that I realized that my mother used art to communicate the things that she could not say out loud.

Now, my mother’s artwork has become a way of communication between the two of us while I am at school. She often sends my little sketches, or home made note cards with small images on them. She sends me invitations to her art showings, even though she knows I may not be able to come.

What started out as one of my mother’s hobbies became a way for her to show the importance of different parts of her life. My mother’s artwork has become a way for the two of us to stay connected while I am not home. It has become a shared passion, and a link between the two of us.