Level one art: Term 3 art progress

As you may be able to tell, I am taking art for one of my NCEA subjects. 

Kaupapa: My Kaupapa for this year is New Zealand history/politics. I am covering topics such as colonisation, the declaration of independence, the musket wars, the Treaty of Waitangi, voting rights and more.

Art series one: I have completed the first series of my portfolio board. The first series is about colonisation, and how the way of life was disrupted by the arrival of the British settlers. This was symbolised by having native animals in some form of capture, taking them away from what they are naturally used to, and causing them harm. The artist model for this series is Shepard Fairey. I used the way he incorporates geometric designs into his work, which both act as leading lines and critical parts of each piece.

Reflection: I am really proud of this series. I like how the colours and geometric shapes worked together, and how it contrasts with the black and white sketches. I am not a huge fan of pastels, as they are extremely messy and smudge easily. I don't think there is anything I would change about this series.

Art series two: Art series one is only partially finished. I have completed one of the pieces, but am currently stuck with how I am going to do the next. The intention of this series is to show how the settlers took over various natural parts of Aotearoa. The settlers are symbolised with Tudor roses, which are a national symbol of England. I used Sofia Minson as an artist model, taking the flat backgrounds and detail into my painting.

Reflection: I am proud of the piece I have completed. It took ages to paint, and looks pretty good.

Future planning:

I have started planning art series three. This will be around the musket wars, declaration of independence and the Treaty of Waitangi. I haven't entirely made up my mind, but I am thinking of using Shane Cotton as my artist model.

For art series four, I have a rough concept. This will be the first series on my second board, and will be about the suffragette movement.

Nutrition unit: Cooking methods

We are currently doing the nutrition assessment for Home ec. This particular activity is about various cooking methods, what they are used for and how they affect the nutritional value of a dish.

Why are cooking methods important when it comes to lowering fats, salt and sugar? Different cooking methods have different effects and need different things. Methods such as frying usually require some fat in the pan, or roasting needing fat to help crisp up the food you are cooking. This makes a difference when it comes to trying to lower the fat/sugar/salt within the dish, and it is recommended that you choose a cooking method which doesn't need any fat. Cooking methods such as slow cooking help keep in flavour, which lowers the need for additional salt and sugar. 

Creative writing break down: Funeral blues.

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message "He is Dead"
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden

Tense: the Author wrote this poem in both past and future tenses. Past tense was used to describe how much her husband (?) meant to her, using the tense to show how this has changed. Future tense is used for the instruction-like exclamations (eg. stop all clocks). These exclamations are not literal, and are instead used as a hyperbole- device.

First person: the poem is written in first person, as evident by phrases such as "my" and "I".

Personification is used in the poem in the "let the aeroplanes circle" paragraph. Moaning/ scribbling are human characteristics, applied to the aeroplane. This was used to personify the character's grief in inanimate objects, so they can relate to their emotions.

Metaphors: are used in the poem in phrases such as " My working week and my Sunday rest" and the rest of that paragraph. Metaphors were used in the poem to portray how much the person who passed away meant to the character. This consequently meant that the characters grief seemed so much more hopeless.

Hyperbole: is used in phrases such as " pack up the moon" and "dismantle the sun" which is obviously impossible. This is used to show the desperation and intensity of the character's grief. The hyperbole used (eg. dismantle the sun) all had a common theme of impossible destruction. This shows us how the character's world has been destroyed with the death of a loved one, and how is feels like everything can be taken away.