I have always identified with art and in doing so it has given me many roles in my life: I am the daughter who will draw and paint twenty Santas for your Montessori each December; I am the student who has their head constantly burrowed into a sketchbook; I am the neighbour who will get your house and kids adequately scary for Halloween, I am the past pupil of the local primary school who will come back to teach your class how to draw their favourite Disney character. I find myself in all of these on a daily occurrence, but why do I partake in them? What does art give back to be?
Art for me is more a need than a desire. I do not have control over it, but rather the other way around, yet I wouldn’t have it any other way. The control it possesses over me has enabled me to practise without the drudgery that the noun often entails. Through practising, coupled by the encouragement of teachers, I have found my artistic niche to be in illustration. Over the past year I have both written and illustrated my own children’s book (Which can be seen in my portfolio) about a peacock named Peck who has the misfortune of having a black and white tail. Through this process I have come up against many challenges, and there have been multiple sighs of frustration. Yet still, I have wholeheartedly enjoyed the process, even in the face of difficulties. The process of illustrating my own book has had many rewards, the greatest of such being that it has shown me what I would not only like, but be honoured to study in third level.
Also, through both creating the book and preparing my portfolio, I have found a great improvement in my art, which has been an encouragement in itself. I know find myself seeing the world in simply an accumulation of various colours and shapes. I find myself constantly re-evaluating the world I live in, taking nothing at face value, constantly teasing out theories of my own observations of this new fascinating world and discovering how I can incorporate and subsequently communicate them in the medium of my own art. The creation of my portfolio has at many time been like seeing the world through the freshness of a young child’s eyes once again, and I have loved that.
I have a busy mind, always have, always will. There are ideas constantly zipping around in it, ideas of a new plot twist, or character, the background that would suit a said character. Reading, while one of my greatest hobbies, is often a rather time-consuming process as I am known to wander off into my own imagination directed by the author and to throw myself in ideas of how I could communicate my interpretation to this self-world. It can pose a few problems when you’re trying to finish a chapter of your English class novel for homework. Otherwise, my mind of constant ideas and future projects has been of constant support to my art.
In school, I have always been more drawn to the subjects of Art and English. I am studying both of these at higher level as two of the seven subjects I will be sitting as part of the Irish Leaving Certificate come this May. These subjects in particular have been my refuge throughout the awkwardness of adolescence. I have been lucky enough to have teachers in these two subjects who have been extremely encouraging in my path to coming to a decision to study illustration. I feel pursuing a course in illustration will honour my love for both, with illustration consisting of art often created around a narrative.
Also, in school and in the community I have played an active role with my art: I volunteered to teach a fourth class group how to draw cartoons of their choice for a period of four weeks last June; I have competed and won in art competitions at both local and national level; and I have been chairperson of the Art Committee when organising a school fashion show, of which entailed designing and painting a large poster, digitally designing tickets and setting up the stage area all on the theme of “Candyland”.
While creating my own children’s book has undoubtedly been an exciting steep learning curve, I have still much to learn, much more that I yearn to learn about this genre of art. This is why I find myself writing this statement, I would be honoured and quite simply delighted to be given the opportunity to study a BA Honours in Illustration.