The primary objective of this creative project was to create an environmental performance through the use of light as the principal medium. Most of the photographic imagery had been completed. The remaining task involved creating an effective and workable system to integrate the projected imagery with the neon light placements. Each system, illustrated in the figures, attempted to create a different approach in using the light mediums.

In the visual arts, I was interested in creating patterns with clay, glass, and metal, utilizing the visual elements (line, color, shape and texture). I arranged, rearranged, and distorted the elements until I obtained a fragmented, yet, unified pattern. My visual ideas were rhythmical (gestural) in nature with or without the direct stimulus of music. Concepts originated in my mind with symbols and sounds simultaneously.

In this investigation I use the term perception as Arthur Comb and Donald Snygg do when they state that perception is any differentiation the individual is capable of making in his personal field. Perception has to do with the organization one gives to his world. Behavior and learning are products of perceiving. Immanuel Kant said: "We see things not as they are but as we are." During this effort to organize my world I realized that I was concerned with myself as an experiencing individual. I felt that one is built out of his experiences and that the best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual himself. I was taking a somewhat phenomenological approach to my problem.

As my creative project, I decided to explore the possibilities for expression of rhythmic life-growth patterns in a variety of abstracted multiple forms. The work was planned to investigate the following questions: 1. What forms can be used to communicate the idea of repetitive, rhythmic or seasonal life or growth patterns? 2. What size/scale is effective in communicating the universal, infinite character of these patterns? 3. What formats or types of presentation are the most effective? 4. How is the overall impact of the work affected by changes in size and form? 5. How do changes in the work affect my responses to it, and what subsequent directions result in the work?

My work dealt with the life within inanimate objects and what occurred when one placed apparently unrelated objects together in an arrangement. The arrangements had three interrelated elements: the objects, spacial relationships, and materials.

This study explored how implied texture was used to give meaning to figural imagery. Several questions were answered in proceeding with the creative project: 1. Did implied texture abstract the figurative image? If so, how was content affected? 2. Did implied texture act as an obstruction to content? 3. Did implied texture act as an integral part of content? 4. Did implied texture exist as a separate entity from content?

The purpose of this thesis project was to explore my decision-making process as it took place during the act of painting. I was interested in how my paintings evolved, either naturally or through a critical stage. Resolving a work which was in a crisis between success and failure was an important part of the creative process and required definite purposive action on my part. In this connection, I explored the nature of the decisions which either redirected my work toward a successful conclusion, or toward its abandonment.

This report documents the changes in my work as a ceramic artist over a two-year period, imposed upon, and inspired by, the use of a propane torch on the surface of the clay vessel. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to provide information about this particular tool for methods of survace decoration; (2) to provide information about a subjective thought process directed by properties in this particular tool.

I developed twenty-three stains to use in low-temperature salt firing for my work. The stains that i made were compared to the commercially made stains to determine the similarities and differences. I felt that after much experimentation using a variety of different oxides in different amounts and calcining these amounts together in an electric kiln (heating the oxides up to about 1733 degrees Fahrenheit) that I was able to produce stable and consistent stains.

The purpose of this study was to develop a vocabulary of patterns and motifs based on Persian and Mesopotamian styles. Then, using the characteristics mentioned above, to create a body of work, approximately twenty pieces, using that vocabulary.

I perceived humans as a certain size, approximately five feet to six feet tall. This reality compelled me to do full length, life size, and larger portraits of my body again overlaid with the lizard's body. The study involved an investigation of self portraits and the effects scale had on their intimacy.

The purpose of this investigation, therefore, was to compare the viewer's perceptual response to the small-scale constructions with that of the large-scale ones. Specific questions of concern were: 1. What is my response as a viewer to these constructions when built as maquettes, with regard to the following specific concerns? a. Formal visual elements (i.e., line, shape, value, etc.). b. The presence of a sense of threat. c. Visual reference to a theatrical set. d. A make-believe, or childlike quality. e. Any physical or technical problems encountered. 2. What is my response as a viewer to the constructions when built on a large, or approximately life-sized scale, with regard to the same specific concerns listed above?

I examined and evaluated three sets of gallery installations and related handmade books. The following questions were considered foremost: 1) Visually, how different from and how similar to the gallery installations are the books? 2) What verbal elements are adapted from the installations to the books? 3) How does the difference in format (that is, the books) alter or affect the content and meaning of the installations?

Each design attempted to fulfill three requirements. The design should be effective as displayed in an exhibition; it should retain its sculptural effect when worn; and it should convey a feeling of envelopment for the wearer. In addition to these requirements, the seven pieces were designed and constructed with four problems in mind. First, how did changes in media or technique effect each garment in terms of surface embellishment, drapability, et cetera? Second, how did the scale of a garment alter the medium or technique used and the pattern shape used? Third, what were the design limitations of both the folded rectangle construction and the wing-sleeve design with triangular pattern shapes? Fourth, were some designs more successful than others in creating an envelopment for the body?

The idea for this creative project evolved as the result of communication between myself and Cathie Bernhardt during the first half of 1977. Both of us had been dealing with similar concepts such as reliquary-like containers and the objects contained within them. We also had a congruent approach concerning the use of materials and the manner in which they can be fabricated. These two things resulted in a mutual respect for each other's forms and imagery. We, therefore, decided to explore and combine specific aspects of our talent and, in collaboration, produce a series of pieces. Our project became one of collaborative art, and we defined that as follows: One, the process of discussing ideas for pieces; Two, the act of working on pieces together, Three, the completion of pieces wherein both artists have contributed significantly to the final products.

The question addressed in this project is as follows: How, if at all, are nostalgia and ambiance created in my work through the use of the following: 1. color 2. repeated patterns from textiles, wallpaper, and quilts 3. dimension 4. text 5. personal and nostalgic imagery 6. art deco motifs 7. fixed media/found objects. Each of these items will be discussed as it relates to each piece.

In my problem I explored the nature and results of the juxtaposition of the sacred and mundane and its relationship to the specific formal elements of image and content in the paintings. I analyzed a small number of paintings (approximately four), selected from the new body of work. This analysis was conducted by answering each of the six stated questions as they pertained to the selected group of paintings as a whole.

This study involves an investigation of artist's intent (purpose) and the effects of altering the dimensional structure of a print utilizing the materials as imagery. Concerning the nature of the creative project, The following questions arose: 1. How will changing my current two-dimensional format to a three-dimensional presentation produce the desired intensity of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual depth? 2. What kinds of materials can be combined to effectively produce the desired imagery? 3. What technical problems arise in regard to a supporting armature in the three dimensional structures? 4. How is the artist's intent communicated through the imagery created in the three-dimensional structures?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between media and content in my work. I began a series of paintings in the fall of 1985 which was based on 35mm transparencies. At this point, the slides were nothing more than a visual aid, a way to augment my technical skills; my chief interest in these paintings was narrative. I was also taking a drawing class at the time, and several times I recycled a transparency I had used with a painting to create a drawing. Sometimes Both versions were relatively successful (though often for very different reasons), other times one version would be more successful than the other. Technical proficiency (or lack of it) did not seem to be the determining factor in these cases.

The problem of this investigation was to determine if there was a relationship between scale, forma and technique in the making of welded steel sculpture, and to determine the best method(s) of working on three size categories and in two basic categories of form. The size categories were two to four feet, four to eight feet and over eight feet in any dimension with the other dimensions such that the sculpture enclosed a volume of space. The two categories of form were geometric or inorganic (forms based on geometry or mathematics) and organic (forms found in, or resembling those in nature). The effects of scale, form, and technique(s) in the production of these sculptures were observed and a determination was made concerning which technique presented the most advantageous approach to the creation of welded steel sculpture in each category.

My interest in pictorial representationalism began when I started painting and drawing as a child, and my concern for working realistically continued and developed through my undergraduate years in college. In this investigation i explored the working processes used in a representational approach to contemporary woven tapestries. A brief discussion of the origins of representational woven tapestries with concentration upon Twentieth Century textiles was followed by an analysis of the influences upon my work by artists and stylistic trends.

The intent of this problem was twofold: (1) to demonstrate the adaptability of woven tubular forms in an exhibition space and (2) to demonstrate how support structures could be successfully combined with woven fabric forms as part of the overall design. The problem was executed to alleviate some of the limitations imposed by exhibition spaces. Specifically, the more versatile the piece, the greater the potential for aesthetic and structural effect.

I constructed ceramic/mixed media instruments, recorded rhythmic music composed for and played on my instruments, and prepared a slide presentation portraying my daily rituals a studio artist. I describe in this paper the process involved in creating this environment and give an interpretation of the work by answering the following questions. 1. What were the rituals that were essential to the creation of my work? 2. In what ways did the use of the different visual and audio media work together to create a unified environment? 3. In what ways was the total experience of the different media a more direct and fulfilling expression of my goals as an artist, or are these goals better fulfilled when working in one media?

The unique nature of this process raised major technical questions that I intended to address during this project. The purpose was to obtain a quality surface, considering both visual and textural considerations, while using the copper matt finish.