Erika Bast - Creative Practice Blogs

  November 10, 2024 Welcome to another blog post! As a reminder, I am exploring the theme of community, and this week I decided to express community through watercolor painting.     While scrolling through Pinterest, I came across a watercolor painting of birds perched on a telephone wire. At first, I thought it was just a simple and cute painting that I might recreate someday. But after reflecting on it for a while, I realized that it’s actually a perfect symbol of community. Ecologically, the image shows a group of birds interacting in the same area, sharing a common space. On a deeper level, it also evokes the saying, “birds of a feather flock together,” which speaks to the idea of like-minded individuals coming together to form a cohesive group.      Inspired by this realization, I decided to try recreating the painting myself. While it’s definitely not my best work, as I’m still learning how to use watercolor paints, I’m proud of how it turned out. I r...

November 3, 2024     This week, I wanted to explore the dictionary definition of community- a group of people living in the same area. Inspired by last week’s positive experience with poetry, I decided to continue using poetry as my artistic medium      When I thought about people living in the same area, I was drawn to neighborhoods and their universality.  No matter where you go, they exist, bringing together people of all types. Despite these differences they become connected through living side by side. While my poem is short, I feel it captures the essence of what makes neighborhood communities special.      Just like last week, I was feeling overwhelmed with everything on my plate, so I decided to dedicate time to writing poetry. Once again, I ended the experience feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. I am truly so grateful for how much of a positive impact these artistic impacts have had upon my health, especially my mental health. Doors ho...

  October 27, 2024      Hello and welcome back! For this week’s artistic medium, I decided to switch it up again. Another medium I love, but have yet to practice for my blog, is poetry. So, I chose to write a poem about friendship. This decision was inspired by my previous post, where I reflected on the importance of my community of friends.      While many English teachers may disagree, I think the beauty of poetry is that there is no singular, “perfect” interpretation. There is the message the author was trying to convey, but then there is also the message that the readers interpret based on their own experiences and perspectives. That personal connection is what makes poetry so special. With this in mind, I aimed to make my poem about friendship broad and relatable, so it could resonate with a variety of readers. Friendship, much like poetry, is deeply personal yet rooted in universal themes. It varies from person to person, but certain ideas like t...

 October 20, 2024      Welcome to my eighth blog post! This week I am highlighting community through the artistic mediums of dance and photography.      Growing up I never quite felt like I belonged to the dance community.  I didn’t start dancing until sixth grade, which left me feeling perpetually behind at my studio. Even by my senior year, I wasn’t skilled enough to join the competition team. Watching others dance while feeling like I wasn’t “enough” was discouraging. Although I loved dancing, the constant comparison left me feeling burnt out. Everything changed when I got to college. Last year, I joined Extreme Dance Company, a student dance organization that welcomes everyone, whether they have 15 years of experience or none at all. This community is built on inclusivity and support—completely unlike the dance environment I had known before. For the first time, I feel like I truly belong. I can dance without fear of judgment or comparison. ...

   October 13th, 2024      Hello everyone, and welcome to the second half of my blog! This week, we were given the opportunity to explore a new theme, but I’ve chosen to continue with the theme of community, as there’s still so much I want to address and explore.      For my creative practice this week, I decided to try painting—specifically, painting pottery! Just like last week, what expresses the theme of community this week wasn’t necessarily what I painted, but how I went about it. I chose to host a painting date with my friends, where we spent an hour talking, laughing, and painting together. Thereby highlighting the community formed by friendship.       I feel friend groups are one of the most important communities we belong to. These communities are built upon the shared love you have for each other. So, it’s important to dedicate time to appreciate and strengthen these bonds. Which is exactly what this activity did! By...

 October 6th, 2024    Hello ever yone! A s a reminder, I am focu sing on the theme of community.  This week, I decided to explore this theme using a new medium: digital illustration.      I was inspired by a TikTok trend where people take ordinary paintings or photographs and transform them by drawing over the images to give them a Halloween twist.  Wanting to try this ourselves, we found a web site  that allowed us to draw on a photo simultaneously.  so, we found  a regular image of a neighborhood and filling it with all sorts of spooky and silly Halloween-themed drawings.       What truly embodies the theme of community here isn’t the final product, but rather the collaborative experience between my friend and me. Community i s more than a group of people who come together, but rather the relation ship between them. And partaking in thi s activity truly  strengthened our bond . We were able to  s...