One of our assignments in high school was to create a collage drawing. I used my recent trip to Chicago for inspiration. I composed an array of keepsakes and snapped a photograph. These included: a menu, a photograph, key chain, maps from Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute of Chicago, luggage tags, and boarding pass.
My Junior year in high school we studied the Post-Impressionists. My favorite was Georges Seurat. I found his Pointillism technique fascinating – laying thousands of colored dots next to each other instead of the typical blending – and letting the observer’s eyes do the work of combining in order to achieve the right colors.
As part of the lesson, we had to research a well-known artist and create a painting in their style. “The Bridge” above was my feeble attempt to copy Seurat and his Pointillism.
In 1987 my mom and I took a trip to Chicago and visited the Art Institute of Chicago. What a wonderful place to see the Impressionist’s paintings! I was especially excited to see Georges Seurat’s paintings up close! When I spotted A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, I just starred in reverie for the longest time. It was incredible! Of course I’d seen pictures in books but nothing could compare to the real thing up close!
Jennefer Chaudhry 