An Afterthought

Thank you for visiting our blog and playing a part in our Ecology Service Learning Project.

In the past few months that Raven and I have been working on this project, we feel that we put forth some of our best, although not very well managed, creative ideas and messages. Our goal through this project was to express the message that everything is connected, a message that Mr. Bursch told us in the very beginning of the year, on the first day of school.

Raven says: "Wait until Paul Bunyan sees this tree."

Raven and I wanted to represent our opinions on ecology, one that Mr. Bursch's lessons and projects from the first semester has helped us develop. From The Story of the Seed project where Raven and I first met and worked together, all the way to this afternoon when Raven and I playfully bantered about Pringles and cupcakes in class. We took a while to finish what we had in mind at the very beginning of this project, but we still made it (just in time too...) here, satisfied with our work.


In summary, our project consisted of two parts: the painting and this blog.
The painting was simple. Artistic expression, a fluid design. An idea that we winged from the start (contrary to Raven's short monologue about sketches a while back). We took plywood, and emptied our ideas about ecology onto it through paint. It required lots of green stains, dried paint, rolled up sleeves, long nights and cleaning, but it also involved laughing, junk food, and the peaceful hum of a few artists' collaborations.
This blog was even simpler. A log, a recording. An unplanned mess of technology that somehow got done. (Edited time stamps, 1 a.m., an essay left unwritten for the next day?)

Can you find the flaming space bunny?

And so, once again, Raven and I thank you, dear reader, for even playing the part of a single view of this blog.





Post Script: Everything is connected~

Week 14: La Fin

Week 14: La Fin
(Guys, I'm finally using things I learn in French)

This week is our final week!
Izabella, Raven, and I came in and finished the leaves (which turned out beautifully, may I note). We touched up on the background, Raven got to add in her little bunny (so adorable if you can see it), and we added the stars. I got poked with a paintbrush, but that's okay because it adds color to my tank top (I only wear blues and blacks everyday anyways).

Week 13: The *Second* Return of the Jedi (Oops)

Week 10: The *Second* Return of the Jedi (Oops)

We have returned (again.)! We can pretend to have time management skills, right? Okay, I'm just kidding; we have some pretty decently legitimate excuses this time. Raven and I have been working on projects in our other classes, in addition to another project called Co-Teaching (a different story for another time) assigned to us by our lovely teacher, Mr. Bursch.

This week, Raven, Izabella, and I are working on finishing everything except the leaves and the touch ups for the "space" background. Raven wants to add in a flaming space rabbit (Raven, I don't remember what the name is; I offer my sincerest apologies), I believe; we will have to figure out how to integrate that particular image into our painting.

Week 9: Roots Before Branches

Week 9: Roots Before Branches

Izabella and Morgan with Makel in the background!

Progress has been steadily building up. Morgan and I have worked on the roots diligently (vocab word!) while Izabella got started on the branches. We have reached our 50% mark and are nearly finished with the mural. Even with our speedy recovery, we are still a few weeks behind schedule so we'll have to umpened (yay, I made a new word!) or hasten (another vocab word!!) our pace. More people have begun to show up during Mr. Bursch's tutorial which has created a new hindrance for us. People think that touching the RECENTLY PAINTED mural gives them super powers; however, they instead receive disappointment and a green finger.

We're Working!!! (There's a first time for everything, right?)

As the Joker had once said: Why so serious?

They must've put drugs in the swimming pool

Return of the Jedi

After a month long hiatus, Master Jedi Raven Manalo and her padawan Morgan Tong have returned and Operation: AWESOMENESS has set sail once more. To say we were behind schedule was an understatement to say the least. However, since Spring Break is over and our schedules have cleared up once more, we will be able to invest more time and effort into our ESLP project. Currently, we are updating the other documents and planning out our meeting dates.



Post Script from Morgan: Guys, it's actually the opposite way around. Master Jedi Morgan Tong and her padawan Raven Manalo.

Week 3: The Day the Earth Stood Still

We started the painting process in week 4 (which was really week 6-7, but shhh...). Painting took much longer than expected, as we only got about a tenth of the painting finished. Luckily, Isabella tagged along and assisted with painting and mixing paint which helped speed up the process. Mr. Bursch's new tutorial policy had also aided our work ethic because there was less people in the way and more room to work with.

First, we started and finished up the space background which we painted purple (dark byzantium to be more specific) because it was the easiest to finish. Then, we began to paint the Earth (or rather the top half of the Earth). Thanks to the additional help of Izabella Rodriguez and Haley (I don't know her last name), we managed to more than half of the half-Earth (1/2 of 1/2?) in only three days.

While Morgan and I finished up the landmasses and oceans, Isabella began outlining the Tree's roots with dark brown. During class, we also managed to start some of the documents required for the ESLP project (Project Outline, Budget Statements, Activity Logs, etc.). We'll be working on both the mural and the documentation.

Week 2.5: Artistic Beginnings

Week 2.5 of Operation:

Project Tree of Awesomeness has been fairly productive. We began our painting journey by setting up a base coat on the front side of the board. Since none of the desks were large enough to hold the board, we used Mr. Bursch's lab stations. It was pretty straightforward and 'basic' (that was a pun) so it only took about a day or two to complete. Mr. Bursch provided us with a large piece of cardboard to ensure we didn't get any paint on his lab stations while we were setting up the base coat. Hopefully, none of the other classes were working with acids at the time. (Get it? Bases and acids? Science class? Anyone? No?)

 We ended up creating two layers of white acrylic paint on the board. At first, we thought a single layer would be sufficient; however, there were many unpainted spots showing, so we covered those up with the second layer. We should have called Skrillex to drop the base instead (another lame base joke). Now that the bases are loaded, we can commence sketching the tree onto the board.

Week 2: Pen(cil) and Sword

[If you don't understand the title, Google Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy (It's an awesome play.)]

This week was when we truly started making art. We took a little more than a week (2-3 weeks actually) to finish the sketch on the plywood board; it was mainly because the sketch was a crucial part to our mural, and we wanted to do it perfectly. A sketch is used for multiple purposes; however, to painters and sculptors, a sketch is a blueprint that tells them what is where and what it will look like. Morgan brainstormed some ideas, and I went out off in search of a tree to duplicate.

I started sketching possible tree
candidates for our mural.

While I was sketching, Raven was out searching
for real trees to base ours off of.

Eventually we had our sketch and, with the help of Izabelle, we transferred it onto our board.

Week 1: Supply Hunt

This week, Morgan and I acquired the resources necessary to make our ESLP project a success.

Morgan travelled to a distant Home Depot where she obtained a large, heavy, 4x4 plywood which will become our medium. Because of its prodigious size, we have decided that Mr. Bursch's science facility would be the most ideal place to store it.

While Morgan got the wooden panel, I was tasked with procuring paint and some paintbrushes. I ventured into my intimidating attic where I found my old paintbrushes and art supplies. Then, I journeyed to the nearest Michaels with my mother and my dog where I secured a few bottles of acrylic paint. I am currently storing all the art supplies in my closet.