final crit...

i am really bummed that i had to miss the majority of our final crit. i was really very interested in the work everyone produced. sorry, but i had obligations to my children... sorry to all those that i missed.
i am feeling kind of unsure about how my crit went. thought maybe someone out there could put it into perspective for me. i knew that my images were formal in nature, i actually intended them to be. kind of painterly representations of some of my surroundings. i know they were not as intense as my self portrait. they were intended as example of a completely different genre. in a way they felt like pieces to future puzzles that simply haven't fully developed yet. i actually like the work that i produced for the final. i am happy with it. i don't necessarily feel like it is the end of the road for these pieces, perhaps they will become the backdrop for something more dramatic in the future... i felt that all along.
i guess what i am a bit confused about is the popularity (or lack there of) or the validity of formal art. i also feel confused as to whether or not my classmates felt my work was successful at being what it was intended to be. i feel like alot of the focus of the critique of my work was about simply identifying what it was... "formal", "asthetic" and not something overtly personally revealing. i felt like getting people to admit that it was formal was like getting them to admit to me that my work sucked. after i left i replayed the experience in my mind and realized that no one really commented on whether or not they were successful at being simply formal, painterly digital images of my natural surroundings. surely not all art needs to be hugely revealing and personal. personally i can only dish out so much of my drama to others. thus i thought i would try something else.
i do need to say that my final project, whether the images were interesting to anyone but me or not, was a huge learning process for me. i feel like i really dug into the program to pull things out of it that i didn't know existed to get these images. for my self portrait i basically flew by the seat of my pants. it was really emotional just to create that image and a bit disturbing for me to share it. i think because of that i steared away from such draining work, focusing on color and composition and the simple figuring out of photoshop by myself. so all in all i feel successful. but, i guess i just didn't feel like i got a very clear idea of what you all felt. i am looking for feedback because i am curious and would like honest opinion. i am not afraid of criticism at all and would appreciate it if anyone is still reading these blogs...