This is my very first project for my acrylics painting course. I had never had any experience with acrylics prior to this project, only what we were taught in class. My project is supposed to be a metaphoric self portrait. I painted the Swiss Alps with a train and a backpack. Mountains are created when tectonic plates collide and cause an impact in the earth. The mountains in my painting represent the impact Switzerland had on my life (I used to live there when I was a kid). The train represents the daily life and the travel. We would take the train to go anywhere and we would take it often. My family and I loved to travel and explore new places all over the European continent. The backpack resembles my childhood. I like to think I left that backpack at the train station on purpose and that it still sits there waiting for me to return to Switzerland.

My second project in the course was based on creationism v evolutionism. We were told to interview a group of people in society and with that information create an abstract expressionist art piece. I interviewed people about their views and what they thought about the other sides as well. There were several who were strictly creationist or evolutionist and a few who were open-minded to both. The fingerpainting represented those who were creationist, the vertical lines are those who are evolutionist and the diagonal green lines are the ones who are both. The biggest question to my project was why these two groups don't get along. The trend I noticed the most is the fact that these two types of people tend to shame each other. Rather than opening their ears and minds, they choose to shut each other out.