Remember to reach for the stars, and go live your dreams!

Remember to reach for the stars, and go live your dreams

annakoh.com

​I read the article, “Portraiture, Pottery, and Pedagogy: Examing Portraiture Methodology in the Contexts of Ceramics and Teaching by Courtney Lee Weida” and first extracted keywords for my visual artifact.

- Importance of qualitative research, why we need to extract qualitative interview questions

-We need to go beyond our isolated art world and constantly interact and discuss with other artists.

-Interviews that look for nuances in words rather than simple yes/no or specific answers are asked to have “texture.”

These three points impressed me deeply when I read the article. In particular, in an article cited in the article, researcher Corrine Glesne (2005) wrote, “Learning qualitative research is like learning to paint,” in that, you study other people’s research, apply various methodologies, and apply your own research approach. Qualitative research based on interviews is similar to learning to draw. In this respect, a giant tree came to mind. The tree has three main branches. This image came to mind when I assumed I had conducted qualitative research on my art world by asking myself interview-like questions.

Before I started my master's program, the concept of art was limited to the studio. As I continued my studies, I felt this concept expanded to include storytelling, art education, and philosophy. The concept of education helped me move out of the studio and into becoming an artist within a community. Based on my experience, I created subtopics titled Painting, Storytelling, and Blogging under the larger topic of Art. This is what I have always done, what I am still doing, and what I will expand upon in the future. I find this work a lot of fun, and I especially feel happy when I dream with my children, point to the stars in the night sky, and try to pick them together. Whether this attempt fails or succeeds, just reaching for the stars feels like I'm dreaming. Art brings us magic, like reaching out and reaching for a star in this bleak world.