This is my Zenith Project. For my largest and final assignment at Freestyle, I wondered, “What do I want my legacy to be at Freestyle?” and, “How do I want to spent these three months?”. I really wanted to do something worthwhile and meaningful as well as fun. So because mental illness is a very important issue to me and I hadn’t seen this done before, I chose to write and illustrate a picture book about mental health directed specifically toward children. This is that children’s book.

  Zenith Reflection I chose to write and illustrate a children’s book for my ultimate Freestyle project because of my passion for bettering my small plot of the world. I’ve always felt that trauma and mental illness contribute to many issues that decrease the quality of life  or human experience. How can people care about climate change or poverty or injustice when they don’t care about themselves or other people? I know children are very impressionable; they aren’t tainted by the traumatic experiences a number of adults go through. I thought I could make the most difference by directing my Zenith project toward them.   During my research process, what I really wanted to do was get feedback from those around me in my local community. I wanted reassurance that addressing children, that talking to them about mental health, would make an impact. But it was really difficult to reach […]

  Consumer Product Artist Statement I created a teddy bear as a part of my Zenith project. I imagined my children’s book being sold as a package deal with the teddy bear for the child to hold while their parent reads to them. The teddy bear represents a character from my book, Teddy the blue bear who personifies depression. My inspiration came from a favorite stuffed animal that I personally owned as a kid. If I were to make another stuffed animal in the future, I would invest in higher quality fabric and learn how to sew. With this plushy, I struggled with getting the hot glue to stick and found that a textile with fur or fuzz would have served better to hide mistakes and seams. Despite those inconveniences, this was a very fun and enjoyable process and I really valued it.