Aleida McDonald

Student Artist

My Story

My name is Aleida McDonald. Pronounced "Alayduh", but I wouldn’t be offended if you called me "Aleeda" as most of my teachers do. I was born in the fine state of Colorado on October 11th 2005 which in some years is Thanksgiving. I was raised in great old Toronto. I was pulled out by a crane during birth and as a result it gave me a cone head as a baby which I must’ve been embarrassed by because I screamed and cried as a baby 99.9% of the time. It took thirty-five hours to put me down to sleep. My mother is a strong independent woman. She raised me alone for five years with my grandma's help. My grandma had a vast variety of colouring books, from all around the world. So I helped myself to these at the ripe age of three and became utterly obsessed. I began drawing more and more outside of the lines and became more imaginative than ever before. I of course would draw frames from my little pony from my moms ipad and make my own little characters with their own lives. However it was this interest in colouring with pencil in closed clenched fists and a love for cartoons that started it all and sparked my interest in art.

My mother did eventually marry when I was six years old. I don’t have much memory of how exactly my father and I became friends but I know now that we must’ve just clicked. My father is the most supportive person I know, he bought me all of those kids art kits for Christmas for almost three years straight. Both him and my mother always loved whatever I drew even if it looked like a scribble with some eyes and a mouth with a sun in the corner of the page. I continued to draw, but I also took interest in other things as well. Such as video games, film making, music, collecting stickers and popmart figures that only take up space and look cute. I loved it all and still do, but I know my bank account does not. I go to St. Joseph High School and am graduating in the year 2023. They say time flies by when you're having fun and it sure does. I met the best people here and we went through thick and thin getting through our courses. My biggest inspirations are probably my friends, they always push me to be the best version of myself. They helped me during hard times and I know they will always have my back.

Now that I’m seven-teen I have been very stressed and worried that my future is coming closer. I recently got accepted to the music, film and media course at Algonquin college and am burdened about leaving my friends at the end of the year. However I have had an amazing experience here and have learned a lot. Especially about what I learned about my taste and strengths in art. How I enjoy Art Nouveau and drawing with graphite. How it’s okay to not like my art as it helps me understand how I can grow and learn as an artist. Overall, I’ve had a great life and hope the future only holds good things. Even when I am old and grey I hope my fingers are still able to hold a pencil like my three year old self did.

Artist Statement

As an artist still developing a sense of style, I tend to be drawn to unusual yet beautiful things. Strange paintings, weird sculptures, odd TV shows, movies, and unusual art in general. There is something about the strangeness that I appreciate and find beautiful. Watercolour and graphite are my primary mediums. I want to research new topics and investigate art forms like surrealism and modernism. envisioning scenarios and making up stories. For me, I enjoy collecting things and become fixated on them more quickly than you can say "I collect rocks," however I collect stickers, sketchbooks, and pens. When I draw, I find myself obsessed with the ideas and concepts I can incorporate into my work. But whenever I draw, I can't help but become fixated on the concepts and ideas I can use. Even though I am still refining my style, I am aware that a good place to begin is by drawing things that I find interesting. I want to demonstrate how I've improved as an artist for this portfolio. displaying the highs and lows of my artistic journey. Showing my ups and downs when it comes to my art. Patience and practice is something very important to me, taking the time to take a step back and analyze my art is how I grow and thrive as an artist. However, 99% of the time I draw for the thrill and never actually think about what I’m drawing. In this portfolio, is the 99% of drawings. Throughout the creation and making of my portfolio, It’s safe to say that the body of work I put into my portfolio shows that when It comes to art, It’s okay to not accept or like something you make. Art block is something that holds me down during my art process. So being able to draw freely is something that I deeply enjoy. This means some of the art I put in this portfolio I might've not been pleased with at first. However, I learned to love it over time.

During this course, I learned the importance of acceptance and the nature of brainstorming ideas before running straight into things. Which doesn’t help my art block whatsoever. These tops helped my growth as an artist and a person. By teaching me to always evaluate things before jumping right into them. This course also taught me that art doesn't have to look “good” or look “pretty” to people to be considered art. “Art” is just a reflection of the mind. Something I strive to express in my artwork is that it can be whatever I want, my imagination, my love for something and my emotions. Something I strive to express in my artwork is how it can relate to the real world. I want to express real problems in life and show that in my art. It’s something that can have a vital impact on many people. On the topic of themes, ideas, imagery and content found in my work. I find this very personal. The themes in my work highly depend on my emotions and feelings when creating the piece. Sometimes my art has no meaning at all. and is up to the viewer to interpret for themselves. Some of my inspirations include human anatomy, I love studying how the body works and the joints and bones that connect the body. My biggest inspirations however come from movies, shows, and videos. My favourite TV shows growing up were cartoons like; Adventure Time, Rugrats and the Amazing World of Gumball. All of these forms of media inspired me to create interesting characters and interesting imagery.

I genuinely want to convey my honesty and love for my craft through my work. I want to motivate people to make whatever they can think of. Do not be afraid to put pencil to paper. Everything and anything you make is art even if it’s not pleasing through the eyes of someone else. Making art for my enjoyment was one of the things I discovered or considered when creating art throughout this course. Make it without concern for the opinions of others or to appease them. We learned a lot about this during our assignment to create an expressive wire sculpture—you can never take art too seriously. Being able to express oneself freely through art really and generally made me have fun with my art.

Last but not least, my future post-secondary career plans in the Visual Arts are something not related to actual visual art, however, film and media production is what I plan on doing and was accepted at Algonquin college to pursue. It's something that I've always wanted to do. Regarding art, it's a hobby of mine that I really enjoy. However, I only create art for fun. I do have plans to start a little business selling trinkets and other small items. I wish artists from all across the world could contribute to making a statement and a difference one day. As I was putting this statement together, I thought back to all the wonderful and heartfelt experiences I had in high school art class. The class laughed at art, cried at art, being weirded out and a bit afraid for our well-being. We were like a big family and I was able to learn the most vital thing about being an artist: “Don’t care”.