My AEP Journey :')

Well, it hasn't ended yet. There's still viva voce and AEP SOVA EOYS. But it is coming to an end really really soon and somehow, I don't want it to end. ):

AEP has never been a bed of roses for me. It has never been a smooth journey, but it is one that I will remember forever, I guess(that sounds so cheesy>.< but it's true).

I remember that in primary 6, when we first had to report to Nanyang to get our school books and school uniform, that was when I got to know about the existence of AEP. My dad wanted me to join because he said that he wanted to develop my passion and skills in art, but I refused in fear of the heavy workload that is going to come my way once I join. However, even though I refused to join AEP, my dad still secretly signed me up for the selection test(which I didn't know until a few minutes before the commencement of the test O.O). So I went to the test and I drew my shoe, did a screwed up drawing of my non-existent bedroom and a weird sculpture which could not even stand by itself and had to be taped to the table. Left the artroom with mixed emotions.

But I was so surprised that I got selected. O.O It was quite surreal as I thought that my artworks were so screwed as compared to the rest. Haha, so I got into 101'09.

Yup so I went through the first 2 years without paying that much attention to AEP as most (like 80%) of my attention was on basketball and I would put in a lot of effort to train hard for basketball. I would only put in like 40% effort into my AEP artworks (I regret it now) and AEP works are mostly rushed out at the last minute>.< ... For example, I remember that all the prep work for my sec 2 drawing and painting EOY was rushed out the night before the exam! O.O

Well, the turning point came in sec 3. That was the year which I had to drop out of basketball because of my knee injury. ): So because of that, I decided to become more hardworking in my studies and put in more effort into AEP. Haha, so in sec 3, my AEP SIA group and I decided to embark on our ambitious mega project(The Kimono Exhibition Project), which concluded on a successful note! (: And I thought that I tried to put in no less than 90% for every AEP assignment, so it was an improvement from sec 1 and sec 2!

In sec 4, coursework arrived, among many other AEP assignments such as blog task, LSC logo design, NY 95th Anniversary card and all...And very unexpectedly, I got involved in the grand musical(which I don't mind as handling the manual follow spot light was a very fun, fulfilling and enriching experience for me! The only thing which I didn't like was that a lot of time was wasted --> I had to attend musical rehearsals right after block tests even before the spot lights actually arrived...). Getting involved in the musical meant that a lot of time that could have been spent on coursework was being taken away, and after the musical ended, I only had like 3 weeks left before the submission of coursework. So those 3 weeks were a mad rush(especially the one week of September holidays). But in the end, there was still this sense of achievement after submitting my coursework on Monday. It marked the closure to a very long journey.

Today, is the due date of this AEP blog which have accompanied me throughout this year. And after 12 midnight today, another year-long journey would have come to a closure too. I have enjoyed posting on this blog, as it is like sharing my art and views about art with the whole world. After today, I would still continue to post on this blog(after EOYs) and fill this blog with artworks that I will create during the loooong December holidays, and I will upload photos of our AEP trip to London and Paris too! (:

Well, I would like to say that this journey has been a bittersweet one for me, and I hope that everyone feels the same. AEP has its ups and downs, and sometimes, I must admit that AEP assignments were a pain as it clashed with our schoolwork. AEP is a very time-consuming subject and AEPers(including me) would often complain about how busy we are, and the extra time that we had to churn out to complete out AEP projects. It was quite difficult balancing AEP with our other subjects. AEP has deprived loads of my sleeping time, causing me to yawn extensively in class sometimes and even fall asleep in boring lessons.
But nevertheless, looking back, I guess that life would be quite mundane without AEP. AEP has broadened my horizons, and SOVA has taught me how to appreciate arts of different forms and art pieces which defy the conventional notion of art. I remembered that in sec 1, I only had eyes for the Old Master's works and I thought that Henri Matisse's works were ugly. Now, I thought that his works are actually quite unique (though not my favourite). AEP has allowed me to step out of my used-to-be narrowed mind and see so many things from different perspectives! AEP has also allowed me to experiment with so many different mediums, although I actually hoped that we could have touched on a wider variety of mediums in our 4 years here(such as pin-hole photography, woodcut etc.). I often look forward to AEP lessons(especially in sec 3 and sec 4) as it would mean that I can see 201'09 again. AEP has kept our class united as one and I love talking, laughing and doing art with my fellow AEPers. I would definitely miss the times in the artroom, where we would share our thoughts and laughter with one another. Such good memories :') I love the chemistry of our class as the bond that we share as a class is strong. Life would be so different if I had not met 201'09 and I am thankful that AEP has allowed me to keep in touch with them even after we had to be split into different classes.

Thank you Ash, Beilin, Caiwen, Fangni, Grace, Hsi Chien, Hui Sze, Jinglin, Jub, Kim, both Shu Huis, Pang, Rachel, Sharon, Si Ting, Svena, Sushi, Xinyu, Xinge, Yiyuan, Yuqi and Zhongxin for the wonderful times! (: Really really thank you very much! I hope that we will keep in touch even after we go to HCI and I hope that everyone will continue doing art, whether you are in HCAEP or not! Oh yeah and thank you to AEP teachers for guiding us through this 4 years of AEP! (:

Thank you AEP for all the wonderful memories! :D