I have always enjoyed art and have dabbled in various forms of it throughout my life. Ever since I was little my parents have graciously signed me up for all kinds of art camps, classes and really anything that enabled me to create and express myself.
Growing up I was a very shy, quiet girl who got nervous when I had to speak to my peers, but I got especially nervous when I spoke to adults. The thought of speaking to somebody older than myself was so frightening to the little elementary school Madison, literally like pulling teeth. There is no doubt I lacked outward and vocal expression. I did not have a bold personality by any means and really the only way I was able to express myself without having to talk to other people was through doing art.
I hated music class and Physical Education more than anything on this planet. Even going around the room playing the name game gave me monumental amounts of anxiety. I noticed everybody else in my class was having a good time in all of these social situations and activities, but I felt alienated because I did not feel the same way at all. One of the few times I can recall feeling super happy, content, and at peace was when I had art class.
I no longer felt nervous. I no longer felt scared. I no longer felt I did not fit in. I had found my place.
Sitting in art class in elementary school was the best. The teacher presented the project and showed us step by step how to create a particular work of art, and she immediately turned it over to us. I could finally do something I loved without feeling super pressured and nervous that somebody was judging me or analyzing every move I made or everything I said.
All of that being said, art has been a major part of my life from a young age, and as I get older I am realizing art plays a larger role than I could have imagined. Not only is it something I enjoy, but it is therapeutic and has gotten me through some tough times.
I love all kinds of art and have been doing all kinds of things with it! Sometimes I want to draw and use charcoal and graphite. Sometimes I want to work on hand lettering and calligraphy. Other days I want to play around with textures and various materials. Recently, I have spent most of my day's painting.
So to kick off Art Archives, I am sharing with you some of the works of art (if you want to call it that) I have created on coolers. Formal coolers are my favorite projects to work on, and I thoroughly enjoy the entire process. Sanding, priming, coming up with sketches of designs, and painting the actual cooler.
If you are a person who does not have a single creative bone in your body, feel free to hit your girl up for some help! I love brainstorming ideas and executing the final product!
1. Cooler #1
This is the very first side I ever painted! My inspiration was my boyfriend at the time's love for Kanye, and the Atlanta Falcons.
This side is actually taken straight from the Alpha Tau Omega Mu Iota fall 2017 rush shirt. I loved the design so much and had to have it as the focal point of his cooler. He designed that particular shirt, so I thought it was fitting to include his design on his cooler!
If you go on Pinterest and look up ideas for formal coolers, this design is bound to pop up. I wanted to add my own twist to it though by replacing the iconic World's Best Boss coffee mug with a one of a kind ATO flag mug.
This side was my favorite to paint on the cooler. The clouds turned out amazing if I do say so myself, and the whole thing is so visually appealing to me. I combined his love for Chance the Rapper and the album Acid Rap and the infamous phrase on Twitter at the time "back on my bullshit".
2. Cooler #2
This particular formal fell within the season of the Fortnite craze, so naturally I thought to paint the well known clouds and Fortnite font with the guy's name.
His favorite team, Titans
Michelob Ultra, the beer of his choice
I am super proud of this side and love the way it turned out! It is so colorful and fun, and the dark background creates great contrast.
Super simple, but it is the Sigma Chi flag and establishment date displayed at the bottom.
3. Cooler #3
This side turned out better than I expected and I love it! Instead of the Corona label I had to change it up and include his fraternity, Pike.
The guy I painted this for loves Drake and I thought a classic album cover would make a very unique and intricate top to a cooler!
In addition to Drake, he loves Post Malone, so the Stoney album cover was fitting.
All guys love sports, so it is important to include it somewhere on the cooler!
4. Cooler #4
This is the cooler I am most proud of and it is really special to me. I immediately knew what all I wanted to include on this particular cooler because I knew the guy very well at this point. It was our second formal together, so I wanted to do something special and make this one really personal! The front is straight from the music video for Walk It Talk It by Migos, and there are a lot of cool and colorful elements I got to include! I think it looks great.
Rather than the basic fraternity flag or symbol, I wanted to do something different to represent his fraternity. I took the font from the single Look Alive by Drake and Bloc Boy and replaced it with ATO. In the word "look" both of the letter O's were this cool eyeball, and it worked out perfectly because there is an O in Alpha Tau Omega!
If you know, you know. The end.
Keeping up with the trends on Twitter is super important. Especially to a fellow Twitter lover and meme sender. We would send each other this Patrick Star meme so many times a day and a really funny one we both loved was the one that included a Fortnite reference, seen above. It turned out great and I love how colorful it is!
There is so much I included on this side that I love and knew he would appreciate! 1. Tilted Towers was his go to drop spot (love that I knew this haha). 2. This was his skin at the time, John Wick with the egg back pack. 3. He is in the AppleCare College Program so of course I had to add the Apple logo.
