Getting To Know My Fellow Instructors

Constantly being around different artists is very inspirational. After working in the COLORS studio for several weeks I have gotten to know all of the other instructors, whom are all artists. Cathie Layton works mainly with pottery and teaches in the SAM art school along with Korey. Korey has a BFA in printmaking, but works with all media. Amy is a new instructor from Texas and has a BFA in graphic design. Mary Harris is currently working towards her BFA in studio arts from Converse. Toddrick is the last instructor, and I would like to focus this blog post on his work. He has natural artistic talent that literally blows me away. He has had no formal training other than the few classes he took in high school. Most of his work in in graphite or colored pencil and is very realistically rendered. He has a natural talent for looking at a photograph and drawing it in a larger scale. He is always searching for ways to learn and improve. He is very optimistic and determined; hopefully his spirit will rub off on me while I am at the COLORS studio. The following are photographs of Toddrick's recent work:

colored pencil on grey paper

colored pencil

colored pencil and graphite

This is a photograph of a copy of the original piece.
The original was about 20 inches by 30 inches.

colored pencil
(this piece is currently in progress)

Museum Update

(I like to update my blog about the current art shows that are going on at the Spartanburg Art Museum. The COLORS program is connected to the museum and the work of professional artists is important to art education.)

The current art exhibits at SAM are the Multicultural Exhibition in the Artists Guild Gallery and the College Town Art Faculty Exhibition. The guild artist's work focuses on different culture's they have studied including American Indian, African American, African, Asian, and many more. There is a range of work in the gallery including pottery, sculpture, paintings, and graphite drawings. The reception was held at February 16th during the Spartanburg ArtWalk at the same time as the Faculty show. Myself, and my many friends in the exhibition, were excited to see such a large turn out come to enjoy the work.(Please vistit the Spartanburg Artists Guild's website for more information on upcoming events and how to become a member http://www.artistsguildofspartanburg.com/)



"Fought My Way Through"  is a graphite piece by Micheal Smith.

He is a former COLORS student!

This piece is on display and for sale along with many other
 pieces from member's of the Spartanburg Artists Guild.



            The College Town Art Faculty exhibition was a collection of works by our local art professors at USC Upstate, Wofford, Spartanburg Methodist, and Converse. The show opened on February 8th and the reception was held Thursday February 16th during the Spartanburg ArtWalk.There was a range of works on display in the large exhibition including, but not limited to, photography, painting, collage, and sculpture. 

           It was exciting to see what all my professors have been working on aside from class. There was a large variety of work and I was not surprised to see just how talented they truly are. I had the chance to speak with a few of the professors about their work and all the planning and meaning that went behind the work. One of the professors I had a chance to speak with is Dr. Mary Lou Hightower. Dr. Hightower is my advisor and art education professor. She is a very talented art educator, and it is refreshing to see that she "practices what she preaches." Her watermedia pieces resemble stained glass and quilt work combine. The craftsmanship is unbelievable, and the vivid colors, and almost hidden photographs in "Stain Glass Quilt" add depth and interest.    

             Professor Battaglia had shown our graphic design class, last semester, a glimpse of her photography work, but the computer screen did not do it justice. She had a few large scale digital photography pieces in exhibition, including one that I fell in love with, "As The Tour Goes By." The photography is of a city scape from the inside of a tour boat, capturing the fellow tourist in the shot. The vivid colors and contrast caught my attention from a distance and the composition held it there for quite some time. These pieces inspired me to go out a create my own work, although I have a long way to go before my work is remotely close to this level of quality. Maybe a photography class with Professor Battaglia this summer with help boost my progress!

            I cannot say that I did not enjoy any of the work in the show, as I spent over an hour wondering through the gallery. I particularly enjoyed the perfection in Mac Boggs' carved marble "Monte Altissimo." I had the opportunity to take a few classes with Professor Mac during the two years I spent at Converse. He would tell us stories of how he spent time in Italy learning to carve marble just as Michelangelo once did. Finally getting to see his work was exciting. He has a true talent for carving marble, and making such a heavy and solid material seem fluid and practically weightless. (Please visit his Converse web page to learn more about his other sculptures. http://www.converse.edu/about/directory/mayo-mac-boggs )

Dr. Hightower's "Stain Glass Quilt"

I hope every go the chance to view both exhibitions; my poor cell phone photography does not do anything but give you just a taste!

            

Talented Kids :)

             My practicum this semester is at the Dorman High School (freshman campus). I work with a wide variety of students. Many students in the beginning level of art, in high school, are in the class only to get their credit for graduation. There are only a handful of high school students that actually want to be in the art classroom and put effort into their work. This is very discouraging for someone like me, who is very passionate about art and passionate about teaching art. I get extremely excited to work with those high school kids that really love art and want to be there. Working at COLORS is like having a classroom full of those excited high school artists. Most of the kids that come to COLORS really want to be there and have artistic freedom. COLORS doesn't stress having structured lessons. I've been trained to always have lessons prepared, so this is a challenge for me to just let the kids do what they want. I'm learning to let loose and shed some of my structure. I still sneak in lessons when the kids don't realize it. I'm just so incredibly happy to have kids come to the COLORS studio that want to be there, and want to learn about art.
              The COLORS studio is such a creative environment for young students to come and get one on one attention. In a normal classroom at a public school, the teacher has about 20 or more other students to give attention to. In the studio at the CCC (Chapman Cultural Center), and at our various outreach sites, young artist can come and get individualized attention and help with any medium or subject matter they can think of. For example, the group that comes to visit on Mondays from the Boys and Girls Club, are mostly girls about the age of 7. All of the girls are interested in Barbie, Hello Kitty, and other toys and cartoons. They have the freedom to draw, paint, or sculpt any of those subjects, and I am there to help them. Many of them are like most young students and don't even know where to begin. I have a small enough group to spend some time with each girl and individual teach her proper drawing techniques. Its not the typical subject matter that students are encouraged to depict in public schools, but I still have the opportunity to teach them the same skills. I personally believe that they are grasping the concept much better because they enjoy what they are drawing. They're enthusiasm is what gets me excited to become an art teacher and is why I chose this field. 

This is a picture of Jose's drawing. He is a third grade student that comes to our outreach site at the Boiling Springs Resource Center on Wednesday afternoons. He found a picture of a German Shepard and drew it by looking at the picture of the real dog. The dog house and soccer ball are from his imagination. He is always excited to come to COLORS and enjoys art very much. I look forward to students like Jose.