2 paintings, 2 handmade wooden frames and 3 posters. 52.5 hours of in-class time and at least the same amount, if not more, working outside of class, so over one hundred hours spent on the show. It sounds easy making art 24/7, fun even, but it was so demanding of your time/energy/skill/brain. I literally would go to class and paint, go to my next class and paint, go back to my room and paint, paint at night, paint in the morning, paint on Saturday, paint on Sunday. For hours. My desk, dresser, floor. All covered with paint pallets. My room was never clean. I literally lived my work. Now, my work is submitted, and I am free.
As a graduating BFA student, you have to partake in the Senior Thesis Show in order to graduate. It is my first gallery showing and I am sure it is many other students first “show” as well. To be honest, it was simply exhausting… but so exciting. The whole point of the show is to produce work that is reflective of all you have learned as an art student and focus yourself in a direction with your work. Each participating graduate produces 5-8 pieces, outside of class, that all come from your own thoughts and imagination. I feel accomplished.
Now, there are fewer pallets in my room, it is actually clean, and I rediscovered my desk. It feels empty. I have spent the last few days literally doing nothing. Things I didn’t have time to do before. And I am ok with that. I am still working on projects but they seem less pressing because the deadline is a little further away and I am more in control of the situation.
The opening is Monday, November 19th at 6 PM. Family and friends are coming. Strangers are coming. I am excited to celebrate, really take it all in and share the moment. There will be food, drinks and art. All for free. It can’t really get any better than that. I hope to see you there!!
Tagged as:
Art,
senior,
thesis
Hi all! I am new to the Fontbonne University blogging community so an introduction is only appropriate.
My name is Kelia, pronounced “Kayla.” A lot of people, teachers included, know me as “Kayla,” but freak out when they see my name on paper. So don’t worry if when you read my name on paper you wonder who the heck that person is. It happens to the best of them. Once you get over the weird spelling, I think it means we are friends.
First thing first, I am a senior! This is my last semester of college. Last. Semester. How insane is that?! Unbelievable. Three point five years have never gone so fast in my life. If there were a mantra that should be scribed all over every notebook/agenda/wall of incoming freshman, it’s this: Life goes too fast. Appreciate it, have fun, worry less, smile more. Just because you are a college student does not mean you should adopt the stress level of Obama. This is something I wish I would have tuned in on. Have fun while you can and study when you should.
I am majoring in Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. I love art. Every type. I love to create. I will probably be writing a lot about this. Expect to see musings about my art classes, which are: Painting with Tim Liddy, Life Size Painting with Victor Wang, Senior Project with Tim Liddy, Digital Imaging with Denise Shilling, and Wood Working with Mark Douglas. If you have no idea who these professors are, go find them and introduce yourself. It’s not everyday you get to hang around actual, real life, thriving Artists. The Art Professors of Fontbonne University are incredibly talented and profoundly caring. They create art, and they sell art. Some of the works are in New York, Europe and Hong Kong. They are kind of a big deal. Shake their hands, ask them questions, be their friend.
The other class: Kitchen Survival: Cook Well, Eat Well, Live Well (the special topics course.) Because of the awesome dedicated semester topic of Foodology, this cooking class was offered and I could not resist. I love food, I love to cook and bake and I love to be healthy. Best class ever. I will most definitely be writing about the creations from this class.
I am from Kentucky. I was born in Ohio as a 3 month early premi. I live in Northern Kentucky when I am not in ST. Louis attending school. My family lives about 7 minutes from Cincinnati Ohio, where I plan on landing a job. Expect to read about me missing my family, friends and my amazing boyfriend of 3 years and 7 months. Hey, long distance relationships suck, so every month counts.
Exercise: I love it! I love to run and have run competitively since 7th grade. I have been playing soccer since the age of 4. In high school I ran cross country and played varsity soccer at the same time all four years. I love the dedication and physical demands you ask of your body as an athlete. I found Fontbonne because I was recruited by a past cross country coach and fell in love with the school, the program and the area. I ran Cross Country and Track for 2 solid years, switched to soccer last year, and this year I am doin’ my own thing. I like to lift weights, I like to run, I like to sweat.
I am really excited to share my experiences as a last semester college Senior with everyone! Thanks for reading,
-Kelia
Tagged as:
Art,
Athletics,
Fine Arts,
Food,
senior year
I have been taking Victor Wang’s Oil Painting Techniques class this semester. In the class we go through the painting methods of three master painters; Jan Van Eyck, Titian, and Peter Paul Rubens. These three painters exemplify the three central methods of traditional oil painting.
Since I have been learning about traditional painting methods, I have been wondering what it was like for a painter back then. They painted when an artist couldn’t go to the store and browse through a shelf full of synthetic oil paints, nicely pre-packaged in little tubes for convenience. This led me to the question, “Where DID they get their paints?”
So, I have begun to research how to make paints. I started by purchasing pigments, which are colored powders that are mixed with oil to make paint. Still, this seemed too commercial. I wanted to know what it is really like to make paint from start to finish. I begun with the easiest pigments to make, which are earth tones. I searched out colored earth of different colors, looking for reds and yellows. I found two that I really like in Des Peres. One is yellow rock, and the other is a reddish colored dirt. I brought them back to my studio, and began grinding…and grinding…and grinding. Grinding it down until I had a powder fine enough to go through a metal coffee filter. The next step is to mix the pigment with linseed oil, and then grind it together. This step takes about 3 hours of grinding for a small tube of paint. Then, when the pigment is ground into the oil, I put the paste into tubes, and voila! Oil paint!
I thought that this project would just be about how it felt for the masters to make their own paint from raw materials, but now I’ve started using them and I can really tell the difference! My own paints don’t have fillers or preservatives, they are pure pigment and oil. I’m hooked.
The amount of time and energy that goes into making paint probably makes buying it end up being a little bit cheaper. However, it is not nearly as rewarding. Now I have started working on a bluish-green pigment made by suspending copper over vinegar(the masters used urine instead, but I thought I would spare my classmates from the smell). The result is a teal rust that I can’t wait to make paint out of.
I plan to slowly replace all of the paints on my palette, one color at a time.
Tagged as:
Art,
Fine Arts,
oil painting,
paint
Every few months the art department invites a visiting artist to come and do a critique with the graduate students. Most of them are professors from nearby schools, but sometimes they are more prominent painters. For the last two days we have been spending time with Jerome Witkin. He is a phenomenal painter with works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in the Hirshhorn Museum in D.C.
Getting a fresh perspective on our work is always helpful. It is easy to get stuck in a rut talking to the same teacher about my paintings all the time. Having someone new to discuss my work with gives me a fresh start, even if they say all of the same things that my professors do (which is usually the case).
Now that the two days of critiques are over, it is time to apply what was discussed. The visiting artists always leave me with ideas that I need to get down quickly so they don’t fall to the wayside.
The visit with Mr. Witkin was very educational. It is always an honor and a privilege to meet such a high caliber of artist, and I look forward to whoever they find for our next critique.
Tagged as:
Art,
Criticism,
Fine Arts,
painting
