Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.
~ Benjamin Franklin
Photography
The world is full of visual information and I aim to capture as many beautiful snippets of this visual conversation as I can. Every day I open my eyes I find something new to be amazed at. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of textures and colors along a wall; the personality in the subject; the unexpected discovered hidden in the every day; or perhaps just by looking up the change in view offers a new in visual experience. Whatever the reason, I find that there is always something beautiful worth looking at and sharing.
Paintings
During my college experience I dabbled in various concentrations and enjoyed them all. The last one to officially learn was painting. While I had painted on canvases with different paint mediums over the years, I had yet to take any formal lessons on the subject. Through this experience I learned to gain confidence in my ability to accurately capture and understand the value of the things I see everyday. The following are examples from ART 130: Beginning Painting with Oils.
Prints
Having rediscovered art again in college, printmaking was the first time I came to accepting terms with the physical labor that went into the art-making process. The completion of each successful print was entirely worth the blood, sweat, and tears. The following are examples from both an introductory printmaking course as well as an independent study in which I focused mainly on learning more about the intaglio process.
Graphic Design
Studying graphic design was a turning point for me in my career. The addition of an art history minor re-sparked an interest in art I had not formally interacted with since elementary school. The exploration of graphic design was the first time I began to seriously consider art as a professional endevor. I spent three years working as a student and a temporary graphic designer for the Educational Materials Center in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. While working on this degree, I was able to explore other areas of art such as photography and printmaking as well as formally develop my skills in drawing and color theory. This served to create the foundation on which I now stand.
Ceramics
Most artist have a love/hate relationship with their work in that they simultaneously love and hate each step that goes along with it. Overall, it is this dynamic relationship that really defines the artist. Ceramics really helped me to understand myself as an artist. I learned to appreciate how being focused, meticulous, and strategic could harmonize so well with being fluid in adaptability, quick-thinking, and open-minded. It was here that I recognized that my instinctual artistic medium is one that will requires the most physical labor, creates the most mess, and results in the most dynamic, beautiful, and unexpected change. Nothing stays the same from step to step and everything requires an up close, personal and delicate touch. The following are examples taken from two ceramic courses (ART 214 and 313) specializing in hand-building wheel-throwing respectively.