3rd Annual TraillWorks Student Art Show Opens

There is a wonderful feeling when you walk into your own exhibition. You see the work as a true extension of yourself. Win or lose, your interests have led you to an accumulation of your personal expression, signed lower right, mounted to best advantage.(Robert Genn)

Works by Monica Solano, Alyse Delaney, and Laurel O'Rourke

Saturday night marked the opening of the 3rd Annual TraillWorks Student Exhibition, which happens to correlate with Youth Art Month. As talks of cuts to art programs are discussed around the country, over 15 student artists exhibited their works that they created over the past year. I'm so proud of their hard work, creativity and ingenuity, as well as the large number of students that wanted to exhibit. Creating artwork is certainly our focus of lessons at TraillWorks, but I deeply believe in showing student work and allowing students to experience in the process of a piece from creation to completion with it hanging on a wall or on display. We artists can spend hours toiling away at our craft, but if it artwork remains hidden, in my opinion, it doesn't much exist.

Students looking at the artwork

Some of my Saturday students

Student, Katelyn O'Connor, viewing the artwork

Students also need to see work of other students. My lessons are very intimate, with six students in the largest class. It's important to see what other ideas and techniques are being worked on, enabling their vision to widen. My students brought friends and family with them to the gallery to show of their accomplishments. For about three hours, students and their guests streamed in and out, looking at the work of other students, as well as their own. The students had an opportunity to meet and talk to the other students and learn more about each others' artworks. As part of the exhibit, students were asked to write a short reflective statement which I hung next to each piece. 

Heart-shaped Sugar Cookies by Maddie Chymiy - Voted Most Artistic

Food is always an important aspect of a reception and in this one I made it the secondary focus of the show. I invited attending students to enter a food item, sweet or savory, to be judged by the guests for its creativity and artistic presentation. This was a nice way of creating a participatory environment, but also avoided giving awards out for the artwork. We had over ten entries - see all of them on the TraillWorks Facebook Page. Three participants won for the most artistic, the top entry being one of my youngest students, Maddie Chymiy, for her painted heart cookies. Phillip Nezamis won in second place for his Rice Krispy castle, and Hannah Manning, Nikki Manning, and Jessica Sparling tied for third place for their individual entries. A fourth award was given to a guest who didn't personally enter, but voted. Dr. Kevin Shaw was randomly selected as the winner. All four winners were offered a choice of prizes ranging from a lesson credit at TraillWorks, gift certificates to local merchants, restaurants, a Dick Blick gift certificate, and an Art Gallery Cookie package from A Cake Dream. 

My husband, Lee, our son, Joel, Corrie Guddemi, and William Somma drawing during the reception

Joel and Me as he was leaving.

Families of the students

Being a family affair, my husband, Lee, and our son, Joel came by for awhile. Many of my students and their families have been around since I was pregnant and have watched Joel grow from a newborn, to an infant, and now a funny little toddler. My associate, Corrie Guddemi, my student, Will Somma, and my husband, Lee, all sat down with Joel to get a little creative. He loves coming to Mommy's studio, and he didn't want to leave. I'm ever so grateful for the supportive and loving clients I have that have embraced Joel since his very beginning. 

Many congratulations to all of the talented and eager students that I have had the joy of teaching, many for over five years now in Sussex County. I hope that TraillWorks will continue to be your choice for artistic growth, now into the future.
Visit our Facebook Page to view a full photo album of the art show.

Student Saturday - Visual

Students at TraillWorks have been busy since my last Student Saturday post back in July - I'm so sorry! Time goes when you're creating and teaching. So I'm going to give you a lot to look at and a brief summary of the work. In my next Student Saturday post, I'll be writing about some exciting upcoming, community-based holiday projects most of my students are working on. 

Turtle, Ceramic with Rub n' Buff, by Jesse Sparling

Elephant, Ceramic with Rub n' Buff, Niki Manning

Platypus, Ceramic with Rub n' Buff, Hannah Manning

Examples of carved animals created through subtractive sculpting (students begin with a brick of clay and then carve away to allow the form to emerge). Subtractive sculpting was the method used by Michelangelo to carve the David, among other works. These sculptures were loosely inspired by stylized Zuni carvings, but then finished with metallic Rub n' Buff paints. 

Castle of Sisterhood, Mixed Media, Taige Kellenberger

The Sisters' Fantasy Tree, Mixed Media, Baily Kellenberger

The two drawings above began as an architecture project. The students looked at architectural flash cards featuring Greek / Roman conventions. They then used individual forms to create their own unique, modern architectural design. Use of space was important to consider, both girls above created spaces that they might play in with their sisters. The drawings were started in pencil, colored in India ink pens and watercolor washes, and then the backgrounds painted in gold tempera. 

Untitled, Acrylic and Collage on Illustration Board, Julia Young, Age 9

 

Cow Collage, Acrylic Collage, Rachel Young, Age 7

The Young sisters worked on the above paintings over the course of several months, started when I was still at 135 Spring Street. They took some time off and then re-enrolled after my relocation and finished these pieces over the summer. These were the girls' first experiences painting in acrylic. Rather than paint the backgrounds, they both chose to collage using silk-screened and rice papers.

Lamp Post, Pen on Paper, Will Somma, Age 10

This drawing was the first piece that Will did with me since his return to TraillWorks this summer. I've been teaching Will off and on since he was five years old when I was teaching in my home studio. For this piece, Will worked on several sequential timed sketches, starting with a few two-minute drawings, and then working up to 5 and 10-minutes. After he drew the final full-length drawing, I suggested that he take elements of the lamppost and extend it out into the paper, creating an interesting stylization and abstraction. The piece is finished with India ink pens and colored pencils. He's come a long way since we first started together!

Gumby, Acrylic on Board, 15" x 20", June Nezamis, Adult

Trolls, Acrylic on Illustration Board, 15" x 15", Phoebe Nezamis, Age 15

All Interlocked, Acrylic on Board, 15" x 20", Phillip Nezamis, Age 12

The Nezamis family finished these design paintings a few months ago. Working with a single subject matter, they had to create a unified design incorporating overlapping, scale, repetition, variety, emphasis, movement, pretty much using all of the elements and principles of design. Once they came up with a design, color was chosen by picking a specific color scheme. This was their first exposure to color mixing. We worked with Liquitex Matt Basics acrylics, which act similarly to gouache, but are much easier to work with.

Stone Castle Cake, Watercolor and Colored Pencil, Noa Shaw, Age 9

You know of my interest in cakes. So many of my students have created 2-D watercolor concept drawings for cake designs. This was a birthday cake designed by Noa with the theme of castles. After looking at many cake designs by famed cake bakers, he researched castle pictures, and focused on their texture and architectural features to achieve this interesting design. The finished drawing features watercolor washes, ink pens, and graphite.  

Untitled, Pastel and Marker, Ava Grace Levin, Age 6

Here's a new twist on Harry the duck by new student Ava Levin. If you look close you should be able to find some Harrys in there. Ava decided to finish the drawing by using farm buildings and machinery. A nice ode to Sussex County!
 

The Lion and the Unicorn, Mixed Media Relief, Miles Shaw, Age 7

After reading a Mother Goose nursery rhyme book, Miles chose one about a lion and a unicorn battling over a town. He illustrated the nursery rhyme by creating a relief sculpture from foam core, Styrofoam, packing peanuts, and white cording. He had to utilize the principles and elements of design to visually convey his illustration and build up enough of a relief to create contrast so the forms are visible in all white. 

Percolator, Charcoal on Ingres, Hannah Manning, Age 10

Glass Pitcher, Charcoal on Ingres, Jesse Sparling, Age 13

Glass Pitcher, Charcoal on Ingres, Niki Manning, Age 12

 

Lastly, more work by Jesse Sparling, and the Manning sisters. The girls chose an object in the studio from which to draw. Using vine charcoal, compressed charcoal and charcoal pencils, they drew from observation and focused on shading values, pulling out highlights with a kneaded eraser. 

Bravo everyone! I'm always so excited by what is achieved and created by my students at TraillWorks. So much interesting stuff is going on now. So check in soon for another Student Saturday to find out what's going on in the lesson studio.