A Joy-Filled Diversity
From late August until early June this month's exhibiting artists may be found in the classroom at Southmont Junior and Senior High Schools teaching art. Summer gives them personal time to soar in pursuit of their own careers as practicing artists. This exhibit manifests the delicious fruits of their extraordinary personal endeavors. Milt Anderson is a young artist, born in 1969, and the new father of a beautiful red-headed baby boy, who lives with his wife and son in Lafayette, Indiana. After graduating from West Lafayette Indiana High School, Milt traveled the world compliments of the United States Navy. When his complimentary travel education was complete, he returned to Indiana and to receive a Fine Art's degree from Purdue University. Soon after graduation Milt began teaching art at Southmont Junior High School. As a practicing artist Milt works with ceramics, wood, and metals. This is his first opportunity to exhibit his work. Eleanor Brewer is a many-faceted renaissance woman who has honed her skills in many and diverse areas. As the Art Department Chair at Crawfordsville's Southmont High School she teaches Advanced Art III & IV, Painting, Drawing, Advanced Placement Art, Computer Graphics and Visual Communications. She is a graduate of Herron School of Art, Indiana University at Indianapolis and Bloomington where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Visual Arts in 1981. In the summer of 1986 she received a Master of Arts in Education and Visual Arts from Indiana University at Indianapolis and Bloomington. She received nine hours at I. U. Bloomington in Gifted & Talented Education and in the summer of 1987 served in a Research Advisory Group, Computer Art Discovery, and A Renaissance in Education, better known as CADRE. In addition to her teaching license, Eleanor earned a Diploma from the Atlanta School of Interior Design in 1995. She was accepted at Indiana Wesleyan University as an Adjunct Professor of Art and Music History in 2007. The renovation and interior design of the RENAISSANCE Gallery & Towers (circa 1876) in historic downtown Ladoga, presented Eleanor with an opportunity to utilize her knowledge and skills in interior design. Incorporating her interdisciplinary method of thinking and teaching, Eleanor developed The Grand Plan of Renaissance Gallery & Towers incorporating a Victorian decor with Classical Music, Impressionist Art, Literature, Civil War era memorabilia, politics, values and aesthetics to complete a "Renaissance of the Spirit" much like the time period in which the Block Centennial Building was built. She has entered many art exhibits and won many ribbons and cash prizes, the most prestigious of which is the 2005 Hoosier Salon, where she won Best of Show in any Medium. She is a member of many professional organizations and often presents to them and others. She has received grants and authored many educational books. Janet McVay comes to us from the "center of the universe," Tangier, Indiana, where she has lived for the past 37 years; though her introduction to West Central Indiana came at a very early age while camping with her family at Turkey Run State Park at the age of 3. Most of Janet's youth was spent in Miami, Florida, but summers provided travel opportunities to visit grandparents in Ohio and New Jersey. Janet's mother, an Art Major herself, nurtured the family in a love of the arts, often visiting art museums, symphony concerts, and dramatic productions on their many trips into New York City and elsewhere. Janet's greatest love, however, was summer camp in the hills of western New Jersey where she spent eight weeks each summer. The family also camped at Chimney Campgrounds in the Great Smokie Mountains near her favorite mountain stream, where she dangled her toes in the cold churning waters and felt surrounded by the wonders of God. Sand, surf, sun and sailing were the wonders she specially enjoyed. Janet visits her mother in Miami several times a year, but living there permanently ended in high school when Janet opted to leave the Miami multitudes to attend a small college in Ohio. Her junior year presented an opportunity to live with two families in Switzerland and in her senior year, she married a sweet guy from Indiana which is the reason for her move back to Parke County where his family resides. Janet lives in an 1870's farmhouse near a still-used barn for feeding their 30 steers. She has been a teacher of Art and Photography at Southmont High School for the past twenty-three years. Her husband has been a teacher for thirty-nine years. Previous to her teaching career, Janet stayed at home while raising their two sons, now teachers themselves who live in the area. Each son is married with two children, providing Janet the privilege of grand parenting. Janet still enjoys traveling, art, photography and classical music. She likes drinking hot coffee from a handmade mug kept warm on the wood-burning stove in her kitchen, and particularly enjoys watching the color as the seasons change. She cherishes her simple lifestyle, the rural beauty of the area, her friends and family who are honest, loving and hard-working people. Life is good! Sandy L. Minick was born in Nurnberg, Germany and grew up in a military family. She spent most of her vacations with her German mother's family in a small village in the Bavarian area of Germany. During her teen years, she enjoyed the most wonderful opportunity to travel and see many of the great art masterpieces of Europe. She loved exploring old castles and palaces and today still immensely enjoys visiting museums. The art teacher in her can never seem to learn enough. Able to create in clay, mixed media, fibers, and with a camera, Sandy still prefers drawing in charcoal or pastels and painting in oils and acrylic. She receives her inspiration mostly from what she hears; then translates it into visual elements. The Lord's word is most important to Sandy in her creation process. After reading devotions and listening to contemporary Christian music she often creates her most vivid pieces. Living on a horse ranch, with fifty-plus horses and all the work that goes along with it, inspires Sandy in the creation of pieces that reflect western cowboy life. Sandy feels most comfortable using earthy or subdued tones with hints of vibrant colors. She strives for strong composition and drawing techniques so that she is able to use soft brush strokes and depth in the paint. She tries to lure the viewer in close to promote an investigation and to stimulate wonder in the viewer about what might be under or beyond the piece itself. Currently she is exploring collage and is trying to develop a more creative approach in her current work. Currently Sandy lives with her husband and three nearly grown sons on a small horse farm adjacent to their families' horse ranch. Together they enjoy working the horses, cattle and buffalo, sweating together over the work involved in caring for a farm. While Sandy has an Art teaching license, she is currently the Vocation Aide at Southmont Senior High School. She is hoping to find a more permanent teaching position in one of the local school systems -- and soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment