Teaching

A Photo Gallery from My LASM Exhibition Trip

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I have a few more photos to share from my LASM exhibition and associated demos/events!  This was a fantastically fun trip, all thanks to the amazing Dr. John Pojman.

A Sneak Peek at My In-Progress Sloth Bas Relief

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As I've mentioned before, I'm teaching an extra course this semester - Honors Seminar: Interdisciplinary Art.  The course is structured into a few different sections, with the first exploring my own interdisciplinary interests (science and art, particularly involving the fields of ecology, biology, anatomy, botany, and my collaborative work in chemistry with Dr. John Pojman developing 3P QuickCure Clay).  

For this segment, the students must use QCC and make at least one piece of artwork that explores the fields listed above that are interdisciplinary interests of mine.  Since it's such a personal-to-me assignment, I decided I'd join in on the project.  I'd considered doing a sloth for a while - I met and got to directly interact with one named Peregrina in Peru during my 2014 residency there - but I didn't want the piece to be too cutesy so I kept dismissing the subject matter until I felt ready to tackle it with a somewhat more complex take on the animal.   I decided the time is now, mostly due to finding this elongated panel (its dimensions are 6x12") which felt like a perfect match to the gangly nature of the sloth.  

I plan to paint it, so the end piece will look considerably different than this, but here's a sneak peek at the relief work before adding any paint.

Spring Classes are Coming!

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The Spring 2017 semester is almost upon us!  At the University of Saint Mary, we commemorate Martin Luther King Day instead of taking it as a holiday, so Monday was slated to be out first day of classes... but the weather has other plans, and to avoid the predicted ice storm and attempt to help unravel the resultant travel complications our students are already facing, we have canceled classes on Monday and will instead begin Spring 2017 classes on Tuesday.

This semester, I am teaching an overload (five classes instead of my typical four): Basic Design, Drawing II, Typography, Honors Seminar: Interdisciplinary Art, and Art Career Internship/Advanced Studios/Senior Exhibit.  The overload is due to taking on the Honors Seminar; I'm very excited about it as I got to create the class entirely with our honor student population and my own academic interests in mind.

Speaking of Student Work...

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One of my students, Ryan Hill, just sent me this video he made featuring a time lapse of our recent Goppert Gallery installation as well as a tour of the exhibition!  It's super cool:

Info] The art setup on 7 December 2016 at the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth. Artwork displayed in the video by various members of the Saint Mary students.

My Art Majors' New Websites!

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As a part of my Portfolio Seminar class (basically a career preparation course), I require my students to make a website if they don't already have one.  None of these enrolled students already had one, so these are all brand new - check them out!

anthonyiii.com
arciliagonzalez.com
dravenwood.weebly.com
freedominked.com
kristinacarbrey.weebly.com

Goppert Gallery Exhibition Photos!

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Here are some images of the show!  I got sidetracked by an alumna when I was walking around photographing so I haven't taken pictures of the whole of the show yet, but that just means there's more to experience if you want to stop by - the show's up through the 15th.

An image of my wall of artwork from the exhibition.

Looking at my wall from the other side.

Goppert Gallery Exhibition

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I'm exhibiting my series of botanical-garden-themed mixed media reliefs made on residency this summer at La Maison Verte in Marnay-sur-Seine, France, as well as the first three paintings in my ongoing puffin series inspired by my 2014 Icelandic residency in the University of Saint Mary's Goppert Gallery!  My work is in its own distinct space, but the Gallery has a number of rooms to it and is also simultaneously exhibiting student artwork from this past semester as well as our graduating senior Brandon Handy's senior thesis exhibition, "Nature from Afar and Close-Up." The gallery is free and open to the public, with exhibition dates and times as follows:

December 9-15, 2016, 10am-4pm with an opening reception today from 3-5pm - complimentary refreshments will be served.

If you'd like to join us, Goppert Gallery is on the ground floor of Xavier Hall on the University of Saint Mary's main campus found at 4100 S. 4th Street in Leavenworth, KS.  Here's the full press release if you're interested, though since we sent it out we've changed a few details so this post has the most current information.

I'll upload some photos shortly!

Spring 2016 Student Art Exhibition Reception Photos

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Here are the Spring 2016 Student Art Exhibition photos!  We invited local artist Beth Snider to be our guest judge in handing out Miller Awards, so you can see her presenting those in a couple photos.  44 students exhibited in the show (which ran from April 29 through May 5).  Classes I taught that were represented include Typography, Printmaking, Painting I & III, and Advanced Studios in Mixed Media and Tattoo Design.

End of Year Art Exhibit 2016

2016 Art Major Project Opening Reception

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The Art Program at USM releases all art majors, minors, and liberal studies focus students from their studio art courses for six school days in order to work on a collaborative project.  This year, they were led by local guest artist Mary Ellen Maxwell and tasked with creating assemblages that have both independent and collaborative elements.  The opening reception is this Friday, February 12th from 3-5pm in Goppert Gallery in USM's Xavier Hall.

Here's the press release for more details!

Spring 2016 Courses

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The University of Saint Mary's Spring 2016 semester is officially starting on Monday, January 18th (aka tomorrow if you're reading this post on the day it's published).  I'll be teaching Painting I, II, & III; Printmaking; Typography; and Advanced Studios, Internships, & Senior Show.  That counts as a four course load, which is standard for USM.  I was scheduled for an overload of five courses - Drawing II was also on the calendar - but none of our students chose to take it this semester.  

I've taught all of these courses before, but I did adjust some of the syllabi and projects based on former student feedback and how my own media interests have developed, so I'm excited to see how the courses progress this time.  (And, obviously, each semester is already different because the students also change.)  One of the reasons I really enjoy working at USM is that I do get to teach a variety of courses instead of a number of sessions of the same course, and that's true not only within a semester but also across multiple semesters.  I find the course rotation keeps the material fresh and interesting for me.

Goppert Gallery Exhibition Reception Tomorrow

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Not only are we on the eve of our biannual Student Art Exhibition, but university administration requested that we have a two-person faculty show as well!  So anyone who is in the area should stop by and check out my artwork, the work of my colleague Susan Nelson, and the work of our fabulous art students.

Opening Reception:
Friday, December 4th from 3-5pm (refreshments will be served; the exhibition is open to the public)

Exhibition Hours:
December 4-10, 10am-4pm

Location:
The University of Saint Mary
Goppert Gallery (located on the ground floor of Xavier Hall)
4100 S. 4th Street
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Press Release:
You can see the full release here, but I've included the bulk of it below.

Art Students Showcase Their Work in the Fall 2015 Student Art Exhibit

12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM
(Leavenworth, Kan.)—From whimsical drawings to captivating photography, the University of Saint Mary displays the impressive work of 41 art students in the Fall 2015 Student Art Exhibit.
 
All students enrolled in a studio-art course—including Drawing I, Ceramics I, Photography I, Computer Graphics, Digital Page Layout, and Advanced Studio in Airbrush—are given the opportunity to show their favorite pieces from the semester. The artwork of Associate Professor of Art Susan Nelson and Art Program Director Shelby Prindaville will also be on display.  
 
“Every semester, students look forward to sharing their work with the community,” said Prindaville. “It’s their chance to show what they’ve been learning and perfecting in class.”
 
She went on to explain, “Students learn how to select and mat appropriate pieces as well as get the valuable experience of having an audience view their work in the context of an exhibition. USM art majors and minors actually organize and install the show—learning gallery and museum preparator skills, too.”

Employment Options in the Arts

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I have a number of students ask me what careers they can pursue in the arts.  This list is by no means exhaustive and includes some careers best served by dual majors, but here are some of the possible employers/roles in no particular order:

  • technical/medical illustration with the military, medical publishing, engineering firms
  • commercial illustration
  • graphic design/web design/user interface design
  • game development
  • animation
  • 3D animation
  • running CAD systems
  • film
  • concept artist
  • product design
  • advertising/marketing
  • printmaking studios
  • photography studios
  • ceramics studios
  • jewelry studios
  • metalsmithing
  • furniture restoration/design
  • textile studios
  • personal studio practice
  • portrait artist
  • caricature artist
  • art festival circuit
  • Etsy/Amazon Handmade/online vendor
  • tattoo parlors
  • sign companies
  • galleries/museums
  • art theory/writing
  • scene design
  • interior design
  • faux-finishing/mural work in collaboration with interior designers
  • staging store window displays
  • cake decorator
  • special effects/makeup artist
  • art teaching positions at K-12 private schools (public typically requires additional certification beyond a BA in art)
  • community arts center/camp/craft instructors
  • teaching adults at those "Painting and Pinot" type night/weekend classes
  • private art lessons

With graduate school, additional options open up like art therapy, higher education, and more.