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So no one told you it was gonna be this way...
by Rebel Mahieu
Best of Show |
Last weekend I judged and critiqued the annual Art on the
Oasis show in Colby, Kansas. It was enlightening in so many ways. Judging always makes me study up on composition,
color theory, and critique.
I was caught off guard by a question from the crowd about my
credentials. I started with certification in art education, which this person
laughed off, as he could paint better than most of his instructors. Understandable. What would you offer as your
credentials that would satisfy a critic? I mused on this with last night’s
insomnia, and decided that making art for 50+ years, intensively for the last
20, as well as working to improve my art with workshops from master teachers,
consultations with other artists, and lots of studying is more important than
any degrees, memberships, or show resume bullet points. The more you make art, the better you get.
And I would argue that, at least for me, teaching pushes my expertise up a
notch by the preparation required to feel confident in front of students.
This Colby show is organized into three skill levels, each with
seven categories of medium. Different
categories are appreciated, as it's nearly impossible to compare a
photograph to a well-executed oil landscape--like apples and oranges. In fact, as a one-of-a-kind-mixed-media
artist, I recognize my bias against a photographer who can make multiple prints
of a good photo. However, this judging experience made me realize that
categories can be cumbersome and need to be understandable to the public. There were pieces entered as drawing that
were clearly mixed media. Their category “Oil
or any other opaque not listed in another class” put fabric batik in with oils. Multiple
categories mean more awards for artists, but more cost for the hosting
organization. And, with so many possible mediums, it’s hard to know where to
stop in making a fair contest.
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Wolverine
by Elizabeth Gladin
1st, student drawing media |
There were over 200 student entries. One senior from Southern Valley Schools in
Nebraska came for critique of her watercolor abstract and 2nd place acrylic
of a combine in the field. Her courage
and willingness to improve skills will be useful in her art ed classes at Wayne
State College. High school artists are limited by poor quality supplies and the
47-minute class time, where 10 minutes is wasted with take out and cleanup.
Still, they produce impressive art, like the first place Wolverine graphite portrait shown on the right. (This photo is cropped to remove the entry label.)
In judging different skill levels, I was struck with the
fact that a lot of the difference in skill showed up in presentation. A majority of amateur entries had poorly cut
mats, unpainted canvas edges, warped paper, or frames with no spring clips.
Even in the professional level, the difference between two perfect pieces came
down to matting with frayed edges from using a dull blade.
An artist’s signature shows pride in one’s work, and I am
all for unobtrusive signing. But an
obvious signature should be in sync with the personality of the artwork. Three
signatures stand out in this show: one, with traditional acrylic landscapes, paints
his signature in small capital lettering; the second, a photographer, uses black
marker, centering the smallish script signature on top of double white matting,
with a long horizontal line before and after. Both these artists had multiple
works in the show and their signatures were consistent, creating a recognizable
branding of their work. The third signature was much bigger than I prefer, but
executed in the style of the charcoal drawing, so as to almost blend with the
image. This artist had other works in the show that were not signed in the same
manner. I prefer branded signatures as a professional statement, but for some
reason, this one worked for me. I wonder
if the same script, only much smaller would work for his brand…. All that being
said, do you want me to remember the art or your signature? Maybe both!
As I talked aloud in the critique about my decisions, I
realized how important storytelling is in my appreciation of art. Given equal quality compositions, and
masterful use of media, I will always choose art that tells a good story.
Sometimes that is found in the image itself. Sometimes I find stories in writing or
ephemera used in mixed media. And a great title will lead me to the story. Someone in the audience had known judges who
purposely don’t look at titles. I know I did not notice all the titles, but
when creativity is used in a title, it can lead the viewer to take another
look, to empathize with the artist’s struggles, or to laugh out loud—which
makes the art memorable.
In addition to all the above musings, I must mention the
satisfaction I get from connecting with other artists at events like this. I loved meeting others who create in remote
areas, and seeing many Nebraska art friends there for the critique.
I learned a lot from this experience…I hope you have too!
my great-grandparents and their four children (the hired man was also in the photo). I had several prints of this small painting and used it in an early stage of Nebraska Roots. The image became precious...thus, the struggle. It's difficult to work around a part that you love in a collage, because it may become obliterated...or try to take over the composition. You can see here the photo fights the tree as a focal point. And I loved the real pressed leaves on that tree! They had to go.
My brother had done a lot of family history work a few years ago, and mom had given him a box of family documents. He emailed me some photos of letters our great-grandfather, William Vasey, had written in 1879 to"Eliza, my dear wife," who stayed in Iowa while he set up the homestead in Dawson County, Nebraska. I made gel transfers of his beautiful handwriting (on the right), creating another "precious" problem.
In the letters, he answers her questions about Indians in the region (1500 camped in the western part of Frontier County), tells of being cheated out of one site, going over 50 miles to the Loup River to obtain cedar logs for foundation of their house, and says land is going fast.. "if there is anyone wanting to come out here, tell them they had better come soon."
Here, in the fifth photo, I tried to lose the precious, but couldn't because that's what it was all about! I had actually painted over my grandfather, and could hardly see the great-grandparents...so I cut out duplicate images of those three, making them more important (though still pretty small), and actually moved my grandfather to the place where the hired man was in the original.
My son had a surprising critique for me. He said I'm too subtle! He saw color and missed all the hidden detail until I pointed it out. And he That's sort of how I've always painted...using the layers of collage to hide secrets.
