Today I was most fortunate to spend time with some brilliant and very talented, teen student artists at Art Connection in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
We began the day with a demonstration by the fabulous pastelist, Virmarie DePoyster, who showed us the many different ways of using pastel mediums and discussed the need for artists to be able to talk to and communicate effectively with our audience through a well-written artist statement. I learned something new and now I have the courage to go on and break out those pastels in my supplies.
Then, after a brief lunch break, I showed the teens my artwork
(illustration, mixed media, and painting) and discussed the different techniques that I use to create them, with emphasis on the importance of practice, persistence, preservation, record-keeping and planning not just for art pieces, but for long-term business goals as artists as well.
Lastly, we all split into two groups. Half of the group stayed in the painting studio, where I will be spending the most of my time mentoring. The other half went into the digital studio to learn the importance of utilizing computer graphics with the amazing Steve Rockwell, who is a multi-disciplined artist and my own mentor.
The takeaway from today:
It is important for artists at all stages in their development to have a community to belong to and support from people like them who have the ability to share their knowledge and stories.
(...and excess art supplies, too. Wink-wink, Kids.)
Thank you all for making today Awesome!
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