Meet six Kentucky artists working principally in two-dimensional art—from painting and printmaking to textiles and photography—in this third part of the Spectrum of Art.
Painting: Robert Tharsing
Painter Robert Tharsing talks about how he became interested in abstract painting and demonstrates his unique process of layering paint onto the canvas to create the illusion of depth and a sense of energy. He describes his process as a “natural progression to eliminate imagery and focus on abstraction, on the idea.” Created with a squeegee and a vivid palette of pastel tones, the canvases shown in this excerpt avoid definition and the traditional connection viewers make about the artist’s hands and the brush, encouraging a thoughtful interaction with a totally unified vision.
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about artists’ methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion. (See the “Making Art” section of the binder for activities that use this medium or are based on the artist’s ideas and approaches to art.)
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art, especially the questions abstract painters encounter concerning their work.
Compare and contrast the techniques and methods Tharsing uses with those employed by the five abstract artists featured in the “Abstraction: Ideas/Process” segments on Spectrum of Art.
Compare and contrast the techniques and methods different artists use in their approach to the same medium, using painter profiles from Spectrum of Art and Through Artists’ Eyes, especially painters who use techniques and styles different from abstraction.
Use as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.
Murals: Andee Rudloff
Bowling Green artist Andee Rudloff describes her process for painting large-scale murals, from planning the work to transferring the initial sketches onto a building’s surface. She compares the physical challenges of painting outdoors and at this scale to running a marathon, saying that she has to keep a vision of the completed work in mind from the very beginning in order to keep going. She also enjoys the feedback she gets from passersby watching the development of a piece.
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about artists’ methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion. (See the “Making Art” section of the binder for activities that use this medium or are based on the artist’s ideas and approaches to art.)
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art, especially the challenges mural painters encounter concerning their work.
Compare and contrast the techniques and methods different artists use in their approach to the same medium, using painter profiles from Spectrum of Art and Through Artists’ Eyes, especially painters who use techniques and styles different from abstraction.
Use as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.
Printmaking: Derrick Riley
Derrick Riley discusses his subject matter—the flaws of society—and the various influences on his work, from other professional woodcut artists to popular music. He demonstrates the process of creating a reduction woodcut print in his University of Kentucky studio and talks about the images of robots, a decaying future landscape, and the other nonhuman characters that inhabit each scene. He also discusses his background, how he transferred his drawing skills to printmaking in college, and his approach to teaching.
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about artists’ methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion. (See the “Making Art” section of the binder for activities that use this medium or are based on the artist’s ideas and approaches to art.)
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art, especially the challenges printmakers encounter concerning their work.
Compare and contrast the techniques and methods different artists use in their approach to the same medium (e.g., using the Stephanie Potter profile from Through Artists’ Eyes).
Use as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.
Fiber: Arturo Sandoval
Fiber artist Arturo Sandoval shows viewers the process he developed to create the Millennium Project—a massive fiber composition that took four years to complete. With Mylar webbing, netting, yarn, textured thread, one billion stitches, four years, seven full-time workers, various other helpers, and one artist behind it, the monumental Millennium Project now hangs in the Singletary Center for Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky. The artist discusses the collaborative development and construction of the project as well as his methods for incorporating part of that collaboration into his classroom.
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about the artist’s methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion. (See the “Making Art” section of the binder for activities that use this medium or are based on the artist’s ideas and approaches to art.)
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art, especially the challenges fiber artists and monument designers encounter concerning their work.
Compare and contrast Sandoval’s approach to fiber art with Dobree Adams’ approach, as demonstrated in the “Weaving/Photography” segment from Through Artists’ Eyes.
Use as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.
Photography: Uwe Ommer
Photographer Uwe Ommer tells the story behind his international photography project, 1000 Families: Family Album of Planet Earth, exhibited in fall 2004 at the Speed Art Museum. It took four years and 180,000 miles of traveling around the globe to complete. This exhibit shows a range of different families from various cultural backgrounds, connecting them in the presentation while emphasizing the central idea of “family.”
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about the artist’s methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion.
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art. Discuss the idea behind the 1,000 Families exhibition.
Compare and contrast Ommer’s approach to photography with those of other photographers such as Tom Myers (from the “Photography” segment on Spectrum of Art) and Dobree Adams (from the “Weaving/Photography” segment on Through Artists’ Eyes). Extend the comparison by discussing photographs found on the Kentucky Virtual Art Museum CD-ROM.
Use as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.
Photography: Tom Myers
Tom Myers of Lexington, a nature photographer and trained entomologist whose extensive knowledge of insects has enabled him to take exquisite photographs of these creatures, talks about his travels around the globe in search of new subjects to photograph. His extensive collection of work includes photographs of exotic birds, wolves, bears, moose, and the wildlife of Africa. He also talks about a trip to penguin territory in Antarctica.
Suggested Uses:
Use to spark a discussion about the artist’s methods and intentions as well as the creative process in general. Have students create art based on the video and your discussion.
Use in conjunction with a discussion of the purposes of art.
Compare and contrast Myers’ approach to photography to those of other photographers such as Uwe Ommer (from the “Photography” segment on Spectrum of Art) and Dobree Adams (from the “Weaving/Photography” segment on Through Artists’ Eyes).
Compare and contrast Myers’ photographs to works by John James Audubon in the Audubon Museum gallery on the Kentucky Virtual Art Museum CD-ROM.
Use the segment as part of a “careers in the arts” unit or as an introductory activity before an artist-in-residence visits your classroom.