Around the Studios...

Photos by Gary Ratliff

Most of these images are from ART 361, Sculpture I, James Davis instructor, the rest are from around the 3D Arts Studio.

Thanks Gary for your images!

"You Think my Work is Pretty?"

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Everybody seems settled into their classes and critiques are underway along with many interesting projects. As we begin the new semester I think it's important to a take some time to think about what the critique is and what it means to each of us individually.

In school, critiques (often referred to as "crits") are a necessary part of education (and grades). Outside of school the critique can be an essential tool for building a successful body of work. As an artist long out of school I look for those instances when I can get good solid feedback. Of course in school and out-of-school there are always the critics who are going to tell you what they think, whether you want to hear about it or not. I still remember being a student and having to deal with folks who knew nothing about my work and yet felt compelled to tell me all that was wrong with it. Sometimes this even included the instructor! As I got older and more mature I realized that my instructors new more than I gave them credit for, but my lack of experience didn't allow me to listen and take their comments into consideration. I know better now!

In Nita Leland's essay Surviving Workshop Critiques she mentions about being wary of critiques that are nothing but "feel-good sessions". How right she is! How boring is it to have everyone just nod their heads and say, "yes, it's pretty". What a waste of time! Ms. Leland has some good ideas in her essay, check it out.

In ARTSEDGE Joyce Payne lays out a basic outline for a critique session. Although there are some points I tend to skip over in my classes, one idea that she mentions I find to be critical and unfortunately it's one we don't often stick to; Describing the work without using value words such as "beautiful" or "ugly". Her essay reminds me of why that is so important. I think it is something that I am going to try and push in more of my class critiques. Also check out her section called Judgement and Evaluation. Wow, that's a tough one, especially for us, it will be a good one to discuss in class. I am curious to find out what all you students think about the value of discussing the originality of a work and what makes it so. When I was in school this came up on a regular basis, but it doesn't seem to be something that comes up enough in our class crits. That's something I would like to change. To start we might have to have a conversation about what "original" means... Wow, that could be an interesting discussion.

New Semester!

Wow! Already another semester is coming around the corner. It hardly seems right, but at the same time is also one of the most exciting times of the year! Lots of preparation on the part of the faculty, some new tools, and full class sections for all the 3D, ceramics, and sculpture classes. The 3D Arts Building will be a very busy place starting next week. Soon our halls will be filled with lots of new work, but to start off in a positive way, here is some of the fantastic work we got at the end of the summer semester.

Ending up the Summer Semester

It has been a terrific summer term! With a few exceptions almost all the students really have risen to the occasion during this intense summer session. Last year was my first year doing this course and we got in only one jam packed kiln at the the very end. This semester we have tripled that effort with three jammed kiln firings (I can't even count how many bisque firings we did). Just last night we loaded it up and set it to candle over night, boy it was packed! We had way, way too much fun with this last load-up! We are tag team firing (me in the AM did the bumps, James will do the body reduction, and Taylor will do shut down in the afternoon.) The volume of work we got this semester was just grand. I can't wait to see everything during the final critiques on Tuesday. Here are a few picks of our kiln crew and the final packed kiln. Cheers!

From left to right- Taylor, Crista, Anna (front), James, and Amlan. I am pretty sure we have successfully recruited Amlan to the dark side.

Final Senior Project - Nicole Moree

Nicole Moree- Artist Statement

I am from Florence, Mississippi and have been attending USM since 2005. The concept of my Senior Show is “overprocreation”. This body of work is my reaction to the society that I live in. People procreate at a rate that astounds me. I believe our society is a lazy and selfish one. We live in an era where people dodge responsibility or try and pass it on to someone else. My work is based upon the outrageous number of babies that are spat into existence by people who are not prepared for the responsibility of rearing them. We live in a time in which this can all be prevented, but it seldom is.

Spring ARTwalk

Here are some images from the April 18th, Artwalk that students and some faculty and staff took part in. I was a great success and for the most part the gallery was jammed with viewers. I tried to get a few pics when it was a bit more quite. I can't stress how important it is to show your work, as a student or a professional. People need to see what we do and I know the folks of Hattiesburg are very appreciative of the work that they see. Shows and exhibitions are also very important for resumes and can help a great deal in getting more shows, grants, into grad school, jobs, commissions, to name a few. Take advantage of every opportunity to show, you'll be happy you did!

Wood, Wood Everywhere and Not a Bit to Burn!

Last week the Sculpture I class finally finished their wood projects. A few delays and some extra time and everybody had something to show. I really wasn't sure what I was going to see; so many folks decided too early on they hated wood, but in the end we got some good stuff. My overall opinion is that we had some very good ideas but could use a bit of work on the execution. No doubt wood is one of the harder materials to learn to use, some folks had an easier time than others but overall and I think the students did a fair job of working with it.