The Newest Master of Fine Arts

Yesterday I graduated from PAFA with my Masters Degree, and it has been a whirl wind few days here. I will give a full debrief in the next day or so on the whole event--but for now it feels great to be done and thanks to all of my friends and family for the love and support.

One Week to Graduation

This time next week I will be waking up on Saturday morning as a graduate from PAFA with a Masters in Painting. It has been a long trip, which started in 2008 with me taking an anatomy class in the spring and then entering the undergrad in the fall in the certificate program. I think exhausted is the word of the week for just about everyone I know. There was also a bit of panic for some as well which is typical for the last week of school and the last few days of hanging the ASE. Many spent late nights writing papers or trying to finish paintings and sculptures fighting last minute disasters and brain frying all-nighters.

I unpacked my jeep and then laid out the arrangement of my wall on the floor with Alina's help.That went pretty quick and then Will and I hung the wall in about 2 1/2 hours--a new record. Having hung a lot of shows in the past few years really helped speed this up, as well as having two extra sets of hands.

  I cannot say how great it is to have such a group of good friends at times like Will and Alina, and I think they were actually more excited than I was about my wall and me graduating.

I suppose its a certain numbness one gets too at this time, the numbness from a lot of work and I think sometimes a mix of conflicting emotions, maybe in the weeks and months after I am done and moved out of and settled in away from school I will be able to better reflect back on the end of the MFA process and my time as a student.

I very happy with my ASE  wall and have a great spot right by the stairway and food, so I should get plenty of traffic and that will hopefully lead to sales! My friend Barb Young who has been framing my work for several years now did an outstanding job matting and framing the pieces and they look great. I feel I can actually relax now and enjoy the rest of the ride out the door even if I get kicked in the shins on my final review. For now it feels so good to be basically done with the whole thing except for my final crit in front of my wall. The last month has been the busiest one I think I have ever had between PAFA, teaching and commercial assignments. Its a grind I would never want to repeat, but its paying off now and that feels good.

I think the pieces hang well as a group, I am really happy with the way the wall looks and having two extra pairs of hands made the process go much faster and a lot more fun. There were  a few fellow students hanging their work on Sunday when I was hanging, and that meant the big rush would be coming in the next few days as the deadline to hang the work was last Wednesday afternoon. Brian Boutwell and Mike Gallagher who were in charge of running the show kept a tight ship and these guys really do an awesome job helping prevent disaster and meltdowns. There guys deserve all the kudos and cold brews they can get!

 I learned in the undergrad that getting done as early as possible was the best choice for your ASE wall, so you buckle down early in the semester, bust your ass and that makes the last few weeks easier when you have all of the papers and other things hit you almost every day. If any perspective PAFA painters are reading this (and I know you are) that is my advice. Work early and hard as it will make the end so much better and more enjoyable. I know 30 years of handling deadlines as a pro also help me here as I have learned to live by the deadline and pace myself. Time management is key here, something we all struggle with.

It was fun to walk through the museum and the two floors the rest of the week (Undergrad on the first and MFA on the second) and watch the show go up and see the work by a lot of undergrads I don't know and those that I do. I also pitched out when I could and helped some fellow artists get their pieces done. I enjoy that part of the process a lot, and I think that is something I will miss. I had my final talk with Judith Schaechter in front of my wall for the end of my seminar with her class. Judith banged my writing again in the class as a whole, but liked my landscapes. She also didn't like the draped or hooded female figures, like most of my teachers, yet time and time again I had my fellow students tell me how much they liked them as I received comments on my wall all week. Interesting, it really seems to be a generational thing with those paintings.

My new business cards and post cards to hand out at the show also arrived this week and that was the last detail to check off the list.

The MFA1 crits were this week as well and I did manage to catch the last day of them to see what the first year  artists were up to. Some were kinda' so-so-straight forward and one was a bit more contentious. That's good as it shouldn't all be just nice hand shakes and co-signs. I made it to my friend Gabriel's crit despite the terrible traffic, the result of the torrential flooding ran we had this week.

The crit process is always a mix of feelings for us more representational or figurative painters in the program. I feel its a lot more frustrating for us as painters despite the resurgence of figurative art in general outside of school. The undergrad at PAFA is still pretty traditional but in the MFA program its just not the cupcake of choice.

Clint Jukkala the head of the MFA program texts away after the last crit of the MFA1 years.

I often felt kinda' alone in many regards as a painter doing the figure or landscape, though there are a handful in my class also doing those subjects. The idea of what is "contemporary" or what is good painting just baffles me!

 I cannot disagree more about these esthetics and choices after two years in the MFA program. Two years dealing with modernism and post-post-post whatever has only steeled my convictions and tastes.

 













I also don't want to hear the word "contemporary" ever gain, or at least for a long while! I think its the most overused and miss-used or applied term in the art world.

I can also see the school or the MFA programs shifting before my eyes. My class will be the last  graduating class from PAFA to do a thesis. There are other changes coming as well in the next years and I think the program will be very different in tone and maybe even thrust in the coming years.

My final crit in front of my wall is Tuesday afternoon, right after lunch, and then Thursday is the Women's Board Preview Night and graduation on Frday and the public opening of the ASE. This will be a busy week and one to celebrate!

Group Opening at Ed Olivers

Friday was the opening of the Philadelphia Plein Air painters group show at Ed Oliver's Golf Club in Wilmington. You can read all about it over on the PPAP Blog.

Final Semester: 2 weeks to go!

Things are moving fast now. toward graduation  blasting through the final stages and my launch away from PAFA and into a new orbit and eventually wherever my Art journey will take me post graduation. PAFA evidently has one of the lowest student loan default records of any art school and its something they want to keep, so they had an exit counseling meeting which I attended that basically lays out how to go about paying back the big, fat, huge loan we all have to pay back. I have done all of my final exit counseling on-line and my last in studio crit with Scott Noel, and started actually moving out of my studio on the 8th floor. Most of my work for my ASE wall is done and will go to the framer this week. 

It is a great feeling to essentially be free except for the hanging of my wall and final crit with the faculty, which is really a faits accomplis. I just recieved my date  and schedule for my final review and once again they are running two crits at the same time so there is always going to be conflicts and freinds having final reviews at the same time. I have a lot of critics in my final review I never had as critics during my time in the program, some I avoided to be honest, and most are not painters, but what the hey, how bad can it be--its 20 minutes and then I never have to have another critique in my life.

Scott Noel and I had a really good talk for my final crit and we discussed what my future might be, what I think the MFA might do for me, or not, the value of it and the way the art education industrial complex is turning and how my career might go post grad. Some things will change and some will not--like still working as a cartoonist, commercial artist and teacher. How all of these things change in proportion and what new things might develop out of them is something only time can reveal.

 It's a conversation that as Scott said, he and I will continue...To be honest I am feeling a sense of relief mostly to be essentially done but also a lot of other feelings, like frustration and a bit of disappointment that I think I will let settle for a while.  The thing I will be focusing on the most is trying to enjoy the last few weeks of the ride out the door.

I also wrapped up my work on the next issue of Draw! Magazine which is going off to the printer in China and will hopefully make it back in time for TwoMorrows to take it to this summer big geek fest--the San Diego Comic Con. I won't be attending again this year and I seriously doubt I will ever be going back due to the complete craziness that whole event has become. Hotels are selling out in a minute according to some reports I have read on Facebooks, which seems like just a crazy hassle, and lets not even talk about badges, etc.

I did get together with my Dirty Palette friends last weekend and it was a grand old time painting some still lifes and just sharing each others company. It's been two years ago now that we all graduated from the Undergrad at PAFA and its been a great thing that we have all still been together as friends and artists still working and supporting each other as we move along. Alina, Will and Jaime set up still lifes along with me on my dining room table  inside while  Lexi set up outside since it was such an awesome day to paint outside. You can see Lexi's awesome painting of my house on her tumbler. I thought about doing that as well but decided to paint a still life using acrylic, something I have never done. I have really been using acrylics a lot lately and feel I am just starting to get the hang of them. 

So many people we graduated with in 2012 are already off the map as artists, not painting anymore. It happens fast to so many after graduation.  The DPC has in a way sort of merged into the Philadelphia Plein Air Painters group that I started about two years ago and that started with the DPC members as the core group, and we still are basically still the core group. We have a group show coming up Friday at Ed Oliver's Golf Club in Wilmington DE, so if you are in the area stop on down. I think having such a core group of supportive friends is essential, especially post college.  I can't stress this point enough as a artist post grad.I can't tell you how many times I have drawn upon the strenght of the DPC in the last few years, especially during the times I was very frustrated with the MFA program. I have bonded and made friends with several MFA students and I hope we will also continue to get together and see each other for those who stay in the area after graduation.  I think a lot of them will be moving on from Philly though, and I can't blame them in a way. But even if you leave Philly you can never really leave the PAFA family.

 

There were plenty treats to eat from Baklava, roast chicken and turnovers---artist need to eat and paint!

Here is my painting of the still life I set up. 

 Will's awesome little painting.

                                                       Jaime's great still life of tomatoes

                                           Alina's great still life of my old clock and a pear

Final Semester: 3 weeks to go! Gantry detaches

T-minus 3 weeks till we hang our ASE show! This has been the busiest two weeks of my time in the MFA and as a student at PAFA. My thesis was due last week as well as two other professional deadlines and teaching so I was just pushing the pedal through the floor and going for broke. I don't think I have been this tired in a long time--but now the good times should roll in--as well as the checks!

My these was probably the most frustrating issue to deal with technically as WORD was not helpful at all in getting the formatting correct. Ugh! I know a lot of my fellow MFA2's were ripping and curing Microsoft and their computers last weekend and the thesis was due last Monday by 5. Luckily the excellent Copy Center Manager, Mike at the Manoa Staples saved my arse here. He was able to correct my formatting issues and get my copies printed out! Whew! It is difficult enough to just deal with the writing aspect of your thesis without having to battle with tech issues like being able to put page numbers on. My suggestion for the MFA coordinator Steven was to have a word template set up that everyone can use, and then to have an account at a local Staples or  Kinkos to get the thesis printed. that way they have the thesis paper, and the binding requirements already set. That would make the hassles so much easier to deal with for everybody. The subject of my thesis was Adobe Photoshop and it's effects of Contemporary Painting. A nice meaty subject! My thesis reader was Scott Noel and so we had many good talks about all of this over the past few months and Scott really pushed me hard on my writing as well. I can truly say however, I will be really, really glad to never have to write another paper for school!

 We also had a graduation practice to hep the process run through as smooth as possible and they gave us our handout for our tickets and guests for the graduation lunch. I did this same drill in the undergrad just 2 short years ago. I think walking up those steps made it seem even clearer that graduation was now a month away and I could see on the faces of some of my fellow grads a sense of relief.

Steven Connel our MFA Director of Graduate Program Services kept us all in line and focused.Steven is a great guy and has done me many favors and smoothed out some bumps along the way in the program.

Even as the MFA2 grads move toward the exit we get to watch the MFA1's move toward he end of their first year. I remember being here last year and looking forward to my final review in my first year. I know many feel such a mixture of dread and fear and excitement at this time of year. For some the wheels are falling off and others a growing sense of confidence. I had my final critic with Denise Green and it was a nice goodbye. I didn't always agree with Denise in some of her readings of my work but I did get a deeper sense of maybe what I do choose my subjects, especially the urban landscapes and why the resonate with me. For me I now have ideas still to ponder and explore but I also have a pretty good map of where I came from and where I want to go.

Hilary Harkness

We also had the last visiting artist for the year last Thursday, Hilary Harkness, a narrative figurative painter based in NYC who is represented by Mary Boone. We didn't have that many artists this year in our VAP that I was really interested in, Anne Gale was the painter I was interested in seeing and hearing the most. But Harkness was a good choice. I hope going forward they bring more painters and more figurative as well as landscape painters.
Clint Jukkala the head of the MFA, who knows Harkness ,brought her in to talk about her work and journey from Yale to Mary Boone. Harkness gave a good talk and was very open and honest about her school experience and search for her own voice as well as here struggle with becoming a better draughtsman. She is now taking classes at The Art Student's League to improve her drawing--which is pretty unheard of from an artist at her level in the high-end gallery scene. One thing I did take from her talk was that I really have no interest in the type of gallery and all the extra worry it seems to cause artists. You make money but then you constantly worry about your prices and secondary markets destroying your prices, people dumping your work, etc. Good lord it seems like nothing I want to deal with.

I have four pieces currently in the PPAP group show that is up now at Ed Oliver's Golf Club in Wilmington. We'll have a official reception on April 18th where you will be able to meet all of the artists in the show, including me. For more info on the group, check out our PPAP blog.

Now I get to just paint and work on the strip for a few weeks!