Final Semester--Week 15--the Final Destination

Well my 5 years in the Certificate program at PAFA has come to an end, I had my last class with Scott Noel on Tuesday and my final crit in front of my ASE wall with Renee Foulks on Thursday. I hung my wall for the Annual Student Exhibition on Wednesday, turned in my critic sheet and ordered my post cars and I'm done...it's a wrap---except for the Preview Night where the high rollers pay big bucks to come in and buy our art and then I walk on Friday at commencement. I can easily say that the experience of going back to school has been the best of my life and the best gift I have given to myself, its a gift that will keep on giving.

Here I am in front of my wall for the ASE. I think its much stronger and more cohesive this year than last year. Certainly having to crank out work for my spring solo show at Rodger Lapelle helped keep me full revved up.

Here is my final outside painting assignment from Scott Noel's class. We had to do a painting that was a minimum 30 x 40 and the subject with Scott is usually a figure in some form on interior.I am calling this the annunciation for now but might change it to the visitation and it was painted from life. I decided to not put it in my ASE show as thematically I didn't feel it fit, so it will go in the groups show I will be in at Rodger Lapelle in June.

This painting is the final stage of the class painting in Scott Noel's portrait class.Not really a portrait as Scott really didn't teach the class as a traditional portrait class but the same way he teaches any class, stressing the ideas and themes he's interested in. This was almost his version of an Edwin Dickenson painting. You'll never hear Scott talk about Form Shadows, cast shadows, reflected light or any other term you'd hear in a classical or more typical portrait class. He was never concerned with likeness as most of the poses didn't lend themselves to any sort of classical or typical portrait painting, and certainly nothing like the class I took with Kerry Dunn at Studio Incomminatti.

Instead Scott talks about Shape Mosaic, making colors more evocative, seeing the color of event before you can define the object.The room or space is more important that the figure to Scott and he teaches the portrait class in the same way he taught his last painting class so I knew what he was preaching from the start. I enjoyed the class and the time with Scott who certainly has been the most important teacher as far as my learning curve at PAFA and who has had the biggest impact on me as a painter.

Here Dave and Will talkk about hanging his wall in the ASE.

Brian uses the lift to hang the big painting on my wall.

The rest of the Dirty Palette Club that didn't graduate last year will graduate this year, so Will, Alina, Lexi and Jane will all walk with me this year and we all had fun hanging our walls. My buddy Dave Golas cam back to help bot Will and myself hang our walls and that was a big help.

Lexi hanging her wall.She grew so much as a painter this year!

here Will and I pose with Alina in front of her wall. I spent the whole day helping both of them after my wall was done, that's what friends do and that's what makes the Dirty Palette Club a great gang of peeps!

Alina jumps around trying to set up her wall.

The show looks to be a great show this year and I hope since the economy is better sales will be better as well. Next up is the Travel awards, and non-competition prizes then Thursday the preview night and Friday graduation and the show opens to the public. I'll post more as we go through the week. I have mixed feelings about many recent events like the Spring Prizes and the choices and the way things are done, I will post some thoughts on these later after the who ball of wax is done, but I will miss my old studio and studio mates or seeing them every day. I will be back in the fall and the masters program, so the rhythmm will be different.