I'm a student at the University of Maryland, College Park who is finishing her second year foundation classes this Spring. I felt strongly about getting a solid technical foundation in the first two years and really tried to focus on developing technical skills and an artist's perception. After the foundation classwork is done this Spring, I plan to focus less on the technical experience of art and more on design, expression and content. I'm hoping to move into more experimental drawing and painting, and complex digital compositions in the coming year.
Even though I've been an art student for just under 2 years, it's already been a journey.
I'm an electrical engineer who decided suddenly to become an art student. I had no actual art skills prior to January 2012. I started taking classes at a local community college and got very, very lucky with a couple of really exceptional teachers right out of the gate. These early teachers, including a Michael Farrell, my figure drawing professor, and chair of the art department at Montgomery College, Rockville, and a now-retired painting professor Edwin Ahlstrom, have greatly influenced my first two years of direction. However, I first became snared by the need to do art when I took a painting class at UMD many years ago.
In a way, my experience as a beginning art student also reflects an artist's experience. Because we are always learning, interpreting, reinterpreting, adapting to new space, coping with cognitive dissonance, and, hopefully, evolving into our experiences and not just having experiences. |
|