INTO

THE LIONS DEN: Into the Lions Den: How I developed as an artist. Randilynn N. Mitchell University of Florida

INTO THE LIONS DEN: I was seven years old and after I finished a beautiful, red flower drawing I

rushed into the kitchen, where my mother was baking a cake, to show it to her. She glanced up and said Uh-huh and then continued working. I was instantly disappointed that she did not stop to see all the elements of my picture. I sadly walked back to our living room, put my drawing materials away, and turned on the television. The people around me easily influenced my development as a child and later as an artist. While not all of my encounters were positive, there were enough people in my life that helped me along. It was the summer of 1989 and I could hear a sizzling sound coming from my Grandmothers kitchen as my brother and I entered through her front door. We both looked at each other with excitement hoping that she was cooking her famous pancakes for the first day of our summer vacation. We were instantly disappointed once we looked inside the skillet seeing an off-white goop, that smelled like pancakes. My brother, Travis, quickly went to the living room and began watching cartoons on her 1970s television. I, however, remained by her side since I was desperately curious to see what she was making. I watched her as she added blue food coloring to the off-white goop. The blue swirled together with the goop as she quickly stirred it together. My curiosity, getting the best of me, I finally asked her, Grandma, what is that? She replied, It is homemade play-dough for you and Travis to play with outside today. Being a seven, almost eight, year old girl I began excitedly jumping up and down inside the kitchen because I was going to play with play-dough. I said, Grandma, can you make a whole bunch of different colors for

INTO THE LIONS DEN: us? She sweetly replied, I will make you four colors; blue, green, yellow, and red. Then you can mix them together to make other colors. My excitement instantly turned to frustration because I did not know how to mix colors together. She saw the frustrated look upon my cute, little face and said, Not to worry sweetie, just experiment with the colors and if you

make a mistake I will make you more dough. I was now relieved and my excitement returned as she continued to cook the remainder of the play-doh. Travis and I took the warm, salty doh outside, placed it on our wooden play table, and began experimenting and creating various types of little sculptures. As we played with the dough, we were constantly talking to one another about our creations. Hey Trav, look at my flower! Isnt it funny looking? and he replied with laughter, That is the funniest flower ever! Check out the car I made. My brother and I often found ourselves talking and sharing ideas as we created art together. Play-dough was not the only artistic materials we had at my Grandmothers house. She often had Lite Brites, Tupperware Snapics, coloring books, and crayons for Travis and I to play with and develop artistically. One afternoon while my brother and I sat at her round table coloring in an old, faded coloring book I paused to ask my Grandmother if she would like to color too. She immediately stopped cleaning her kitchen and sat down beside me and began to color. I was very excited that she instantly stopped what she was doing to join us. As she was coloring, I

INTO THE LIONS DEN: suddenly became so entranced by how she outlined the picture and layered her crayons that I lost interest in my own picture. I said, Can you show me how you color so good? She says sure and began to show me her process of outline and layering. She told me that it is important to layer the crayons because it will make the texture of the picture look and feel softer. My Grandmothers talent was not limited to crayons; she also knew how to draw faces. Once she saw that I had an

interest in learning how to draw, she began showing me her techniques for drawing faces and coloring them. All summer she would often join my brother and I in our active play while we created different types of art pieces. As we finished our art pieces, she would give us great praises and attention. She hung the pictures up on her refrigerator until they fell apart. Then as the summer came to an end, I felt a little sad because I wanted to stay with my Grandmother and color. After such a wonderful artistic summer with my Grandmother it was difficult to return to my school art class and create school art. I enjoyed my summer of free artistic experimentation and development so much that returning to my restrictive, art class made me feel very sad. I was sitting in a new class and my teacher, Mrs. McGuire told our class that because we could not color like she did with markers then they were not allowed in her classroom. I was hurt that I could not use markers just because I could not color like her. This moment turned me off to school art almost entirely and from that point on I really only went through the motions in art class just so I could pass. I tried to get back into art four years after Mrs. McGuires rant on markers. However the atmosphere of the art class just hindered me further. A girl, Christina would say, My picture is better than yours! Hey guys, look how bad

INTO THE LIONS DEN: Nicoles drawing is. Then the class would proceed to laugh at my pictures. My teacher did nothing to stop the students from picking at me. It was this very long nine week class in seventh grade that caused me to not step foot inside an art class until I was twenty-five and in college. A woman named Barbara Tuner encouraged me to get an art degree at Williams Baptist College. Approaching her office one summer afternoon, I saw a painting behind her desk. The painting looked like a Georgia OKeefe art piece. As I sat down I asked, Who painted that flower? She replied, an art students on

campus. I was a little confused because I did not realize this small Christian college had an art program. I said to her, I really like to draw! and she replied, then you should get a studio art degree. I told her that I did not think I was a very talented because I did not take high school art. She says, Not to worry, the professors here can help you develop your artistic voice, even if you are new to art. I became excited and signed up for a studio art degree. The first studio classes that I signed up for were in the fall of 2006; Drawing I and Design I. I was so frightened as I entered the drawing room that I almost bolted for the hallway. Luckily, my professor, Dr. David Midkiff entered the classroom before I had time to jump ship. As he went over our syllabus and supply list, my already panicked nerves only got worse. I had no idea what most of the supplies where. What the heck is charcoal? I told myself. I knew right then I was in over my head. A few days later he was demonstrating to the class how to draw with permanent markers. I was severally alarmed since I love to use erasers. When we

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asked him why we could not use pencils he replied with, the first thing you need to learn to do is be committed to a line before you draw it. This means observing carefully and paying close attention to your drawing. When I first attempted to draw with the markers I messed up and got frustrated. As left the
Harrison Road: Ink on Paper; Fall 2006

class that day, I was so discouraged that I wanted to quit. My husband told me,

You are a good artist. You just need to keep practicing. I was so happy that he thought I was a good artist. I smiled, kissed him on the cheek, and went back to the studio and began practicing. After many, many, many hours of practice I finally was able to become committed to my lines and learn how to draw without an eraser. It was over Thanksgiving break that I created the piece titled Harrison Road. Once I returned to class after our break, it was time for our class critique. Nervously standing in front of my classmates I explained my artwork. While this was not my first critique I worried how everyone would react to my art piece since this was the first time I chose my subject matter. I was telling myself, What do I do if they dont like it? My classmates were gentle during the critique; the shadows under the trees are great; nice job, maybe more texture on the trees next time, and the picture draws you inward. A since of relief passed over my face as I walked slowly back to my seat. After this critique I still did not realize how much other people were influencing me artistically. Therefore, I continued blindly with my degree.

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The next year, I signed up for a painting class with Mrs. Gima Mickey. She did not provide any type of instruction as we set up our easels outdoors on a cool September morning. Once everyone was settled she said, Choose one color of oil paint. Then with that one color and mineral spirits I want you create a landscape scene. I thought, What! I have never painted before and she is just going to toss me into the lions den and leave me? While I begin choosing my color, she was walking over to each student and explaining some basic techniques to painting. When she came over to me, she explained the techniques, and said, You can always draw on the canvas first if you are apprehensive about using the paint. Thank you, I said since I actually was apprehensive. So I took out my pencil and drew my picture. Several of my classmates immediately started painting. I felt sad because I thought I was somehow artistically retarded since I did not have a good art background. Once my painting was finished, our class critiqued the completed works, and as we did this, I began to realize that even though I did not take high school art, my artwork was not too different from my classmates. I told myself, Hmm, maybe I did not miss anything by not
Phantom of the Little Killer; Oil on Canvas; Fall 2007 Going Green: Oil on Canvas; Fall 2007

taking high school art. Did I develop some on my own? I had several professors at Williams, inside and

outside the art program that encouraged me to continue to develop, experiment,

INTO THE LIONS DEN: and push myself artistically. However, the culture of a Christian school can sometimes limit the subject matter artists can produce for an art show. I was quite frustrated about the limitations my school culture put on me. Although, I tried my best to shake things up a bit with pieces like, the Adam and Eve Barbie Set and Phantom of the Little Killer. However, I did not succeed in changing anyones mind. So sadly, I resolved into doing nature for my senior exhibition. It was at this time I began to understand how people influenced my art.

While others still have an influence on my art today, I am trying to break free from that confinement by experimenting with new techniques and ideas, including creating art pieces on my Ipad. However, I still remember the artistic guidelines, influences, and developments that I learned from my school. I recall such things as; be committed to your line, use the whole paper, feel free to experiment, express yourself artistically, and artwork must work cohesively. I still have trouble creating art because I feel artistically hindered since I gave up on art earlier in life. While my artistic development was mostly based on the persuasion of others, I was also able to progress some naturally. It was later in life that several individuals taught me techniques, ideas, and theories that helped me develop further.
Night Owl: Painted on Ipad via ArtRage; Spring 2012

INTO THE LIONS DEN: References

Arike, A. (2001). What Are Humans For? Art in the Age of Post-Human Development. Leonardo, 34(5), 447-451. Bruner, J. (2004). A Short History of Psychological Theories of Learning. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 13-20. Efland, A. (1976). The school art style: a functional analysis. Art Education, 17(2), 37-44. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from Jstor. Freeman, K. (2011, March). Leadership in art education: taking action in schools and communities. Art Education, 64(2), 40-45. Jstor. Ivashkevich, O. (2006). Drawing in Children's Lives. J. Fineberg (Ed.), When we were young: Perspectives on the art of the child, 45-49. Mithen, S. (2001). The Evolution of Imagination: An Archaeological Perspecitve. SubStance, 30(1/2), 28-54. Thompson, C., & Bales, S. (1991). Michael doesn't like my dinosaurs: conversations in a preschool art class. Studies in Art Education, 33(1), 43-55. Retrieved 2012, from Jstor. Vygotsky, L. (1929). The problem of the cultural development of the child. In The Vygotsky Project. http://webpages.charter.net/schmolze1/vygotsky/ Wilson, B., & Wilson, M. (1981, September). The use and uselessness of developmental stages. Art Education, 34(5), 4-5. Jstor.