David Broyles | The News
Surry Community College student Melody Walker discuses her digital photography work titled “What Am I” with Nathan Williams at the Surry Community College Art Show. The show featured a variety of mediums including pencil, paint, graphic design and ceramics.
David Broyles | The News
Shelli Shore’s ceramic work titled “Creepy Birdhouse” was on display at the opening of the Surry Community College Student Art Show on Thursday. The art will be on display through March 1 in the Bobby and Sylvia Harold Grand Hall of the Shelton-Badgett NC Center for Viticulture and Enology and the Sells Building third floor gallery on the Dobson campus.
DOBSON — The Surry Community College Fall 2012 Student Art Show got under way with an opening reception Thursday, allowing students a chance to display their classroom work.
The show’s art pieces will be on display through March 1 in the Bobby and Sylvia Harold Grand Hall of the Shelton-Badgett NC Center for Viticulture and Enology as well as in the Sells Building third floor gallery
According to college art instructor Anna-Olivia Sisk, art shows are an important component of the program at the school.
“Here art is interactive with people,” said Sisk. “For students here art shows are all a part of the process. A lot of the work here on display were assignments given in class. The students often tell me how different it is to see the work outside of the classroom in a public setting. It gives them a lot of confidence.”
Sisk also said art in the grand hall becomes an important backdrop to pictures in news stories. She said often students excitedly tell her they saw one of their pictures in the background of a front page article. She said this was the fourth such show held showcasing student work.
Ceramics instructor Richard Montgomery shared insights into some of the six art pieces on display created by five students. Montgomery pointed out artists working with ceramics must have knowledge in a variety of other areas before they can create.
“There is an element of chemistry for glaze formulation,” said Montgomery. “Geometry comes into play for working pieces by hand or working with slabs and there is physics involved so you can fire kilns and to know the limitations of the medium.”
Montgomery spoke of asking students to produce rhytons (ceremonial drinking horns used in antiquity for alcoholic beverages) to complement the viticulture center, which is dedicated to the science of wine production. He said he was pleased with a student who chose to produce a cartoon-like pink elephant whose head forms the rhyton.
Melody Walker, who is in her first full semester at the school, is also one of the artists with work on display.
“I really enjoy digital photography,” said Walker. “We are being taught how to manipulate exposure and other elements of the cameras in manual mode, not just putting it on automatic and shooting. It makes you think about what you’re doing. The exciting thing about photography for me is to catch things that will not happen again.”
She explained creating for her was equal parts capturing a moment and telling a story. She also plans to couple photographic knowledge with graphic arts skills.
“You can create quite amazing things with computers,” said Walker. “I really do like building and then showing things that can be created. I like to give people something nice to look at.”
Walker said she has always been characterized as a colorful person and has always been creative and wants to be an architect. She said she tells people graphic art is everywhere.
“Graphic art is billboards, magazines,” began Walker. “It’s everywhere. It’s everything we see on a daily basis.”
She said she believes here attraction to art is linked to her love of cooking. Walker said she likes to treat a recipe as a suggestion and not a road map and enjoys improvising and creating something new in a recipe, just as she does in her art work.
SCC first semester freshman Richie Bryant said he is undecided about a major but is leaning toward the graphic design program at the school. His work, Seasonal Colors, is on display in the grand hall. Hall said he became interested in art early on and started drawing when he was inspired by comic books.
“I wanted to be a cartoonist,” said Bryant. “Drawing is entertaining. If I could I’d do both photography and graphic arts. For me the assignment was a trip to put together something which inspires someone to have winter feelings.”
Bryant said he considers computers just another tool an artist creates with, like a choice of brush or color. He also said he feels more confident with his work out and seeing people interacting with his work.
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