Art Story Archives - Page 7 of 7 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Should Every Artist Be in a Critique Group?

Creating art can be lonely work, so a small group of artists in the Eastern Panhandle gets together every two weeks to critique each other’s work. These are people who work with paint, pencils, cameras, and clay. But why do they need each other?

This Artist Critique Group, or Crit Group for short, was started in 2007 by Doug Kinnett.

It consists of seven members, and they meet twice a month at Kinnett’s home in Shepherdstown in a large sun room with high ceilings and big windows. The room gives off an air of art – hardwood floors, lights, and modern furniture. Some of Kinnett’s colorful paintings line the walls.

Craig Winkel shows his zebra painting to the crit group.

Each person gets a chance to stand before the group and show a piece of art on an easel. One artist has brought a painting of a zebra. He shows his work, talks a bit about his process, and then opens the floor to comments.

Painter Judy Bradshaw speaks up, “I mean you could’ve painted those stripes straight, and it wouldn’t have worked, but look around his neck, how you have that curvature with the dark stripes. I mean that is difficult to do.”

Many of this group’s members are retired and picked up visual art after finishing one or more careers. But some are experienced artists who have been doing it for a long time and do it for a living.

Gary Bergel is one of the newest members. He says critiquing each other’s work isn’t a matter of saying what’s good or what’s bad – it’s about describing what you see.

“We’re looking to build each other up and encourage each other along our visual paths,” Bergel explained, “Not to – even if we feel something is less than successful, there’s a way of talking about it that is still edifying and encouraging, not destructive, not critical in the wrong way, that’s why the word critique is very, very important rather than criticism.”

The founder of the crit group – Doug Kinnett – is an expressionist painter who likes to use a lot of color. He’s also a retired art teacher with a doctorate in Art Education. After retiring, he longed for something to keep his art education background alive.

He says he started the crit group because artists don’t have a lot of support.

“You know, there are lots of people that get art degrees, and then because life hits them because they graduate from school, sort of like diving into an empty swimming pool, and you see the real world, you know,” Kinnett explained, “they just have a hard time fitting it in, making it a discipline, doing the kinds of things they always wanted to do, which is to make art.”

The Crit Group’s first exhibit at the Visitor’s Center in Charles Town.

After being around for eight years, the Crit Group put on its first two exhibits together this summer – one in Martinsburg and one in Charles Town.

“What we’re hoping to do through these two exhibits – to encourage more artists to really wake up and realize they have a need to get together, to hang together, and if we could spark more,” Gary Bergel said.

The Crit Group’s founder, Doug Kinnett says every artist of any age should have the opportunity to be in a crit group. He says anyone can start one, but they should be small – no more than a handful of people to get the best outcome.

Kinnett isn’t sure how many other crit groups are in the Eastern Panhandle – he thinks around five – but he hopes there will be many more in the future – ones for all kinds of art.

Nature Inspires Creativity at Jefferson County Arts Center

A new art installation appeared in Jefferson County, Saturday: Three big, concrete bees were installed on the grounds of Craftworks at Cool Spring. Craftworks is a nature preserve and an art studio located just outside of Charles Town.

Sculptor, Aaron Treher is the brain behind the bees. He says he’s concerned about threats to native bees, like bumblebees.

Treher is the artist-in-residence at Craftworks, and has been for the last year. The organization’s mission is to bring art and nature together.

“Art and nature are very closely related,” Treher said, “I think that there’s a lot of crossovers within a lot of artists’ work cause they draw a lot of their inspiration from nature, so places like this are really important in the sense of finding inspiration, and Craftworks does a really great job of that.”

Craftworks is a place that provides a space for artists to work, and it’s also twelve acres of protected land with a marsh, trails, and wildlife. The idea for the place came from a woman named, Linda Case. She says she wanted to combine nature and art, while also providing a place for people to getaway from their daily lives.

Linda Case, owner and founder of Craftworks.

Originally, Case bought this property to live in, and then she discovered the land included a rare type of marsh.

“It had eighteen rare and very rare West Virginia plants,” Case explained, “so that was good news, and that was bad news. The good news was there was this wonderful, wonderful thing that existed on this land. The bad news was it was responsibility.”

Case wanted to preserve the marsh and share it with the community. In 2008, she made the land what it is today; the marsh, one barn – where Trehar works – and one studio building.

While one of the main things is to provide a space for artists, Craftworks also hosts summer camps for kids, aged 6 to 13.

The studio is the main building on the property, and the building was designed to be energy efficient. The walls are super insulated and so are the windows.

But the property has its struggles. It’s a non-profit, and founder, Linda Case says right now she’s the main provider to keep it going. Other funds come from the community, board members, and grants. But Case says the organization needs to find new sources of funding.

“And it’s trying to find the way to be the most useful, the most valuable, have the highest impact on the community,” Case explained.

That means having events like last weekend’s – with live music, a nature walk focused on pollinators, and the unveiling of Treher’s new work.

Treher’s bees are now mounted on the side of the studio building. They’re near the rafters and made to look like they’re nesting.

Founder, Linda Case hopes the entire property will eventually feature outdoor artwork similar to Treher’s bees.

Cherese Weaver: Modern Antiquity

The sculptures of West Virginia artist, Cherese Weaver, are quite stunning. You don’t just look at them as much as you feel that they are looking at you. And when they look at you, it’s like that person you meet who sees you for who you really are. That’s how powerful these pieces are.

She has captured something primal, like lost civilizations, with a gallery of faces that may be the gods and goddesses of the mythic imagination of antiquity.

These are Jungian archetypes, the dreams of artists living millennia ago, that she has brought forth through her voracious interest in archeology, anthropology and theology.

I believe that she has tapped into something real; meaning these faces are part of the Collective Unconscious.

At an exhibit, a historian pointed out that she was making Jōmon pottery and yet she had no knowledge of that period.

This all sounds otherworldly, yes? I believe there’s an element of that present.

So, take the tour of the pictures and listen to the interview.

Sharon Lynn Stackpole: Follow the Flow

“I am always doing what I cannot yet do, in order to learn how to do it.”
― van Gogh

Soft, watery, Impressionistic, veiled, implied, nuanced: these might be descriptions of the art of Sharon Lynn Stackpole.

She describes her style as “being all over the map” and indeed the pieces have a broad palate of styles. Still, there is a unity and a recognizable style to her work.

What does it mean? Well, that can vary both in message and depth. Speech recalls a traumatic childhood issue with speaking; thus the overwhelming proliferation of words around a Munch-like foreground figure. The delicate grace of Watery Fish reflects just a love and fascination with aquatic life and environs. In A Moment’s Hesitation, the gesture is more enigmatic as if to say, “You, the viewer, must discern the meaning.” This is an artist who goes with the flow and follows where she believes the piece wants to take her. To let the piece evolve at its own pace.

"I try to get out of my own way and not think too much when I'm in the zone. It's kind of like being a leaf in the river. I'm just going along the current and letting it happen."

Which brings up the general discussion of meaning. Do you need an obvious narrative for the art to speak to you? In my experience, I am more often wrong than right in discerning the meaning of a work. That used to confound me, but now I see it as an unexpected surprise and pleasure. When I have the delight of freely wandering a gallery, my pulse quickens as I anticipate that epiphany when a work speaks to me.

To paraphrase the great Joseph Campbell, perhaps we are not looking for specific meaning in art, but rather to have the artistic experience. To be drawn out of one’s self, to surrender, to be swept up in another’s imagination. The world of art awaits our presence – we only need to look.

Sharon talks about her style, process and her thoughts on rules.

The artist talks about the works, Speech and Watery Fish. She lets us know, in a very unguarded moment, about a childhood struggle and how artistic honesty might help others.

02_Sharon_Lynne_Stackpole_Part-2.mp3

Sharon Lynn Stackpole, pt. 2.