Felix Krasyk

Local artist and Charleston Catholic High School grad Felix Krasyk:



I love his art! I see a definite Picasso influence, with a little Kandinsky thrown in, as well. Makes sense, because he spent time in New York just as those artists were becoming well-known in the USA.

You can see his art at the Purple Moon in Charleston, WV, on Lee St between Summers and Capitol.

Packing Tape Sculptures and Artwalk

Watch all the way to the end for a special guest appearance by Fr. Doug! Congratulations to all the artists on this project. The sculptures are a hit!

Also I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you all that next week is the end of the 9 weeks -- can you believe it? Next Friday is our first portfolio review, and you also need to have your 1-page critique of an art exhibit turned in by then.

Artwalk is conveniently scheduled for next Thursday night (Oct 18th), from 5-8, and I highly recommend that you go. Artwalk is always a good time! If you have already turned in your critique from this nine weeks, you can apply your Artwalk critique to next nine weeks if you like. I will not accept critiques from any shows prior to October 18 for 2nd nine weeks, however, so get them turned in now for extra credit.

Speaking of extra credit, be sure to pick up a scavenger hunt form if you do go to Artwalk.

Of course, if you aren't available to go to Artwalk, there are plenty of venues that are open to the public regularly, so that you can visit and get your critique written on time -- and enjoy the art!

7 Tonnes 2

I couldn't resist putting this up:



This is a really neat piece of 3-D animation by Nicolas Deveaux. Look at the textures! Everything looks so real!

Packing Tape Sculptures

"Dive Into Recycling" by my 2nd period class. These sculptures were inspired by artist Mark Jenkins.

The random body parts strewn around the room garnered a lot of strange responses from my middle schoolers and visitors to the art room.

Here's how it works: 1) wrap victim... er... subject in plastic wrap. 2) Wrap subject in tape, kind of loosely, so you can cut it back off. You need 3-4 layers of quality tape, more if you're using thinner tape. 3) Cut tape layer off in one straight seam (in an inconspicuous place) and carefully peel it off your subject, plastic wrap and all. 4) Tape pieces back together, and stuff with paper, or just leave clear.

This project has been a blast, and has encouraged students to work together as a team -- even those students who are not-so-social. It looks like chaos in my room, but it's been an awesome project to encourage teamwork and creative problem solving -- not to mention all the great discussion about recycling (and getting people to do it!)

I am excited to see the public reaction to our installations! There will be more, so stay tuned...

Self Portraits -- Adv. Art for College

The inspiration for this project came from portraits by Chuck Close:

"Phil II" by Chuck Close can be seen at the Juliet Museum of Art, the gallery at the Clay Center right here in Charleston, WV. (Bet you didn't know that gallery had a name, did you?) It is part of the museum's permanent collection, so you'll see Phil hanging on the wall from time to time.