Margaret Clary, the Jewelry Maker

           Unlike most of the students I interview for this blog, I have known Margaret Clary for several years. We met as freshmen, when we were both new to James Madison and unsure about our majors. She graduated this past May with a degree in Art and a concentration in Metals and Jewelry. When she sat down to speak with me she wore a ring that she had made in one of her classes. She doesn't think it is anything special, but I disagree. The ring is simple, a silver band set with a large blue stone, and I was so impressed with it that I couldn't wait to see a piece that she was really proud of.

Margaret's Bronze cast bracelet

           “I prefer bracelets,” she says. “I hate wearing them, but love making them. I just made a piece that turned out really well. I made it in wax first, then cast it in bronze and set a stone in the middle. It took about thirty hours, which is usually the norm.”

           With a single piece taking thirty hours, Margaret is understandably busy. Her fascination with art began her freshman year in high school when she took a class with her now favorite teacher, Diego Sanchez. Although it was an art class, he also taught them art history and style, which really helped to make the whole process more interesting for her. When Margaret got to college she was interested in graphic design, but because of difficulties with credit hours she switched to metals and jewelry, and has loved it ever since.

A handmade wire bracelet with metal flowers

           “My style is very nature-esque, I suppose. Organic. I do a lot of vine work, and I love anything to do with flowers. I wish I had a green thumb, but instead I bring it out in my metal work. Nature inspires me, and I love going on walks and seeing different plants and trees.”

           With jewelry making, Margaret's favorite part is the portability of her work. It is impractical to carry around a sculpture or a painting to show everyone, but with jewelry she gets to wear her pieces and share them. Getting recognition for hard work is incredibly satisfying, especially considering how much time and effort go into a single piece. Oftentimes, she says, people forget how much work and dedication goes into art.

           “It’s very frustrating,” Margaret says. “A lot of people make fun of me for being an art major, since I usually don't have regular exams and whatnot. I don't think some people realize how much time I put into things, and how much art means to me and other people. I've pulled many all-nighters, and with art you can keep working and not ever really finish.”

           Several of the students I have interviewed have said similar things, that their artistic efforts are not always appreciated or taken seriously. But they all say that their art has changed them.

           “Metals have definitely pushed my limits,” she says. “In my first class we had to use torches, and I was terrified of fire! I even burned my hair. I was pushed to do things I thought I couldn't do.”

Metal flower pendant

           Now that Margaret has graduated from JMU, she hopes to return to graphic design. Although she would love to get more experience with metal working, and perhaps intern with a jewelry designer, her real passion is for graphic design. She wants to go into advertising, hopefully staying around Richmond, where she has lived most of her life. Whatever medium she chooses, being an artist has made an impression on her life.

          “Art has made me notice the beautiful things around me,” Margaret says. “I take my time and look around and enjoy how beautiful it all is. I think art does that for a lot of people. It makes you look for the good in everything. I know I do.”

Diane Livick, the Potter

            Diane Livick is not the usual college student. She attended James Madison University from 1975 to 1978 and received a degree in Art Education. She has worked as a children's behaviorist, served in the military, and after her children were grown she became a nurse. Now, years after she received her art degree, she is returning to her roots.

           “Thirty-some years later, and I really missed clay,” Diane says. “It's a medium that is so versatile. You can make it look soft, make it look hard like metal. If you enjoy working with it, and you haven't in a while, it is so satisfying to go back.”

           Diane came to Blue Ridge Community College last year to take classes in sculpture and ceramics. She has her own kiln and wheel at home now, so she is able to work on her own time. Working outside the classroom allows her a lot of freedom, where she is the only judge.

           Diane brought in several bowls she had thrown recently as a part of a collection inspired by radio telescopes she saw last summer at the Space Race Rumpus. It was the first annual bike ride and festival in Green Bank, West Virginia, to raise money for a wellness center. It is hosted by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, with the second annual race coming up next week.

           “I decided I needed to do something visually with it,” Diane says. “I've got the four bowls here, and I'm made nine or ten, and I will probably get to twenty. First I throw them and work on developing a shape I like, then I'm going to work on color patterns. I keep notes on different glazes I've done, and then I decide if I want to do water colors, free-form, a constellation or a dark sky...”

           One piece that caught my eye is a bowl colored with a deep blue glaze. It is speckled with textured dots of white and streaks of gold, and instantly reminded me of Van Gogh's Starry Night. Even with all of the years between then, both artists found inspiration in the night sky.

"European Mount, Unknown Species",
a Raku piece

           Although this collection is made of thrown pieces, throwing pots is not Diane's “thing”. She prefers hand-building and sculptural works, finding her inspiration from nature and storytelling. She especially loves myths and creation stories, and making them visual.

           “We need those stories – we need stories that have been told again and again. Until they're worn smooth as stones. That seems to be missing now, too. I think we move too fast in our society and I hope that parents are telling stories to their kids, because there need to be good stories to give to kids.”

            One of Diane's goals while taking classes at Blue Ridge has been to create a quantity of quality pieces for entry into a juried show. She had several pieces in shows when she was working on her undergraduate degree, including her favorite piece, “The Mountain Jar.”

           “It shows a cabin up on the mountain with a stream and the clouds. That is because I always wanted to live in a cabin,” Diane says. “Self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose. I forget what the assignment was, but we were well invested in it. I've guarded that piece to be sure it won’t get broken. It’s already made it thirty-some years.”

"Hillis Plot Bowl II"

           The pieces Diane creates don't always follow her original plan. Somewhere along in the process an idea sometimes doesn't fit. Whether it is a quick piece that only takes a few minutes to throw or a more complex piece that takes weeks to form, there is no way to be sure what the final outcome will be.

          Ceramics is not the only art form that Diane enjoys. She does photography, painting, and is a musician. She’s recently returned to two dimensional art, where her style begins to really stand out. In ceramics she has an underlying theme to her pieces rather than a style, but with her paintings she tends to be illustrative. She has been working on a series called Sundown Serenade, in hopes of illustrating a children's book. With scenes of fireflies playing banjos and the three tenor frogs, her paintings spring out from the canvas out onto the frames

Diane, in red, firing a Raku piece at BRCC

           Diane is happiest when she’s creating. “Because I'm a nurse, I'm gonna analyze myself a little bit,” she says with a smile. “There's a motor pleasure-driven rewards circuit that comes from making something, from actually doing something. We're genetically wired to have pleasure when we do this for our own survival. I think a lot of society has lost this.”

           Last summer she and her son, who is a tattoo artist, were a part of a show in Dayton, hosted by a local artist. Seeing so many young artists driven to share their art inspired Diane to keep on with her own work and be a part of this community. This past Memorial Day weekend Diane showed her work at Staunton Art in the Park, and some of her pieces were recently shown in the Blue Ridge Literary and Arts Magazine.

           “Creative people tend to see things a little differently, and approach the world a little differently,” Diane says of her fellow artists in Dayton. “The collection of artists were all unique, all pushing boundaries. It really inspired me to want to be around people who see things a little differently.”

           It is never too late to pursue what you love, as Diane has proven. Even after she raised her children and worked for years as a nurse, she returned to her pottery roots, and is determined to share her creations with the world. She has never stopped learning, and I am determined to follow her lead.

Lisa Dragani, the Painter

       Lisa Dragani comes from a family of artists. Her mother and grandfather were both painters, and art has been an important part of her life since she was a child.

         “When I was really little, my mom would always encourage me to go outside,” Lisa says. “She would get big pieces of paper and acrylic paint and have me go out in the yard and paint. I loved it, and she loved it because it got me out of the house.”

         In high school Lisa took classes in graphic design. She originally planned to focus on that when she came to James Madison University four years ago, but she soon realized her real passion was for painting.

        “It's a messy thing, but it can be clean, and it's a form you can play with a lot. It's just the medium I'm most comfortable in.”

         When it comes to painting, Lisa has tried a little bit of everything. For a few summers she painted pet portraits, getting several commissions from local pet lovers who wanted to immortalize Rover. When she paints for herself she enjoys doing still life's and landscapes. She is inspired by abstract and surrealist artists, such as Salvador Dali, although she herself isn't a big abstract painter. At JMU she had the opportunity to try other art mediums, such as metal and jewelry working, but nothing appealed to her the way painting has.

Lisa and her piece at the JMU Undergrad
Art Show

        Lisa's favorite piece got into the JMU Undergraduate Show this past spring, a juried collection that allows students to showcase their work. For this particular piece she put a bit of a twist on the traditional canvas.

        “I went to the woodshop and had the teacher help me make a 3D base,” Lisa says. “Kind of like a skate ramp, so the center is closest to the wall, giving it a kind of panoramic feel. I did like a weird drip oil painting of Richmond, with the reflection of Richmond on the James River.”

        This painting was one of the few Lisa has been really satisfied with. Pieces can take weeks, if not months, before they are finished, and even then there have been pieces that Lisa has considered painting over and starting again. But it is when she finishes a painting, and is really satisfied with it, that Lisa is happiest.

        But painting doesn't always end with a perfect finish. Everything from disliking a still life model to working on a tight budget can present an obstacle for art.

         “Honestly, the hardest part for me is patience,” Lisa confesses. “I consider myself a very patient person, but I've been working a lot with oils and it takes a long time to dry. If you do something you don't like you just have to sit there and take it. You have to realize it's going to be on there for a while and you have to come back in a few hours to fix it. Sometimes you're sitting there hating a mistake and time goes by and you find yourself liking what you had hated, even finding things you love about it.”

         Lisa has a variety of plans now that she has graduated from JMU. She got a job working at a winery, hosting wine tastings part time, which will give her time to continue painting and look for the kind of work she really wants. Pet portraits were fun, but she doesn't want that to be the only kind of painting she does. Websites such as Etsy allow artists to sell their work independently, and Lisa plans to create an account to share her pieces.

         Lisa's big dream would be to someday open up a coffee shop and bakery, where she can showcase her own art as well as the work of local artists. Baking is another one of her passions, and she hopes to go to culinary school this fall and take some classes. Coffee, muffins, and beautiful art? You can expect to find me writing in the corner with a big cup of coffee. Until then, Lisa will continue with her painting, and she can only get better.

One of Lisa's paintings that would be
perfect for her coffee shop.

To all of my readers...

          This past weekend James Madison University's Class of 2013 crossed the stage at graduation. Along with my classmates, I have received a degree from this incredible university, and have my sights set on new horizons. But I will still be blogging for all you readers out there.

          The past two weeks have been hectic, and I will be spending the next week and half on a trip, but I will return to blogging as soon as I am back in the area. You can look forward to interviews with two wonderful JMU art students, a very talented ceramic student from Blue Ridge, and a special double interview with two singers from Washington and Lee. So please be patient with a stressed recent graduate in need of some tropical sun, and stay tuned!

James Souder, the Photographer

          Among his group of friends, James Souder is the one who always has a camera. He uses photography to capture moments, but even without a camera he says that being a photographer has changed the way he sees the world.

          “My friends like that about me,” he jokes. “I like to capture interactions between people, but I think the act of just noticing lets me appreciate what's happening, and see more.”

          James is a senior Environmental and Social Sustainability major at Eastern Mennonite University. He used to be a Photography major, but switched it to a minor after realizing how much he enjoyed the variety of classes offered in his new major. Even though photography may not take center stage on his diploma, it remains a huge part of his life.

          James was in high school when he picked up a camera lying around his family’s house and started taking photos. He began taking classes and entering his work in competitions, winning several awards in high school. I asked him about the first photograph that really stuck out in his memory, and James smiled as he recalled it.

          “The first photo I am really proud of,” he muses. “There was a bird's nest I saw, and I just reached up the camera and snapped a photo. The baby birds thought I was their mother, and there were a couple of blue eggs, and it was just really framed well.”

One of James's photos from an early morning plane ride
over the Shenandoah Valley

          At EMU he continued to take classes in photography, but explored some of his other interests as well. His very extensive interests. James has four minors: Photography, Biology, Economics, and International Development. Along with a heavily loaded class schedule, he is also part of the Earth Keepers club, Sustainable Food Initiative Club, is senior class co-president, and plays saxophone in a jazz band. I have absolutely no idea how he managed to come and speak with me, let alone have the time to work on his photography. When we spoke he was preparing for his first job the following day as a wedding photographer. He had done engagement photos, and had been asked to do weddings, but this is the first time he's been confident that he has the ability (and the equipment) to take on such a responsibility.

          James spent one summer working for the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at EMU, where he was a community assistant. He was not hired as the photographer, but he was one anyway, taking the class photos and taking pictures of the various events. No matter what he ends up doing, it seems that James always find time for photography. He interned with an urban farm in Philadelphia last summer, where he worked on social media and was the main photographer.

          The term “urban farm” caught my ear, and James was kind enough to explain it to me.

          “It was a really cool internship,” he says. “They took a vacant lot in the city, a place where an old warehouse had burned down. They cleared it out, brought in topsoil, and were able to have a really productive garden. It involved community members in the process of planting, and they now have a farm

At the urban farm in Philadelphia

stand right there on site. Their mission is to take places that were unattractive or provided places for crime, and make a beautiful places for people to gather and use the land productively. They’ve definitely noticed a huge improvement in the community, just the way people interact and respect their neighborhood.”

          James is a senior, so his time at EMU is almost up, but he has big plans for the future. For the next year he will be in Pittsburgh, as an intern in a program called PULSE (Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience). It is a way to transition from college to jobs, as he and several other recent graduates will live in a house together and be able to explore the city. Although his internship will be environmentally focused, James hopes to be able to use photography in it.

          James has already begun looking past the PULSE internship, and planning beyond it. He is in the process of applying for the Peace Corps, to see more of the world and apply his skills in places that might need him. Graduate school is another option. He hasn't been planning to make photography the focus of his career, but his studies have affected the way he approaches photography, as well as his view of the world.

          “The process is really important to me-- how you go about gaining the image. Like if you’re in someone's face, rather than like getting to know the person and appreciating them as more than an object to be photographed. Just respecting what is around you. . . it has helped me appreciate things.”

           James is on a mission. He is truly passionate about the environment and helping those around him, and is going on to great things. He may not make the camera the focus of his career, but he will keep it in hand to document his adventures.

Eric Cecchett, the Critic

            If you happen to be listening to the radio on a Sunday afternoon and are looking for something new, I would have to recommend turning the dial to WXJM 88.7. There are a number of music shows that their website lists as “Freeform”, but if you tune in between two and four you will find yourself part of the audience of the “Nate and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”

Eric and Nate at the WXJM radio station

            Eric Cecchett, a Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communications major at JMU, came in to speak with me about his show and endeavors. He transferred to from Northern Virginia Community College last fall, and immediately started working on his radio show.

            “I had a bunch of friends that have radio shows at their respective colleges,” Eric says. “It was something I wanted to do before coming to a university. I very much enjoy music, and it holds a lot of significance for me. It is a very personal experience but I also enjoy externalizing that and sharing with people.”

            Eric and Nate each create an hour long playlist every week for their show, playing “Indie” music and working to spotlight lesser known bands. They have similar tastes and occasionally find they selected the same songs for their playlists, although according to Eric, Nate tends to enjoy some of the more “Folky” sounding music. They started their show last semester, originally with the 12-2am Saturday night time slot. With their new Sunday afternoon slot they presumably have a much larger audience, although Eric does miss being able to loudly blast their music in an empty studio.

            Eric has played guitar for a few years, but he does not play often or create his own music. His passion is in existing art, not in producing his own. Whether it be music, films, or writing, he is a fan of popular culture in all of its outlets.

            “I love all kinds of culture,” he says. “I just have trouble with creation.”

            His creative idol is director Paul Thomas Anderson, the mind behind films such as Punk Drunk Love and There will be Blood. Although Eric doubts his own creative abilities, saying “I don't think I have the capacity to do what he does,” he would love to work with, and be a part of, the movie industry.

In DC this past winter

            Eric was drawn to the WRTC major because of his love of writing. It came naturally to him in high school so he gravitated toward it. As he is a perfectionist and compares his own writing to other's work, he’s never quite satisfied with his work. This past semester in particular he has been working on gaining more confidence, writing reviews for some of the movies and music he enjoys. He even created a blog titled “Building Nothing Out of Something” where he can share some of his writing.

            “I try to immerse myself in critique and let people read,” Eric says. “That's why I put it out there, so I can get used to that exposure. Right now I'm going easy on myself, writing reviews on things I really like, which I think is a lot easier than reviewing something you don't like or are indifferent about.”

            Eric's ideal job would be to be a film critic, to spend his days writing and watching movies. He admires the confidence of writers who are able to put something as personal as their own work out in the open and share it with the world.

            “It bewilders me that people can do that,” he says. “They write a piece and decide that it is good enough for them, and so good enough to be read by millions of people.”

            The best way to get better at writing, and to know that it is good enough for the millions who might read it, is to write. With his busy schedule balancing classes and the radio show there is not always time to write, but Eric is trying to make time. He tries not to think of it as work, worried that may take some of the enjoyment out of it, and hopefully someday he will be able to do it full time. He posts his reviews at EricCheck.blogspot.com, and although he does not post often he is trying to change that. The best way for him to have faith in his work is to share it with the world, and to keep writing.

           Stay tuned next week for my interview with Eastern Mennonite University's James Souder.

Tara Bonanno, the Dancer

Tara Bonanno started dancing in fourth grade. She began with tap dancing, and soon added jazz and modern ballet, devoting her free time to movement. It wasn’t until high school that she became a serious dancer, and by then she was hooked. Dance remains her passion as she moves on through college, and she hopes to continue it after graduation.

Tara is a junior at the University of Virginia. She is a Commerce major, a unique program at UVA that incorporates all aspects of business. With her dance minor, Tara has a busy schedule, but she was able to take some time to have a conversation with me about why she loves it so much.

“I wanted to be able to go to a school where I would be able to take dance classes,” Tara says. “I didn’t plan on minor-ing until I got to UVA when I realized how important it was to me, and how much I missed dancing around the clock.”

The program is relatively new, and only offers a minor, but it has a range of lecture and studio courses that help to create a well-rounded dancer. Half of the program is technique, and half is creating an intelligent dancer – one who can critique and understand dance and its history.

“I was really attracted to the formal program since it is a smaller group of students – you draw those who were really committed and excited about dance. You don’t get lost in the group as another faceless student or dancer. And a lot of these dancers created their own work, which, when I was a freshman, was something really daunting but exciting to me.”

Tara has a taste of many styles of dance, everything from tap to West African, but her favorite is modern. To her, it has the most freedom with creating movement, and pulls from a variety of techniques. It is not the most difficult style for her (ballet holds that title), but this style does demands a great level of skill and ability that can create a versatile dancer.

With a background in martial arts (she did Tae Kwon Do for eight years), Tara really enjoys exciting dances that incorporate strong and powerful movement. This was an aspects of various West African styles that she particularly liked. Its visceral quality captured her attention, and although she has only done a small amount through master classes, this is one style that she would love to continue.

The dance program has two formal performances a year, a Fall and Spring Concert. It is choreographed by faculty as well as students, and Tara is creating a piece for the upcoming concert. Last semester she choreographed her first dance, choosing to do a modern piece that was light and upbeat.

Backstage with her dancers from the 2012 Fall Concert

“My choreography comes from an emotional state of being that is important to me. It directly translates to movement. My last piece was inspired from a billboard that I pass on the way to work... its old and someone painted “Gratitude” on it in huge orange letters. It was a good reminder to me to be thankful, and fueled a lot of movement.”

This semester she draws her inspiration from art. Tara is working with several UVA art students and using their work to inspire her dancers. She brings different pieces to all of the practices and has her dancers improvise based on the art work. Every night that they dance they create something new.

“It is hard to pinpoint why I dance,” Tara said near the end of our conversation. “In class, or in performance, you can see something in another person when they are completely invested in dance. You can see the tiny moments that you feel in yourself... you tap into this subconscious burst of movement... Its something I haven’t been able to find in any other sort of art form or activity.”

In one of my own classes my professor jokes that students can read an excerpt from their essay or perform an interpretive dance. So far none of us have taken up the dance offer, but I wonder if Tara would if she were in the class. There are some feelings that are difficult to convey through words, but there can be so much power in movement that at times it may be able to speak for us.

“Communicating through body language... it connects your intellect with your body and your soul,” Tara says. “It has become very relevant to how I see things and how I learn.”

Tara will be performing in the Spring Dance Concert on April 11^th and 12^th at 8pm, and April 13^th at 2pm and 8pm, in the Helms Theatre at UVA. She says it is unlikely she will dance professionally after graduation, but for now, the stage is hers.

           Next week I will be posting my conversation with Eric Cecchett, a junior at James Madison University.