A Conversational Postscript with Celia Carver
In our first series of messages we bonded over the artist dilemma of recognizing when a piece is completed (or…when it’s not). As a self-taught artist, is the process of stepping back and deciding your work is complete getting any easier?
“We are always our own worst critic, so I don’t think I ever feel fully done with a piece. I have to think about what my goal was when I started and make sure that is where I end up without *overdoing* the piece (which is very possible and has happened before). I am feeling more confident with the end results of my work, though I don’t think the process of deciding when it’s done will ever get easier.”
You are an artist and a high school art teacher. That’s a lot of art-ing! Does that job and work environment affect your ability to work or what you create as an artist?
“Yes, it is a LOT of art-ing! I started teaching in 2007 with middle school ages, but I have been teaching at highschool level since 2016 and it’s what’s really pushed me to keep improving. I wanted to be able to help them as much as I possibly could, so how could I do that if I didn’t create as well? I show my students my artwork because I feel it helps my credibility as their teacher. Being a teacher does limit my time to do my own personal artwork—the evenings go by very quickly—but I try to squeeze in as much time as possible, especially on weekends, and thankfully my seven year old daughter enjoys artwork just as much as I do.”
There’s quite a variety in terms of mediums you use. Do you have a general preference? How do you decide what you’ll use?
“I look through many references before deciding on a medium for a new piece; no real reasoning behind it other than what I feel in that moment. I do have a tendency to shift from one medium to another, though: Pencil/graphite mostly when I first started doing portraits, but then watercolor once I started researching other artists and watching YouTube videos. I loved the diversity you could create in using that one medium and decided to teach myself. I still sometimes have struggles, but I keep coming back to it. As a long term goal, I really want to explore using oil paint more. I wanted an array of styles in the Pop-Up, so I dove into a little bit of everything, even my copic markers on one or two.”
And just for kicks: The majority of your work deals in portraits and close studies of facial features. If you were commissioned to do a portrait of any famous pop culture villain or monster you’d like, who would your top three picks be?
“Man, this is a tough one. I have thought about it quite a bit and came up with a few ideas: First would be Harley Quinn, mostly because of her coloring and hair style. I tend to make hair in my portraits very colorful and less realistic, and I think she would be really fun to draw. For pop culture monsters, I’ll take the cartoon route with Skeletor. He-Man was one of the many Saturday morning cartoons I watched as an 80’s kid, so I think it would be interesting to put my own spin on his portrait. Lastly: Bride of Frankenstein. A pencil drawing of her with a pop of color would be very compelling, I think. This question definitely made me think quite a bit! I am interested now in actually attempting a few.”
RSVP here
Join us for “All the Feels” by Kelli LeBeouf, Pop Up Gallery in April 2021 at the Art Studio, Inc.
Opening on April 1st, and that’s no joke!
Tour TASI Pop Up gallery featuring superb portraits by local educator, Kelli LeBeouf.
April 1st-24th
Tuesday and Saturday
12 to 5 PM
409-838-5393
info@artstudio.org
Patrons are invited to view the exhibition in person during Gallery hours, virtually online (with purchase information), or on the organization’s social media channels: Facebook and Instagram.