MFA- Year One, End of Semester Two (Spring)

Note: These "Throw Back Thursday" entries are meant to be useful to prospective students wanting to take a closer look into the graduate program in Studio Arts in Emerging Media at UCF, as I found no such resources available (from a student's point of view) when I was in the same position, back in 2021-2022. I entered the program in the fall of 2022 and graduated in the spring of 2025. Feel free to drop me a line in the post's comments section if you have any questions. ; )

May 16, 2023

    The first special event of the spring semester was the SVAD Faculty show, which happens in early January. The 2023 show was a great event, relaxed but buzzing with energy from the work exhibited. Here are works presented by Robert Reedy, Nicolas Kalemba, Shannon Lindsey, Bobby Aiosa and Robert Rivers. Here are works presened by Larry Cooper, Jim Casey, Theresa Lucey, Carla Poindexter, Debbie Starr, Amer Kobaslija and others.  I attended the same show last year and was impressed by Theresa Lucey's  paintings in domestic settings and a headdress by Wanda Raymundi Ortiz, who sadly, left the faculty that year.  

    With the exception of Studio Concentration class, graduate studio classes in the MFA in Emerging Media in Studio Arts are blended, meaning made of upper level undergrads and grad students. Graduate students are expected to know their stuff, have skills and create work that demonstrates mastery of a chosen medium while developing a cohesive body of work. This was an intimidating notion to me at first because I didn't feel confident in myself or my abilities at the time. But I had a strong artistic past, convinction on my topic of research, dreams and a renewed, loving attitude towards myself, so I gave it my best. The program is not centered on instruction of techniques at the graduate level and it is one hundred percent self guided  artistic research, which I found to be the perfect aproach at this stage, openning endless posibilities for me. That's part of the reason I chose to come here and not another program with more restrictive expectations in a specific discipline. 

    In the spring, I took Advanced Drawing with  Lecturer Theresa Lucey and Advanced Painting with Professor Carla Poindexter. In both classes, the upper level undergrads were inspirational and created superb work. The professors are admirable in their own disciplines and their expertise, care and love of teaching were present in every interaction I observed.

    The Advanced Drawing class provided students with much needed drawing practice from live models, complex still life set ups twice a week, and weekly homework assignments. This class provided an excellent opportunity for me to not only refresh my basics, but also rebuild my confidence as a representational artist. 

    Graduate students were not expected to create homework but rather take their drawing practice into their independent work. Class time became serious brain-gym time for me, as I reacquainted myself with academic drawing concepts learned thirty years prior and blended them into my observations of the UCF instructional method for drawing. I challenged myself to capture someone's likeness from life, so that was my focus. Prior to this class I heard of the specificity of the drawing teaching technique at UCF, so I was not only curious but honestly, I a little intimidated about it. If you have ever walked the hallways of the second floor of the VAB, you know what I mean. These students can draw! 

Turns out the method uses inspection of intersecting lines to determine angles. It specifies making marks as the eye moves naturally while inspecting the subject. The aproach is similar to what I learned in New York as an art student, but not quite the same. I recently reviewed this concept as explained in the title On Drawing Trees and Nature (ISBN-10: 0486442934), one of my favorite classic drawing instruction books, written by the victorian artist J.D Harding. 

My first portrait after instruction of the inter-descending line inspection technique as taught at UCF.

Although  the approach is similar to what I experienced before, the results of my first attempt after Lucey's expert explanaition was shockingly agreeable to me. The thing that I find unique and beautiful here is the encouragement to keep many of the marks made during the initial and continuous scanning of reference points that compose a drawing, as part of the end result. These marks show how the artist's eye moves throughout the work, keeping evidence of the drawing process at all times and giving it a raw beauty that draws the viewer in. Thanks to this approach, I now have a deeper understanding of the process of drawing, as well as a new appreciation for this aesthetic and teaching method, even if I don't always choose to use it in my finished works.

Left: Base/ First Drawing of the semester. Charcoal on newsprint, 24"x30". Right: Portrait Drawing of the same model. Polychromos pencil and conte chalk on coffee stained rag paper, 16"x 20"

    There are two books recommended by every drawing professor at UCF: The Art of Responsive Drawing by Nathan Goldstein, 1999 (ISBN: 9780135979310) and The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides, 1990 (ISBN: 9780395530078). I have not read these titles yet but look forward to using them in my effort to further understand the drawing methodology emphasized here; because it definitely works!

Books recommended by drawing professors at UCF. 

    In painting class, I started the semester with a few 9 in.x 12 in. monochromatic studies based on photo reference taken during my Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST )Thru-hike, to break the ice. I used a limited value scale, which enticed close observation of value shapes. Although I thought this would help me, my professors were far from impressed and pushed me to take my concepts further, go bigger and connect to the subject at a deeper level. Again, looking at the work in the painting studios at the VAB, I can understand why. At the beginning of the semester I worked in a highly planned and familiar illustrational style, but by the end I searched for evidence of a more visceral and spontaneous process in my work. Doing so allowed me to find joy in the range and intention of marks I produced, while evolving the concept of what a good painting should feel and look like for me.  

Set of monocrhomatic studies. Acrylic on canvas paper. 9 in. x 12 in.From left to right #1. MM235.7 NOBO, #2. MM17.6, Big Cypress. #3. MM116, Alvin Ward Park. #4. MM178.9 Micco Landing. #5. MM239, #6. MM226

Set of monocrhomatic studies. Acrylic on canvas paper. 9 in. x 12 in.From left to right #1. MM235.7 NOBO, #2. MM17.6, Big Cypress. #3. MM116, Alvin Ward Park. #4. MM178.9 Micco Landing. #5. MM239, #6. MM226

First and last paintings of the semester in Advanced Painting class. 

Midterm and final critiques followed the same format as the first semester's bringing stress, excitement, determination and regretably, quite a few extra pounds into my life. 

    After leaving the middle school job for good at the start of my first semester, I was invited to work part time as an instructor at Elite Animation Academy, founded by former Disney co-workers and friends in Orlando. I taught there durring the summer break and aprreciated the change, so I accepted the job. At midterm critique I was asked if I worked outside of school and was gently reminded that grad school has a way of making one prioritize things. I could not agree more with this statement. After midterm, I requested to be placed on their online instructors list, to save time on weekend commuting to Orlando. 

Here's a quick look at my midterm semester set up, year one, semester two (spring).

I worked hard to complete To My Own Self I am True (84in. x 86 in.) on time for finals. I clocked up to a hundred and fifteen hours on this work, piecemealed in studio sessions working around classes, long commutes and instructing on line. I worked methodically, building charcoal gradations through refined rendering rather than smudging (my preffered method) and used the verdaccio technique as underpainting in the color areas using pastels, to create luminosity and depth.  

My final critique for Year 1, Semester 2. (Spring)

    For a graduate student, the most important event of the spring semester is the annual graduate show, which takes place at the UCF Art Gallery in early February. Graduating students work together to plan the layout of the show, advised by their thesis chair and committee members. As the show happens early in the semester, it excludes them from the midterm critique, and frees them to finalize their thesis research paper before producing one more work for their final critique, in late April. Graduating students conduct their public thesis defense while their work is on exhibit, standing at a podium set up near it. Here are the thesis defenses by Brittney Fucheck and Leeann Rae, class of 2023.

     Going back to school truly is like riding a bicycle, even if you wobble and almost fall at first; eventually the muscle memory comes back. My wobbles were definitely noticeable and felt. Although I eliminated weekend commuting working as an online instructor for Elite, the hundred and ten mile daily commute to UCF and long days are still quite demanding for me and BooBoo, my little 9Lb poodle and sole companion. I need to be as close as possible to school and I am actively researching alternative places for us to live in Orlando during the week. I can't imagine another intense year of graduate school with such commute. 

    There is no doubt that this was a hard year for me, in many ways. Not all of my classmates welcomed me in a friendly manner, which affected my morale and stressed me at first. But hey! I am here to be me and create awesome work, regardless of what that means to others. And... I survived it! I am grateful beyond belief to be a graduate student at UCF, and eagerly look forward to the next two years. 

Now, I need to get ready for a super busy summer ahead! 

Stay tuned for a recap of my first summer experience at UCF!