Welcome to February, my friends! This month I will be taking you on a brief tour of my high school art, which I consider to be my most formative years. In today’s post, I will intersperse examples of my work from those years with narrative. I hope you enjoy seeing the pieces that gave me my art foundation!
To start us off, let me give you a little context about my high school. I attended Unionville High School (UHS) in Markham, Ontario. At the time, that school was the only public school with a specialized Fine Arts program in York Region. Called Arts York (now Arts Unionville), each year they accepted a limited number of students for entrance into Grade 9. You had to apply and audition for your discipline of choice (Visual Arts, Dance, Music, or Drama). Aside from the Arts York program, they had the regular education stream for students who lived in the immediate area. Arts York students would take specialized courses in their disciplines in addition to standard courses, which they would take with the rest of the student population.
When I was in Grade 8 and thinking about which high school to attend, I knew I could go to my local high school but I wanted to try for UHS both because I liked the arts focus and because UHS had a better reputation academically. I ended up auditioning for both Dance and Visual Arts. At that point, I had been learning ballet for 11 years and was taking exams that would allow me to pursue teaching if I wanted to, so I was pretty confident I would get in for Dance.
Visual Arts had always intrigued me and growing up, I was envious of my friends who got to take art lessons. Still, I didn’t know if I had the skills to get me into the program. My Grade 8 art teacher was really supportive when I told her I wanted to apply for Arts York and she helped me prepare the portfolio for my audition. I remember having to bring a self-portrait and a sculpture to the interview, among other required examples of work. I also remember feeling embarrassed at the interview because I had tried to carve a squirrel out of plaster but had only managed to finish half of it.
At the audition, they had us take a group art class and do several exercises, including sketching a shiny ribbon that had been stapled in various places to a board. Then they interviewed each applicant individually. It was a serious and involved process and I will forever be grateful they accepted me into the program!
Over the course of the next four years, I learned so much. I got to try things like printmaking, silkscreen, acrylic painting, sculpture, and textiles. I was taught art history and learned about various styles and techniques like Impressionism, Cubism, and pointillism. I also got the opportunity to do life drawing of real live models (something really rare for teenagers to get to do as we actually observed nude figures.)
In Grade 10, I did my first acrylic painting and learned about colour mixing, as well as how to build, stretch, and prepare a canvas. We would design the concept for our paintings, execute them, and then critique them to see how they could be improved. Do you see what I mean now when I say Arts York gave me my foundation?
Every semester for four years, I had an art class. My teachers not only taught us art skills but built our confidence. Our art would be regularly displayed in the foyer of our school so everyone could see our creations. The first person who ever offered to buy my work was a teacher at our school. It was a cubist style piece featuring frogs that I had created as a birthday gift for my dad so I couldn’t sell the original to the teacher, but I did end up creating a print of it and selling that to her. (That piece still hangs in my mom’s place.)
When I turned 40, I made a list of people who had had significant impact on my life and sent them a painting and a thank you letter. My main art teacher from UHS was one of them. I owe a lot of my skills to her! (Thanks Mrs. Chelin, for encouraging me then and still encouraging me now!)
High school was a time of flourishing for me. I would have some wilderness years throughout my 20s and 30s but my teenage years were definitely a key part of developing the artist in me.
Question for reflection, if you want to go deeper: When you think about the teachers who have invested in you (in school or just people who have taught you things), who comes to mind? If you’re able to contact them, consider reaching out to say thank you.
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As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!