Allan Hancock College’s Ann Foxworthy Gallery was buzzing with the excitement of longtime friends and colleagues, all coming together to share their work with each other and students at the opening reception for the annual Fine Arts Faculty Art Exhibit on Oct. 28. The exhibition shows through Nov. 30 and features various media by teachers of painting, sculpture, drawing, design, photography, ceramics, and more.
Art Gallery Director Marti Fast—who also teaches life drawing classes—arranged the gallery show, which allowed each teacher in the Fine Arts Department to submit whatever they wanted.
“I love it because I never know what’s going to come in the door. They just bring in whatever it is,” she said. “But this year they brought in more of a serene show, it looks like there was a theme.”
Another theme connecting much of the work was the fact that many of the creators were exploring new areas in their art.
Ceramics instructor Bob Nichols was brimming with information about the ceramic pieces he was showing, which used soda firing, a technique relatively new to the master ceramist. The process distributes heat unevenly through the kiln, and at the temperature peak, two forms of sodium are introduced to the flame, which dramatically changes the outcome of the work.
“If you look at this side, the soda was hitting against this surface, wrapping around the pot, hitting the handle very strongly, and then less intensely on the back side,” he said, pointing. “All of that is serendipitous. You don’t know until we unload the kiln what happens.”
Not far off, photography teacher David Passage—also a skilled French horn player who collaborates with the Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra—was displaying his latest obsession. It wasn’t in a frame, because it wasn’t photography, but instead it was a collection of small, cylindrical wooden boxes.
Passage listed the rare kinds of wood: ebony, maple, redwood, osage, and even some Island Ironwood—a relic species that is found only on the Channel Islands.
“I’ve always done ship models, and I have a lathe, so I turned capstans and masts, but then I was on YouTube and I saw someone turning a box, so I turned a box, and I was hooked,” he said. “Which is interesting too, because I’ve basically learned how to turn from watching YouTube videos, which is interesting for me as an educator.”
The Fine Arts Faculty Art Exhibit always allows Hancock’s instructors to catch up on each other’s work, but it also demonstrates to the students that their teachers are multifaceted artists who try new things and expand their horizons, Fast said.
The show’s influence also expands beyond the Fine Arts Department. Design instructor John Hood—whose meditative paintings show as part of the faculty show—hinted at some collaboration between his students and Allan Hancock College’s physics department. Physics Department Chair Linda Metaxas was at the reception as well, and spoke of a number of possibilities, from Rube Goldberg devices to artsy kinetic pieces that could teach a physics lesson.
Timid students approached their teachers to admire the work and discuss techniques. Every instructor was more than generous in sharing information and stories. Another uniting theme was each instructor’s passion for the process of creating—whether it was in media they were comfortable with creating or something new.
“The doing of it is what really floats my boat,” Passage said. “It’s really satisfying when you get a really good cut. But sometimes you don’t. But when you’ve got a really beautiful cut going, it feels good.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is always in the process. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 5-12, 2015.
