Artist teaching Art History and Writing
You must be wondering why on earth would an artist want to teach writing? You may also question if an artist is qualified to teach writing.
The answer is YES. Most of the masters were prolific writers and philosophers. This is well documented in the art criticism and art history. I strongly believe that writing skills are essential in life and in business. It seems that the art of writing is not being taught in schools and in tutoring centers. My students who take after school tutoring said that they only learn multiple choice tests taking methods. When I ask my students to write an essay on an artist, some are excited to do it and some are not. The essays I read have multiple grammatical mistakes and lack structure. They usually have run on sentences, poor punctuation, and grammar. I understand that teachers face a classroom of 30 plus students and teaching compositional writing the traditional way is no longer possible. Also the pressure of STAR testing, takes the time away from such writing programs. Therefore, I hope that my writing/art history classes can help fill this great need.
Why choose me? Well, I have many years of formal education in classes that are writing intensive. Well, having graduated from one of the most competitive and writing intensive major at U.C. Berkeley has helped me to fine tune my writing and analytical skills.
However, as parents, it might be interesting to hear about my early experiences in language arts that sparked the flames of writing and learning. As a pre teen, I cultivated my painting skills in unison with my writing skills. I credit my mother for recognizing these talents at an early age of 10. She enrolled me in creative writing classes at Marlborough College Prep in Hancock Park. This love of writing grew as I attended middle school at Campbell Hall College Prep., in Laurel Canyon. In the 7th grade, I read Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream, the Illiad, The Hobbit, Huckleberry Finn, Haikus, and The Once and Future King. It was a profound experience that turned me on to Shakespeare and the classics. In the 8th grade, I read Julius Caesar, Odyssey, Tom Sawyer, The Two Towers, and etc. Again Julius Caesar and the Odyssey were my two favorites. I loved how Shakespeare uses metaphors, similes, and double entendres to create humor and poetic devices in his plays. I learn a lot about human nature in Julius Caesar and Homer's epic novels.
I continued in the English honor track all the way to AP English in high school. Back in my days, Arcadia High School which I attended, was ranked the top 3 schools in California. It still is a top ranking high school today. The English, Math, Art, and Science programs was super. I was in AP classes for all these disciplines, but loved English and Art the most. So in high school, I read Medea in World Poetry; Street Car Named Desire, Glass Menagerie in Great American Play Writes class; Canterbury Tales; and American short stories where I learned about allegories in a powerful story called a Mother's Tale. This short story tells about the horror of the beef industry as a mother cow was able to escape the slaughter house to tell the tale of the killings. I read this in 10th grade and still remember it 'til this day. After speaking to my students and other educators in the public school system, I was told that these text were really advance for the grade level and they do not teach most of these. My students say that Shakespeare is taught only in high school in the Tri Valley area.
In conclusion, I am grateful for having a broad education that allowed me to learn many valuable skill sets. My English G.P.A. in high school was 4.3.
During Freshman year at U.C. Berkeley, I was able to jump right into Shakespeare and Rhetoric because I met the undergrad English requirements straight out of high school. I was fortunate to have visited the Globe theatre in London in 2011. I have wanted to visit the Globe ever since I took a Shakespeare class with a British professor, Hugh Richmond, at U.C. Berkeley, who was on the committee to rebuild the Globe.
Nalyne Lunati
Can anyone teach art?
The art education market in the private sector is littered with people who lack the proper qualifications to teach it. Everyone but the properly trained artists are jumping into the band wagon of teaching art despite the lack of proper training in the field. From the surface to the novice, art seems like an easy pursuit that does not require any education or training. After all its not brain surgery where anyone gets hurt. Well it is a free country and anyone can open a tent in the dessert with a big neon sign saying "Super Guru" of art, right? Yes, these people use the label fine arts even when they are teaching cartooning where a template is used. Cartooning has its place, but I object to the mislabeling of Fine Arts when cartooning methods are used.
The cartooning or template method is very anti Fine Arts and goes against everything the Fine Arts tradition stands for. So parents need to do some research before deciding where to entrust their child's art education. If you are looking for Fine Arts training where your child will be challenged and learn valuable skills, then seek a place where the at least the Director has M.F.A. or B.F.A. from a reputable university, versus a degree mill. For those, seeking a "daycare" with art, then the cartooning or template style maybe not bother you. Even with that said, I believe a child will benefit greater from the later method. I feel that a child is robbed of the opportunity to learn so much more and to develop problem solving skills through the Fine Arts or Studio Art methodology.
Teaching the fine arts methodology requires some one who went through a degreed program in fine arts with training in teaching art. However, there are people with M.F.A. out there who sold out to the cartooning style of teaching which is more lucrative. This styles requires only a cheap labor force and the American public seems to like the copy paste method which produces a finished cartoon like product.
Art is supposed to be an adventure and a journey of self discovery. The cartooning or template style of teaching takes these essential elements of art away and replaces it with a copy paste template where everyone's work looks the same where generic cartoon figures are drawn. We are already in a world bombarded with technology and instant gratification. Thus, Fine Arts is a valuable tool to help bring back the human element or craftsmanship, creativity, innovation, and fine tuning motor skills. George Braque, the great cubist painter, said that if you already know the outcome of the painting, then your art career is over. Many of the great modern masters expressed the same sentiments.
I have seen many students who were taught the cartoon/template style and I find it very problematic for these reasons. First, they are not able to draw an object from observation and seem to not be able to break out of this mold; Second, their line quality is very thick and harsh like Manga; and Third, their minds have been closed off, so they are not receptive to learning something new, like fine arts, where there is no template or a multiple choice.
The best thing parents can do to educate themselves on Fine Arts before choosing a program is to visit the major Fine Arts museums in the Bay Area, like the Legion of Honor, De Young, and SFMOMA. They can also do some research on the internet and look at websites of these museum to learn more about the exhibitions. This will help you make a more informed and educated decision when choosing an art school.
Nalyne Lunati
Abstract art is so misunderstood.
It makes me cringe when I hear people with no training in fine arts say they can do an abstract piece like the one hanging in my studio lobby. They would say the same even about a Rothko, Miro or Richter. What is promoting this condescending attitude about abstract art or modern art? I think it is a lack of education and exposure to seeing masterpieces in major museums. Modern and contemporary art are my passion and Abstract Expressionist is a particular style that I have embraced as an artist for a while now. Often, I hear people make fun at abstract art and dismiss it as a lesser genre. This crowd believes the only purpose of a painting is to look realistic. Abstraction is a profound subject that requires some study of art history and technique to understand. This genre requires mastery of technique, creativity, and experience to achieve the visual impact. I won't get to technical here. The making of a modern master requires years of training.
This brings me to my subject of how wanna be artists misrepresent fine arts. Many months ago as I was scrolling through the City of Pleasanton summer art program, I am horrified to see a class description titled Abstract Art Camp with a description saying "Pouring and throwing paint are just two of the methods you will use to create your own abstract masterpieces!" How misleading this is to young children.
The foundation of abstraction involves the concept of "deconstruction" and the use of expressive brush strokes that evokes action and energy. The origin of abstract art was an evolutionary process that started with the loosening of brushstrokes with the Impressionist movement to pure formalism with Kandinsky, who is considered to be one of the father of abstract art.
Although, this is true, abstract art has evolved into different sub-categories and different styles that may differ from the lineage of the Impressionist, Expressionist, and Cubist. I would like to use Kandinsky and the Blue Riders as an example of an influential modern art movement. This group believed in the spirituality of art and the the brush stroke as the conduit of spirituality. The Kandinsky and the Blue Riders formed the foundations for Expressionism which later was adopted by the Americans in 1940's by artist like Jackson Pollack and Rothko. Mark Rothko also believed that "painting is an anecdote of the human spirit". This movement became knows as "American Action" painting or "Abstract Expressionism". Abstract Expressionism was the style that put New York on the map as the new art capital replacing Paris. It is a major style that art schools in the U.S. and Europe recognize and respect.
It is a crying shame that amateurs have reduced this art form to just "throwing and pouring paint!" or "smearing paint." "Oh, 3 year old can paint abstractly (looking at a Rothko)…" are common sentiments that I often hear form the novice. These masters wielded a brush and painting with great vigor and integrity to express their spirituality. Yes, Jackson Pollack drips paint, but he also paints with a brush as well. Even when he drips paint, he does not "pour or throw" it. He uses a special oil, like stand oil, to make it more elastic so he can place every stroke meticulously. He says that he has intention in every drip and he uses his bodily action when he works on the canvas. He was one of the artist that gave the name to "American Action Painting". Pollack's canvases are late scale.
Nalyne Lunati