Congratulations on winning the Art History Scholarship/ Fall 2023 and best wishes ongoing to:
Darrin Johnson a Senior at the University of West Georgia duel majoring in Art History and Fine Art
“Over the past four years, I have engaged with studio and art history classes, blending my research with my artwork. With the art history courses I have taken, my research has focused on u
nderstanding methodologies for a critically considered and effective artistic experience for all patrons of the arts. In my studio classes, I have been engaging with 2D and 3D mediums in a way that factors in the new techniques I learn and the narratives that are relevant to me.
Since pursuing both degrees, I’ve been dancing between both areas of study, weaving them together to create work for myself and my research that responds to broader questions around what it means for me to create and how I can be influenced by the world around me. Understanding the metamorphosis that materials and mediums have gone through over time, I’ve engaged with artistic practice through fine art and academic institutions.”
Honorable Mention Scholarship Essay / Darrin Johnson:
Compare and contrast the 2 paintings shown below:
When thinking about what is seen within visual narratives, viewers often reference subject matter, color schemes, and medium as indicators for what they are experiencing. Artists can manipulate their work to tap into these aspects of design and create worlds within their work that can harken back to our past experiences through their own. Eileen Monaghan Whitaker’s “Composition in Black and Gold”” and Frederic Whitaker’s “Curious Cloud” speak to ways we can understand visual cues and resonate with fine art.
Made in 1971, the painting “Composition in Black and Gold” by Eileen Monaghan Whitaker features four crows walking across a grassy area underneath a tree. Known to work across the whole page, Eileen splays these birds all over the plane, carrying the viewers eye from one part to the next and back around again. Utilizing the watery and abstracted effects that watercolor can lend itself, we see a more gestural and painterly affect to foliage, creating a dream like space that reminds us of cool autumn afternoons going home from school. The high contrast between the the crows and the golden leafy ground provide the audience with a different view of crows. Although these birds often have a negative connotation to death, we can understand them in a more warm and familiar space. The warm tones of the subject can gesture towards the connection between life and death and the philosophy Eileen had for how she lived and created.
“Curious Cloud” by Frederic Whitaker features a landscape of a farm house at dusk, taking familiar elements of landscape artwork that might be seen from the Hudson River School. Created in 1970, this painting has a much darker tone. His use of soft strokes of color and water areas can be seen in the airy, fluffy clouds nestled above wispy trees surrounding dark farmland. Much like artists during the impressionist era, he recognizes the way color and objects are affected by light source. The use of the white of the paper with various shades of reds, yellows and greys create a sense of distant light behind the clouds. He adds to that sleepy, conclusive feeling with more gestural and undefined buildings below the clouds as you go further back. Lighter horizontal lines that get darker towards the back create distance, expanding the space of the paper and reminding us of the days where we may watch sunsets on our way home. He is quoted saying “My aim in watercolor is to make something that looks absolutely effortless, as if I had left it wet and it had accidentally dried into a perfect picture.” This picture takes on the quality, almost creating a picture that would slowly blend into itself like the world when we fall asleep.
Within these images, Eileen and Frederic Whitaker used watercolor to create pictures that make us question the preconceived notions we have for certain symbols and how we can understand colors role in art.
“Composition in Black and Gold” takes us into nature and encourages us to look amongst the grassy woods for signs of life and intrigue. Her observation and depiction of crows utilizes the glowing nature of gold with warm black to serve as a sign for what it means to understand ourselves. “Curious Cloud” pushes the audience to fall into the comforts of home and embrace slumber in awe of what the next day brings. His interpretation of evening light gently covering farmland makes us question what we get out of color, even grey.
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