MFA

Below are a few photos I shot during my last contact period with my MFA group in Hartford.

Here is a photo of me with some of the great teachers I have had the opportunity to study with over the years. Ted Lewin, Vladimir Shpitalnik, and Murray Tinkelman.

My wall of paintings hanging in the Silpe Gallery , Hartford Art School.

A shot of Gary Kelley during his demo at the HAS.

A shot of C.F Payne during his demo HAS.

Last week I had my thesis defense, which went fairly well. Included in the defense committee was my thesis advisor Doug Anderson, UHA professor Bill Thompson, Program Director Murray Tinkelman, and Visiting Artist C.F Payne. I was a bit nervous about this, having guys like that in front of my paintings made me feel pretty vulnerable to say the least. Murray being the great guy that he is calmed my nerves by reassuring me that this was not the time to bash me and my work, but to rather celebrate the accomplishment and discuss the overall experience. So I relaxed , the Thesis was approved and I graduated with an MFA in illustration.

The overall experience of being a part if the program at Hartford was incredible. The friends I made along the way, the teachers that I worked with, the speakers that I saw, and the places we traveled to all made up an incredible journey. Personally I watched my own work grow with leaps and bounds, this was largely due to being a part of such a great group of artists.

I have to give the biggest thanks to Carol Tinkelman, the person who holds the entire program together, and Tom Bradley associate dean of the Hartford Art School.. If it was not for them I would not have been accepted into this program due to accreditation issues with my undergraduate school.

So Thanks again Carol and Tom. And thanks again to everyone else that has been a part of the MFA in Illustration program at the Hartford Art School.