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Norma

Last Updated: 11/25/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Married
Age: 37
Sign: Sagittarius

City: Porterville
State: California
Country: US
Signup Date: 4/20/2006

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Burn The Witch: He Who Casts The First Stone

One thing you have to understand about artists is that they typically are regular people like you and me. In fact, if you were to see them out and about you wouldn’t even realize what passion and creativity lies within them.

Having said that, let’s start the introductions with 40 year old Helen Acosta who teaches in the Communication Department at Bakersfield College.

Regular job, right?

However let’s add a few more things to her resume. When she’s not busy with her “day job” her and her husband produce and direct plays. As if that’s not enough, she also makes time for her art. Helen has been working with a new media each year for the past three years and is still struggling to find her own style.

She began with computer graphic art then moved to watercolors and recently started working with canvas. Even though she hasn’t quite found her “style” it’s definitely not something she’s discouraged about. In fact, when asked what the best compliment she’s ever received Helen commented, “I like it when people tell me my work is unique. I had a friend tell me that he saw one of my pieces, didn’t know it was mine but, since it was so different from anything else in the show it must have been mine. He got a little closer and, sure enough, the tag said it was.”

Helen says about her favorite colors to work with,"I love deep, rich color: blues and greens together, oranges and purples, bright pink and red tones together. But I also love to work tone-on-tone. Lately I've enjoyed working with multicolored metal leaf and finding ways to bring the colors of the leaf into my work."

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Former English teacher Susan Reep didn’t have it easy growing up with a former painting professor as a father. So when he told her that her art was REALLY good she didn’t only consider it a compliment, but a challenge. Susan states, “I have a lot of ground to make up, having started so late with no formal training.”

See, Susan doesn’t want to just be remembered as the daughter who’s father’s paintings hang in museums everywhere, including the Smithsonian. Or the daughter of the man who’sbeen featured in a video about WWII artists. She wants to be known for her own art. When asked if there was a specific one she’d like to be known for she said, “So far, a collage named Blue Moon, which is hanging in my show at the Metro Gallery, is the work that springs to mind. It represents so much personal about me. It also came together quickly and just as I had envisioned, and that doesn’t often happen. The art takes on it’s own life sometimes but this one behaved. To me, it’s a balance of serenity and solitude, adventurousness and openness, and the unexpected which is pretty much my personality. At least according to me. Others may have a different opinion.”

Susan lives by what Chinese artist Liu Chun-Hau says when he explains feelings and reactions to art work, “Artistic creation is not mere decoration. The artist has to convey his inspiration to others while allowing them freedom of interpretation.”

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When Micky Piercy was working on her art piece titled, “The Crucifixion of Mother Earth” she never realized how controversial it was going to become. But when asked which art work she’d like to be known for (and why) it’s the first piece that came to mind.

“It’s my latest piece for the local all female show Burn the Witch IV, and one that caused a slight controversy here in Bakersfield for some individuals who thought it offensive. These persons decided to take it down from display and put it in the bathroom causing some damage to the piece in the process. Even still I took the piece home, repaired it and had it back in time for the press preview and the show. I wanted those other artist to know that even though we may not always be understood we can still be the better person,” she explains.

Micky says, "If you want to find something to do think outside the box and make it happen for you. There's loads to do if you use your imagination and stop waiting for something exciting to happen."

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*This is the second blog post in the Burn The Witch series.

Click HERE for the first post: Let's Burn The Witch

This year’s celebration of female creativity will be held at “Metro Special Events at Westchester” 2801 F Street, Bakersfield.

-Opening Reception (YOU MISSED IT): October 17 from three to seven pm; five dollars at the door: Food, wine, live entertainment!
-Closing Reception: Halloween Party October 31; from three to seven pm; five dollars at the door: Food, wine, live entertainment, games, costume contest, and an art raffle to benefit BECA, and The Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault.

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