Honorable Mention: Micaiah Hardison, California
Micaiah Hardison, Surf Lesson, oil, 15 x 30.
What inspired your winning entry? This painting was inspired by the dynamic of parent and child and the introduction to the most powerful thing that a person will ever meet—the ocean. Since having children of my own and introducing them to the sea, I have paid more attention to people’s first interactions with the surf. Some kids run into the waves with no fear or respect and end up coughing up sand and water. Others are very timid and need to be introduced slowly.
Where did you study art? I painted feverishly for 10 years as a self-taught artist before discovering an atelier near me, Watts Atelier of the Arts. I enrolled in a variety of courses there with Jeffrey Watts and his teachers and also with another school started by two teachers that splintered off from Watts. I had to start from scratch to learn to see, draw, and mix accurate values and colors. A lot of my studies have been on my own, through books or studying original works.
How would you describe your style? My style is still evolving. But since committing to a consistent palette, I am able to focus on refining my paint-application techniques. I complete a painting while all the paint is still wet, so edges can be manipulated and colors pulled from all areas of the painting. My intentions are to express the feeling of an instant but to do so with an accuracy that chronicles our time and place in history.
What is your pet peeve? Waking up to find that a bug got stuck to my painting.
What are your goals for the future? To develop better compositions that tell a story. And I have embarked on a series of nocturne studies in which I hope to find success. I am looking for the appropriate galleries to approach to establish a good, lasting partnership.
Featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
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