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My name is Barry Langford and I’m an artist. A few months ago I promised myself I would
find a way to draw for a living and that’s a promise I intend to keep.
I think we all make promises to ourselves—especially when a new year comes.
I’m not big on resolutions; but this year it’s important I renew my promise to myself.
I’m at the Roswell Art Center West. For the past year I have frequently driven
past this place and wondered what goes on inside.
Les Brown says if you want to do things different you have to be a different person.
So today instead of driving past I stopped. I want to know what goes on inside this Center
because I need to find resources that can help me achieve my goals this year.
We do a lot of electric firing. We have two kilns here and three more on the
other side of the building. Everything comes in here as raw clay that’s
been formed. It goes on the shelf.
Then they glaze it and we fire it again. So it’s quite a process.
As I searched for the person in charge I ran into a very friendly and talented artist named
AJ Argentina, who is also the facility supervisor. I also got a chance to visit the Sculpture
Department and met a sculptor named Galen. My work is kind of weird.
Like this was a slop bucket. And it dried out and so I’m hollowing it
out. I’m gonna fire it.
Then that’s gonna be the sculpture. So I’m not like heavy into crafting things.
Or like really building sculptures. It’s more like chance events I guess, or something
like that. I vowed that some part of my art career would
be spent working with pottery and sculpting. But for now I had to focus on my 2D art career.
AJ said Pottery was pretty popular. This statement made me question 2D art. What does an art
collector look for in artwork? And what type of art is selling and what isn’t?
A
couple of gallery owners told me mixed-media was very popular. I also learned that I needed
to create a cohesive art collection. And each gallery mainly showcased collections. Some
collections were by local artists and some were by artists abroad.
I knew I would have to change to better compete as an artist; but I didn’t realize just
how much until now. Looking through the magazines and visiting the galleries showed me that
I needed to get better at working with color. And, to create larger artwork I really needed
to learn to paint. AJ had told me about the Roswell Visual Art
Center. It was time to pay that center a visit so I could find out what classes they offered
and exactly what help I could get in moving away from graphite to color.
My options at the Visual Art Center were unbelievable. I could join a group of artists that get together
and hire adult models to pose for them. This would provide me an opportunity to practice
drawing life-like pictures; I could also network with other artists who could answer questions
I had about techniques and tools. The Center also offered photography and painting
classes. I believed the painting classes would provide an opportunity for me to learn painting
basics and advanced painting techniques to become a skilled painter. Pottery classes
were also available. Some students had even worked with silver clay used to make jewelry.
Looking at the artwork in the building I could see the instructors were very skilled and
knowledgeable in working with color. I couldn’t believe that of all the places I could have
moved; I ended up in an area very rich in resources for artists.
2014 is going to be a very busy year for me bringing big challenges and changes. But mentally,
emotionally and spiritually I believe I’m ready.