SOMETHING ORDINARY: SENIOR THEME EXHIBITION 2022
Pinellas County Center for the Arts annual Senior theme based exhibition highlights contemporary work in a wide variety of media by the student artists with the Visual arts Program. The work is further adjudicated by artist Bruce Marsh.: https://brucemarsh.net.
Indi Angello
Still life of an apple
I wanted to explore the boundaries of “something ordinary”; depict the typical in an atypical way. Many of my peers were doing pieces focused on food, and that made me think of classic fruit still-lives. I wanted to test how loosely an “apple” could be defined. Apples are iconic in their simplicity: they’re red and they’re round. But there is so much more detail, darker striations and the deceivingly complicated form. The statement in gratuitously formal type both contrasts the organic nature of the piece and movement, while also alluding to Magritte’s classic surrealist piece “The Treachery of Images”.
Acrylic, gouache
12x12
Quincy Barnes
School Bus
I ride the bus every day. It’s a delicate ecosystem of students in where they sit and who they
interact with. In the morning it’s silent and gloomy, with the most communication being a second of eye contact. But on the ride home, it’s hectic, with people climbing over seats to talk to each other, music playing in the background, and the loud hum of the air conditioner in the back. I wanted to synthesize these moods to capture this chaotic part of my daily life.
Paper, Ink
9x12
Jada Calhoun
Wakeup and Makeup
The prompt, Ordinary, made me think of my daily routine. Because for me, it is something I stick to every day. For example, no matter what I do, I always wake up each morning with my hair sticking up somewhere. I think it's fun to do makeup and it's the last thing I do. It's kind of like the end of my morning tasks
Procreate
8.5 x 11
Nick Gregory
Music to my ears
Something ordinary in my life is music and how it affects my emotions in my day to day. Shuffling my music library is like playing Russian roulette with my emotions and that is an everyday experience for me./ digital, procreate
9x12
Dan Christopher
Death by Plasma
My interpretation of the prompt “something ordinary” was a thing that is mundane and people don’t think much about. I chose television because I think it is under appreciated. I specifically an older style tv (with a built in vcr) because it’s something people don’t really pay attention to anymore. They are frequently overlooked and discarded for newer televisions.
Felt, craft, foam, poly fill, cardboard, embroidery
floss, plastic, paper, colored pencil
6 x 6 x 6
Israel Harris
Sunset over car dealership
I chose to paint this landscape because I wanted to capture perfection of the saturated warm glow of the sunset glairing through the clouds with the contrast of the large dark palm trees and the cool blue of the car dealership building. I feel like I’m always taking things for granted and not truly appreciating the beauty and perfection of Gods creation. As a painter now I’m allot more aware now of my surroundings, observing how things look and how I might use it in an artwork.
Acrylic
16x20
Kaylee Hess
The Cats Meow
"Something ordinary" when it came to this prompt, my thought process was drawn to the use of tobacco and alcohol consumption. I personally enjoy using bright colors and cartoonist styles to portray something not so child like, I believe it adds a nice contrast when it comes to the art piece and the topic ln my illustration I am portraying what many may call an 'ordinary substance'. My subject here is smoking, followed by a wine bottle placed next to it. Many use tobacco or alcohol regularly and it's become the basic substances that adults and even teenagers consume.
iPad, clip studio paint
17 x 26
Grace Martin
Bag o’ gold
I interpreted something ordinary as something or an experience shared by many people. In my case, I was thinking of goldfish, and how at some point many kids get one, whether it be from a pet store or a carnival prize. I think goldfish are truly beautiful fish (and honestly under-appreciated) , and that is why I titled it after something valuable like gold.
I used acrylic paint. Specifically blick paint and golden (the brand) paint.
9x12
Hope Lemoine
Soak
This piece is about taking a bath. Nothing out of the ordinary- Bubbles, relaxation, and a rubber
ducky to top it all off. Soaking in a bath is a soothing activity most people, including myself love.
What more could you ask for?
Digital
9x12
Victoria Hunter
Chicken Drive-Thru
My interpreted meaning of the prompt itself was what is a part of my daily life that becomes rather dull over time because of how common it is, and how to put a spin on it artistically. So, my artwork is the ordinary idea of getting fast food. As somebody who eats fast food nearly on a daily basis for the sake of convenience, its become a part of my everyday life to encounter any. Thus, within my artwork, I decided to bring some irony and dark comedy to the ordinary fast food place, by replacing people in cars and people inside of the restaurant with chickens. The cars in the line being driven by the roosters are to reference the lines that will show up at the drive-thru even at night.
Apple IPad Air Gen 4, Apple pen gen 2, procreate
5x7
Leah Linkogle
Insecurities Enlarged
At first, the theme “Something Ordinary” seemed so broad. I had tons of ideas for ordinary
subjects but no clue where to start, and I kept finding myself getting stumped when I tried to
make a thumbnail. But then I had the idea of not making the subject ordinary, but the structure
of the piece ordinary. What could be more ordinary than a self-portrait? And a head shot no
less! It may seem ordinary at first, but the more you look the more you realize it doesn’t quite fit the norm.
Watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic
11 x 15 in.
Nicholle Miller
Hair Dye
The prompt Ordinary, made me think of my friends. I enjoy hanging out with my best buddys. An ordinary day for me is to see my friends. Also today, having dyed hair is very common! In my piece its me and two of my close friends dying hair.
Acrylic on canvas
18 x 24
Mallory Morris
Motel
My piece for this prompt is based off of an ordinary motel, which is something we see very often in Florida. I find motels to be very ordinary because they are a daily part of my life as I see them every day on my commute to work or school. I find something about just one room with nothing but a bed and a bathroom a very ordinary setting.
Digital
9x12
Skyler Parker
BUY! CONSUME!
I interrupted the prompt “something ordinary” as something you probably do every day but don’t give a second thought to. Capitalism, whether it’s the swipe of a card or the ping of a cash register draw money can seem disposable, see something you want buy it. Because you need it, you need to be up to date, on trend. Don’t get me wrong I one hundred percent buy into flashy marketing, cutesy things…. sometimes I can’t resist, but then after I feel bad about buying them. I think being more aware is a good thing, but it would be really hard not to buy into big brands so it’s nothing to really beat yourself but over.
Acrylic paint, linocut, etching, pen, yarn
18x24
Ate’ Porter
Jessie
For "something ordinary", my first thoughts were to make a piece about something that
is significant to me personally, that affects me on a daily basis. My cat felt like the
natural choice. She greets me when I come home, we nap together and we enjoy
spending time with each other. Pets are a very usual part of human life. I wanted to
display the admiration that people have for their pets in this piece. I used a plate so I
could try to give it the same feeling you get when a grandmother crochets a blanket for
the arrival of her new grandchild.
Acrylic paint on ceramic plate
8x8
Charlie Reagan
With the prompt of “Something Ordinary”, I racked my mind over how that could fit within the general vibe of my inquiry, which is about more supernatural subjects and horror. But another big part of my inquiry is eerie, seemingly normal situations. While 3D is my focus this year, for a long time I’ve had an interest in photography, and in particular over the summer I’ve been taking photos of the eerie ordinary I describe. So, on campus I had a perfect photography opportunity. The dark, seemingly infinite hallway, lit only by the sunlight coming through the windows on the locked doors and exit signs that feel like they go on forever. Does the exit really exist? But of course, it does, doesn’t it? It’s just an ordinary hallway. The science hallway, the majority of us have walked it. When it’s lit up, it's all just drop ceilings, and mostly empty
classrooms. But when shrouded in darkness there it challenges that idea. It’s just an ordinary hallway, right?
photography
9x12
Colby Roe
Fungi
For something ordinary, my immediate thought process was to exemplify something that is overlooked, something that is viewed as gross, or something unconventional, which led to my subject matter of mushrooms. I did this because mushrooms represent the most mundane topic available, death. Fungi sprouting from a field of green grass is something that can be found every day but can easily be utilized to represent an infinitely deeper meaning.
Acrylic on canvas
16x20
Kristopher Minnie
Rotten & forgotten
In doing my investigation I found that most of our lives are the most ordinary, but on a certain ordinary day I found this beautiful cockroach that would perfectly fit my prompt and provide the support for my investigation that I needed. This cockroach was seen as disgusting to most people but as it elegantly laid its abdomen back against the cold wet sink, and fully sunk back it became such an unorthodox thing in such a ordinary day.
charcoal, chalk pastel.
18 x 24
Lily Stanley
Ordinary Girl
I often have difficulty viewing myself as normal, or as someone “ ordinary. “ As I’ve grown older, I realize that part of this stems from insecurity surrounding my sexuality. When I started middle school, I noticed that I began to feel like I couldn’t relate with a lot of the girls I grew up with. I felt inferior to girls around me because I felt unattractive for expressing myself differently than them. For a while I haven’t felt comfortable in my womanhood because so much of girlhood is defined by the experience of straight women. I chose to use organic imagery of shells, pearls, and flowers paired with a self portrait as way of subtly conveying same sex attraction, asking the question: what makes a girl ordinary?
graphite, acrylic, felt, twine, beads
16 x 12
Ishi Tundag
Online Friends
A phone is a common item that is used on a daily basis. Many people use their phones to communicate with one another. You can connect with friends and family as well as meet new people online. But what most people don’t realize is that we start to imagine someone’s appearance based on their voice, personality, and what they claim to be. You wonder if they’re even real at times
Pen, marker, colored pencil
8x11
Taahji Swain
First Catch
This year, my art will be focusing on nature so I decided to tie that in with this theme. My piece features oscar fish and a butterfly peacock bass, two types of fish commonly found in Lake Maggiore. The lake is a landmark I’ve seen nearly everyday since I was five years old, and I can’t imagine the city without it. I chose the fish both for their bright colors and for the commonality of them. I decided to use markers and chalk for this piece because they are materials almost every artist uses as a child, the Crayola markers most specifically.
Chalk Pastel, Marker, Colored Pencil, Photoshop
8.5 x 11
![Danny Batton Me in the Real :] I’ve always hated my photo being taken and seeing how i’m perceived by other people, the exception being my mom who always took photos of me as if i was something special, to her, i was, and seeing how i am from her](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ba28207199cb4482506ec8/05479fec-125b-4dd9-afd2-3ea8c04c5799/Unknown.jpeg)
Danny Batton
Me in the Real :]
I’ve always hated my photo being taken and seeing how i’m perceived by other people, the exception being my mom who always took photos of me as if i was something special, to her, i was, and seeing how i am from her point of view i can almost see what she sees. i digitally painted a self-portrait inspired by one of her photos, the photo being almost a decade old but still one of my favorites.
Digital
9x12
Mia Scarpetta
Illusion.
For something ordinary, I created an artwork that relates more to myself. Music means a lot to me, and has always been an inspiration in my life so I created a piece on ordinary headphones. My intended meaning was to make the headphones look like actual bands playing within the headphone. I was also
trying to intertwine my inquiry of dreams with my something ordinary piece because when I listen to music l'm in a daydream state. When I listen to music, it makes me feel happy.
Acrylic, colored pencil, and pen.
18x24
E’liyah Page
My Everyday Crown
Ever since I was young I’ve always had to get my hair done. I never thought twice of it. Little did I know those braids, perms, presses and more was only making my hair flourish more and more. The details and styles are most captivating to me, however some hairstyles can be so extraordinary.
Simple cornrows and ponytails take so much effort, yet are so common. Nonetheless, they are captivating with their coils and curls. My inquiry focuses on the little details and textures of hair and how my everyday crown is delicate yet ordinary.
Graphite, watercolor, micron pen
10x12
Violet Ross
Brush Brush Brush!
The given prompt drew me to the typical activities we do everyday, something so simple it becomes routine. Brushing was always hard for me to get in the habit of as a kid, I included bright pastels and busy collage to emphasize the sensory struggles of brushing everyday and brought in contrasting pink flowers to represent the sprouting of good habits that can take time for some people to grow accustomed to.
Colored pencil, collage
14 x 16
Bruce Marsh
Born in California in 1937, he was educated at the University of California Santa Barbara, UCLA, and California State College at Long Beach.
Over the entirety of his professional career he has devoted his energies equally to teaching and painting. In 1969 he joined the faculty at the University of South Florida, and taught there until retiring, as Professor Emeritus, in 2003. He has exhibited his paintings extensively in Florida and the Southeast, and has had exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York. He has had five Museum shows over the past 3 years, a solo exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and group shows at the Baker Museum, Naples FL., Tampa Museum of Art, and the Maitland Museum of Art and Art History.
During the past 25 years a major part of his efforts have been devoted to large scale paintings for public spaces. Last year he has completed two large (4’ X 15”) paintings for the Houston Methodist Hospital and a large canvas (4’ X 14’) for a private collection.
He is very involved in working directly from the figure, and has hosted a weekly Figure Drawing Group at the Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin, since 2015.
His work has been primarily based on landscapes, and is centered on his interests in perception and intense observation. Always hoping for magic.
Over the past few years he has been working on a series of complex paintings of groups in very ordinary situations and places, primarily from his Florida suburban surroundings.
Learn more about Bruce at https://brucemarsh.net.