This semester is quickly coming to a close and so is my time here as a Marywood student and a student blogger for Where Creativity Works.
This semester was my last semester to complete my bachelor’s and my last semester as a blogger. My time at Marywood and especially this semester has been full of some really interesting things and some crazy ups and downs. I’ve learned a lot about myself as an artist and a writer.
Finding My Medium I’ve learned that 3D is definitely my medium of choice and I plan to continue to make all sorts of crazy and hopefully impressive things even after my time at Marywood is up. I’m going to continue to play with clay and molds to create pieces I find interesting. I’m going to continue to try to learn and grow. I’m going to keep making art that I love for as long as I possibly can.
Finding My Voice I’ve learned that I actually really enjoy writing, which is a very surprising development for me since I am severely dyslexic. But I do really, truly enjoy writing and I hope to continue it in many ways. I want to try to start writing for a blog of my own that I will create for my art and my life. I just want to get my thoughts and ideas out there even if no one actually read it. I think I may also try to branch out into other forms of creative writing to see how I enjoy them.
Finding My People I’ve been so very fortunate to have been able to meet and work with so many amazing faculty, staff members, and students here at Marywood. I’ve made some, hopefully, life long friends and mentors here that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I’m so very proud of all I’ve accomplished while here and I hope to do many more amazing things after I have left.
Finding My Gratitude I want to give a special shout out and thanks to some specific members of the art department that I truly am grateful.
Firstly, I want to thank Professor Sue Jenkins, the blog’s editor, for being so amazing kind in so many ways. If it wasn’t for Sue I would have never started writing for this blog and I’d never have realized how much I really love to write. She has always been such a big supporter of mine and has come to every gallery I’ve had work in, I truly appreciate that support and kindness. Sue has been a wonderful person to talk to about art and just life in general, there’s just so much I could say about how wonderful she is.
Secondly, I want to thank Mark Chuck who has been such an amazing professor and friend. Thanks to Mark I was able to develop such a love and passion for ceramics that I will have for the rest of my life. I have learned so much from him and know that I can always reach out to him if I have a question. He’s helped me grow so much as an artist I can’t even begin to explain. He’s made the studio into such a warm and safe place I have spent so much of my free time there, creating I might as well have a sleeping bag there. He made it so those of us in class could get closer and support each other and watch every one of us grow and develop amazing work. Mark has always been so incredibly kind and encouraging to each and every one of us I wish I could be in that studio every day and I’m truly going to miss it once I’m gone.
Thirdly, I want to thank Professor Stephen Colley. Stephen has been so kind and a mentor to me in so many ways. He’s taught me so much about sculpture and the different things I can make that I never knew was possible. He’s always been so kind, encouraging, and helpful his studio/class was another place I wish I could be everyday and that I truly will miss when I leave. I’ve also been so fortunate to be able to go to his personal studio to help teach art classes for my internship hours and it’s been such an amazing a rewarding experience I couldn’t have wished for anything better. The experience I’ve had there has made me really want to open a studio one day in the future and teach classes because I love it so much. And I know he’s in full support of this because he’s said how great I’d be at it before which makes me feel even more encouraged to do it. There are not enough words to express how amazing Stephen has been and how truly thankful I am for him.
Fourthly, I want to thank Collier Parker my professor and advisor. Though Collier doesn’t teach my medium of choice I’ve learned a lot from him and truly enjoy being around him. He’s been a really great advisor and has been so amazing about sharing his knowledge. He shares his knowledge not only have the art/techniques that he teaches but his person life and experiences about traveling and living abroad and doing so many amazing things. He’s always been such an interesting person to talk to and so incredibly kind. I wish I was able to just have some conversations with him more often because he is so full of knowledge that he’s so willing to share and he’s just absolutely wonderful to talk to.
Finally, I’d like to thank Professor Jackalynn Wilson. Thought I’ve only had Jackie for one semester she has been absolutely amazing and I wish I had her for longer. She has been so incredibly kind, helpful, and supportive. During the beginning of the semester she would let myself and others vent to her and she truly listened. Then halfway through the semester she took over has the head of the art therapy department and she not only made me have faith in my career choice again. She has stepped up and is already making changes that make myself and other students so happy and feel so incredibly supported. She is just so wonderful and I know she will do amazing things for the department!
My blog posts here are usually more focused on the sculptures I am creating and what we are doing in the sculpture department, but seeing as the semester is coming to a close there is not much I am able to create right now. I’ve spent the last week slowly starting to clean out my studio spaces which has been much sadder than I was expecting it to be. This is also my last post before the semester comes to an end so I felt I couldn’t let it end without expressing my gratitude for so many of the amazing professors I’ve had while here. I also felt my time as a blogger as well as my time as a Marywood student and blogger needed a proper termination.
So finally I say thank you so much for your amazing kindness, support, and sharing of knowledge to the professors listed above and all the other amazing professors and people both in and out of the art department, you have all been amazing and I will miss you greatly!
~Madison Kelly,
Art Therapy Major, Sculpture/3D blogger
Member of the Marywood Players and the Transfer Student Association
