Part 1

My name is Rebecca Young, and I am a 2-D art major. I am a transfer student to Whitworth after having been away from school for 14 years. I am a wife, a mother, and as of recently, a homeschool teacher!  My plan is to be a secondary school art teacher and I have recently been accepted into Whitworth’s Master’s in Teaching program, which I will begin this summer. My time at Whitworth, so far, has been rewarding beyond expectation, I have been challenged and have grown in ways I didn’t know I could, artistically and otherwise, and I am looking forward to the next adventure! 

Each artwork I make is practice. They are a challenge that I give myself to overcome and each piece contributes to an overall body of work in progress. These two paintings in particular were, for me, the beginning of open-ended prompts as opposed to working from observation. Painting a negative life experience or a figure in a space forced me to come up with ideas that naturally evolved using variations of concept, color, and composition. I then had to determine how to reconcile and articulate the concepts as clearly as possible as I worked through the process. I think of my art as an exercise used to strengthen my physical and mental connections and that each piece is a practice in patience, expression, as well as technique and the improvement of skills. These two paintings represent an important steppingstone in my progress, and each one has given me the opportunity to do a better job of solving the next problem. 

Part 2

Anyway… moving on
We come to a new problem
Not a real problem

It’s time for color
The drab does not excite me
My work needs some life

So, I brighten it
Simplifying the subject
Some from black and white

Releasing slightly
Allowing me to show through
More lucidity

Experimenting
Practicing process and fun
In serious play

The progress is there
Reflection of life, stages
Always progressing

Part 3

Observe what surrounds
In through eyes, into the brain
and out through the hands

Though hands are weakened
from previous profession
…genetics as well

But that can’t be all
I bring experience 
and combine the two!

The observation
Undergoes evolution
I build it myself

Paint, plaster, and clay
Create the celebration
non-perishable

Three dimensional
Almost like the real thing, then
Two dimensional

Fashioning a dream
hopefulness and delight
Real and make believe

Different mediums
Draw from past to create new
This won’t taste as good

Part 4

The Grande Finale
Culmination of two years
of Whitworth guidance

Nothing for granted
Experience embodied
My life and my art

Struggle brings great stride
These paintings feel right, right now
Change is realized

Can’t paint my troubles
Besides, who wants to hear it?
But I can paint cake

Though we can’t eat it
It can tell certain stories
And lessons of life

How we serve others
Create for their enjoyment
by being alone

To live in balance
by accepting certain things
inevitable

Expectations kill
the joy that’s available
We need to just smile

My art seeks laughter
at droll disappointment
A sitcom moment

We would laugh at them
for their minor misfortunes
Why not at ourselves?

It’s not all so heavy
Though sometimes things are crappy
there are sweets to eat!