Last spring, as a final project for John Blosser’s Painting 302 class, Anna Ruth created “Komiza,” an original oil painting.  Ruth, a Junior English major, recently decided to declare an Art minor largely because of her interest in painting. “Art, but especially painting, is really therapeutic for me,” Ruth said. She painted a number of pieces in the course of the semester, but “Komiza” especially stood out as one of her favorites. Ruth painted “Komiza” on a 2×5 foot slab of Masonite, a type of synthetic hardwood. The painting originated as a photo she took in high school while traveling...

By Mary Roth • September 23, 2010 • Arts

If you have spent any time in the Recreation-Fitness Center this year, you have probably noticed a new mural hanging in the lobby. Liz  Gunden, a senior art major, took on the task of creating this mural in conjunction with the Maple Scholars program in May. “The assignment was pretty open-ended,” Gunden said. “I was asked to create a mural that communicated interconnectedness and a sense of diversity.” Gunden settled on modeling the mural from a photograph she took during her SST service assignment in Nicaragua.  It depicts a number of smiling young children, both in a close-up shot of...

By Mary Roth • September 15, 2010 • Arts

“I did this painting at the end of last semester for Painting class. It was our final painting, and because it was a free choice–and close to Christmas break–the only thing I could think about was going home [to Haiti]. I envisioned the beach and the incredible sunsets. When I started to work on it, it was really difficult for me because I felt like I could never get the colors and it felt like the perspective wasn’t working. In an effort to get it close to what I wanted to create, I think it is one of the most...

By Rayna Pierre • March 17, 2010 • Arts

“This painting of the Kulp basement was the fulfillment of an assignment of ‘painting on location in an interesting space.’ I looked for a place not generally thought of as aesthetically pleasing–an old wooden staircase and stark white piping–then worked to bring out the hidden colors. It was a challenge to change the mood from its actual harsh lighting and shadows to something more inviting, and I’m afraid I creeped out quite a few people by lurking in that back corner… but my hope is that I at least drew a little attention to a usually unnoticed area of campus.”...

By Rachel Friesen • March 11, 2010 • Arts

This sculpture is a hawk made out of pieces of welded steel. In my work I often look for inspiration from the mechanics of the real world. I look for the way things work–the underlying mechanics of an organism or object. In most of my work, and this piece in particular, I look for pieces of steel in the shape of body parts. For this hawk shape, I was looking for long, thin pieces of steel to create the layered effect of the wings and tail. I also needed to find pieces to create the open shape of the body...

By Russell Horst • March 2, 2010 • Arts

“I took this picture at the 2007 Mennonite Youth Convention in San Jose, California.  I have been interested in photography since I got my hands on a Fisher Price camera as a kid.  I’ve always been creative, dabbling in lots of different visual art forms, but have come to find that my passion and skills lie in graphic design and photography.  The biggest thing that I love about photography is the ability to capture moments in time and having them last.  For example, the image of the fireworks acts as a visual reminder of their beauty.  My interest in graphic...

By Jordan Kauffman • February 9, 2010 • Arts

Over Thanksgiving, a couple of friends and I spent our break in Chicago. Our plan was to get there by train, so when we missed our original train we had to wait around in the station for a couple of hours. In front of us was this little boy who was just as antsy as us to get out of there. He could not sit still and kept popping over his seat and staring. This is my favorite shot of him because it captures how intrigued he was with us. I enjoy taking pictures of a variety of things, but...

By Molly Kraybill • January 20, 2010 • Arts

To make this print, Annali Smucker, a senior, carved an image into a block of wood, pressed the block into ink and stamped it onto a piece of paper. The result was this print of a head; its detail formed by the contrast of black and white. “The strong lighting from underneath gives the stark shadows and defines the face. The smaller lines on the cheek are for a gray tone,” Smucker said. Because each piece of wood is different, wood-printmaking guarantees that the artwork will hold a unique texture. “I enjoy using wood for printmaking because the grain dictates...

By Becca Kraybill • December 2, 2009 • Arts

Alana Kenagy, a junior, remembers taking this ceramic pendant out of the raku smoking chamber her first year at Goshen College and thinking, “I am going to have to make more of these.” Since then, Kenagy has created and then sold or given away 60 pendants, each of which is unique. She says, “It has been amazing to see which pendants people choose and how that pendant seems to have been made specifically for them.” The distinctness of each pendant comes from the unpredictability involved in pendant-making. “I like the physicality of working with clay, and I love the guesswork...

By Sarah Rich • November 11, 2009 • Arts

It was the sacredly-quiet atmosphere of the Good Library that provided Ted Maust with the image for his woodcut relief print titled “Food for Thought.” Maust, a sophomore, was assigned in his Printmaking class to discover a “sacred” place and capture it from an unusual point of view. “I went [to the library] to see what I could see,” said Maust, “and was caught by the view of books through the spaces between other shelves. So I made a quick sketch of the books’ outlines.” Maust then transferred the image to a woodblock and developed the black and white areas...

By Becca Kraybill • November 4, 2009 • Arts

For her Drawing course during last year’s May term, Melissa Kauffman was assigned to develop an art project that contrasted light and dark color. Recognizing the graceful movement that is often characteristic of flowers, the sophomore arranged a still-life containing a vase and flower and created this print. Kauffman brought color to the image by using varied ratios of water and India ink. By adding more water, the colors became lighter, but by adding more ink, the colors became darker. “I like how colors can be mixed so that they play off of each other to create an image,” said...

By Becca Kraybill • October 28, 2009 • Arts

It was a close friend’s happy, upbeat and “life-bringing” attitude that inspired first-year Matt Helmuth to create the graphic design he titles, “Tree of Life.” The colorful design features a tree rooted in the ground, its branches turning into hands that reach upward to catch a falling raindrop. “My friend just brought life to people—so she inspired me to make this,” Helmuth said. Helmuth started graphic designing his sophomore year of high school when he had the idea to create T-shirts and give them to friends as Christmas gifts. Since then, he has pursued designing in his free time, teaching...

By Becca Kraybill • October 14, 2009 • Arts

Emily Miller saw this old, decrepit schoolhouse across the street from her church in Waco, Tex. every Sunday this past summer.  The building was recently burned down as part of a string of arsonist felonies, but the “crackpot” lady who owns it, Miller explains, refused to let the city bulldoze it. The remnants of this building lie in the part of Waco that is rampant with prostitution and drug-addiction. Miller sees her photograph as emblematic of the fact that “no one is willing to clean up either the physical area or the crime in this part of the city.” Miller...

By Sarah Rich • October 7, 2009 • Arts

Julia Baker was biking along one fall day last year when she saw a red leaf stuck in the fence of the tennis courts at Bethany Christian High School. “I screeched to a halt,” said Baker, “knowing that I had to take a picture.” There were other groups of leaves strewn about nearby, but the fact that this single, brilliant red leaf stood in isolation intrigued Baker. That it was stuck in the metal wiring of this fence also seemed significant. Reflecting on her photograph, Baker says, “I love the juxtaposition and contrast of the natural, beautiful, and intricate crimson...

By Sarah Rich • September 30, 2009 • Arts

This summer, freshman Lydia Yoder was sitting in her room at three in the morning when a random but inspirational image popped into her head. “It was one of those things where I thought I was going crazy,” Yoder said, “but I saw myself standing in the room with a bunch of colorful strings hanging down from the ceiling.” Yoder grabbed some old acrylic paint tubes from a drawer of her house and brought the image to life. The end result: a man, peeking out from behind a rainbow of hanging strings. Yoder entitled her painting, “The Search,” but the...

By Becca Kraybill • September 23, 2009 • Arts