Phil Starke Art Talk

Well, I’ve plunged into the world of teaching online art classes.   I’ve been asked numerous times about doing this so I took some time and looked around at what was being offered in the area of online art classes and decided I wanted to offer something that would be more art school-like in content and approach, taking the artist who wants to work consistently and effectively, has goals and helping them achieve them.  I also wanted to be able to work with video, but make sure the student was able to download that video so they could save their lessons making it possible to work at their own pace and go back to the lessons again to review what they’ve learned, creating a great reference library of their own.  I also wanted to be able to provide an effective way to handle critiques, and make them available to keep as well.  So beginning August 2, 2009, its official.  Online class video lessons begin going out and my one-on-one student critiques will be starting up as well.  I’m anxious to see the student development and working with each one of them.  Technology is amazing.

In May of this year, Dan Blanchard, a friend and owner of the Grapevine Gallery in Oklahoma City passed away.  Dan, along with Walter Gray who passed away several years ago ran the Grapevine Gallery and produced a television program that interviewed and demonstrated arts and crafts of all kinds.  I first heard of them in art school long before I met them.  Our instructor would show tapes of the TV show where artists would demonstrate and discuss their work.  But they were much more than gallery owners and art collectors.  Both Dan and Walter treated all the artists they represented as family and were as interested in the artist and their families as they were their art work.   I learned a lot about developing as an artist even though they never tried to influence what I painted.   They truly enjoyed helping others.

Clay and Julie Speer will continue the gallery in the same vain and are making a seamless transition, but Dan and Walter will be missed as dear friends and family.