On Monday with AYB Artist Kevin Anderson in Advanced Studio on Zoom wee learned about artist/writer Michael Waugh who creates artworks of beautiful scenery, while incorporating large amounts of texts in his work based on texts he has read. Through analyzing Waugh's work, participating artists created either full body or portraits of people we care about, or ourselves, utilizing words that we associate with the subject.
Michael Waugh, les règles de l’art, 2015, ink on mylar (full view and 2 details)
Kevin writes: “It was nice to return to teaching after quite some time, and I wanted this lesson to reflect the eagerness that I felt. However, I did initially struggle with what the class would do. I originally chose Alvin Ailey to explore storytelling through bodily expression, but artist Michael Waugh piqued my interest after exploring his artistic style of visual and literary elements.
I found Michael Waugh unique because of his approach to detail that I have not thought about. Normally, I would define detail as how realistic a piece looks to the original, but Michael Waugh expertly shows that detail can literally be the story that is behind the piece. Not just the hundreds of words that encompass his large scale prints, but the fact that each word is from a text that relates to a message that Waugh tries to convey. Even if the audience cannot read it, the text was still chosen for a specific reason, which makes his artwork stand out.
When looking at the pieces during critique, I was genuinely moved by the stories each person shared. Each piece reflected not just the artists’ visual skills, but their articulation of what was meaningful to them. If I’ve learned anything from Art Yard, it's that telling others your story is equally important, especially in a time where community is essential. Overall, I would say this lesson was very successful, and it was nice to return to something that I love."
Lila eloquently writes about the work she created in the session: “This piece centers on a Palestinian woman, her presence both fragile and formidable. She wears a hijab the color of a blue sky, scattered with delicate blossoms – a symbol of resilience blooming amidst hardship. Her head is tilted upwards, not in supplication, but in a quiet strength, as if absorbing the weight of the world, yet refusing to break. Across the fabric of her body, the words "strength," "love," and "defiance" are inscribed, not as bold pronouncements, but as quiet affirmations woven into the very fabric of her existence.
Behind her, the Palestinian flag unfurls, not as a symbol of political bravado, but as a strong embrace. She shields it, yet it doesn't hide behind her. Instead, it becomes an extension of her, a testament to the burdens she carries. Superimposed around the flag, a stark and heartbreaking message: "The mothers hold what is left of their babies." These words, raw and visceral, pierce the heart of the narrative, reminding us of the immense sacrifices borne by Palestinian mothers.
The flag also whispers of a harsh reality. "The nights are cold and dreary. Does dawn come in the morning?" This question, etched into the atmosphere of the piece, speaks to the weariness, the uncertainty, yet the ever-present hope for a brighter future. And then, a poignant detail: the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, rendered as a stripped, almost skeletal net. It’s a symbol usually associated with resistance and national identity, but here, it’s stripped bare, mirroring a lost protection, a vulnerability laid bare. Yet, even in its fragility, it remains a powerful symbol of enduring connection to heritage.
This artwork is not just a portrait; it’s an emotional landscape. It’s a story etched in blues and whispers, a testament to the resilience of the Palestinian people, particularly its women. It’s a meditation on loss, love, and the enduring strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable hardship. It’s a question posed to the universe, a quiet plea for a morning that finally breaks through the long, cold night.”
Jacob explains the ideas referenced in his piece: “Squid Game has been one of the most popular tv shows in the last year, but plenty of people seem to miss or actively ignore the show's anti-capitalist message. I made a drawing of the main character Gi-Hun, and wrote a paragraph from the Communist Manifesto in his hair, in order to remind people that this show is first and foremost about critiquing capitalism.
This is the paragraph of text that I used. It highlights capitalism's irreverence towards human life, a theme present in the tv show: The average price of wage-labour is the minimum wage, i.e., that quantum of the means of subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the labourer in bare existence as a labourer. What, therefore, the wage-labourer appropriates by means of his labour, merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence. We by no means intend to abolish this personal appropriation of the products of labour, an appropriation that is made for the maintenance and reproduction of human life, and that leaves no surplus wherewith to command the labour of others. All that we want to do away with is the miserable character of this appropriation, under which the labourer lives merely to increase capital, and is allowed to live only in so far as the interest of the ruling class requires it.”
Vera B. quoted from David Greenbergs biography John Lewis: A Life (Simon and Schuster, 2024) forming the words into a portrait of former US Congressman, the late John Lewis:
Drawings in progress by (left to right) Scarlett Wagner, Richard Lee Chong and Adji Kebe:
Using Michael Waugh’s style of defining contours with text I (Meridith) wrote the first several pages of Palmer Brown’s delightful book Beyond the Pawpaw Trees. Named after the main character in the book, my cat Anna Lavina Bliss (aka Lola) is perched on the warm radiator near the window. “…Raising the window shade all the way so that she might see better, Anna Lavinia looked out across the wide lawn, where the slanting sunlight winked from a thousand dewdrops on the grass. The air was filled with fine white thistledown which sifted slowly like silken snow onto the lawn, and the sky was a peculiar lavender blue color which Anna Lavinia knew meant the day would be topsy-turvy. Something unusual always happened on a day when the sky was lavender blue.”
On Tuesday Advanced Studio in person at our studio at BWAC in Red Hook we celebrated Valentines Day while we explored the work of Caldecott winner Ian Falconer (of Olivia fame!) with AYB Artist Assata Benoit.
Assata recaps: "This lesson was so full of love! I based it off of one of my favorite childhood books & shows Olivia by Ian Falconer. I’ve always been drawn to the Falconers illustration because of his use of color tone & empty space - which ends up driving the story in a curious way.
I was excited to see that the rest of the class recognized the story and were equally as excited about the lesson. We even had our very own “Olivia”, so the process felt very easygoing and personal. Our class was given the prompt of creating a character in black & white, using a pop of color and a sentence that would drive the story.
Liv (nee Olivia!) embodied the lesson through and through!
Drawings by Neah Gray (Callie), Meridith McNeal (Lola), Keenan Conley (Lola), Jacob Rath (Crowd), Grace Webb (Kush), Gem Mercado (King Piwi), Cheyenne Rivera (Stella), Clementine Finn (Floundra), and Lenika Silva (They Sheep):
Assata finishes up: "The artwork produced honestly blew me away by how sweet and clever they were! I feel that the simplicity of the prompt gave everyone a bit more freedom, and more time to do detailed work, which is something that I’m learning as I teach more classes. Our valentine’s day celebration was super fulfilling for all of us and brought a little bit of everyone’s inner child out. Happy Valentine’s Day!"
In AYB Art Matters in our partnership schools we had an equally wonderful week!
AYB Teaching Artist Evelyn Beliveau summarizes: “It was a week of endings and beginnings at PS 17. For our first three classes of the day (Grades 4, 6, and 1), this Wednesday was the capstone day of our projects inspired by Keith Haring. Dennis, Clementine, Scarlett, and I (Evelyn) guided students through finishing touches and critique. Then, the final class started a new project.
Grade 4 students perfected their posters inspired by Haring’s “New York is Book Country” poster (1985), reaching equilibrium between graphic linework and pops of color. Because of our focus on pairs of complementary colors, at critique students pointed out posters that featured the same sets of colors: yellow and purple was a popular choice, followed by blue and orange.
Several Grade 6 students had already finished their artwork featuring their own names in a Haring-inspired style surrounded by geometric patterns and motifs. For the final day, these students worked on large collaborative pieces, inventing exuberant patterns to fill in templates of Haring-style figures that I provided. More and more students finished up their original pieces and joined the ranks of the collaborators as class went on, leading to a set of lively large-scale artworks to round out the Haring section of the exhibition we will hold later this spring.
Students work on collaborative pieces inspired by the art of Keith Haring
Grade 1 students finished up their series of comic panels, creating “sequels” to their first drawings featuring the same characters in different scenarios. These pieces are bursting with color, achieved with brush-tipped markers—providing plenty of opportunities to practice generous sharing, as popular colors were passed back and forth between tables.
With our last class of the day, Grade 2, we introduced our next project: Meeting a Dragon! This project has several stages. Over the next few class periods, we will look at dragons in different cultures, consider how poses show reactions (connecting to AYB’s Year of Literacy—how to “read” body language in artwork), learn about foreground, middle ground, and background, and create watercolor paintings depicting a person reacting to an encounter with a dragon. For this week, we started with sketch paper and made drawings based on dragons from cultures around the world: Lóng from China, Draco from Iran, Tiamat from Ancient Mesopotamia, Ryū from Japan, Dragon from Medieval Europe, and Hydra from Ancient Greece. Students were challenged but excited by this new subject matter, and when asked which dragon was their favorite to draw, replied “all of them!”
Dennis adds: Students in our PS 17 afterschool program learned several beginning steps of 3D drawing - which will continue on to creating optical illusions. This week, Teaching Artist Marina Soliman (assisted by our team - Leo, Clementine, and Scarlett) demonstrated step-by-step the process of building a block letter and it's 'shadow'. Using skills learned in previous classes about recognizing light and finding (and drawing) shadows, our students followed Marina's techniques using pencil, scissors, rulers, and markers to draw their initial (or letter of their choice) in 3D. Results are excellent!
Dennis reports: “A scheduling change at PS 6 (a Friday class trip to the Montclair Art Museum with Mrs. Tardiff) brought us to Jersey City on a Thursday this week. We've been Friday regulars at this school for YEARS so I received lots of "Hey! What are you doing here today?" and "When I saw you, I thought it was Friday!".
No matter, we had exceptional classes - all who participated were focused, asked smart questions, followed instructions, mostly all finished their pieces. I have scheduling options in place with the teachers for those students who need a bit more time to finish - I want to exhibit all of them so none should be left undone. The teachers at PS 6 are always cooperative and help their students find the proper time to work on their AYB projects.
Those students who had larger spaces in their pieces went back in to add some details, outline with black or gray colored pencil, or simply "tweaked" them. Others who had smaller spaces or more detail, carefully painted with tiny brushes or used the pencils (or both). Their pieces had totally dried so the painting with smaller brushes was successful. They loved the idea of mixed media - I'll keep that in mind for future lessons.
During the end of class critiques, students shared their Sendak related stories - some were surely wild fantasies, and some seemed specifically based on a current topic! One, in particular, was about serpents who arrive at a new land where they weren't wanted and sent back the land from whence they came. Student participation during critique was excellent - so much so that there wasn't enough time to hear all of the stories. A couple of students went the extra mile and wrote (softly in pencil) their stories on the backs of their works. So nice to see grade school kids excited to show off their art!
I was assisted this week by Gem Mercado and Amiya McCargo - THANKS!"
Amiya shares: "Today's class began with a thought-provoking quote shared by one of the 5th graders: “Mistakes aren’t mistakes just happy accidents.” It was a powerful reminder that, no matter our age, we're all simply figuring things out as we go. The 5th graders' mindset was truly refreshing, and in many ways, today felt like a moment of healing. Watching the students create and express themselves was inspiring—it reminded me that we’re all in the process of discovery. The creativity of the 3rd graders was captivating, they fully embraced their imaginations, crafting their own worlds much like Max did with the Wild Things. One student One child even drew sea creatures migrating from land to sea, which made me reflect on the current global conversations about immigration. From the storylines they developed to the intricate details in their artwork, it was a pleasure to take it all in."
Dennis adds: "We had an extra special treat - at the end of class 315's lesson (5th grade), Gem encouraged Jeremiah to perform for us while others continued to paint (most just stopped to listen). Jeremiah found his inner Whitney Houston and knocked it out of the park! What a superb way to end this cycle of our Maurice Sendak inspired art.”
Other Art News
Our exhibition Well Read currently on view at Black Rock Books has been insightfully reviewed by independent journalist Nianna Rich in her column What’s The Word?.
I (Meridith) am pleased to have work included in FOCUS ON THE FLATFILES: Interiors curated by Sallie Mize on view at Kentler International Drawing Space from February 15 - March 16, 2025. Hope you will join us at the opening Saturday Feb 15 from 4-6pm.
AYB Artist Elizabeth Morales writes to share the drawings and painting she has been working on this month. Elizabeth tells us she has created: “My first Charcoal of a live nude model, and live portrait drawing. I also made a watercolor painting of my younger sister as a baby, that I made while participating in family painting time at her school using elementary school watercolors.”
Field trip reminder: At Leni’s suggestion we are meeting tomorrow Saturday February 15th at 2pm at PS 1 Museum in Long Island City. We will view Sohrab Hura’s solo exhibition Mother before it closes on Feb 17th!
Email if you would like to join us. PS 1 offers free admission for NYC residents.
💙💜🩵🧡💚❤️💛🩷♥️
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