Hidden Talents: "Meditations" by Kay Etheridge

Hidden Talents:

"Meditations" by Kay Etheridge

Main Floor - Browsing Room
Spring 2006

"My training in painting began with courses at Gettysburg College , where I studied with John Winship. Lester Stone was also an invaluable mentor and teacher. Additionally, I have taken painting courses in several places, including Santa Fe, Venice , and a painting school in South West France."

"Cezanne said that painting is meditation with a brush. Most of my "meditations" are on landscapes, and recently, on the patterns made by trees. I am especially interested in how water reflects the work of nature, and how this interaction changes with time of day, season, and scale. Although art has always been an integral part of my life, I am trained as a biologist. The similarities in art and science intrigue me so much that I developed a First Year Seminar titled Creativity in Art and Science. The processes involved in art and science may seem diametrically opposed to many people, but I have not found this to be the case. Science is a way of interpreting the world, beginning with observation, then requiring experimentation and analysis. Art is another way of interpreting our world, and it requires similar steps."

"Although art has always been an integral part of my life, I am trained as a biologist. The similarities in art and science intrigue me so much that I developed a First Year Seminar titled Creativity in Art and Science. The processes involved in art and science may seem diametrically opposed to many people, but I have not found this to be the case. Science is a way of interpreting the world, beginning with observation, then requiring experimentation and analysis. Art is another way of interpreting our world, and it requires similar steps. I begin every painting with careful observation of something that captures my imagination, and then begin experiments or meditations. Each work in progress is analyzed, sometimes for months before it can be finished. The major difference in art and science seem to be in the results. Good science should be repeatable, and all scientists who are "correct" should end up describing a phenomenon in the same way. Conversely, good art is unique, unrepeatable, and is a view of the world filtered through personal experience and aesthetic sense."