Ellen Eagle used 4 vertical hatch marks of one color, she said maybe 7 horizontal marks of another. She told me, “it isn’t just one color.” Her soft hatch marks on my paper described the shadow form of the model. I was 17. This was my first adult class at the Art Students League of New York. My pastels had been sharpened by my grandmother, Bridget Tierney. My mother, Evelyn Tierney had attached small labels to them marking my initials. The Nupastel 96 set was held in a pink aerie girl bag (the brand of 2008). I understood Ellen Eagle. She spoke softly to my young feelings and she described the world in a detail that I could notice. In a gallery, Ellen Eagle’s work is small, intimate, and luminous. I remember her teaching as I look through the dusty sketchbooks I create for myself. 

 

I went on to study Illustration at Syracuse University. Illustrator Roger DeMuth said, “be brave.” John Thompson watched and walked past me saying, “it's time to stop.” Knowing when a painting was done wasn't something I could see at the time. Jerome Witkin called on me to read from art books to the class. I followed his directions. He set up multiple poses and allowed students to choose their spots. Rarely had I been given such choices! In search of the figure I returned to the Art Students League of New York. I joined Mary Beth McKenzie’s class. “Line.” “Shape” “Negative Shape.” She works in all three, returning to each constantly. After a few years of studying under Mary Beth, I no longer needed to measure. She does everything by eye–in relationship to each other. “The relationship between the eyes to the bottom of the nose. The triangle of the neck to the start of the arms.” This summer she encouraged me to solidify my highlights. I am still learning from her. Each July and August, I drive four hours to Mary Beth's classes like a migratory bird in search of instruction and an artistic place to rest.

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From September to June I paint at the Delavan Studios–a west side former site of Syracuse Chilled Plow (Syracuse gets a lot of snow) repurposed for creatives. I follow my own directions there, setting up poses and practicing. Now as an art teacher in Syracuse I am confronted with the brands and consumer culture involved in being a teenager. But more than anything I am met with an eagerness of children who want to learn to draw and paint. I teach how to turn two-dimensional shapes into three-dimensional forms and students are amazed with themselves. My fifth grade class took a field trip to the Everson Museum of Syracuse last year in October and saw my piece, Sylvia. Together my students and I talk about art and practice our mark making.