{"id":188,"date":"2013-05-22T16:42:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T20:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/?p=188"},"modified":"2013-05-22T16:42:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-22T20:42:00","slug":"local-artist-brings-ball-wall-art-and-new-beauty-to-the-back-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/?p=188","title":{"rendered":"Local artist brings ball wall art and new beauty to the back field"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThanks to local artist Andrew Dick, Vic West students have a bevy of brightly coloured creatures native to our region to bring into games they play on their ball wall. The wall itself was made possible due to a generous grant from The Sutton Group<\/a>, and this<\/span> May, Andrew created the mural, which features a background of a mountain range that doubles as the horizontal line used for many of the ball games. This self-taught artist is truly local: he graduated from <\/span>Esquimalt<\/span> High School, where he studied computer <\/span>graphics. PAC Member at Large, Aaren Madden, spoke with Andrew about his career as an artist, what inspires his unique style, and his commitment to inspiring Victoria kids.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nWhen did you first know you were an artist?<\/span> <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nAfter I graduated from high school, I knew it was what I wanted to do<\/span>. But when I was in grade three, I had a teacher who was art-intensive. We would have four drawing sessions a day even if it was just 20 minutes at a time. When I was drawing, that was the first time I felt a kind of meditation. I knew it was something spe<\/span>cial I couldn\u2019t experience in any other way.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Before: Andrew is ready with colours generously donated by Cloverdale Paint<\/a>.<\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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\nYour art practice includes sculpture, photography, video, painting, printmaking, and graffiti art. What led to your interest in <\/span>such diverse media?<\/span> <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nIn grade 10, my <\/span>neighbour<\/span><\/span> gave me a big book on surrealism [a style of art based not on imitating reality, but on imagination and the workings of the mind]. He saw my drawings and he thought I would like it, and I did. I saw artists th<\/span>at I liked: Max Ernst, Joan <\/span>Miro<\/span><\/span>, and many others. From there I started learning other types of art and I realized I didn\u2019t want to do one type of art; I wanted to be free to do any medium, anything that popped into my head. <\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nBesides surrealism, you like <\/span>art movements like Dada, <\/span>CoBrA<\/span><\/span> (short for Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam), na\u00efve art, graffiti, and street art. These all have in common that they run counter to established ideas about what art \u2018should\u2019 be; their works, like yours, are often vivid, <\/span>colou<\/span><\/span>rful<\/span><\/span> and imaginative. Where do you find inspiration?<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nIn imagination. In everything. I don\u2019t know where it comes from; that\u2019s what\u2019s interesting about it. It\u2019s just being conscious of it and letting it happen. Getting a big idea and starting to sketch or w<\/span>ork with something, it starts to become more clear. I can get a vision of a complete sculpture or just start working with it and see where it takes me.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\n(for images of Andrew\u2019s recent sculptures, click <\/span>here<\/span><\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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During: Andrew adds local creatures to celebrate our rich biodiversity in his colourful style, freehanding with spray paint.<\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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\nFor about ten years, you have mentored students at local schools like Central Middle School. What\u2019s that like?<\/b><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nI go into art c<\/span>lasses and work on my own projects and if kids have any questions, I love to help them and give them advice and ultimately just encourage them to express themselves and not worry. A lot of kids think \u2018oh, I am not good at this kind of art\u2019, but I don\u2019t thi<\/span>nk there really is a \u2018good\u2019 in art because everyone has a different taste and it\u2019s all individual. It\u2019s very inspiring and it\u2019s cool to see that kids have amazing imaginations and are conscious to not get sucked into technology \u2013 it\u2019s so encouraging, since<\/span> everywhere I go I see kids with <\/span>cellphones<\/span> in their face, not looking up at the trees and the sky.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\nWhat advice do you have for the budding artists at Vic West Elementary?<\/span> <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nOne hundred percent believe in yourself and don\u2019t disregard any ideas you have. <\/span>Don\u2019t stop, keep doing <\/span>it, and don\u2019t worry about what people say about your art because it can be personal. If it makes you feel good, don\u2019t stop.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nArt can be whatever you want it to be. There should be no rules, and it\u2019s important to have fun with it.<\/span><\/span> <\/span>Eve<\/span><\/span>ryone sees things in a different way, and everyone expresses themselves in different ways.<\/span><\/span> <\/span>You truly can do anything you set your mind to. Believing in yourself is so important.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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After: Thumbs up from these Vic West students!<\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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\nOur most heartfelt thanks <\/span>go out to Andrew for our beautiful new ball wall. We are so glad he is part of our Vic West Elementary community (and Ms. D\u2019s nephew to boot!). In September, he will be exhibiting a collaborative installation with fellow artist Mel <\/span>Paget<\/span> at an art gallery <\/span>in Portland, Oregon. We wish him all the best and hope he visits often!<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nMany thanks also to The Sutton Group<\/a> and to Cloverdale Paint<\/a> for their generosity.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to local artist Andrew Dick, Vic West students have a bevy of brightly coloured creatures native to our region to bring into games they play on their ball wall. The wall itself was made possible due to a generous grant from The Sutton Group, and this May, Andrew created the mural, which features a background […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21,17,18,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-andrew-dick","category-ball-wall","category-cloverdale-paint","category-the-sutton-group","category-victoria-artist","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicwestpac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}