Artists make tradition one sketch at a time

By Jonathan McFadden

mcfaddenj@thejohnsonian.com

With the melodic beats of a band called Iron & Wine and the sweet scent of a lit candle, the magic begins.

In a humble studio space dubbed Space 157, Stephen Crotts, 23, Carlee Lingerfelt, 24, Jake Page, 26, and Jess Johnson, 24, allow their artistic juices to flow as much as time will allow.

All four are Winthrop alumni and are part of a surrogate family of like-minded individuals devoted to honing their craft.

Since August 2009, several of these artists have gathered each Monday night at 7 p.m. in the former vacant space above Citizen Corner in downtown Rock Hill for a portrait- drawing session.
 
They do it because they have the talent. They do it because they’ve learned the skills. Moreover, they do it because they love the human face.

“…To learn what the human face looks like, how emotions are carried out through it and just the structure of the face,” Lingerfelt said.

For Lingerfelt, that’s one part of a two-fold process. The other part consists of brushing up on and fine-tuning skills they learned as illustration majors while at Winthrop.

Starting tradition

The routine gathering began in 2006 with Crotts, Lingerfelt and others forming the Friday Arts Project. On Friday mornings they gathered together to talk about life, look over each other’s artwork and discuss the meaning of their work, all while completing undergrad.

Part of Friday Art Project’s purpose was to create a meeting space for individuals to interact, work out questions of life and faith, form relationships, spend time together and pursue truth, goodness and beauty with their work, Crotts said.

“Through the making of art and the showing of art and the gathering of people all along that process, we hope to see lives changed positively,” Crotts said.

David Brown, professor of design at Winthrop, has supported the group since the beginning.

 “They’re asking themselves some very basic, fundamental, spiritual questions,” Brown said.

Brown was the group’s faculty adviser for a year and said some of the questions they would ponder included “what is my role in the world,” “what is my responsibility to other people” and “what is my responsibility to God?”

Whenever he could, Brown would join his students on Friday mornings for conversation and interaction.

With a new wave of art that accentuates shock and awe, Brown said the group’s basis is seeking how to be responsible artists.

Downtown community

Even after graduation, the search continued; first, at the Center of the Arts, now in Space 157.

Crotts said Rock Hill has about 10 galleries and art studios, most of them located downtown.

Crotts and Lingerfelt said Rock Hill’s arts community is growing.

While Friday Arts Project is not strictly marketed to Winthrop students, Crotts said they still want to involve students in activities such as the Monday Night Portrait Session and Friday Morning Reader’s Guild.

“There’s a community in Rock Hill outside of the walls of campus without having to go to Charlotte or some other city,” Crotts said. “There’s good food and live music and great visual art.”

Toward the end of Crotts’ college career, he did a lot on campus but he also took advantage of the artistic community available in Rock Hill. Frequenting venues like McHale’s Pub, Glencairn Garden and his church, Crotts’ experience in college was enriched by his willingness to leave campus and explore other communities.

“No single community changed the culture,” Crotts said, “The community changes Main Street or your dorm or your apartment complex; you start with the immediate group of people around you.”

When there wasn’t anything for the creative minds to do, their answer was to start the drawing sessions and meet with a group of people at the pub afterward.

“We’re carving out something for us to do,” Crotts said.

The Friday Arts Project, which is part of the International Arts Movement, holds events such as an Arts Salon, where artists of all genres are able to perform, and several exhibitions.

Over a year later, the numbers have fluctuated, but the purpose and heart remain the same.

It’s a family thing

Lingerfelt, who works during the day as a framing consultant at Martin’s Art and Frame, has found a certain kinship with her fellow former illustration majors.  

“We’re like brothers and sisters in some ways,” Lingerfelt said. “We do a lot of things together, a lot of art related things and just hang out together.”

Lingerfelt and Crotts, who were ‘studio-mates’ together while finishing their undergraduate degrees, have known each other for a few years. Page, now a freelance illustrator, is a veteran of the Friday Arts Project since its beginning. Jess Johnson, who graduated Winthrop during the summer of 2009, has become part of the family as well.

Remembering the good-old-days back in McLaurin, Johnson said she feels they are trying to mimic the feeling of having other people in the art studio, when students would stay up night drawing.

“It’s good to have that camaraderie,” Johnson said. “…That artistic support and friendship.”

Jake Page, a 2006 graduate of Winthrop’s Fine Arts Department, can relate. On Mondays, he looks forward most to being with fellow artists and drawing.

“It reminds me of a lot of good times at Winthrop, like during figure drawing classes,” Page said.

Without willing models, the craft would not be possible.

It’s the models with interesting faces that make good drawings, Lingerfelt said. One model had large, expressive eyes; another was a Winthrop professor.

Before the magic can begin though, preparation is key.

“We get the lighting set up, we get the right angle and the right position to shine in their [the model’s] face in a good way, we turn on some music that is conducive to drawing and we draw for two hours,” Lingerfelt said.

Lingerfelt said usually they will ask people they know or relatives of people they know to model for them. Still, she’s not above doing the “cold asking,” where she’ll walk up to random strangers and ask them to model for her.

“They don’t always respond well,” Lingerfelt said.

Model Example

Last Monday’s model responded well. She stood at 5 feet, 7 inches. Her hair was chestnut brown and her eyes cornflower blue, Lingerfelt said. Johnson compared her features to Maggie Gyllenhaal of “The Dark Knight” fame.

She was Nicki Pappas. The 21-year-old junior elementary education major is a newlywed and said she likes telling people her new last name.

Before all eyes were on her, she was excited and willing.

Even with the eagerness, she anticipated that she would have a fatigued face.

“I’m kind of nervous because I don’t want my face to look bad,” Pappas said.

With this group, no chance.

Almost without warning, it began. A high-beamed light shone on Pappas as she sat, almost like stone, in a green armchair. Her skin seemed to become radiant and her gaze focused.

There was hardly any noise. The pencils did the talking.

In a mixture of penciled darks, highlights and fleshy mid-tones; in a collaboration of talent, dedication and hard work, Pappas’ face was copied from various angles.

The magic begun again.

Afterwards the group usually heads down to McHale’s Pub for dinner--it’s tradition.  

It’s Monday night.