The overarching philosophy governing the Georgetown Atelier is to learn to harness the tools, materials, methodologies, and ‘filters’ of observation that have proven to be effective. They can then use their creative capabilities to add to this body of knowledge and practice, flourish in their careers, and pass these gains to the next generation of artists. There is no emphasis placed upon re-creating the past in a nostalgic or dogmatic way.
My belief is the lessons of the past can be learned and used most effectively through an active and creative mind that is able to understand where principle meets potential. An example of this can be highlighted in the approach and mindset a student brings to the practice of cast drawing and painting.
From an outside perspective the idea of spending potentially several months methodically working from a white-colored statue could seem extremely boring and menial. If students approach this discipline as just a ‘necessary pain’ to go through simply because it was done in the past, they will not gain much. However, if the student is able to recognize that cast drawing provides an opportunity to put theory into practice by working from a figure that doesn’t move or have confusing color relationships, they will gain much more and will be able to transfer that knowledge when working from the live figure.
An important aspect of training at the Georgetown Atelier is ‘learning to see’. Simply ‘copying’ in a mindless way will not yield powerful results. Instead, students learn to build their work from the ground up as an architect would, and develop their ability to see the ‘broad’ and the ‘specific’ simultaneously, the graphic shapes of shadows within the continuum of light gradating along the form.
Our goal is to discover and perceive as much as we can into the myriad of ways nature connects together, and weave as much of that understanding as we can into our work.