Not only were they both accepted, but both were awarded Presidential Merit Scholarships. Good going, girls!
The Kung Fu Fighters
I have recently had the opportunity to work with two young artists preparing portfolios for college. (Their work follows in the posts below.) They are laughingly called my Art Slaves since they have been in my studio seven days a week. One of my adult students wondered why they make such swift progress and she doesn’t. “If you’re willing to be chained to an easel seven days a week and do what you’re told, you can do it too,” I said. (But the charm of adult learners is that they are individualistic, stubborn, and idiosyncratic, and I wouldn’t have them any other way.)
Neither Sandy nor Ze had ever painted in oils before December. That they each have an oil painting in their portfolio is an indication of how hard they’ve worked.
Completed portfolio: Sandy Puifong Quang
Sandy Puifong Quang is 19 and will graduate from Monroe Community College in May with an AS in liberal arts and a GPA of around 3.5. Although she has always loved design, Sandy didn’t know she loved art until she began taking studio classes at MCC. Sandy speaks three dialects of Chinese along with some Russian and French. Her family are refugees from the fall of Vietnam and run a restaurant in Rochester.
Sandy started working with me seriously in the summer of 2007, although I have known her for many years.
Self-portrait with catalogs, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
Peonies life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X20, 2007
Skeleton life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
Peonies life drawing, pastel, approx. 9X12, 2008
Patrick, oil on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2008
My parents’ restaurant, graphite on paper, approx. 16X18, 2008
Sneakers and keys, graphite on paper, approx. 18X18, 2007
Gourds and squash, watercolor, approx. 20X20, 2007
Fred, collage, approx. 12X9, 2006
30-minute figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
My room and gnome, collage and graphite, approx. 12X12, 2007
Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007Completed portfolio: Zeyuan Chen
Zeyuan Chen is 17 and will graduate from Brighton High School in June with three APs and a GPA of around 3.7. Ze emigrated from Kunming Prefecture at age 9. Her native language is Mandarin but she speaks flawless English. Ze’s father is a professor in China and her mother trained as a mathematician but works as a waitress here. (She completed this portfolio while maintaining excellent grades at one of the top 100 public high schools in the US.)
Ze started studying with me in Fall 2007, although I’ve known her for much longer than that. She has studied Chinese calligraphy and painting, which is evident in the delicate brush work of her piece, Qing Yi, which is a setting of a friend’s poem.
Self-portrait, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
Sandy’s parents’ restaurant interior, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008
Gail as Isabella with the pot of Basil, oil on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2008 
Four bananas, colored pencil, approx. 18X24 overall, 2007
Peonies life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
My shoe, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
Qing Yi, colored pencil and ink calligraphy, approx. 18X24, 2007
Skeleton life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008
Sock, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008
Pile of shoes, marking pen on newsprint, approx. 18X18, 2006
Foot, graphite, approx. 9X12, 2008
Shoes, colored pencil and marking pen, approx. 18X24, 2005
Classroom window molding, graphite, approx. 18X24, 
10-minute figure sketch, marking pen, approx. 18X24, 2005
Mary as John the Baptist (unfinished), acrylic on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2007