Artistic exploration can be found in many forms, but for some, it can serve as a reflection of one’s perspective and life experience. As WSU Vancouver’s fine arts department encourages students to enhance themselves within their creative works, two VanCougs discuss the message and inspirations behind each of their favorite paintings.
By Lori Anderson
Lori Anderson, senior and integrated strategic communication major, says her love for doodling started when she was a child. As a high school student, Anderson took art classes where she began delving into her love for art. However, since getting married and having a child after graduating high school, she had no choice but to put off her artistic endeavors. When she enrolled at WSU Vancouver years later, Anderson was given an excuse to revisit her artistic passions once again when taking the university’s fine arts courses.
“I am actually back at school fulfilling a promise to myself, and now that I have to get some electives after 30 plus years that I’ve been away from art. … I’m getting my hands dirty, I’m getting the paintbrushes out again,” Anderson said.
When asked what compels her to create art, Anderson discusses that one of her main sources of inspiration is her environmental surroundings. She also finds inspiration via the works of Thomas Moran, an American painter and printmaker.
“Just the world around me. Whenever I see something, I’m just blown away by it and [think] ‘Oh, I want to paint that,’ or ‘I want to draw that.’ It’s just what we see around us. … [Moran] is an artist that I first found on postage stamps. I saw his art and thought to myself ‘Oh my goodness, that is amazing.’ Basically what inspired me was that he, too, was impressed by what was around him,” Anderson said.
Currently, Anderson is working on a series of paintings inspired by the time she spends with her granddaughters exploring the outdoors.
“My granddaughter just had a fifth birthday, and she and her little sister have a room that isn’t completely decorated yet, so I thought ‘What if I made them [something].’ Because we go and we look at bugs, watch birds and plant things. We examine and explore together,” Anderson said.
Fellow Fine Arts student, Jaina Tupikov, a psychology major graduating this semester also has an extensive background in making art.
Similar to Anderson, Tupikov’s interest in art is rooted in her childhood drawings, and comparably, it was not until high school where she began taking art more seriously. When asked what sparked her passion for creativity, Tupikov recounts a self-portrait she drew at a young age.
“I was about eight years old, and I drew my first self-portrait. And I still have it. Of course, I mean an eight-year-old drew it, but I remember looking at it and going, ‘Wow, I’m so proud of myself.’ … Then in middle school, I was always drawing, but it was there that I got really into portraits and things like that,” Tupikov said.
Since discovering pen and ink as one of her favorite mediums, Tupikov has been working on a series of botanical drawings that depict various plants she finds during her outdoor hikes.
“Last year, I started a series of different plants and things that I found on my hikes, because I really enjoy hiking. … I’ve drawn a Douglas Iris, Solomon’s plume, an olive branch, although that’s not something I found on my hikes, I just branched out and started drawing plants. That’s all in that pointillism style,” Tupikov said.
Additionally, two of Tupikov’s main sources of artistic inspiration come from the works of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, and Tupikov’s own experiences as a Christian.
“I firmly believe that God created all things. For him to have made me want to also create things, I think is kind of cool. And how there’s something really moving about how things grow. … The growth process isn’t always easy,” Tupikov explained.
Both Anderson and Tupikov have plans to continue creating new works of art in the future. For Anderson, she plans to develop her series of exploration-inspired paintings for her granddaughters and painting her interpretations of the human cell. Tupikov, on the other hand, plans to combine her love of art with her education in psychology via art therapy, a field she hopes to have a career in.
Whether artistic expression is ignited by time spent with loved ones or tranquil treks through nature, it is clear that Anderson and Tupikov are perfect examples of how we can use art to tell our own unique stories.