THE COUGAR CRY, FEBRUARY 3, 1969, PAGE 3
(Robert and “Self-Portrait”)
STUDENT ARTIST
For the past few weeks, Wilkes
Community College has had the
pleasure of an art exhibit being
held in its administration build
ing. One of the participants is
Robert Rice, a student at WCC.
Before coming to study here,
Robert attended Appalachian
State University where he studied
art under Thomas Spencer, pre
sent Artist in Residence at the
University of Connecticut.
Robert has always been artis
tically inclined and paints be
cause he enjoys it; painting is
fun. He takes great pride in his
painting although while working
on a piece he sometimes be
comes frustrated. But when the
work is completed, he ex
periences a strong sense of ful
fillment and satisfaction.
Robert’s style of painting is
objective abstract and he also
admires the surrealistic school.
Most of his painting is done in
oil and acrylic, but he is now
experimenting in photographic
art. His favorite artists are Sal
vador Dali and Rena Magee.
Some of Robert’s painting re
flect his moods. When he was
doing his self-portrait, he was
in one of his more elated moods.
He did this painting by using
a mirror and trying to divorce
himself from all thoughts of self.
Although tempted to paint himself
as he would like to look, he
painted what he saw in the mirror
and what he felt inside. To portray
his “devilish” inclinations he
used yellow in the eyes instead
of the usual white, Robert thinks
of himself as an “old friend gen
eral” so he added a uniform to
give this distinction.
Naval architecture has always
interested him. His painting, the
“H. M. S. Hood, 1918-194
reflects this. The Hood, although
used in recent times, was a
throwback to World War I. It
was a glorious ship but unsound;
it just didn’t fit in with its modern
counterparts. Robert indentifies,
somewhat, with this ship.
The “Grotesque Heads” was
done during a period of depres
sion. Robert often uses his art
as an outlet for emotional ex
pression. His art shows such
emotions as joy, frustration,
love, hate, and sympathy.
Robert describes himself as
“a lover of pathos.” His “Blood
on an Irish Flag” exemplifies his
great sympathy for the Irish dur
ing their struggle for in
dependence from Great Britain.
This work was not made to be
pretty but to elicit a reaction
from the viewer. This is the
first collage he has attempted.
Two works in Robert’s show
ing, “The Cleric” and “Barque
Before the Storm”, are the re
sults of an experiment with the
form of art known as cliche verre.
He took a pane of glass, painted
it black, and etched a picture on
it. The glass was then used as a
contact negative to produce a
photograph which gives the ef
fect of an etching but is sharper
and clearer because ink isn’t
used. This art was popular during
the 1840s but today has almost
died out.
Since the students, faculty, and
administration have had the
chance to comment on the critics.
He divides his critics into two
groups - those who make vocal
comments and those who portray
their reactions in the form of
facial expressions and/or ges
tures.
In the first group belong the
belligerents who say, “You call
And Then You
(Continued from Page 2)
of how hard theNegro works, how
hard he tries to make the white
man see that by rights the Negro
should be equal, or even regard
less of how much legislation is
passed, many white men will be
trying their best to keep the Negro
in an inferior state, permanently.
Why should the Negro be expected
to resign himself to his plight
and never hope for a better sit
uation? The answer is that he
should not. He should not resign
himself to his condition, and
should use any method at his
disposal to help himself, up to,
and including, violent revolution!
Ken Welborn
that art? Why, I have a three-
year-old niece who can draw
better than that!” Another mem
ber of this group is the pseudo
intellectual such as a hippy. He
says, “Oh God! Such power, such
feeling! Oh, I’m going outside
and have an orgasm on the grass!”
Others merely say, “That’s very
interesting”.
The second group, according to
Robert, can be divided into three
catagories: “The dummy who
doen’t understand it, the in
telligent people who do or do not
like it but don’t say so out of
Democracy
(Continued from Page 2)
long yearned to see and live
under the ideas preached by this
government. Much to my sur
prise, I was astonished by the
action of those who preached and
taught and served in the capacity
of community leaders. It was not
the sincerity and the individual
ism they sought, but rather con
formity. It is very simple for
one to conform, but conformity
breeds hypocrisy, blindness,
self-disrespect, and decadence.
My concern is this; How low
does one have to stoop before he
is accepted as an American hu
man? Is integrity, self-respect.,
respect for others, and individu
ality no longer the bastion of
the community?
-Nithi Klinkosum
courtesy, and those who just don’t
give a damn!”
Robert plans to study art in
the future and hopes to become
an art teacher. The “Cougar
Cry” wishes him luck in his
profession and would like to con
gratulate him for painting what
he feels and for saying what he
thinks.
A conversationalist, it seems,
is one who can tell twice as
many details as anyone wants
to hear.