Inside the Classroom - Design Phase

This is a video of the classroom where the artists, Evelyn Rhodes, Priscilla Malone and Bob Boyajian, introduce the students to the template and design considerations.

A mentoring session follows with the artists and Susan Vollucci, the art teacher, working with the students in the classroom.

Evelyn Thistle Rhodes

Evelyn Thistle Rhodes, who is currently located in the Narragansett Bay area, is a painter who works closely with the light and shifting colors of the landscape and coast. After looking at her work one can see she has the ability to capture the rural character and various moods of nature through out the seasons. Evelyn is one of the eight artists working on the ALRI – Timberland 02863 Boot Project and is excited to be working with students again. She has a background in teaching and enjoys sparking the creative side of the students when working with them on the project. Evelyn’s test boot is an intricate spider web with flames coming out of the toe. She tried out different types of paint on the fire to see what worked best and found that some sparkly paints showed up quite nicely. In addition she played around with the laces and tongue of the boot by incorporating them into her design. The laces are a part of the web and a spider is hidden in the tongue. Evelyn’s other highlights include being an invited artist at the Mystic Maritime Museum, Connecticut; The Hermitage, Norfolk, Virginia; The Naval War College Museum, Rhode Island and The Fremantle Art Museum, Australia. She currently maintains her studio in Jamestown while continuing to offer private instruction and plein air workshops in southern Rhode Island. To learn more about Evelyn and see her work, visit her site at http://www.evelynrhodes.com/.

Tatiana Pina of the Providence Journal visited the class with a photographer. Her article ran on Oct 17th, then again on Oct 19th. You can read it here.

Tatiana really got some great quotes from the kids - they were comfortable with her and opened up in a great way.

Pamela Neal

Pamela Neal of Wickford, R.I. is a painter specializing in her own impressions of scene. Whether painting still life, flowers, portraits, landscapes or seascapes, Pam demonstrates sensuality and a subtle palette. Pam’s own impressions can be seen when looking at the boot she painted for the ALRI – Timberland 02863 Boot Project. She takes a tattoo type approach, creating fun floral designs she felt a young student would like to wear on their feet. She was right on with the youthful tattoo patterns. When the artists went to Central Falls High School to introduce the students to the project they brought their test boots with them. When some of the girls saw Pam’s boot they immediately said they would wear a boot like that and are basing their design on hers. Pam participates in many Rhode Island School of Design programs and has studied in various professional classes and workshops in New England. Pam enjoys involvement in the art community and travels to gain artistic perspective and to paint in a variety of locations.

Classroom Visit - The Big Class

For someone who has not been to a high school class since, let's just say a LONG time ago, visiting the school was extraordinary. My memories of high school are of a much less diverse student body. These students are from all over - Rhode Island, Columbia, El Salvador, and many other places. Students float easily between conversing in English or Spanish, sometimes a mix of both.
The students have great pride in their heritage and eager to represent their origins and passions on their boots. Lots of students, especially the male students, know soccer well and want to represent their favorite teams - mostly national teams. Other students want to represent some of the symbols of their home countries through butterflies and flowers unique to their countries of origin.

Priscilla Malone

Priscilla Malone is a fine art painter and designer of stained and leaded glass windows. Through the mediums of watercolor, pastels and stained glass, she captures and brings the nuances of the world around her to the viewer. For Priscilla, art is primarily about individual expression and revealing new perspectives. Her still life paintings expose the simplistic beauty in familiar objects without confining them in traditional still life arrangements. Priscilla has been able to make the ALRI – Timberland 02863 Boot Project come alive with her interpretations of paint on the boots. She worked with fellow artist Dan Butterworth to make a fun pair of faces on the boots. Marilyn Monroe was her inspiration for the face! Along with this project Priscilla, is an active member in the Newport Art Museum as well as member in the Art League of Rhode Island, Portsmouth Arts Guild, the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, an associate member in the National Watercolor Society. In 2005, she was commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society, RI Chapter, to design the Forget-Me-Not flower pin, and received an award for “Outstanding Creative Contribution” from RI Lt. Governor Charles Fogarty on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Society. To view some of Priscilla work, visit the Spring Bull Gallery & Studio website http://www.springbullgallery.com/artists.html

Class Visit - Reflections

The class visits are extraordinary. The best summary was in one of the first class visits where a student swept his arms over the table, pulling two of the boots towards him. Hugging the boots to his body, he said, "Why is Timberland giving ME boots? How do they know about us?" He was beaming and got down to designing on his template with real fervor, eager to represent himself best on the boots that would be his.

Robert Boyajian

Robert (Bob) Boyajian is a well-known calligrapher who worked for 40 years in New York City. He began creating hand done, one-off calendars using pens, brushes, paper, pressed flowers and any other material that caught his interest at the time. Bob brings a different flare to the group of eight artists working on the ALRI – Timberland 02863 Boot Project. His test boot sticks out among the others, with its bright and bold colors wrapping around the bottom of the boot with tattoo like symbols leaving the rest of the boot untouched. Unlike some of the other painters his artwork is very precise and definitive; the shapes are sharp and do not blend together but compliment each other in their placement. Some awards Bob has received through out his career include: Award of Recognition and Appreciation from the International Association of Master Penman, Engrossers and Teachers Handwriting, Award of Appreciation from the Society of Scribes and Fellowship Award from the New York Club of Printing House. After his fine career in the city Bob retired in 1996 and now lives and works in Newport, Rhode Island. To see samples of Bob’s Calligraphic Calendars visit http://bobboyajian.com/.