1.What drew you towards this field/ was there a moment when you realized this was something that you love/appreciated or were skilled at?
All throughout my childhood I was around art; my grandma was an amazing artist and would always have something for me to make and create with her whenever I went over to her house. That drew me into art, and I carried that with me into high school, where I discovered the graphic design world. Once I found that, I knew that is what I wanted to do.
2.How would you describe your artistic voice or the style that your work takes on?
I would say I have a very simple and clean style, especially in my design work. I do not want to overcrowd or over complicate, and take away from the importance of the content.
3.What do you feel Saint Xavier has to offer in terms of accommodating art majors and students who art interested in it?
The art department here at SXU is growing every year and I think that is something that interested students can benefit from in the future. This year’s group of seniors in the art department is the biggest class we have ever had here, and if this trend of growth continues, and the department continues to grow, there will be much more that the department can offer. We already have a faculty that is made up of knowledgeable artists, but if a wider variety of classes can be offered, I think that would be the best feature for future artists that make SXU home.
-Kelli Shaffer
1.What drew you towards this field/ was there a moment when you realized this something that you love/appreciated or skilled at?
In high school I was going more towards graphic design but I transferred schools and the teacher pushed me towards drawing and sparked my interest. I love art, I really do. It was just something that made sense.
2.How would you describe your artistic voice or the style that your work takes on?
It changed from Freshman year. I’m starting to want to put more meaning behind it. I love portraits, I love drawing people. I love watercolor a lot. interpreting meaning in drawing. I love color, mixed media . Watercolor, charcoal, I’m starting to get into pen ink and sculpture is becoming a big thing.
3.What do you feel Saint Xavier has to offer in terms of accommodating art majors and students who art interested in it?
They’ve definitely gotten better since I was freshman.They have the CIDAT which is nice, so you can go there and do work instead of going over to the VAC. They just need to work on classes. The class sizes, I love it. The professors,they know you and your art style so if they find an artist who has a similar art style they’ll email you about if they think you’d be interested in checking them out. The people that I’m in senior sem with, I love them. It feels like family. They don’t just say ‘awesome’, they are willing to look at your work and help you.
4.What is your favorite piece that you’ve done. Maybe for yourself, an assignment or a commission?
My favorite is a piece I did over winter break. Her name Gitta and that means strong. That was one of the more successful pieces I did as far as conveying emotion. I needed to be strong at that point and she was that for me.
-Myia Brown
I have been balancing art and music most of my life, but after receiving both degrees in 2002. I made a living teaching music lessons, gigging, and working as a freelance graphic designer. I walked away from both art and music for a while and worked retail jobs, odd job, until realizing my barely-more-than-minimum wage supervisor jobs had very little room for mobility.
What do you do when you’re having a “mid-life” crisis as a 27 year old? Well I decided that I simply needed to try–try for anything I could.
After graduate school, I auditioned to be in the Army Reserves band and made it. Right now I am non-commissioned officer in charge of unit public affairs, teach suicide first aid courses, and have a few other miscellaneous additional duties.
I have found that with every negative I have experienced in my life it has only brought me closer to the human condition, and better able to understand and empathize this fellowship we all share.
Graduating undergraduate school right after 9/11 was pretty rough. The attack on the two towers and pentagon really brought a mirror to the fragility of human life for me and the importance of our connections to others. My senior art project was titled “Isolation in Technology,” where my statement was about how disconnected and lonely we had all become as a result of increased technology.
Everything I have experienced has given me so much to think about, to create from.
-Shari Heda, Alum
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