Tony DiTerlizzi Exhibit and Winthrop University!

Remember when I shared Stan's and my adventure to see the Tony DiTerlizzi exhibit at The Mint Museum in Charlotte? Well, it was all in preparation for the field trip I put together for our Winthrop students to see the exhibit and hear a talk from the man himself!
     The field trip was originally inspired by Lecturer Tom Gardner, who sent me an email with a poster advertising the exhibit. I've known Tony for years, so got in touch with Jon Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American Art at The Mint to see what we could arrange. Happily, it all worked out swimmingly well. So, on a beautiful Friday morning, 52 students from Winthrop headed north to Charlotte. They arrived in groups...

After signing in, putting their backpacks behind the front desk (wish I'd gotten a photo of that - HA!), and getting 'Mint' stickers, they headed to the exhibit. They wandered around for a bit, then I asked Tony a bit about his process.
Students were shy at first, but they warmed up and started asking questions of their own.Then we headed into the auditorium where Tony gave a fantastic talk - just for Winthrop students. He began with a video of himself at his own undergraduate senior show. WOW. Talk about making his journey relatable! He was one of them!He talked about the tools of the trade needed for a successful career as an illustrator, "Pencil, paper, pen, paint, pixels . . . and patience." He talked about his struggle and all the rejections he received. He talked about his breakthroughs, discovering that while he was a very good artist, if his characters were just standing there, there was no story - nothing for the viewer to engage with. He said his ten years of illustrating for Dungeons and Dragons made him the artist he is today because he learned about world-building, and showing adventures, and artifacts, and all those interesting things that make a visual story. I especially liked when he said, "Don't just steal from your heroes, steal from their parents. (and their grandparents)" What he meant was, when you find an artist who inspires you, find out who inspired them. Some of Tony's influences are Norman Rockwell, Brian Froud and Alan Lee (Faeries especially - Terri Windling did a great write-up on this creative duo and Brian's wife Wendy, who also played a large part, HERE), who were inspired by Arthur Rackham and John Bauer, who was inspired by Hieronymous Bosch.
     He discussed how an illustrator can make themselves stand out against the range of already established artists out there. Truly, everything he said validated what we've been telling our students already, and seemed to truly resonate. They listened intently and LEARNED! Tony was a HIT!
After the talk, students swarmed around Tony to get their photos taken with him and ask more questions - he was wonderful with them - patient, informative, and inspiring.Before they all scattered, I got a group shot with some of the students with Tony, Me and Jon.Then we all went off for a BBQ feast at McCoy's Smokehouse and Saloon (who handled our large crowd so well!)
     Many thanks to Tony and Jon and Tom for making this amazing opportunity possible for our students. Events like this can change a life, and isn't that what it's all about?! #artswinthrop #designwinthrop