THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605030243
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Random Rambles
SOURCE: Tony Stein
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
In one of the images on the gallery wall, a Roman soldier is the central figure, but surrounding him are pillars and columns, shaping and defining the world in which he lived. In another of the images on the wall, a Chinese peasant holds center stage, but, as with the picture of the soldier, he is surrounded by symbols of his culture.
The pictures, crisp, complex, compelling, are the work of Brant Powell, an 18-year-old senior at Great Bridge High School. They have earned him the $600 first-place award in the Student Gallery art contest sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot. More than 500 talented youngsters entered and the winning pieces will be on display at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk until May 19.
The New York museum director who judged the show said Brant's art showed ``crispness as well as the meaningful interplay of symbols and patterns.''
Personally, I felt like giving Brant, whose parents are Harper and Brenda Powell, a public speaking award. That's because in 45 minutes of talking, he never once delivered that famous bit of teenage verbal punctuation ``Y'know.'' He's an articulate and impressive young man who apparently has been dabbling in art ever since he was old enough to put crayon to paper. But art remained a sometime hobby with him until last year when Darlene Thornton became his teacher.
Now she's a one-person cheering squad for his emerging abilities. ``He had a lot of raw talent,'' she says. ``He had the desire to learn art, and he really wanted to be good. It's easy to teach a student who wants to learn.''
However, there has been another pull at Brant's time and talent. It's dramatics. He's acted in plays produced at the school and the dramatic process intrigues him. ``I like becoming something that's not me,'' he says. But his desire to change personalities on stage has certain limits, even for roles in a couple of Shakespeare plays. ``Thankfully,'' he says, ``I've never had to wear tights.''
He focused more intently on art after he won an honorable mention in last year's Student Gallery competition. Doing better became a personal challenge.
If there was an emotional urge to do better, Brant seems to bring more intellect than emotion to his art. This is no guy who flings paint at a canvas. There's a thought process grinding away, shaping and forming.
His major pieces are built around a character like the Chinese peasant and the Roman soldier. He starts with a basic image in mind, almost always a person. Then he researches the world in which that person lives or once lived. The research suggests the symbols and patterns that frame the character in the finished work.
His tools are colored pencils and pen and ink. If he's home, the radio is tuned to alternative rock and the TV is on with the sound turned down. ``When I finish a piece,'' he says, ``I have this overwhelming sense of completion. It's done and I can see that the time I spent was worth it.''
Both Brant and art teacher Thornton talk about his pictures as ``active.'' You don't glance at them and move on. You stop and read the characters and the symbols like words in a book. You wonder about the people. What did the soldier and the peasant think and feel? You give them life in your mind.
And that's what Brant wants you to do. He wants to hold you and manipulate you into being a captive audience. He grins and says, ``I don't want you to get bored with it and walk away.'' But he admits that he likes to hang out behind the people looking at his pictures and listen to what they say.
Not that other opinions will necessarily change what he does. Yes, he and Thornton say, they sometimes argue over the direction Brant's work is taking. When they can't agree, they try for compromise. Bottom line, both Brant and his teacher say, if he thinks he's right, he sticks to his guns.
He'll be an honor graduate this June and he's on the waiting list for admission to Virginia Tech. But he's still debating career directions - art or drama. For her part, Thornton thinks he can be a successful commercial artist once he gets solid computer graphics training. ``He has the intellect to go with the talent,'' she says. ``He won't wait for destiny to fall into his lap. He'll meet it head-on.''
Ask Brant which direction he thinks he'll take and he talks about the instant gratification of theater versus the creative satisfaction of a completed work of art. ``Whatever,'' he says, ``I want to try to combine my interests so that what I earn a living at is what I love to do.''
You gotta wish him luck. Anyone who can hit that combination wins a blue ribbon in the art of life. by CNB