Artist

Drew McSherry

I am inspired by discovery. I believe that I do not create images, I discover them. I seek to help others discover their own interpretations and stories in my artwork. This is more important to me than questioning what I think and feel as an artist. Using mainly oils and graphic mediums, I work in a subtractive method. With erasers, cloth, and my own fingers, I excavate an image that appears in the lighter areas.Discovery is an important theme in my artwork. I discover images rather than create them and I seek to help others discover their own interpretations and stories through my artwork. However, as a teacher I extend this concept of discovery to helping students discover their own skills and abilities while teaching. Both art and learning is about discovery, students enter a classroom and discover new facts and information, and discovery is fueled by questions. Students must be able to ask the right kind of questions both internally and externally to discover new information. For example, in my artwork I lay down a tone of medium (charcoal and paint). I then move the media around with my hand and search for the image. Throughout this part of the process I continually ask myself what could this be? Finally when the image comes and I begin drawing it out with further questions until I receive the answer to what I am looking for. This process has its equivalent with students. As a teacher I see students as full of potential and I seek to draw that potential out through challenging curriculum that fosters questioning over answers. Answers are meaningless. It's the question that is important.