Spotlight Artists & Jeweler
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Japhy Czysz (AWS '02)
My days as a serious artist began during my time as a student at AWS. Artistically, that was the most productive time in my life so far – from kindergarten through 8th grade, when every day involved illustrating a main lesson book, painting in watercolor, sculpting clay, working with wood... this list could go on and on.
These were all daily activities, and were simply accepted as part of school. It was only once I was in public high school that I realized being an active artist would need to become my own choice if it were to continue. I did continue to paint, through those slightly difficult times and then through my time at SUNY Fredonia. I graduated 3 years ago with a BA in Environmental Art.
Since then, I have continued to paint portraits of nature which often come from life, and are then put through the many and often thick filters of my imagination. The results are paintings which show the nature of the world, as well as the nature of my mind at any given time.
I have created paintings from a hike on the trail from NY to Mt. Katahdin in Maine, others from Cattaraugus Creek right down the road, and still others from my stay in Southern Arizona's National Forests this past winter. I have loosely represented a variety of places in paint. My goal is to show the beauty of the world; to show how fantastic it is to my eyes, and how much I love its harmony. When we share our views, we know what matters to our fellow humans, and we then feel obligated to uphold our common values. I want as many people as possible to care for the Earth as I do, and to realize that all of our actions are important and have a deep impact.
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