visions and views from MECA

The senior illustration students at Maine College of Art have had a busy fall: looking, listening, and drawing. As background for a sci-fi book jacket assignment, the esteemed Joshua Bergey gave a fascinating lecture on his grandfather, Earle Bergey, a brilliant illustrator of many genres in the 30’s and 40’s. Joshua never met his grandfather, who died when Joshua’s father was young. He’s piecing together a biography, and talking to models still living. He also shared a big collection of books and magazines with Bergey’s illustrations, as well as some of the photos he shot for reference.

The next week, we did some drawing from life, with the lovely Eris Avery, who brought some choice accessories.

Sketch by Alysa:

Sketch by Cyndi:

Sketch by Lori:

Sketch by Seumas:

And I draw, too. I mean, who can resist a space vixen with blue hair? My sketch:

Here are a few of the science fiction book jacket results (before titles):


Bri did a zippy crustacean girl, zooming through the cosmos:

And Bret envisions a cyborg posing, post- apocalypse:

Juliana’s got a thing for Egyptian lore:

Tom’s got the troops invading the Alien Nation:

From the future, we came back into the present by doing a quick art walk of some nearby drawing and illustration exhibits. First we visited Art House, where our very own Alex Rheault, department chair extraordinaire, had some large canvases.

Then we walked up to Congress Street to the Green Hand Bookstore, where proprietor and MECA alum, Michelle Souliere, let us in to the exhibit of Michael Connor’s ink drawings. He’s a master of absurdity with line, and teaches a Graphic Novel class at MECA, too!

We trotted over to Forest Avenue to Sanctuary Tattoo, where Mike Gorman (former instructor at MECA) had drawings in bags.

Last stop was right next to MECA at Space Gallery, where MECA alums Kimberly Convery and Kreh Mellick had transformed the place with wallpaper and a parlor feel, with vintage frames around inky portraits and detailed narrative worlds of sails and waves.

It was a healthy trek in search of how artists present themselves, physically and conceptually.

Yesterday we had Eric Hou visit the illustration studio to tell us his odyssey of finding himself supported by his art, which was fun and inspirational. Here he is with a new puppet, his koala character that appears in many cards and posters.

And what a stash of great stuff he brought in!

Right in the middle, we also received a generous donation from David Wing of vintage sci-fi paperbacks. VERY timely. Thanks, David!

Big thanks to Eric, and to all artists, students, and galleries who make the world more real with their visions and views.