When I entered Winthrop University in the fall of 1990, there was a cool British guy in the Chair’s office. You could hear his smooth accent coming from the office without seeing his face, allowing your imagination to construct what this gentleman must look like. When he introduced himself, I couldn’t help but think that THIS was the face of that voice. It was exactly the face that the voice needed. Immediately I knew this was a classy guy. Probably sophisticated. Definitely intelligent.
This was my first impression of Alf Ward, Professor Emeritus of Winthrop University’s Department of Art and Design. Professor Ward arrived at Winthrop before me and was a fixture there during both my undergrad and graduate eras. Through those 6.5 years total, I learned more and more about him and every single detail that came together painted an even more impressive portrait. I never got the honor of having him as my professor, but I did get to talk with him, work with him, exhibit with him, have students who also had him, and I got to hear him lecture. I also got to hear him say “shed-jewel” (schedule) many times and I smiled every time.
Last Saturday, Alf passed away. There are stories about his genius and kindness that you should hear and I really wish those were my stories to tell. Though I cannot honor the life of this amazing man in the way he deserves, I can share just a small glimpse of this man I have immense respect for.
Over my years at Winthrop as a student and as an adjunct Lecturer, the stories about Alf swirled in the area between truth and legend. When I heard about his death, all those stories came back and it was difficult to remember which ones were true and which ones may have been exaggerated over time. What I know to be true is what I heard from Alf directly and that’s what I’ll focus on here. What follows now is a summary of bits of information given by Alf during an artist talk at Winthrop in 2009.
When Alf was in school in England he had some very notable classmates. Among them were Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Spencer Davis. Mick Jagger’s dad was Alf’s teacher in Metalsmithing and Physical Training. Pop artist Sir Peter Blake was Alf’s drawing teacher. Blake co-designed the album sleeve for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Alf played lead guitar and was in a band with his friend Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.
During the bombing of England during WWII, it was common for a young Alf to be dragged out of bed and into the bomb shelter in the middle of the night. There was an anti-aircraft gun stand next door to his house and he vividly remembered the sound of the air raid siren and guns. Alf and his friends would trade scrap metal from the downed German fighter planes in their neighborhood. Alf recalled the night a downed German pilot knocked on their door and came in to have tea while he waited for the police to come and take him away.
Alf spoke of creating art as a “journey into oneself” and he shared a former teacher’s advice telling students to “concentrate on uniqueness”. He said that if you are always being true to yourself, then you never have to worry about anyone copying you. He spoke of the connection between what the artist experiences in life and what the artist creates. He said that all of the artwork he has ever made has dealt with the basic language of being human, relating to how we treat one another and how we deal with things in our lives and in our communities.
Remembering those words now, it occurs to me just how much of an impact this artist talk must have had on me. So much of what he said relates to my current creative processes. I mean, not so much the brushes with musical giants, but definitely Alf’s thoughts on making art.
Alf Ward was a mind-blowingly great metalsmith and artist. He designed and created works for the Royal Family if that gives you any idea of the quality we’re talking about here. His paintings were colorful and humorously symbolic. Alf was the one who introduced me to Punch and Judy and one of the highlights of my highlight reel as an artist is when Alf personally praised me for a sculpture I exhibited in a show with him.
I am not remotely a metalsmith but when I was commissioned to create the Lander University Ceremonial Mace, I remembered that Alf had created the Ceremonial Mace for Winthrop University among other institutions and I used those works of art as the starting point for my own creation. I would not want you to compare my mace to his but I distinctly remember feeling pride when I realized I was doing something that Alf had done. When I think about how much influence Alf had on me, I can’t imagine the amount of influence he has had on those lucky enough to be his students.
How fortunate I was to have shared space and time with this great man.
No comments:
Post a Comment