Last Friday I had participated in West Liberty University’s MADfest.
MADfest stands for Media Art Design Festival where all day, the school put on programs to college and high school students that allowed them to learn more about different fields of the career path.
Types of sessions included: Photography, Electronic Music, 3D Animation, Concept Art, Illuminated Perfume, Mixed Media, and Drawing.
Every MADfest also brings in a few special guests. This year’s special guests were California-based artists Greg Spalenka (http://www.spalenka.com/) and Roxana Villa (http://www.roxanavilla.com/).
I had spent a good amount of the MADfest working with Greg and Roxana, helping them with their sessions with the technical set up.
Also, the Thursday before the MADfest, I had spent the day at a workshop ran by Greg Spalenka. This workshop was called Artist as Brand (http://www.artistasbrand.com/). Here students, including myself learned about how to turn our art into a living by giving up valuable advice and insight from his career. It was very inspirational. I am dedicated to telling stories!
Photo by Roxana Villa
When it came to Friday’s competition, I had actually won some awards for my entries!
I took First Place in the Web Design category, and Runner Up in the Digital Imaging category. I have to say that I am proud my myself, and also proud of my girlfriend Lisa, who took First Place in the Illustration category.
I would like to thank both Greg and Roxana for being awesome guests and inspiring me. Roxana actually featured my work in her blog (http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com/2012/05/branding-artist-in-west-virginia.html). She also talks about her visit to WLU, so be sure to check out her blog and her Illuminated Perfume products. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/IlluminatedPerfume?ref=seller_info)
Sean Ritner 