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sans raccourcis
Drawing by MaiJoi Sharp
2015 D. Bradley Smith Art Purchase Award Winner

The Artwork

Photo of the Artist MaiJoi Sharp is always experimenting. New materials, new techniques, new forms; making something from the everything that is the raw material of art.

She says that she's always liked art, and the wide swath that she cut through the BHS art curriculum attests to that fact: Photo 1 and 2, Studio Art 1 and 2, Sculpture, and Jewelry Making. But it's what you do with your time that counts.

MaiJoi's self-portrait will stay at BHS as a reminder of her time here. Almost life-size, it captures an artist at work, drawing her own self-portrait. (MaiJoi created it while looking in the mirror.) Her posture, of course, is classic art-student-at-work. The work's title, "sans raccourcis," translates to "no shortcuts." MaiJoi says that "You can't take any shortcuts when making an original piece, and if you could, why would you want to?"

MaiJoi's other passion is music. She plays the flute and the saxophone, and sings, too. You can hear her voice in the church choir, and she's an annual stand-out at Ham Jam.

MaiJoi's teachers will miss her presence in their classes. They love her humility, combined with her "profound sense of things in the world." She's a calming influence on the other students in class, thinks carefully before she speaks, and above all is courageous as an artist -- never afraid to jump in and set her creative process into motion, she leads by example.

Next year, MaiJoi will begin her college studies at MCC. She's not sure what she'll focus on just yet, but you can be sure that art and music will both be included in the mix. Shortcuts? Don't expect her to take any.

Image provided by Debra Burger
Story provided by Jim Kane

June, 2015


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