Biography of Stevie Holyoke

Stevie Holyoke is a designer with keen eye for aesthetics and a serious sense of style.  She is a down to earth girl and it comes out very naturally in the work that she produces.

Stevie was raised in Keswick, New Brunswick, a small community that can located outside of the Fredericton area. She always had a knack for design, even throughout her public school days where creativity can easily be set-aside in pursuit of academics. When she graduated high school she took time off from school to live life to the fullest. During these times she spent a large amount of her time travelling the world. But, even with all of the amazing things she did around the world, she was still drawn back to her little home. It is there that she decided to get enrolled into the bachelor of applied arts program that runs between UNB and the College of Craft and Design. She spent her two years at UNB but it wasn’t until she came to the college that she really began to figure what exactly she wanted to do with life. Being immersed in a world of creativity and design she thrived, receiving very high marks and a strong love for her work.

In her time at the college she has completed the foundation of visual arts program and is now enrolled in the surface design program. With finishing her bachelor of applied arts degree she wishes to pursue her master’s in interior design.

In her designs Stevie brings together a small town feel and blends it with a whole world of personality that she has gained over her very colorful life.

Child with a toy hand grenade in central Park

Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park

A compositional breakdown

By Charles G. D. Harding

Dec.5^th, 2011

“Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park” is a photograph taken by Diane Arbus that captures a brilliant array of tones and shapes and organizes them into a composition that is extremely pleasing to the eye.  The way that this photograph is composed creates movement and seems to take your eye on a journey through the plain of various contrasting tones.

The journey begins on what seems to be the focal point of the image, the boy. The boy is wearing a pair of dark colored overalls that provide a heavy contrast to the brighter grey-tones in the background. So it serves as a very good place for the eye to begin looking at the picture. You can almost follow the dark tones up from the boy’s shoe, to the strap of his overalls, and all the way up the trees behind him. These objects almost serve as a line that divides the image horizontally into thirds, giving it that classic compositional division. As well, when you look at the head of the boy and you let your eye travel to the far right you can see a family making their way down the trail. But, the family seems to be the same size and exactly level with the boy’s head on the image. Those two objects also seem to create another imaginary line and divides the photograph into vertical fourths.

Another line that provides a great deal of compositional interest is the edge of the cement path that seems to swoop down from right side of the upper fourth of the image and exits at the center-left. This line provides more emphasis to the boy, as it seems to almost resemble a “river of information” that is pushing the boy towards us. Another thing that emphasizes this “river of information” is that the family is walking down the path and towards the boy, providing even more of a push.

What makes this photograph very successful is that all of the elements in the image seem to accentuate the boy. The lines, shapes and tonal contrasts all work together to not only define the focal point of the image but to also push a message through that focal point. As well, it does it in a way that helps us to not get distracted by the other elements of the photograph. It enables us to keep focus on the subject so that the meaning of the photograph can be much more easily transferred to us.

Through analysis of this photograph it is very easy to tell that this image was brilliantly and intentionally composed in a way to keep our attention on the subject. This is what makes “Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park” by Diane Arbus such a powerful image that deserves to be seen by many.

Artist Resume

Artist Resume

Charles G. D. Harding

330 York Street, apt. 3

Fredericton, New Brunswick

(506) – 238 – 9044

Education

            New Brunswick College of Craft and Design

Program:

            -Foundation of Visual Arts (2010-2011)

Program:

-Integrated Media  (2011-pres.)

Employment

            Camp Medley

Position:

-Arts and Crafts Director (2011)

Duties:

-Development of a weekly curriculum to make the camper’s experience both fun and educational.

-Teaching the campers the various crafts designated in the curriculum.

-Inspiring the campers to become excited about their own creativity through my own enthusiasm.

Skills

         -Advanced knowledge in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

            -Advanced knowledge in many other programs related to design.

            -Strong knowledge in all Microsoft Office programs.

Accomplishments

            -Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s Young Art award

Flowers, time lapse – 5 min. writing.

Flowers, time lapse – 5 min. writing.

I find that in examples of time lapse like the ones shown in Louis Schwartzberg’s video about flowers and the things that surround them, it might be easy to call it too sensational, but I think the opposite. I find that when watching the videos it gives me a much closer look at nature and thus, giving me a much deeper appreciation for it. It gives brings me close enough to have an almost intimate feel for nature. I find the videos beautiful. It is a beautiful thing to see nature sped up to the pace of us humans because you really see how amazing they are in the right perspective. Everything done well, is done slowly.

My Favourite Food

My Favourite Food – 5 min. writing

My favourite foods are the ones that I cook myself. I always get the best satisfaction from the foods that I make myself. Be it pasta, or burgers, or exotic meats. They all taste delicious. I find that cooking is an artform. I put just as much creativity into the things that I cook as I would into any drawing. Sometimes the things that I cook come out like my doodles (chaos), and sometimes they come out like my designs (neat and tidy).  No matter what I cook and no matter how it tastes, I always have a deep taste of satisfaction in the end. Cooking is an art and art is what I like to do. So every food I cook is my favourite food.