Laughter and tears painted an emotional atmosphere at the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art as graduating art majors showcased their skills at the Senior Art Exhibit. The display was headlined by the works of Yasmine Abdallat, Erin Bradley, Joesette McDaniel and Christina Pitman.

For this group of seniors, the exhibition was not the final chapter in their art careers, but rather a send off of their college experiences.

“I have been drawing since I was in the fourth grade,” Pitman said. “It all started off with cartoons, in particular Japanese Anime.”

However, currently the Moorpark resident has begun focusing on creating vivid and revolutionary animal portraits. Perhaps, best demonstrated in her rainbow colored sheep drawing.

“Animals have always been a big part of my life and I love to experiment with color,” Pitman said. “For the sheep portrait I just felt like I wanted to follow my intuitions so why not just make it a rainbow.” 

For these artists, inspiration comes in many forms. For Erin Bradley, a fall semester journey abroad as a junior was the inspiration behind her display.

“After making the scary decision to go abroad, I ended up studying in southern Spain in Grenada,” Bradley said. “I also did some traveling to Norway as well and it was the best decision I ever made.”

Most of her pieces are done using water colors because of the detail and control the medium provides. In the middle of Bradley’s showcase was a landscape depiction of the first thing she saw when she stepped off the train for the first time in Norway.

“As soon as I go off the train in the tiny little farm town of Gol, I just remember seeing this bright blue lake surrounded by colorful trees and mountains,” Bradley said.

Although her water color painting caught the eye of most people in the gallery, she is most passionate about her breath-taking wooden board and string art, a piece that almost acts as an official map of her trip abroad.

“I used yellow and red string to outline and represent the country of Spain,” Bradley said. “The blue trail is where I went when I was abroad. We started in Madrid and made our way to Caloca and then finally went to Granada where I lived for roughly four months.”

Inspired by her experience abroad, Bradley is hoping to continue traveling in the future and see more of the wonders the world has to offer. She said she definitely wants to see more once she graduates.

Sometimes art draws itself and other times a different passion draws the art for you. A deep love and affection for horses is what drives Abdallat to create her awe-inspiring art works.

“Horses have been a long part of my life,” Abdallat said. “I am going for the Rio Olympics for the Jordanian team in horseback so it is truly in my blood.”

Each portrait in her display acts as a shrine to glorify the many horses she has owned and worked with in her life, from Rainbow, the horse she was given for her 21st birthday, to the horse she is taking to the Olympics. Her exhibition even depicts Arabian horses, which are the first and purest breed of horses dating back 2,000 years.

The two largest drawings Abdallat was showcasing were her oil paintings. The abstract paintings reveal a horse tangled up and contorted with a lion and a bull.

“I know my oil paintings are bizarre,” Abdallat said. “They are meant to represent the dual side of humanity and nature. They present fear, submission, weakness, strength, anger and power.”

Joining the Senior Art Exhibit was the Faces of Millennial Angst, which is an exhibition that seeks to represent the diverse student body of Cal Lutheran by creating collages that visually unite the faces of multiple students as one. This exhibit will be on display through May 14.

Andrew Davies
Staff Writer
Published May 4th, 2016