A ward-winning painter also dedicated to teaching By GEORGE OSGOOD Collegian Arts Writer There’s an old saying that goes “Those that,can, do; those that can’t, teach." And although old sayings some times ring true, this one seems invalid in light of the achieve ments of some of Penn State’s faculty. Professor of art edu cation George S. Zoretich is one who can, and does, and teaches, too. The artist and his work A black and white photo just doesn’t do justice to this abstract landscape done in acrylics by George S. Zoretich, an art education professor who also won the Juried Arts'Exhibition at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts for the second year in a row. & . BASm-ROBBINS ICE CREAM STORE 358 E. COILEBB ATE | — Ziff’s L "I St SUMMER §> X SALE 1 1 /2 OFF _ ,1. OUR ENTIRE STOCK OF SUMMER SHORTS, TOPS, SWIMWEAR, SPORTSWEAR discover famous names GARLAND, RT, PANDORA, VICKI SPORT, VICKY VAUGHN, H.I.S. —atprices you can live with. 10 - 9 daily 10-6 Saturday Westerly Parkway Plaza RYDER RENTS TRUCKS 5% RENTAL DISCOUNT if you make your ONE-WAY RESERVATION on or before Aug. 13 (Present This Ad) S Classes Got You Down? J Add some adventure to your life at... J * SERA-TEC BIOLOGICALS } •K Try our donor program and earn up to » ■K- * £s6o per month J * * Call for Details 3 J 237-5761 J 5 or 237-5762 5 t * t * * * | Sera-Tec Biologicals Hours: | if 120 S. Allen St. c . I State College, PA 16801 * behind Rite Aid discount store O.OU - O.OU What he does is paint. And he does it well enough to win the Juried Arts Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts two years running with acrylic compositions called “Mountain Rise I” and “Mountain Rise II." His works are of sufficient quality to warrant nearly a hundred exhibitions since 1949, in galleries from San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest to Ziff’s the “haute couture" galleries of New York. He is a true professional,dedicated to his painting,..but he is also dedicated to his classroom work and refuses to sacrifice the one for the other. “I don’t think teaching is detrimental to my painting in any way,” he says. “Of course, it’s time-consuming, and if I were selfish I could say, ‘Boy, it sure takes a lot of Photo by Ml ttnUmited If rent-alls 238-3037 140 N. Atherton St. (Vi block N. of College Ave.) time away from my painting,’ but I have made a voluntary commitment to teaching and I enjoy it; ifl didn’t, I’d be in New York painting full time.” . Zoretich paints in several disciplines watercolors, oils, acrylics, and others but in any given period he works in only one area. Landscapes are his favorite subject and he even explains some of his abstract acrylic works in landscape terms. His style is all his own, although he admits that he may be unconsciously in fluenced by the work of painters from the Renaissance to the present. “Outwardly, the artist should not try to emulate the techniques of any painter, except in an exercise of technical skills where the goal is imitation and not creation,’’ he says. “To mimic the style of someone else is to compromise your own technique and is ob-. viously detrimental to your work and creativity.” Artists are often portrayed as sitting for days and even weeks without touching a brush, waiting for the creative mood to come over them. Zoretich dispels this idea as inconsistent with the philosophy of the working painter. “Special urges, surges of creativity, are nice, but after you’ve painted for a while, you know that something will happen when you put a brush to canvas,” he says. “You can create the urge if you per- students not to let paint severe. People sitting around ing frustrate them. If a waiting for urges are either student. gets frustrated, he lazy or are not real artists." • advises them to stay with the “Of course, you have to problem and work hard until tune yourself up and get your ,it is resolved. There are mind set for it, but the im- always going to be problems portant thing is to paint and in creating a painting, and if a not wait around for creative student deals with them by inspiration. That should come concentration and hard work, once you get started,” future problems will be easier Zoretich says. and easier to handle, he says. Painting can be enjoyable, The most important but is usually hard work, qualities for a painter, according to Zoretich. He whether a professional or a says that if it were recreation beginner, are _ commitment he would soon stop painting and dedication, according to because it would lose its Zoretich. Painters with appeal. There must be serious intentions carry the something more than fun in responsibility of taking painting for the serious artist., painting seriously. Hours of arts “I paint because I com- hard work are sometimes mitted myself to painting a necessary to put a painting in long time ago,” he says. “I the proper perspective, he guess I keep it up because I says. feel I’m progressing toward some goal. There’s a great “Outside of commitment deal of personal fulfillment and dedication, I think the that comes from painting most important thing an it’s different from recreation, artist can possess is en- When I’m painting I can in- durance,” Zoretich says. “In vent, and I think invention is the 35 years that Tve been very important. When you do involved with painting, I’ve a painting, an abstract, for seen a lot of painters with instance, you’ve invented relatively ordinary talents something, and no painting make more significant before or after can be exactly contributions ,to art than the same. It gives a distinct people with superior talents feeling of accomplishment who just seem to fade from and satisfaction.” prominence because they.had Zoretich warns his art no endurance. The others r\V* e were able to maintain a creative pace.” “You also have to be an aware' person, . always looking, always sensing and assessing what is around you," he says.' “You must be ready to put things on the line.” Zoretich, 58, and a serious painter since 1940, has en durance. After hundreds of paintings in various media, his enthusiasm for art in general, and painting in particular, has only increased over the years. He says he would like to paint every day, but cannot because of his teaching schedule. This is not a serious drawback, though, because for him teaching is part of the creative ex perience. “There exists within the faculty and students a community of interest that is one of the most positive aspects of teaching,” he says. “When students are in terested in painting or drawing, I’m deeply in terested in teaching. It’s gratifying to help people interested in art, and as a professor for 30 years, I can say that in the classroom the What YOU can do to help prevent thett: record all serial numbers, engrave all valu ables, lock all doors, arid if theft should occur report it immediately by calling 865-5458. looking for . . . clean, quiet, well maintained apartment, 3 blocks from campus. NOW RENTING Get your application in now. 2 person furnished studio all utilities TV cable, carpeted parking laundry. XSzJ&egsl atlas realty management co., Inc. 301 south alien street Ckrsk m/* n state co,le a o - pa. 1 eeo 1 mbm QIQIIIwU telephone: (814) 238-0741 _ EAST H The Daily Collegian Monday, August 2,1976 —3 teacher learns along with the students.” Unlike the artist stereotype, Zoretich is very much the down-to-earth pragmatist. He has recently designed a “better” easel and the University has built several dozen for student use. , He has just finished a book on drawing, co-authored by Yar Chomicky, another professor of art education. The book, entitled “Knowing Made Visible,” is a working survey of drawing. It’s not a “how to” book but "a reference text for drawing,” dealing with ideas in drawing through the ages. It is due for publication sometime this fall, acording to Zoretich. Zoretich takes an active interest in life as well as in art. The artist who isolates himself as a recluse in some garret is not really doing his job, according to Zoretich. “Artists must deal with life’s circumstances,” he says. “There are respon sibilities that an artist, like anyone else, must face. Teaching is one of my responsibilities, and I’m lucky because I enjoy it and I think that it is an asset to my work as a painter.” For Quiet Students for fall T| >
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