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.
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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
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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
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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.”
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