Dee Friesen | Arts + Life Editor

Art is a wonderful thing. It’s fun to look at, can evoke emotion, and even inspire you. But have you ever been curious about the hands behind the art? I often wonder about the artist that created the pieces I see showcased around campus. What is their process? How do they come up with these things? Do they get frustrated or is every work and effortless masterpiece? I think we can safely assume that most artists put a lot of hard work into every piece they create. Art takes patience, practice, and dedication. So let’s take a look at one of the many talented artists here on campus.

This week I had the great privilege of sitting down with Mackenzie Mauntler as she worked on a couple of pieces for her Ceramics class. Besides art classes in high school, Mauntler has never done anything like ceramics before.

“With something new, you get to explore it and you don’t feel bad if you’re not good at it,” Mauntler said.

As a junior Graphic Design major, she chose to take Ceramics to have a more hands-on experience with the art she was creating.

“I get to create something that’s more than just visual and actually serves a purpose,” Mauntler said.

Because she’s never done anything like this in college so far, I asked if it was frustrating at first to get used to the medium.

“I would see a little crack and I would destroy the piece because I was irritated that it wasn’t perfect,” Mauntler said. “But now it’s like, if I see a crack in it I try to work with it and sometimes it turns into a beautiful thing and other times it doesn’t. And that’s okay.”

She shared that each week about 10 pieces are due. At this point, she had made upwards of 90 different pieces. Maunlter and I talked about how different art classes are in college vs. high school. It seems like professors, at least here at BVU, really allow you to be creative and explore your work while giving you advise along the way to help you improve.

“Dave, the professor is really interactive with us. Sometimes he has us lay them [the projects] out so he can just talk with us about them,” Mauntler said.

Advice Mauntler would give to anyone taking an art class around a medium they’re not used to is to ask for help.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Art is something that you grow into and you’re always learning and always getting better at. Don’t feel like you need to be good at something right off the bat. It takes practice,” Mauntler said.

Photos by Dee Friesen