An Indian Lake High School art educator who pours much of her time and talents into helping her students stretch their creativity and learn more about themselves was able to slow down a little to reflect and create her own piece for the Not So Bad Art by Good People contest.
Paige Dukowitz, who has been teaching for six years, including five years at Indian Lake Schools, created an acrylic painting with mixed media elements for the Logan County Art League’s annual fundraiser. Her piece and the work of eight other local celebrity artists are currently on display for public voting at Citizens Federal Savings & Loan, 100 N. Main St., during bank lobby hours through Friday, Jan. 27.
“I honestly have not made a lot of art in the past few years, and this piece has worked as a culmination of a lot of different ideas and topics that I have been mulling over recently,” the Indian Lake High School graduate said of her entry.
“I love being asked by Mr. (Woody) Amidon. He has been such a bright part of working with the Art League, as he has been my connection to display student work in the courthouse annex. He had even asked me to display some work the summer of 2020, which was really fun.
“A lot of the art I have made in the past few years has been a direct result of someone at the Art League asking me to make art.”
The art educator and Huntsville native, who now lives in Marysville, said her painting and mixed media piece involves a lot of symbolism that is reflective of aspects of her own life.
“I used goldfish imagery, which are used as a symbol of good luck and good fortune in many cultures. The stars also are representative of luck and destiny.
“I used ginkgo leaves which are known in Japan to be a symbol of longevity and resilience, which is a characteristic that I see in myself.”
The three dimensional elements include rhinestones and mirror pieces.
“I like reflective elements because they allow the viewer to catch glimpses of themselves in my work,” Dukowitz explained.
“I have also have a tendency to lean into glitter and very tedious work in my art, which is representative of the historically tedious artistic and craft work that was done by women.”
Two other prominent elements in her artwork — a newspaper and magic eight ball — enabled her to use language in her piece and bring in other personal connections.
“The writing in the newspaper was inspired by some of my own poetry,” the ILHS teacher said. “The title of the newspaper was heavily influenced by the beginning of 2020. I was having a very difficult time in my own life, and there was an album released that January that was titled, ‘Good News,’ that I listened to on repeat. Around the time that this album was released, I also lost a student to suicide. This newspaper is reflective of that death, and a few other impactful deaths.
“The eight ball works as a counter balance to the symbolisms of luck, because it reads ‘Don’t count on it.’ I think that even if you believe you are lucky, you can’t always rely on luck.”
Creating the Not So Bad Art by Good People painting took Dukowitz a little outside of other artwork she has completed recently, which has primarily involved stitching on muslin cloth, she noted.
“I love painting for myself, however I rarely do traditional two dimensional pieces like this one. My work generally has a lot of abstract elements, beading and embroidery.
“Personally, I love to teach concept-driven art, because I think that art should have meaning and tell stories about the artists and audience.”
When she was an Indian Lake student, Dukowitz said she did not picture herself teaching one day, but her career plans changed when she came to a turning point in college.
“I had a really great art teacher when I was at Indian Lake, and he pushed me to pursue a career in the arts, but I didn’t initially plan to go into education.
“After a couple of semesters in college, I was unhappy with my design major, and remembered how much fun my art teacher always seemed to have, and on a whim, I chose to major in art education. I am very happy I did that, as it fulfilled my love of art.”
While delving into the education field, Dukowitz discovered another passion that she is currently building upon.
“After teaching, I realized that this career path also fulfilled my ability to build relationships and connect with people at a deeper level. I am currently pursuing a masters in school counseling, to help myself better understand and meet the various emotional needs of my students.”
Voting in the contest is available for $1 each, with no limits on the numbers of votes that a person can cast.
The winner of the community vote will be announced at a celebration event, dinner and auction finale event Jan. 27 at the Bellefontaine VFW, 216 Orchard Ave.
Anyone in the community is invited to attend the Celebration Dinner; tickets are required for food and drinks being served from 5 to 6 p.m. A reservation form is available by sending an email request to art.
The public is also invited to attend the auction that begins at 7 p.m. and participate free of charge.
