Feature Articles


October Issue 1999

The Art of Mezzotints at Starbucks in Charleston

An exhibit entitled, Emerging Shadows and Everyday Heroes: Recent Mezzotints, by Alyssa Shackle-Millard will be on view at the Starbucks coffee shop, second floor gallery, located on King Street in downtown Charleston, SC. The exhibit will be on view from Oct. 5 through Oct. 31.

The Mezzotint, a highly technical and complex process, lends itself to taking one's time and is consequently a rarely practiced art form. It was invented in the year 1642 by a German by the name of Ludwig von Siegen, and to this day is still practiced by only a handful of people world-wide as their "medium of choice". Mezzotint, although a labor intensive process, is still done because it is so attractive as a medium and because it can achieve a rich velvety blackness that very few, if any, other mediums can boast. Alyssa Shackle-Millard, a newcomer of only two years to the possibilities of this medium, is one of the few who have chosen to pursue this medium. In this exhibition, the artist hopes to educate others as to the wonders of this medium as well as to show them how this process is done.

Shackle-Millard hand-picked the subjects for her imagery, based on her fascination with each person's ability to overcome certain traumas or hardships in his/her life. Each person (as many of us do at some point in our lives) triumphed over some seemingly insurmountable event, thus demonstrating the truly powerful strength of the human will to survive. These people were extraordinary in situations that were anything but ordinary. The pursuit of these "heroes" was based upon the artist's search into her family's history, and has now flowered into her desire to find more of these "everyday heroes". Although the general public will not be familiar with most of the subjects offered, text will be provided at the exhibit which will help explain each individual's life.

Shackle-Millard feels that this particular medium quite appropriately "sets the mood" for the imagery and even tends to convey a sense of the passage of time. They are small, intimate, peeks into the past which practically force the observer to slow down and take a break from today's technologically based (obsessed) and fast-paced society. There is still something to be said for doing things by hand.

Shackle-Millard graduated from the College of Charleston in 1998 with a BA in studio art. She currently works at the McCallum-Halsey Studio as an assistant and printmaker. Along with those pursuits, she is also working to build her own portfolio and plans to attend a graduate program to attain her master's degree in studio art/printmaking.

There will be a reception for the artist at Starbucks, located at 239 King Street, on Oct. 9 from 5:30 to 8:30pm.

For further information about the artist call 843/889-8953. For info on the exhibit check our SC Commercial Gallery listings or call Starbucks at 843/805-8007.

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