{"id":574,"date":"2019-05-09T00:54:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T00:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/?p=574"},"modified":"2019-05-09T00:54:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T00:54:16","slug":"a-look-at-the-man-behind-the-canvas-mitch-ogletree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/2019\/05\/09\/a-look-at-the-man-behind-the-canvas-mitch-ogletree\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look At The Man Behind The Canvas: Mitch Ogletree"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sara Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery is once again decorated to the max with tangible expressions, emotions, thoughts, and statements.\u00a0 Sixteen artists, all seniors who are about to graduate from Valdosta State University, are showing off their best artwork at \u201cConvergence Senior Art Exhibition Spring 2019\u201d; and, I get to discuss the brilliant, thought-provoking artwork of Mitch Ogletree. \u201cHow old are you, Mitch?\u201d, I blatantly ask.\u00a0 Mitch sweetly smiles in my direction and says, \u201cI\u2019m thirty-three years old\u201d.\u00a0 Mitch Ogletree, born and raised in Tifton, Georgia, is about to graduate from Valdosta State University as part of the class of 2019 with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.\u00a0 With a practical expression and experienced tone, he states, \u201cIt\u2019s something I started a while ago, when I was younger.\u201d\u00a0 Acknowledging the fact that he is a non-traditional student is no big deal.\u00a0 Life experiences and cultural observations have helped shape who he is as an artist, and a gentleman.<\/p>\n

In our discussion of his use of skulls, hearts, and faces, I mention the idea of those things being thought of clich\u00e9s in the minds of many critics.\u00a0 He tells me that he prefers to utilize those symbols in a unique way to connect to people on a very basic level.\u00a0 Indeed, the basic ideas of \u201cdeath, love, and desire\u201d drew me into the abstract symbols to contemplate the meaning behind the artworks.\u00a0 When I stood before Ogletree\u2019s Self Portrait<\/em>, I had that unique experience that fine art should have on a body.\u00a0 The faces in the oil painting directed me to look and feel and see as if they were taking over my own innate reaction to the painting.\u00a0 Brilliant, cool colors shift to warm colors and dark values provide dramatic contrast which further convinces me that this is a deeply emotional piece for Ogletree.<\/p>\n

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Self Portrait By Mitch Ogletree<\/p>\n

Ogletree confesses that his life experiences and influence from the Surrealist movement have certainly been driving forces in his development as an artist.\u00a0 In his artist statement he uses the term, \u201cnon sequitur\u201d, which alludes to some of the emotive juxtapositions of his work.\u00a0 The uncanny parallel of emotional growth and art are evident in Ogletree\u2019s work that show the personal journey from personal lows to highs.\u00a0 Ogletree\u2019s artwork indicates that he has a unique voice which may otherwise never be heard if one does not simply listen.\u00a0 The artwork of Mitch Ogletree is certainly an outlet for his creative overflow, but that is not the only way he chooses to release the beast.\u00a0 A musically inclined individual, Ogletree strums his guitar with coherent tunes to further drive home his artistic happenings.\u00a0 Quite a fitting addendum to this artist\u2019s resume, Ogletree mingles one art style into another.\u00a0 According to Ogletree, \u201cMusic is intensely emotional, and every chord has a color and conveys a specific feeling.\u00a0 I enjoy the spontaneity of playing music and a feeling of progression.\u00a0 I would like to incorporate this into my art, by making moving images, artwork paired with music, or sequential storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is next for Mitch Ogletree?\u00a0 As with most people, the goal after graduation is to utilize that coveted degree.\u00a0 While a steady income is important to Ogletree, he plans to obtain employment that will fit around his artistic endeavors.\u00a0 Currently in the process of designing a children\u2019s book, Ogletree\u2019s dream of becoming a professional illustrator is becoming a reality.\u00a0 In addition, Ogletree is currently marketing himself and his artistry through professional websites and marketplaces which certainly add to his pursuit for success.\u00a0 I expect to see and hear a lot more from this artist as he is certainly a valuable asset to the collection of Valdosta State University Alumni.<\/p>\n

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Sara Williams is a Bachelor of Fine Arts student at Valdosta State University majoring in Art Education.\u00a0 While focusing on art education, Williams discovered valuable research in the field of art therapy.\u00a0 Graduate school and a career in art education or art therapy is on the horizon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sara Williams The Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery is once again decorated to the max with tangible expressions, emotions, thoughts, and statements.\u00a0 Sixteen artists, all seniors who are about to graduate from Valdosta State University, are showing off their best artwork at \u201cConvergence Senior Art Exhibition Spring 2019\u201d; and, I get to discuss the … Continue reading A Look At The Man Behind The Canvas: Mitch Ogletree<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":496,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[80,110,111,109,108,112,113,52,114,106],"class_list":["post-574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-convergence","tag-abstract","tag-artists","tag-bfa","tag-class-of-2019","tag-convergence","tag-graduation","tag-mitch-ogletree","tag-oil-painting","tag-self-portrait","tag-senior-show"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/496"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/artcriticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}