Culture
Pump House Center for the Arts Exhibition Showcases Mutual Respect Between Two Artists Of Different Generations
By: Emily Votaw
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CHILLICOTHE, OH – Savannah Fout’s artwork bristles with life.
Her rendering of Billie Eilish shoots a provocative look over the brim of her shades; her portrait of Taylor Shift radiates a fairy-tale-like luminescence; a dazzling self portrait of the artist locks eyes with the viewer with a steely intensity. Yet, when the 16-year-old artist talks about her contributions to her joint exhibition with artist Sharon Hille at The Pump House Center for the Arts, entitled “Generations,” Fout tends to downplay her skills.
It is in these moments that fellow artist Sharon Hille briefly shifts her gaze.
While it’s easy to brush off Fout’s self-criticism as polite modesty, from Hille’s vantage point at the age of 79, it must serve as a reminder of just how eager we so often are in youth to beat ourselves up, even when we have no need to.
Hille is many things. She’s an autodidact, a former resident of The Village in the midst of its countercultural heyday of the ‘60s, an owner of six (very lucky) dogs, a devote Alt-J fan, a retired schoolteacher of a multitude of subjects – but, first and foremost, Hille has always been an artist.
“I didn’t know anything about the arts because I grew up in the back hills of Kentucky, but I always loved drawing. When someone would ask me what I wanted to be (when I grew up), I always said I wanted to be an artist. Where I got that, I don’t know, but I did,” said Hille. “I have not pursued it to the greatest degree like this girl (Fout) has, but I have done it all my life.”
Hille radiates a kind of infectious curiosity, one that visibly thrives in her art. The works she contributed to “Generations” span the gamut from the delicate profile of a woman adorned with a headdress that gyrates with art nouveau intricacy to a sumptuous, glistening rendering of an Ancient Egyptian scarab to a still life of pale yellow lemons juxtaposed with a cobalt glass.
Hille was formally educated in art, but was swayed from pursuing it full time by those around her who were concerned that she could never make a living as an artist.
“The thing of it was everybody told me, ‘well, you can’t earn a living doing art, so you should go into education,’ which I said, ‘okay, that’s what I’ll do. And then I can do my art,’ but I got sidetracked. I taught grade school level and high school level, and I liked teaching, I liked working with kids — but it didn’t leave me much time to do art, which is an excuse,” she said. “I just didn’t do much art and I do more now than I’ve ever done in my life.”
Hille’s philosophy on art making is influenced greatly by Betty Edward’s groundbreaking 1979 book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The concept at the core of the book is that the human brain comprehends the reality surrounding it in two ways: via the orderly, verbal, logical left brain and the visual, intuitive, spontaneous right brain. Edward’s approach encourages investment in the right side of the brain and discarding the left side of the brain’s preconceived notions about what an object is “supposed” to look like in favor of individually “seeing” the object.
“Our schooling system teaches to the left brain, where everything is all factual and made up of listings and recalling information, you know, like rote learning,” said Hille.
Fout received considerably more encouragement as a budding artist than Hille did.
Around the age of 11, Fout started art lessons with Bev Reiley, a member of the Chillicothe Art League. Fout also credits Brian Marks, art teacher at Southeastern Local School District, for presenting her work in her first art show, as well as her parents, for always encouraging her to follow her passions.
“I’ve always been a perfectionist. I’ve always been very focused on my grades since I was very, very young. So being able to maintain the GPA I have and also enjoy myself making art, I feel like that’s something I can carry on for years,” Fout said. “I remember my parents telling me ‘if you love to dance, one hundred percent, keep going with it.’ But the difference between, you know, playing the violin, which is another hobby I have in addition to art and dance, is that you might not be able to dance for your entire life. That might not be something that you can carry on with doing, you know, 30 years from now, but you can always pick up your violin or a pen, pencil, and a sketchbook. I think sorting out what I truly want to do has just made things a lot less stressful and just more enjoyable in general too.”
Hille and Fout share a number of similarities, but chief among them is a deep seated drive to continually learn and master new skills – whether it’s chemistry or the art of shading. They are, however, distinct artists.
“Maybe I shouldn’t compare us to Matisse and Picasso, but that is what I’m going to do,” Hille said. “Picasso had the draftsmanship, and Matisse was not the greatest draftsman. I mean, you can see that the stuff in his paintings wouldn’t exist in real life, and that’s kind of what I am trying to do. I’m not the greatest draftsman, but I’m good enough at it that I can add some color in, and it’s like a dog and pony show.”
“Hey!” Fout responded, “I think your work is stunning!”
“Thank you,” said Hille. “I think your work is stunning, too.”
“Generations” will be on display at The Pump House Center for the Arts (1 Enderlin Circle) through Saturday, July 31. Find Savannah Fout on Instagram @savvys_sketches.