A Brush with Inspiration

BY JIM GRANT

Art is an essential component of the Northwood experience and helps our students to develop their creative thinking, self-expression, and self-confidence. In her role as director of the school’s art program, Ingrid Van Slyke provides inspiration and guidance to countless students.

“When I was growing up, my father was an architect and had a drafting table in our house. I would sneak in there and play with all his tools, and when my mom went back to college for her art degree, she would bring me with her to classes. I remember going in the big studios with all the easels and the light coming through and I knew that was something I wanted to do, so art has always been part of me and my family since I was little,” says Ingrid.

Ingrid’s classroom is a place of light and color, with numerous student projects: sculpture, charcoal drawings, acrylic paintings, all in various stages of completion where students are encouraged to explore their imagination and express themselves through their art.

One of her students, Giordan Gulati ’23, who works with pencil and produces highly lifelike portraits, says of Ingrid’s teaching style, “She’ll look at my work and unlike other art teachers who I’m used to saying, “That’s very nice,” and not much more, Ms. Van Slyke will offer specific guidance on how to improve each piece. She is specific and detailed, and for me that is very helpful.”

She affirms, “I love teaching art here because I've got some students who haven't taken art since they were in elementary school or middle school, and then I've got a few students that want to go to art school for college, so I approach each person differently. Either way, I want them to love art.”

Ingrid’s class offerings are extensive: Drawing 1 & 2, Painting 1 & 2, Honors Art, Studio Art, Fundamentals of Art, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Adirondack Art History. A gifted teacher, she is an experienced and highly skilled artist herself, having worked in various mediums, “I paint oil and in pastel, and am geared towards impressionist, post-impressionist work,” she pauses and studies a student portrait across the room, “Light is a big factor, and as I paint more and more my work is becoming a little bit more abstract.”

She continues, “I like to create anything and everything, but I find that I'm tending toward landscape painting because of the environment that's around me. It's a constant inspiration that changes every day. My environment is my inspiration.” She is also a member of the Pastel Society of America.

As to the artists who have influenced her, “Tom Thompson and The Canadian Group of Seven including Lawren Harris who painted in the early 1900s, have had a huge impact on my work. Their work involves a lot of landscapes, it’s very free, it's loose, very colorful. Another more contemporary artist is Neil Welliver whose work is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and involves massive landscapes, just unbelievable. The way he dealt with his color palette was inspirational.”

Ingrid’s work is not just limited to the classroom; she is also pursuing her Master’s from the Savannah College of Art and Design, “I spent six weeks there last summer taking a master’s print-making class and doing undergraduate teaching.” As part of her degree, she is exhibiting at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. “It’s an online thesis requiring me to share everything, so I Zoom with three professors on my thesis committee. Everything has to be approved by them, from my cards (describing her works) to walking them around the studio gallery to view the paintings.”

Ingrid inspires creativity, fosters selfexpression, and provides a safe space for students to explore their artistic potential. As Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs, Noël Carmichael says, “Northwood is incredibly lucky to have such a talented artist working with our students. Her understanding of technique, the creative process, and the art world at large is a valuable resource she uses to guide many of our students to discover and develop their artistic skills and passion.”