About Me
I was born on March 14, 1986 to Jay and Shirley Enck in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At age 7 my family moved to Warsaw, Indiana. I attended Warsaw Community High School. I graduated June 4, 2004. I then began my studies at then Huntington College, with the intention of getting a degree in graphic design. My sophomore year I decided to change my major to Fine Art. This came after I realized that the scratch of pencil on paper held more fulfillment for my personal being. Though I have continued to develop my skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Corel Painter, I still prefer holding a pencil, paintbrush, or even sandpaper to create.
I completed my course work at Huntington University in December of 2008. Those final classes in the fall of 2008 led me to several important discoveries about my artistic goals. The first occurred in my Sculpture class and was simply the fact that I truly enjoy creating real objects of art. While I still conceive ideas for projects best with a pencil and paper, it was truly wonderful to discover not only could I create three dimensions but that I could enjoy the processes as much as those required for painting or drawing.
I also had the opportunity to learn and experience the human figure in ways I had not before. I pushed myself to study both the “science” of the human figure as well as spending real time with it’s unique beauty. To that end I copied and studied various artistic anatomy books to gain a fuller understanding of the reasons that the figure deforms in the way that it does. I was able to study the figure in person, to see how skin is stretched, how a slight tensing of a muscle can change the mood of the figure. This allowed me to begin perceiving and then utilizing a far greater range of emotion and subtlety than I had presented even in my Senior project paintings.
Through out my courses at Huntington, I was ever encouraged to find means of relating my faith in Jesus to the things I do with my life. Particularly with my art professors there was an encouragement to meet the world where it was and see how it affects what I believe and even more what I do. While my faith drives what I try to say with my art, I seek to avoid the stereotypes of Christian artists. That is, I seek to engage the art world as it stands and leave a mark that is recognizable and acceptable within the art community that does not compromise on my beliefs. My faith is something to give me the strength to engage healthy debate with those who’s worldviews are at odds with my own so that both parties are enhanced by the encounter.
Of course since completing my degree I have been attempting to find a means of keeping my skills sharp and keep bread and art supplies readily available. To that end I embarked on a journey that is beginning to show results. I, along with a good friend, have been slowly delving into the reclusive world of gemstone faceting. It has been a slow, painstaking process. However, the craft itself relies on numerous skills I learned and honed as an art student. Attention to minute detail, the ability to critique work in progress, and the patience to work with stubborn media and faulty equipment have all been crucial to getting me where I am today. While this is still a developing skill, I find it to be wholly enjoyable to create these small pieces of sculpture and design.
