MANSFIELD — There’s an old and unfair saying which claims that those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach. The freshly retired Christine Misencik Bunn is out to disprove that old saw once and for all. After spending the last 35 years — 26 of them at East Knox High School — as a revered and inspirational art teacher, she is quickly gaining momentum as she dedicates herself to developing her own work.
“I love teaching,” Bunn said, “And I hated to give that up. But I wanted to see if I could do it myself.” And she has indeed been doing it, concentrating on her painting over the last five years, ratcheting up her concentration to complete six new paintings over the last six weeks for a solo show of 26 works titled “Passion in the Moment,” opening in Mansfield on Sunday.
Mansfield Art Center director Paul Kemmerling is excited about the show, which will run in the facility’s first-floor gallery throughout the month of March.
“One of the things I really enjoy is being able to show to the community the incredible talent and caliber of artistic ability that our arts educators in this region have,” Kemmerling said, citing Bunn as a premiere example. He particularly praised Bunn’s combination of impeccable technique with compelling emotion, saying that she paints snapshots of her life which resonate with viewers through the works’ warmth, optimism and hope.
Before her recent upwelling of creativity, Bunn was already well known for the excellence of the art program she developed at East Knox High School over the last quarter century. The high success rate of Bunn’s students in the statewide Governor’s Show put East Knox on the map, with anywhere from two to seven being selected from among Bunn’s classes every year. She further extended her guidance with private lessons and art workshops.
But Bunn is quick to note the dynamic of working with eager learners.
“My motivation came from the students,” she said. “They fed me, I fed them.”
Not bad for a profession she “fell into” after earning her BFA in graphic design and painting at Miami University and Master of Art degree at Hamilton University. She cites among her favorite painters as Andrew Wyeth, John Singer Sargent, Alex Powers and, particularly, Paul Cezanne, whose geometric brush strokes are echoed in her own techniques.
Though she taught herself watercolor painting, Bunn has been saluted by the Ohio Watercolor Society, first with an Award of Distinction in 2005, with the Cuthbert Mills Award in 2006, and with both selection in a traveling show and designation as a Signature Member in 2007. This was followed in 2008 by her selection in the prestigious May Show at the Mansfield Art Center, which led to the current show.
This success comes both Bunn’s sure-handed talent and her focused objective.
“I want to get people involved,” she said, describing how she wanted viewers to become part of her paintings in terms of how they react and interact to it, to other paintings, and to other viewers. That satisfies the creative compulsion which draws her to the canvas.
“I feel it, I need it, I just gotta do it,” Bunn said.
The opening reception for “Passion in the Moment” will be Sunday, March 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Mansfield Art Center, 700 Marion Ave., in Mansfield. The show will run through Mar. 29. Call (419) 756-1700 for further information.
