Publication:Daily American Republic;  Date:Feb 3, 2008;  Section:Front Page;  Page Number:1A  

The abstract world of a local artist

By TIM KRAKOWIAK Staff Writer

     BERNIE — In the middle of a cotton field down a long narrow gravel road lined with cypress trees, Teresa Dirks takes in her environment as she paints on a canvas in the loft of her Bernie residence.

    Teresa sees art all around her. She is a full-time artist. Stepping foot in her home is like entering a painting: it’s a world onto itself.

    Inside her doors there’s a master bedroom with a flat screen television and a kitchen with stainless steel amenities. Built in the early 2000s, it appears to be a modern design, except for the reclaimed wood from the 1960s that was used for the flooring. The hardwood was once the gym floor to the Malden High School. When a new high school was built, Teresa’s husband Dave salvaged the wood, grinded down the nails, sawed off the ends and refinished it to give it a second life. It was a labor-intensive project, Teresa said, but the couple considers themselves to be environmentally conscious, so they like to reuse things.

    The old section of the house is in strong contrast to the somewhat traditional wing. It was built as a geodesic dome. It’s a spherical structure that “kind of looks like a golf ball,” as Teresa put it. It’s a recurring pattern of pentagons and hexagons, with a ceiling almost 20 feet high and walls that span about 30 feet in diameter. Dave designed the dome 30 years ago. Back then it served as his bachelor’s pad.

    In the area without the right angles there’s a spiral staircase that leads to Teresa’s studio. The steps were put together in the 1970s by Malden High Trade School students who were learning how to weld steel. Upstairs the art room contains quotes of inspiration on the wall and a table with makeshift tools and many jars of paint. It includes a guest bed covered with scattered paintings and a bathroom with a sink speckled in paint stains.

    Thumbtacked to the ground of the studio space is Teresa’s latest abstract painting covered with bright reds, oranges and yellows. To create her masterpieces she uses a trowel, a carpenter’s square, a putty knife and a series of different shaped brushes. Outside the lines of the canvas the wooden floorboard collects its share of color too.

    “I use a lot of water and play with the runs,” said Teresa, who was wearing her green apron last week. “It’s sort of in charge.” Fate is a part of all creation, she explained.

    Teresa began to study art in the 1980s. She used to work in environmental education through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and then taught art for five years

in Malden and Gideon public schools. Last year she retired to pursue her art career.

    “I’m fortunate to be able to focus on what I love,” said Teresa. “I can’t say I’ll ever make a living off it, art is a tough market, but it’s important for me to create.”

    Teresa has a master’s degree in education from William Woods University and received a Bachelor of Arts from Southeast Missouri State University. She earned an associate degree from Three Rivers Community College when she began her higher education in 1995. Her philosophy gained strength through her studies, she said.

    “Art is not mysterious,” said Teresa. “Art enhances our quality of life and should make us react. That reaction can be positive or negative. Art reflects culture and history and that is something that we are all a part of whether we realize it or not. If you think about historical movements, or even literary movements, there is art that reflects what was going on in the world at that time.”

     A literary example she provided is John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” and her visual example is Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica.”

    As for the work of the Bootheel artist, her first mode of expression was photography. Teresa’s latest art includes handmade paper, mixed media collage and acrylic painting all with emphasis on color design and abstract textures.

    “It’s my progression as an artist,” she said. “Some prefer something more realistic. I play with the juxtaposition and study how colors affect your mood. My preference now is a work that leaves something to the imagination.”

    Like most forms of artistic expression, there are both fans and critics. Abstract art can be compared to the classical music genre in the sense that some appreciate the layers and complex melodies of the pianos and violins of classical, while others prefer lyrics, short drum patterns and guitar riffs.

    Perry Dement of Memphis prefers the subtle. He grew up in Malden with Teresa.

    “We’ve all looked at contemporary art and said, ‘Well golly, I could do that,’” said Dement during a phone conversation. “Until you’ve actually tried it I don’t think that’s true. You have to have that innate eye for the color. A lot of the art has texture to it, Teresa’s included. That is another aspect to learn to appreciate.”

    Dement has one of Teresa’s paintings hanging on his bedroom wall and another in his office. He explained what he thinks about when he admires them:

    “For me I think it boils down to the colors, the power inherent in the colors, how those colors are used and how they’re put together,” said Dement. “You’re not so much looking for what people look at with say a picture of a house or landscape. I find abstract art to be equally expressive. It’s the power of the color, less about the form.”

    Teresa said her taste has changed as she’s matured as a person. She said red used to get on her nerves so she worked with a lot of blues: the universal color of calmness. But too much blue could dampen the spirit, she said. Now she uses a lot of reds: the color of excitement, according to her.

    “Artists, whether visual, musical, or literary, are many times, the canaries in the coal mines, so to speak,” said Teresa. “Art tends to tell the stories of mankind or reflect the humanity of the times whether good or bad. Art reflects someone’s experience. My art reflects my experience as a human being and my new art reflects the good and evil I see in the world.

    I trust that there is more good,” she went on. “I think if you expect more you get more. And I think we all should expect more good of ourselves... and of others. Think of the changes in our own lives we can make doing this simple task.”