HOME SWEET HOME

Mountain View artist brings latest work to Batesville

— It’s been a little more than a year since Dusty Mitchell was voted off the Bravo TV competition show Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.

He made it to the top five on the show, and though Mitchell said he would have liked the chance to show the judges more of his personal style, he’s grateful for the exposure.

Mitchell, 34, is back in Mountain View, still teaching art at Mountain View Elementary School. Since the show ended, he’s been busy with commissioned work but recently found time to put together his first solo show since being on Work of Art.

“The new show is kind of a rebirth for me,” Mitchell said. “I made a lot of new work. … It’s about my home, my personal life, my family, the home that we all share together that is our country and our world.”

Titled Home Sweet Home, the exhibition is being shown at the Kresge Gallery at Lyon College in Batesville. The show includes 15 pieces that all represent Mitchell’s unique style.

Much of Mitchell’s art is crafted from everyday materials and objects — think crayons, plastic toy soldiers, globes and breakfast cereal.

“There are a lot of toys or childish images. … They’re familiar images, but I put them together and manipulate people’s idea of what those objects are,” Mitchell said.

One of the largest pieces in the exhibit is the image of an American flag crafted out of painted plastic toy soldiers. Another piece that gets a lot of attention is a child’s portrait created out of crayons standing on end.

“I hope that people walk away having been able to get past the simple visual images,” Mitchell said. “The things I present are not complex. … It’s not a painting where you have to stare for a long time to figure out what’s going on. The things I use are simple objects, but the ideas I’m presenting aren’t simple.”

If viewers take time to let the meaning behind his work sink in, Mitchell said, they’ll see how many layers there are.

Mitchell dedicated one wall of the gallery to a paint-by-number drawing he created for a dueling cowboy and American Indian scene. Mitchell invited students from Lyon to come in and paint the scene, and hundreds of students showed up to interact with the work.

“The piece is called What’s Your Is Mine,” Mitchell said. “It’s about them fighting over the land, … but the title also works with the fact that the piece was a shared experience between me and the students.”

Despite being spotlighted on national television, Mitchell said the TV show did not change much about his work. But it did change the way he networks.

“I’m much more aggressive about telling people about my work,” Mitchell said. “It’s taught me to put myself out there because no one is going to do it for me.”

On the show, Mitchell was often portrayed as an underdog because he didn’t live in a major city. But he has no plans to move away from Arkansas.

“I’m probably here for the long haul,” Mitchell said. “It’s not the norm in terms of being in the art community. But with social media, the world is shrinking, and I think I can make my career just about anywhere.”

After the show at Lyon ends, Mitchell expects to continue with his commissioned work. Many of his orders are for crayon-created portraits like the one featured in the show.

Mitchell gets plenty of crayon time in with his elementary-school art students, many of whom were his biggest fans during his stint on Work of Art.

“For some of the students, I’m all they know of the art world, so they’d say things like, ‘There’s no way you’re going to lose,’” Mitchell said, laughing.

Though the exhibit was scheduled to run only through Dec. 12, its engagement has been extended through Jan. 30. The Kresge Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and admission is free.

Staff writer Emily Van Zandt can be reached at (501) 399-3688 or evanzandt@arkansasonline.com.

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