The COMM 269 Hall of Fame

Before this semester I had never picked up a camera. I didn’t even know the difference between digital and film! After a few months however, I am proud to say I’ve grown as a photographer.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”

-Dorothea Lange

Ellie Eastman laughs at her roommate’s shenanigans high atop the Penn Towers apartments.

Revolutionary troops prepare for battle at the Germantown Heritage Festival

Addison Hogue dresses up as “Sully” from Monsters Inc. on Halloween

Clay Byerly takes to the sky to evade a tackle and score a touchdown for North Allegheny High School

Gordon Rogusky, a State College area landscaper, pauses for a moment on W. Whitehall Rd.

Jessica Mitchell claims a perfect Red Delicious apple at Linvilla Orchards near Philadelphia

Jack McCary pauses at a red light on Beaver Ave.

A greyhound looks up skeptically as he rests on a couch

John Meadows drives his grandson and granddaughter Luke and Ava Meadows as part of a homecoming parade at Titusville High School

Kendall Kerr and his girlfriend Adrienne Lasting share a moment at Moraine State Park near Portersville, Pa.

The Reclusive Artist Exposed

Mike Theroux is a recluse. Not like Salinger, or Dickinson but a hard working artist who scratches out an existence through his work.  Theroux pays mostly for his education with paintings that he creates and sells on campus, and at shows throughout central Pennsylvania and his hometown of Wilkes-Barre. This semester he’s raised nearly $5000 and expects to make more in the spring and summer.  His work has been featured in the Visual Arts Building’s showcase at the Zoller Gallery and at the restaurant Mad Mex on Pugh St. in State College who Theroux calls “his favorite client.”  Theroux find inspiration more from books than other artists and is inspired mainly by the works of his favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut.

“Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.”

The artist, Mike Theroux, prefers to be awoken by the Sun.

The diet of a “starving artist”… toast and ramen.

Theroux has always preferred to cut his own hair, citing “economics and efficiency.”

This painting, named “Sun Iris” is predicted to sell for $200.

Theroux gains inspiration from sketches and turns them into larger paintings.

Working part time at the Zoller Gallery at Penn State, Theroux is able to supplement his income.

His “girlfriend” Christine is the apparatus that carries his uniquely made egg-based paints.

Theroux “thrives in chaos:” He keeps his workspace in constant disorder.

Theroux adds detail to another painting, “Siamese.” It will take him nearly two weeks to finish.

Mike steps back to analyze “Siamese.”

Before and after painting, Theroux embarks on a period of reflection and decompression to stimulate the creative process.