Artwork by Starr Shumaker

The Pitcher Plant © Starr Shumaker

Starr Shumaker, who hails from Jackson County, is a local artist and professional image restorer, manipulator, and creator. Starr originally creates some images in film, pastel, crayon, or oil, sometimes employing computer graphic enhancements.

Starr explains, “I remember that I started drawing around 4 or 5. I took most every art class in school that I could. When I was in high school, I had a private classes in addition to the classes they offered at school. I studied Painting, Illustration, and digital forms of art for 3 years at Savannah College of Art and Design. I finished a degree in Studio Art at FSU.

“Over the years, I have come up with the idea that art can be the sum of all sciences. The statement that art is the sum of all sciences has developed over a number of years. Now this is all in relation to my art. I believe art can be many things to many people. For me, Art seems like it can be modeled after the Scientific Method. The Scientific Method is to Formulate a Question, Hypothesis, Prediction, Testing, and Analysis. What I see art as is the Formulate of a idea. You ask questions about that idea. You have to predict how to represent that idea. You construct a model (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), and then you show it to an audience. Recent years I have learned to react to the art I am producing during the art making process. Making the process less about planning the final image. Which seems to make it more like a science because in science you don’t always get the answer you are looking for. Well that last statement is true, if you’re concerned about the truth rather than your funding. Another way I look at art as the sum of all sciences is that one can use geometry, spirituality, political science, psychology, theology, astronomy, or any other science in the construction of art. The Scientific Method really is to look at something closely and understand it – then bring that understanding to others.”

And, that is what Starr does with his art. Please enjoy.