A Study in 'Contrast' on Display at Center Place

On display in the Mook Art Gallery in Center Place is "Contrast," an exhibit featuring the drawings of artist Tim Mandese and his Center Place "Light and Shadow" art class students.

"There are many 'before' and 'after' pieces that show the progress of the art students," said Dawn Galia, director of the Center Place Fine Arts & Civic Association, which shares space with the Brandon Regional Library in the Sandy Rodriguez Center on Vonderburg Drive.

"Tim is one of our instructors here at Center Place and he is past president of the Brandon League of Fine Arts," Galia added. "He teaches 'Light and Shadows,' a graphite-pencil drawing class."

In a previous Brandon Patch article, Mandese calls himself “the graphite guy” and didn't hesitate a bit in remembering the first steps of his journey as an artist, in .

“My mom handed me a pencil when I was four and she told me to be quiet while she watched her soap operas,” Mandese said. “I’ve been drawing ever since.”

And now, he added, “I like passing on what I know and watching other people, who never had any drawing experience, draw things they never thought they could.”

The results of that effort are on display in July at Center Place, with the selected student artists displaying "their early works, alongside those done after taking instruction from Tim," according to a news release for the show. "It's his attempt to show that anyone can learn to draw if they are dedicated and disciplined enough to practice their craft."

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About Tim Mandese

With an eclectic range of subjects, Tim's graphite pencil drawings strive for photorealism. He is at home drawing still life, landscape or portrait. With only light and shadow to work with, contrast is what makes these drawings leap off the wall.

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