Thomas Odell is a local artist majoring in Studio Arts and while he enjoys the arts right now, he was not always in studio arts and had a much different career path before switching in his sophomore year.
Odell is a student from Charlotte, NC that decided to go into the arts after discovering that accounting was not the major he wanted to pursue.
“Well, I started in accounting and I found it dreadfully boring. Art was sort of a drastic change from what I had been planning on doing. Once I started taking art classes, I realized they were more fun and I was better at it than accounting,” Odell said.
This transition from accounting to arts was easy for Thomas who said that all of the professors in the art department have been there to help through the change and to drive him to experience the arts in a different way.
He has made many pieces in the past few years at WCU, but some are more fondly remembered than others.
“The first piece I ever made and really enjoyed was for my 3D design class where I made a wooden sword. This is what really got me hooked on the fun I could have in the studio,” Odell said.
He has also been working on a final project for months now and the piece was recently finished. The piece was created for a project with the prompt of loss-gain. The piece represents the usage of old unwanted material into something more visually desirable.
We sat down in the studio to have a talk about his work on the most recent piece as well as the piece made for the undergraduate exhibition.
Odell focuses on sculpture and photography seeing it as two sides of the same coin. He is still working and experimenting with materials and techniques in order to find some that he really enjoys.
Coming up with ideas for pieces is no easy task and it is certainly not a process that remains constant all the time.
“You know, I’m not sure if it’s ever the same thing twice and I’m still trying to find something that works consistently. I think if there’s anything, whether the idea is clear or hazy, I always try to jot it down. Taking notes, making little sketches or something, even if the idea is not very good I just want to have the idea put somewhere,” Odell said.
As of now, Odell has no plans for whenever he graduates college, saying that he is prepared to go wherever life takes him.
