Senior Miles Gunnett of Ramona, 圣地亚哥县的一个城市, has become a burgeoning mural artist while at Concordia, and his work is featured in several places on campus and in a prominent location in his own hometown.
“I never say no to anything,” says Gunnett with a laugh. “这都是口口相传. People know me as the kid who knows how to paint and draw.“Gunnett, who comes from a family of educators on his father’s side and a mother who was a nurse in the U.S. 海军, chose Concordia because he wanted “a small, faith- based school close enough to home but far away enough I could be on my own and grow,他说. “这太棒了. 我爱这个社区. It’s been an awesome place to grow and find new people who are like minded. Everyone is open and inviting, wanting to be your friend and seeing how they can help you. 的 biggest thing I’ll take away is the community Concordia has.”
Gunnett says he has been drawing since he could pick up a pencil. His first commissioned mural was in 康科迪亚的创新优势 living learning community dorm lounge. 的 scene he painted on an 11-by-16-foot section of wall above a window depicts a character in a red hoodie, holding a brush and surrounded by leaves and orange mountains with a bright yellow background. 的 vibe is “spacey, futuristic, and cartoony,他说.
“的y gave me free rein to do what I wanted. 的 purpose was to give students something fun to look at and add color to the dorms,“Gunnett says.
That summer he was asked to do two more murals on campus, one in σ 为 冲浪俱乐部 and another 为 small group room in ρ. 冲浪俱乐部壁画, painted on a storage closet and a 6-by-10-foot wall, makes it appear there is a life-size surf shack and a beach scene behind it that one could walk into.
的 ρ mural is a massive 5 by 25 feet, and shows a giant wave and sun rays spanning an entire hallway, 用圣经经文装饰.
“在我所有的壁画上, I leave hidden features about me, either a life verse — which is, “不要害怕,’ from Isaiah 41:10 — or my initials hidden somewhere, something I can walk by and look at,他说.
Gunnett always starts with his darkest background color, then projects the drawing onto the wall with a projector and traces it, working through increasingly lighter colors and hand painting with a brush (and, 通常, 在梯子上).
His career as an artist took a big leap when the Ramona Heart Mural Association commissioned him to paint a scene of the city and one of its honored former sheriffs (also a Gunnett family friend) on three 8-by-10 metal panels which now hang on a public wall downtown. 的 effort took nearly 100 hours, most of it accomplished on the weekends when Gunnett would drive down from Concordia where he was taking a full slate of classes.
“It felt never-ending,” he confesses. “It was a really fun project and I was definitely able to grow as an artist and learn from it. 的re was so much detail and I had to make everything look like the photos because I was copying landmarks and a portrait of [former officer] Leonard Walker in front of his car. 的re wasn’t an area I could change or take artistic liberties because people know what these landmarks look like.”
He used special anti-graffiti and anti-fading coating to protect it from vandalism and UV rays, and if the mural suffers any damage, he can remove a panel and take it back to his studio for repairs, 然后重新安装.
As he nears the end of his time as an undergraduate, Gunnett appreciates how his faith has been enlivened at Concordia.
“I’d gone to church and youth group growing up, but Concordia had the tools and resources to help me grow,”他说. “的 worship services they offer, 喊 [周中礼拜之夜], 周一教堂, and being in community with people that aren’t afraid to talk about their struggles and what they’re going through in their walks with God has been very beneficial to me.”
While his work as an artist is increasingly in demand — lately, he is fielding numerous commissions to custom-paint helmets for people who race sand buggies in the desert near where he lives — Gunnett wants to teach fourth and fifth grades after he graduates and paint on the side as a commissioned artist.
“Growing up with teachers, teaching is something I’ve always wanted to do,他说.