Reviews

“Always great and helpful teachers”,~O.C.

“Great place for kids to develop their talent. Good teachers, convenient location.”~ C.

“This is a great place that we highly recommend if your child is interested in art. They have amazing classes and teachers. Can’t speak highly enough of Cobble Creek Studios Art Academy!” ~T. P. Castillo

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GRADUATES OF CCSAA

EMILY GRAY When first coming to learn visual arts at Cobble Creek, I had no intention or inclination to make a fully-fledged career out of the teachings I would receive at the atelier, partly because I had no idea as to the nature of the teachings there. Under the cohesive and dedicated tutelage of Mrs. Deborah Kepes, a student will learn of the extensive history of art, as well as the modern validity of art. Visual arts will be explained in a manner that is arched over many careers, understandings, and concepts that are important in the now; something that is very helpful for a young student that has premature ideas of art. Students will suspend those popular and premature ideas of art once they learn of the correct and artistically matured ideas presented by CCSAA.  Learning the proper techniques used by the masters, as well as creating a foundation of respect for the craft, is one of the very first lessons that Cobble Creek Studios will teach a student. (I say this knowing that they were the first for me!) Students will be told that patience is key, that observation is vital, and that both are a powerhouse for excelling in careers beyond those that are generally known as artist careers. This impactful outlook presented by the studio goes beyond basic schooling (such as high school, and I would daresay college), because they present a teaching that is accepting of every student’s expectation of where art will take them in their careers. The art principles go beyond knowing how to shade correctly, how to set up your workstation correctly, how to observe correctly, and how to develop your own art style correctly (among a list of other things that would literally fill up the page and then some). The principles will seep into the student’s lifestyle as a student overall; they sure seeped into my own (only after I learned about being dedicated to working hard on an artwork at Cobble Creek is when I learned how to become an A student). 

    If I had never gone to CCSAA, I would have never gone into the Governor’s Honors Program, I would’ve never gotten perfect scores on my A.P portfolios, and I’m not so sure I would be a Visual Arts major for that matter! My successes and accomplishments as a student have stemmed from Cobble Creek; it has affected me in a way that high school never could, or anywhere else, really. As of now, I have been able to skip college classes because of my teachings at Cobble Creek. I am now able to study digital art and develop my own style in the comfort that I understand how light works, how shading works, how composition works, how lines work, how to break rules correctly to develop my art style, how art styles developed in the past, and how to adapt to a new set of mediums and techniques. Because I was taught the ideas and principles, I was taught at Cobble Creek, I know that I can adapt these ideas and concepts to any career I partake in once I graduate. 

    All in all, what Cobble Creek does for students is indispensable, and will push a student gently but surely beyond the status quo. ~ Emily Gray, Senior, Visual Arts at University of North Georgia, Gainesville, GA

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JACOB TAYLOR I am currently a third-year undergraduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design at the time of writing this. I major in Interactive Design and Game Development, often making digital models and have even done some animations as well. As a student continuing my education in the arts, I have greatly benefitted from attending Cobble Creek Studios Art Academy. With Mrs. Kepes tutelage, I have learned many skills that I did not encounter outside the studio until my freshman year of college. Many of the drawing classes were there to teach students skills that I not only knew but was incredibly familiar with. What new skills I did encounter, I picked up quickly because Mrs. Kepes taught me how to learn. I was taught how to understand what I was seeing and relate it to the different patterns and knowledge I already had. Oftentimes I will sketch my models out in 2D to better understand what I am creating; then I will use those drawings to craft in a 3D space. It allows me to create more anatomically correct figures, or more detailed objects and scenes.

My time at the studio has also affected the way I use color. My college color theory class taught many color relationships and how to create an interesting color palette. My time at the studio went more in-depth on these relationships and how I can use subtle changes in color to affect how one views a piece or understands the emotion being shown. This knowledge is useful not just in physical paintings, but in how I make digital ones as well. Most importantly of all, Mrs. Kepes has helped me grow as a person. When I joined, I was not used to failure. I struggled to get things to look correctly and wanted to stop several times. She taught me discipline and helped nurture the skills I would need not only in the creation of art but how to talk about my art with other artists, and how to receive critique from those more knowledgeable than myself. She created a safe space where I could grow comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them. It has given me more confidence in my work and myself. I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend the CCSAA and learn under Mrs. Kepes. For me, the studio she runs has been a place of great learning, a place to clear my head, a place to embrace my creativity, a place to receive critique on other artistic endeavors, a place to befriend other driven artistic individuals as we all learn and grow in our art education. ~ Jacob Taylor, Graduate, Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta, GA

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AMY DANG I am writing to express my gratitude in having had the experience of learning and building my passion for art at the studio over the span of seven years and to thank you for providing an institution in which I and many other students could do so.

When I first enrolled in art classes under Mrs. Deborah Kepes, I had just finished fifth grade and had little formal instruction in realism drawing and painting. Throughout the next couple of years however, my skill, love for creating realism art, and appreciation for learning about some of the greats in art history only grew. In parallel, Mrs. Deborah’s instruction allowed me to develop the skills necessary to have a strong understanding of the processes behind creating realism pieces, and I experimented with different mediums and types of drawing and painting. This included drawing with graphite and charcoal, painting with oil paints, painting on wood, and drawing from photographs, drawing objects from still life, and drawing a live art model. The variety of drawing and painting experiences that I received built a strong foundation for my understanding of value, light and shadow, form, perspective, and color theory, which I have carried into my work outside of the studio and into my college career.

Aside from the hard skills I gained from instruction, Mrs. Deborah has also provided her students with plentiful unique opportunities to be engaged in learning about art and being a part of the larger art community outside of the studio. We have gone on annual visits to the High Museum and had a guided tour with a professor at the Georgia Museum of Art as well as the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia in 2015. In 2013, our studio was one of the organizations in the Snellville community that participated in an initiative to paint doors, which were auctioned off for Habitat for Humanity. That same year, we also engaged in a project to paint portraits of the United States Presidents and Vice Presidents as a gift to the White House for Christmas. In 2015, our studio hosted an auction to raise funds for the Southeast Gwinnett Co-op as a part of the “Give Hunger the Boot” campaign in which students painted baskets to be auctioned off. In 2016, we also took a trip to an art conservation center, where we learned about the processes behind keeping alive pieces that hold significant artistic and historical context. 

Over the years, we have had guest speakers and alumni come into the studio to speak on their involvement in the community and provide insight on how to integrate art into their careers and lives. Additionally, the studio has arranged multiple showings, both inside and outside the studio, throughout the years for their students, which has given us the opportunity to meet and learn from local artists and had even given me the chance to paint my first commissions through an introduction I had at one showing! After graduating from high school, I also had the opportunity to assist in teaching art to the children’s class in the studio, which has also given me experience from the teaching perspective. All of these incredible learning experiences that I most likely would not have had if I hadn’t been enrolled at the academy has undoubtedly strengthened my skill and passion and has played a part in influencing my career choices and who I am today. 
As a current undergraduate at Northeastern University, I am minoring in Interaction Design and am proud to say that the instruction I received at the academy laid the foundation for the success I have had in my classes, especially in prerequisites requiring understanding of line, shape, form, and perspective - concepts that carry over from realism art to design. Learning at the studio has also inspired me to become involved in education in the future, inspiring children to develop their own passions as I have had the chance to do with mine. 

Lastly, I cannot credit the impact that the studio has had on me without crediting the wonderful individuals who have run the academy for ten or so years - Mrs. Deborah, the instructor that I have studied under, and all the other instructors are not only great teachers but, in my experience, have also become excellent mentors who have built a supportive community for their students. Although I am no longer enrolled at Cobble Creek Studios, again, I send my gratitude for providing an institution in which students can develop their skill and love for art while being a part of a supportive community, and I hope that future students will be able to do the same. ~ Amy Dang, CCSAA ‘17, Graduate of Northeastern University, Boston, MA