Tolleston High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Gary, IN)

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Without Frames ART, in the true sense, stands for those things which are the creations of man and not nature. A work of art, then, is the product of man’s intellect and imagination as well as the work of his hands; in the words of John Ruskin, Art is the work of the whole spirit of man.” In this publication, it is our desire to empha- size not only the fine results which come from the art classes, but we also wish to show what every activity in our school is doing in the ART OF LIVING. If you love life and believe in the moving beauty of its essence; if you can carry in your heart a dream as the most valuable of all your possessions; if you would school yourself to seek in all your experience for truth, goodness, and beauty; then you can stand and say, I, TOO, AM AN ARTIST.” It is the unexpressed wish of everyone to make of his life a thing of beauty,” and a joy forever.” Will you make a MASTERPIECE or weave a waste of shreds and patches? . Every man is the creator of his own character, and the tools with which he equips himself are of his own choosing. Where are your tools and what is your material? Where else than in THOUGHT, ACTION, and SPEECH need you look for a medium? John Erskine, in defining art, said, I should like to use the word to cover all the IDEAL-MAKING and IDEAL-EXPRESSING functions of our nature.” Ideal-making is the first step of an artist. He sees a vision; he dreams a dream. Your ideals are your life portrait seen in advance. You build a dream; your dream builds you. Let us bring to the canvas all the ideal-making and ideal- expressing functions of our nature, to the very end believing as we paint that ours is a picture worthy to be called THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL.” 2

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 ANTHONY GRABEK, Jr. Business Manager W, EVA MARTIN and IRENE MARESKO Co Editors PIONEER 1941 TOLLESTON SCHOOL GARY, INDIANA

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The first problem with which a painter is faced is not what to put into his picture, but what to leave out. This is the principle of ELIMINATION. In our picture of life let us leave out not only ugliness, but all things unlovely. What does a Masterpiece require? Whether it is a picture, a piece of woodwork, a new dress, a poem, or a LIFE one is making, the same principles are to be followed. The Masterpiece requires SIGNIFICANT FORM and EXPRESSIVE QUALITY. The Masterpiece requires COMPOSITION. The principle of Composition is UNITY IN VARIETY. Many things must be put together to make one picture. A busy father took a map of the world and cut it into puzzle pieces for his little girl to put together. He was surprised when she came back so soon with the pieces put together perfectly. Knowing her knowledge of geography to be slight, he asked her how she did it. She replied, Daddy, there was a picture of a man on the other side; I put the man together and the world came out right.” Composition also includes SYMMETRYand BALANCE. Phillips Brooks said of the symmetry of life that it is three-dimensional: its breadth comprised of sympathy, tolerance, understanding, and fellowship; its depth consisting of courage, humility, sincerity, and per- severance; and its height composed of vision, faith, aspiration, and joy. There must be COLOR. Will your colors run pastel or gay, brilliant or toned? Remem- ber that if all colors are bright, there is no brightness. There must be LIGHT and SHADOW. They also contribute to the beauty in pictures and in lives. There is also the principle of PERSPECTIVE — to sec things as they are. The crafts- man in life learns, like the painter, to step aside and view his canvas in order to keep per- spective.” Some try to paint two pictures on one canvas. In life the psychologist knows these cases of split personality, lacking composition or unity, lacking perspective. Then there is the BRUSHWORK — much Brushwork! We see about us up-strokes, down-strokes, full strokes, miserly strokes, dull strokes, and confused strokes. Are your brush strokes halting or sure, timid or strong? The brush is in your hand; the colors flow with the common moments of a common day. The common moments of a common day often seem as trifles to us. But Michael Angelo’s great dictum was TRIFLES MAKE PERFEC- TION. BUT PERFECTION IS NO TRIFLE.” A work of art requires FINISH, but no w'ork of art is ever really finished. When this book , is placed into your hands, the seniors will have finished high school and all other students their year's w'ork. Then we find the seniors having a COMMENCEMENT, strik- ing home the truth that they are just starting out with their tools and their skills, their ideals and their dreams, their enthusiasm and their courage, staunch and firm in their hopes and de- sires to produce A LIVING MASTERPIECE. 3