{"id":28524,"date":"2020-02-29T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=28524"},"modified":"2020-02-29T01:56:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T07:56:18","slug":"frozen-ii-artist-encourages-students-to-follow-people-who-inspire-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2020\/02\/29\/frozen-ii-artist-encourages-students-to-follow-people-who-inspire-them\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Frozen II\u2019 artist encourages students to follow people who inspire them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – On Wednesday, February 26th, 2020, the Austin Peay State University Department of Art + Design and the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts welcomed award-winning senior matte painter and environment designer Heather Abels to campus.<\/p>\n

\"Senior<\/a>

Senior matte painter Heather Abels works at her Clarksville home office.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cAbels is a Clarksville resident and friend of the APSU Department of Art + Design who works with major film, TV and animation studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Rhythm and Hues and Nemesis Collective,\u201d Michael Dickins, chair of the Visiting Artist Speaker Committee, said.<\/p>\n

Abels has worked on matte painting for various movies, including \u201cFrozen II,\u201d \u201cDeadpool,\u201d \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d \u201cA Series of Unfortunate Events,\u201d \u201cDjango Unchained,\u201d \u201c300: Rise of an Empire\u201d and \u201cMoana.\u201d She also worked on Academy Award winners in best animated feature or visual effects, including \u201cZootopia,\u201d \u201cBig Hero 6,\u201d \u201cAvatar\u201d and \u201cThe Golden Compass.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her talk at Austin Peay, she discussed with the students three major things that she has learned throughout her career: inspiration, failure and acceptance.<\/p>\n

Abels was inspired early in her career by legendary matte painters. She got her inspiration when she was a young child by watching \u201cStar Wars,\u201d \u201cToy Story\u201d and \u201cJurassic Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk about inspiration, I\u2019m not talking about what excites you,\u201d Abels said. \u201cI\u2019m talking about people that you surround yourself with and surrounding yourself with people who inspire and motivate you is one of the first things that helped me in my career.\u201d <\/p>\n

She encourages the new generation of artists to take the next leap and evolve from digital 2D to digital 3D matte painting techniques. She has taught at several universities and has an ongoing workshop at CGSociety.<\/p>\n

She reminds her students that they will fail at times. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about failing and failing again until you get it right,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not always what you want. You\u2019re trying to execute somebody else\u2019s vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acceptance is being able to take the feedback and create something better.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know, till you\u2019ve learned what you didn\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I\u2019m saying here is about being humble. There are a lot of artists whose careers haven\u2019t taken off because they were unwilling to accept feedback, and visual effects is all about modification.\u201d <\/p>\n

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To learn more<\/h3>\n