Andrew Thorp, an adjunct professor at McDaniel College, became interested in art when he was a child. Both his parents were painters.
At first, Thorp drew cartoon characters he saw on television. Thorp took as many art classes as he could in school and his mother helped him out with his art skills.
Thorp started to paint seriously in his junior year at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He used acrylic paints to paint portraits from photographs of his friends. The paintings became the portfolio he used to apply to college.
Thorp attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. While he was at MICA, he had a lot of time to explore different forms of art.
“My art was influenced by television and movies,” Thorp said. “I painted screen shots from movies and collaged them.”
He showed his paintings at DIY galleries in his neighborhood in the Copycat building in Baltimore. The building, named for a billboard on the roof, has been home to artists’ studios and a place to live for many artists.
“After graduation from MICA in 2013, a couple friends and I opened DIY artist studios in old warehouses. We rented out workspaces. He did that until 2018.
Thorp had a studio at the Crown Building in Baltimore. That is when he applied to graduate school at Towson University. He was to start in 2020 just as COVID hit.
The university was closed, and he moved out of his studio. Thorp worked on his art from home.
After graduating MICA in 2013, Thorp had an artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. “It is in a super small town in Vermont,” Thorp said. “It was fun to be around other artists. It was good to be around artists older than I am to listen to them. The artists had studios at the center and we were able to go to each other’s studios. We ate meals together every day so we had time to interact.”
Thorp had a work-study job there and was a dishwasher. “I did not mind doing that,” he said.
After returning from Vermont, Thorp worked in restaurants. He was promoted to sommelier and was a bartender at some of the best restaurants in Baltimore. Eventually, he became a sommelier for the Four Seasons.
“I realized at that moment that I wanted to switch careers and to focus on teaching art.” Thorp said.
Thorp studied online for a couple semesters and then took in-person classes at Towson University. He kept painting the entire time. While he was in school, he participated in group shows at Hamilton Gallery.
While Thorp was working toward his master’s degree, he worked as an adjunct professor at Towson University. He also worked as an adjunct professor at Baltimore City Community College and Carroll Community College. He graduated from Towson University in 2022.
Now his studio is in his house. Thorp admires Alex Katz, a figurative painter who paints large images of people. He also admires the artists Lois Dodd and El Greco.
Earlier this year he started as an adjunct professor at McDaniel College teaching 2-D Design and drawing. He is currently looking for places to have art shows.
“At this point art is something very innate to my life. I am constantly thinking of ideas. Making art for me and why I make art is a deep creative impulse. To be human is to have a want or need to be creative.” Thorp said.
Lyndi McNulty is the owner of Gizmo’s Art in Westminster. Her column, An Eye for Art, appears regularly in Life & Times.