Thomas Kryton (bio)

One of my own teachers, Richard Halliday, used to drive me nuts. In spite of his abstract expressionist sensibility to his work he was also extremely good at realistic work which was displayed in his anatomy classes. In a drawing class he'd always push me into work reminiscent of the likes of Jackson Pollock or Jasper Johns, which I begrudgingly appreciate today, whereas my goal was always to do hyper real work.

At the end of four and a half years I was becoming schizophrenic due to the range of comments Richard made over the years. Statements such as "sometimes Tom I just don't think you get it" and "now, that's more like it" made while he critiqued a piece I'd worked on. The highs and lows those comments made caused what can only be termed as academic manic depression.

Richard's little pieces of occasional praise I'd gloat over for days, like hidden pieces of forbidden candy, until I'd encounter another day of "you just don't get it." He'd push first one way then another, and I'd just keep going back for more, signing up for whatever classes of his that I could get into that fit my goals. Every class contributed to what has become a love/hate relationship with the man. His expectations were at times it felt unattainable, pushing me to the limits of my abilities and hopefully beyond, over into new territories that I would never have explored on my own. And, when I'd been forced past those limits I'd discover something new about myself and learn to set the bar just a little higher.

Occasionally he'd drop a phrase, a little gem of insight, that'll stay with me for the rest of my days. One such item was "if you ever want to be really good at what you do, try teaching it to someone else."

At ACAD graduating students are required to create a grad piece for display in the main gallery during the ceremonies. At one point Richard came up to me and remarked "you know Tom, you're a damn good drawer." That moment gave me something that will continue to inspire me to push past my own limits for some time to come.

Another such notable is Mary Scott who for whatever reason enjoyed my writing style, after being exposed to three or four revisions of my grad thesis, and likened it to Gertrude Stein's. Mary gave me "figure out what you don't know, then go learn it." There have been other such teachers that I've had this love/hate relationship with, those that have pushed me beyond my own self imposed limits into new territories of learning and exploration. Knowingly or not they've left their mark and helped me to continue pushing my limits well after leaving the halls of academia.

If you should be lucky enough to have found a teacher or mentor that has taught you how to explore your own self imposed limits, cherish them. They may even leave you with a thought or two that will give you the impetus to continue to explore the depths of your career. At the very least, when faced with another designer that thinks that typography is about maps, you'll draw on those experiences garnered from those teachers knowing that they've left you with some very valuable lessons about life, learning, and design. And, you'll be able to consider yourself one of the fortunate few.

Digital Paint