Sylvester Peck, Sr. | Blending Passion and Profession.
The world of Sylvester Peck, Sr. has almost always been connected to art. Growing up in Jefferson County, Peck remembers drawing and playing with crayons at the age of three. That interest in art grew as he became an adult. “I started exhibiting work in high school,” says Peck. He explains that he always loved how his creativity could shine in the lines he forms on canvas and how the colors blend together. “That drawing and that love for art lead me into teaching, printing and publishing.”
Today, Peck is the author of several books, including a collection of his art in recent publication called “Images.” Peck says for him to create these pieces he must be inspired. It could come from something he’s watching, a song he’s listening to, or just observing people. One of those moments became the cover of his book in a portrait called “Chancey’s Daughter.” It’s a painting of a woman who Peck says went through a lot of personal trauma. Peck says you couldn’t tell it by looking at her, but that idea of how that kind of pain could be held inside a person inspired him. He turned that inspiration into art. “Every image in this book… there is a story behind it.”
The quest to tell the story is something Peck teaches his students. He worked as an art teacher for 30 years at Florida A & M University Developmental Research School. When talking with them about the classes, some of his students talked about the recent “Soul Project” that Peck assigned.
“What do we think soul is? What is soul to us?” explains student Aaliyah Young about the project. “We got to put it on our paper,” Young continued. “It’s on our canvas and we got to paint it.”
Peck says this project is the perfect example of creating something using your own interpretation of a topic or story. He tells his students not to worry about making mistakes; just to paint over them and keep going. “I always trying to encourage them to be confident.” said Peck.
The confidence he shares with students and that he has in his own art is how Sylvester Peck, Sr. blended his passion and profession together for himself and for others.
