23 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM “I continue to learn while I teach,” he says. “It’s a fun job.” A graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, he later received his Master’s in Education from the University of Akron. As a child grow-ing up in Ohio, Hubbard knew that he had two true loves: music and art. Moving to Wilmington in 2005, he found inspiration all around him. “When I first moved here, I couldn’t stop looking at all of the trees and beach life,” Hubbard says. The coast’s flora and fauna proved to be a new muse for works such as his octopus sculpture, made from recycled paper materials, which he featured as an Art for the Soul vendor at the Carolina Beach Street Arts Festival in May. During the summer of 2014, he plans to construct three fountain sculptures inspired by aquatic life, one depicting a red snapper. Hubbard’s 2010 oil painting entitled “La Bella Roma” is cur-rently displayed in the University of North Carolina Wilmington School of Nursing. He was inspired by the eponymous 1965 John Cacavus song to personify the musical composition into the posture of a woman playing the guitar. The feminine fluidity and curves of the guitar, woman’s hair in the wind and vibrations of the musical instrument combine to create visual movement, he says. Amazingly, there is no reference to any woman in par-ticular but rather a universal flow of feminine energy in music, love and nature. He understood the posture for the woman by playing musical instru-ments himself. Hubbard is adamant in his belief system surrounding his methodology as an art educator and an artist. “I have to make what makes me happy,” he says. “Going away to art shows and investing so much is very discouraging when trying to please others. Sometimes they walk right by your booth. My main motivation is the joy and satisfaction of the craft. I’m going to make what I want to make. Art is my way of life.” Sprint Fish, 12 x 24 inches, acrylic. PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM HUBBARD
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