When Plato formed the original Academy in ancient Greece, he taught an approach to ideal form based on abstract, universal concepts. His student, Aristotle, taught an approach to ideal form through a analytical study of the particulars of nature. Raphael represented these two approaches through his famous gestures by these two great teachers in his fresco The School of Athens, and the philosophy at Mims Studios is based on creating a balance between these two schools of thought, what you know and what you see.

The real training of artists has taken place in the small studio schools of practicing artists since before the Italian Renaissance. The classical foundation offered at Mims Studios - not found in university art departments and rarely taught in traditional academies of art - can be applied to the earliest lessons of a beginner or fill a void in the education of a professional artist. Following the cultural free fall of the past century, this school’s program is dedicated to regenerating the great traditions of our visual legacy with renewed interpretation.

Mims Studios offers training in the disciplines of drawing and painting. A relationship is developed between hand, eye, and mind, which remains independent of photographic influences or compromises. Special emphasis is placed on learning principles of composition and ornamentation, which apply to easel as well as mural painting. The goal is to promote a new chapter in this revival of an ancient art - and in doing so, influence the environment of modern life with a heightened sense of beauty and design.

© D. Jeffrey Mims 2010 All rights reserved. Site designed by Abigail Dowd