Teaching Philosophy
The goal of an arts education is not only to develop the expression and craft of emerging artists, but also to prepare them for the rhythm of an artistic life. There’s no single path to success. I believe the classroom can provide the tools and skills to build individual artistic rhythms; leading students to become thoughtful, lifelong artists.
My approach to curriculum employs Bloom’s Taxonomy, taking student art practice from the basic to the complex. As working artists are rarely given the opportunity to indulge in a career of pure production, so my student have lessons enriched with history, academic study of the medium and insights into professional practice. Readings that highlight the diversity of comics are essential for students seeking to understand the cultural context of their own work and the work of their colleagues. Critical comics, illustrations, and essays allow students to exercise their cartooning and analytical skills while exploring the form of the comic essay.
As a leader in a business environment, I have found a great deal of success when teammates are invested in each other’s triumphs. I have experienced the same dynamic in the classroom. Peer critique is essential towards that investment, with the instructor acting as a guiding voice towards productive and useful feedback. It is an essential mission to me, as a creator and educator, that respect permeate all critique activities with a celebration of diverse experiences, opinions, and expressions. A peer critique is an ideal opportunity to practice soft skills that translate into professional and social environments.
Lastly, I place great value on the quality of effort expended. A successful artist can rarely be made from a mediocre effort and it is important to set the standards high for even the most accomplished students. That means individual assessment of achievement levels, allowing each student to grow at a pace that is challenging. I will ask students to be uncomfortable. The space for failure exists in that environment, a condition that I think is essential to the foundation of an artistic life. I will ask my students to try, fail, and try again; the embodiment of quality effort. Students who hope to perform art as a lifetime activity must come to understand that failure is not a closed door, but an opportunity to grow in unexpected directions.
My students leave the classroom with sets of terminology, tools, skills, and relationships that can be used as a foundation to an artistic life. Students will have thought critically, written analytically, and cartooned both narratively and didactically. Coupled with those exercises is the opportunity to express themselves verbally and lend useful critique to fellow artists. My goal is to help students discover a lifetime of art-making, with the tools to express themselves, the flexibility to adjust to changing priorities, and the passion to put forth a full effort without the guarantee of success.
Artist Statement
I love exploring personal narratives: the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. In my comics, characters confront and re-evaluate their personal narratives, modeling a process of growth that can be painful, de-stabilizing and difficult, but very healthy and often necessary to create better relationships with others and self. This evaluation often circles around the concepts of personal responsibility, familial connection, and moral re-evaluation. I’m also deeply interested in the concepts of Humanist and Existential philosophy, and my characters are engaged with re-defining their morality in a godless world and choosing the meaningful projects of their lives.
Depicting this process of re-evaluation in children’s and teen’s fiction can provide a framework as they begin that process themselves, and my aim is to create a text that readers can revisit as they grow. Comics are an excellent vehicle for that exploration, as the medium requires an active mind from the reader, interpreting the relationships between images and words, and creating narrative connections. That mental activation allows the story to be narrated in the readers’ own voice and intuitive logical framework for the reader. Comics are particularly adept at allowing a reader’s cognitive framework and ability level interpret the work.
EDUCATION
| California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Master of Fine Arts in Comics, 2017
| Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts, Oil Painting, 2009
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
| Adjunct Professor, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH January 2022 – Present
Courses:
· Comics and Narrative Illustration I & II – Liberal Arts
· Visual Story Fundamentals – Comics and Narrative Practice
· Self Publishing – CORE
PUBLICATIONS
| 2024 Multi-: The Collected Edition, Patrick Lay, Self-published
Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis, Dave Maass, Patrick Lay, Berger Books & Dark Horse Comics
| 2019 Hot Air Balloon, Patrick Lay, Self-published
“Screaming Mimi Kids Pt. 2-3”, Patrick Lay, Self-published
| 2018 Screaming Mimi Kids, Patrick Lay, Self-published webcomic
“Who Ya’ Gonna Call? Pt. 2”, Multi-, Nick Dutro, Patrick Lay, Self-published
“Coughing” in Vagabond Comics Issue #9, Vagabond Comics Collective
Pop!Whiz!Bang!: A Comics Conversation, Meggie Ramm, Patrick Lay, Self-published, Weekly Podcast
| 2017 “Who Ya’ Gonna Call? Pt. 1”, Multi-, Nick Dutro, Patrick Lay, Self-published
“Ramble”, Patrick Lay, Self-published
“Screaming Mimi Kids Pt. 1”, Patrick Lay, Self-Published
| 2016 “First Day” in Vagabond Comics Issue #4, Vagabond Comics Collective
“Dance”, Mini-Comic, Self-published
PRESENTATIONS
| 2025 “Death Strikes: Behind the Panels”
Genocide Awareness Week, University of Arizona, Tempe, AZ
North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Gathering of Holocaust Educators, Virtual
KMAC Contemporary Art Museum, Louisville, KY
| 2024 Reading from “Death Strikes”, Dancing in Zinetember, Columbus, OH
“Death Strikes: Behind the Panels”
Defiant Requiem Foundation Summer Seminar, Virtual
Music and the Holocaust, UCLA, Virtual
Holocaust Museum LA, Los Angeles, CA
| 2019 “Sing a Song, Draw Along”, A2CAF Program, Ann Arbor, MI
| 2018 Career Summary, Freshman, Thunder Mountain High School, Juneau, AK
| 2017 “Comics are for Everyone”, Fandemonium Youth Group, Ashland Public Library, Ashland, OH
| 2016 “History of Comics in Form and Education”, Regular Board Meeting, Tiffin Art Guild, Tiffin, OH
ARTIST VISITS
| 2025 Addressing Antisemitism Through the Arts, Kentucky Antisemitism Task Force, Louisville, KY
| 2024 Best Graphic Novels of 2024, New York Public Library, New York, NY
Wordfest, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
Making Comics, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
WORKSHOPS
| 2019 6th-8th Grade, Juneau Community Charter School, Juneau, AK
| 2018 K-5th Grade, Discovery School, Mansfield, OH
3rd Grade, Mendenhall River School, Juneau, AK
SELECTED CONVENTIONS
| 2025 S.P.A.C.E., Columbus, OH
| 2024 Genghis Con, Cleveland, OH
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Columbus, OH
CAKE, Chicago, IL
American Library Association Conference, San Deigo, CA
A2CAF, Ann Arbor, MI
TCAF, Toronto, ON
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, WA
| 2019 Genghis Con, Cleveland, OH
Twin Cities Zine Fest, Minneapolis, MN
Small Press Expo, Bathesda, MD
St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO
A2CAF, Ann Arbor, MI
CAKE, Chicago, IL
Alaska Robotics Mini-Con and Comics Camp, Juneau, AK
DiNK, Denver, CO
| 2018 St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Columbus, OH
Alaska Robotics Mini-Con and Comics Camp, Juneau, AK
| 2017 Genghis Con, Cleveland, OH
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Columbus, OH
S.P.A.C.E, Columbus, OH
| 2016 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Columbus, OH
S.P.A.C.E., Columbus, OH
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
| 2024 Performance of Das Rheingold, Pacific Symphony, Irvine, CA
Performance of Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Louisville Orchestra, Louisville, KY
Death Strikes: Behind the Panels, Washoe County Library, Reno, NV
Drawing Worlds, group exhibition, Ann Arbor Arts Center, Ann Arbor, MI
| 2016 Emanata, group exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
| 2013 Sustainability, group exhibition, The Diane Kidd Gallery, Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH
| 2009 Bachelor’s Degree in the Science of Fine Arts Exhibition, group exhibition, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
WORK EXPERIENCE
| P.Lay Comics & Illustration, Tiffin, OH, Freelance Graphic Designer & Illustrator, April 2015 – Present
Responsibilities
· Create custom logos, illustrations, marketing materials, and branding for online and print use.
· Communicate quickly and effectively with clients to understand their brand, technical needs, and timeline.
· Manage day-to-day operations, including marketing, accounts receivable.
| MLAD Graphic Services, Tiffin, OH, Graphic Designer, September 2019 – August 2022
Responsibilities
· Use Adobe Suite products to design a wide variety of logos, catalogs, brochures, and other material primarily for digital print production.
· Execute production of print projects using digital printers in standard and wide format, CNC routing, laminating, and plot cutting.
· Work with outside vendors to ensure quality production of advertising specialties and print projects we do not produce.
· Communicate directly with clients and coworkers to identify timelines, specific graphic needs, and delivery of projects.
| Carmie’s BBQ & Grill, Tiffin, OH, Operations Manager August 2016 – July 2019
Responsibilities
· Maintain high-quality standards on a cost-effective basis by scheduling, supervising, hiring and terminating staff; monitoring and ordering alcohol inventory for weekly restaurant use and special events; and maintaining POS software.
· Making decisions and solving problems in a high pressure, fast-paced environment.
· Create, design, and implement marketing strategies and related print material, including billboards, business cards, web, and social media.
· Communicate with vendors, customers, and members of management at all levels.
Shift Manager November 2013 – June 2016
Responsibilities
· Trained and managed 40+ staff, assigning tasks for efficiency and optimal customer service.
· Established performance metrics for staff and communicated effectively to ensure that expectations were met.
Restaurant Manager October 2010 - October 2013
Responsibilities
· Managed operations of the restaurant personally at least 55 hours per week.
· Coordinated activities of the staff and delivered exceptional dining experience to the customers to ensure high-quality standards were met.
· Created and implemented internal and external marketing strategies as well as promotional uses.
· Handled hiring, discipline, and termination and ensured adherence to the procedures and policies.
· Generated all orders and monitored inventory of beverages and dry stock for banquet events and restaurant.
· Appraised staff performance and provided immediate feedback if needed to improve productivity.
· Created weekly/monthly reports still in use.
| SenecaCountyRadio.com, Tiffin, OH, News Director & Sales Rep., November 2013-June 2016
Responsibilities
· Wrote, produced, and recorded podcast-style news and other content for on-air and online play.
· Sold sponsorship and advertising opportunities to customers using metrics and data-based sales tools.