“It’s definitely refreshing,” said senior Kiersten Anderson. “I have all these ideas I have to get out. Without art, I think I would explode.”
Anderson is one of 16 students in AP Art Studio in Ms. Graham’s third hour class. Everyday these students are given the class period to do whatever they need to do to create their portfolio for their National Exam.
“It’s nice having a place at school to do art,” said Anderson. “It’s great because there are a wide variety of tools that I can use, and I like having second opinions about my work.”
Like Anderson, senior Tristan Thompson is also a member of AP Art Studio. Although not in the class itself, Thompson creates his portfolio in Ms. Graham’s fifth hour Art III class.
“My themed portfolio is based on people,” said Thompson, while shading the eyebrow of a female portrait. “The features of people really interest me, and I find inspiration almost everywhere.”
For both Anderson and Thompson, interest for art started early. From beginning with just crayons and finding solace in cartoons, both of these seniors used what was around them to begin their comforting hobby.
“I was really interested in anything cartoon, that was how I began,” said Anderson, pulling out some of her younger work. “From there I just found freedom. All the freedom I had to create whatever I wanted to. It was just so fun.”
AP Art Studio is a rigorous class that requires all of the students to create three portfolios. First is the themed portfolio, which requires the portfolio to have a cohesiveness and be centered around one theme. The second portfolio is the Breff portfolio which is the student’s chance to display all the different techniques he or she can master. Lastly is a portfolio that showcases the student’s five best pieces.
“For my themed portfolio I chose emotion,” said Anderson. “All the pieces are faces displaying different emotions with other items that help display the theme’s meaning. Like my jealously piece is of a face displaying jealously and a toxic symbol in the background.”
For these two students, art has been a place for solace. While other classes are structured, art lets a person’s creativity run free, and if there are rules, there are few. Students get to choose what they want to do and how to do it. For Thompson, that is the best part.
“It’s a way to get to something you like to do and you’re not told how to do it,” said Thompson. “It is yours and once you’re finished, it feels great. I can see that I’ve matured with my art work.”
Both of these students work steadily to prepare their portfolios for May. Everyday, these students get closer to completing a long project with major benefits. For these artists, although the process is long, they enjoy every step of it.
“I fell like I have the urge to do it,” said Thompson. “I first started out just coloring, but now it is my own thing.”
