Sarah Annibale

Class of 2022

I chose to create a theme that shows a cause-and-effect relationship between materialism and adulting teenage girls. Many young women of affluent American culture deal with anxiety, fear, or mental illness due to the standards set in culture. I started with imagery of materialism. My pivot point was in displaying tensions of consumption that do not satisfy and its effects on young women in Gen Z such as designer brands and money. My style has evolved as I’ve experimented with layering materials and mediums within my theme. I am curious to explore this hyper-focused worldview because I believe a million treasures can never fully fulfill man’s heart. Throughout my pieces, there is balance in the compositions through the repetition of logos, patterns, and color schemes. I have taken risks by experimenting with new mediums and challenging myself by creating collages, using neon paints, gold leaf, photo transfer, and pouring techniques. In experimenting, I learned how to touch up less forgiving techniques in order to resolve problems, bring about clarity and unify the piece. Examples of this were: adding watercolor to enhance the clarity of photo transfer or adding gold leaf to create more visual appeal.

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Caroline Carnes

Class of 2022

My name is Caroline Carnes, and I am a 3rd year Upper School art student. Next year I will be attending Fairfield University to study nursing. I have been attending SFC since 6th grade and have dabbled in photo & design, yearbook, and graphic design. This year my medium of choice was photography. I choose photography because I have always wanted to learn more about using a camera and changing the settings.

I choose to create under the inquiry question, What properties of water can be photographed in an abstract way? I choose this theme because water has so many unique properties that could be challenging and interesting to capture through a camera. This theme has evolved from the start of the year from taking pictures of places I find water, and the social effects it has on people to, a more scientific look at the properties of water. For example, I began exploring with how waves are created by wind and then was curious about the smaller picture properties of water. Through this year I have grown more confident in using a camera and photoshop.

Lana Davis

Class of 2022

Over the course of the past year, I have chosen to create works of art surrounding the theme of farm life nostalgia, and I picked imagery according to my memories of visiting the farm when I was little. Starting off, I played around with different brush strokes for the sky and grass to make the pieces more lighthearted and nostalgic. Throughout the year, some of the challenges that I faced were figuring out where to begin and how to layer color in tints and shades to create the effect I wanted. Most of the pictures I chose to paint were bright and colorful. However, this led to another difficulty in adjusting the shade of color from the picture to the painting in order to make it more youthful and get the skin tones correct for each person. Painting people was the hardest part of every project. However, I saw myself finally getting comfortable with my style after creating the project with the little girl and horse. I am proud of how much I grew in being comfortable with painting any picture. I look forward to creating art that makes other people happy and brings them joy.

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Morgan Day

Class of 2022

AP art allowed me to investigate the beauty of adventure and its importance to me. As I progressed, questions arose through the process and led me to discover my passion for the beauty of the outdoors. All of my pieces have cartoonist factors that reveal my childlike joy and curiosity within landscapes. Each piece has a gem hidden in it through animals, detail or figures to illustrate how I imagine myself in the planet’s beauty. I used light, color, and texture to emphasize these gems while leaving other factors smooth and minimalistic.

My process began with brainstorming special moments in my life – places I have found and places I want to go. I then found pictures of these places or events and mashed them up with my ideal visual imagery to create a special moment uniquely tailored to me. Each piece has been an experimentation in new stylistic strokes and color schemes. I have grown so much confidence through this process. I began my year with a poor understanding of shadows, such as using black rather than blue to shade, however, the more I looked at pictures I began to realize that the world isn’t as simple as it seems and I believe I carried that out in my work.

Bella Dorn

Class of 2022

My name is Bella Dorn, I am a senior here at SFC, and have been taking art since my sophomore year of high school. My favorite medium is acrylic paint. The biggest challenge in my art career so far was finding trying to make my art look as realistic as possible. My biggest achievement would probably be figuring out my art style, which actually goes hand in hand with my biggest challenge. You see, I used to base the worth of my art on how realistic it could be, which made it harder and harder as I realized that I am not too good at realism. So in finally finding my art style, which is a more whimsical, “cartoon-ey”, form of realism, I was able to truly appreciate my art and expand my skill set.

My theme this year was iconic movies. I was inspired by Sal’s Intro to Film class that I took at Santa Fe my freshman year as well as many movies that have had a great influence in my life. Some challenges I faced working within my theme, were trying to figure out how to incorporate as many “easter eggs” as possible, without random items just floating, or the whole piece just looking like a movie poster. My biggest fear was that people would not recognize the film I was trying to represent. I overcame these fears and challenges by a process of trial and error, as well as asking people throughout my process to try and guess the movie I was representing. In my first project, it was more like a collage with random things floating around in it, but as my work had progressed, I feel like I had majorly improved and did a better job in making everything “flow.” I experimented in my work with trying to add as many “easter eggs” as possible, while still making it flow naturally, as well as using a lot of different types of perspectives and angles. I would come up with my ideas by thinking of the movie and thinking of the most memorable parts, as well as something that you would only recognize or understand if you had seen the movie, sort of like an “inside joke” between anyone who has watched said film. After some brainstorming, my process would be to sketch it out a couple of times and then begin my acrylic painting. I experimented with acrylic paint a lot this year, as almost all my works are in acrylic. I also experimented with collaging and using different items for texture, such as sponges or gesso. Throughout my body of work, I realized it was better to paint just a specific scene and include little “easter eggs.” within the background of whatever I was painting. I really began to understand the idea of “less is more” and that not ALL aspects of the movie need to be included for people to understand what movie I was portraying.

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Alexa Gehlhaar

Class of 2022

My name is Alexa Gehlhaar, and I am an AP Studio art student. When I began this process back in August, my artwork centered around uncovering truths about commonly asked philosophical and moral questions through the lens of my own experiences. I used color theory and symbolism to represent the conclusion I reached and my unresolved questions. As I created, I recognized how in each work, I seemed to create dichotomies, whether that be through the use of dark versus light, the display of pain versus hope, or the concept of illusion versus reality. I began diving into what it means to live in a world where hope, beauty, truth, and love are seemingly rare. I have worked in graphite pencil, gouache, India ink, and acrylic paint and have used those mediums to add meaning and depth to my work. In creating these 15 pieces, I found new freedom in creating, stripping away aspects of my process that had become rigid. I began to trust my intuition as I could sense when a piece lacked balance or harmony. Instead of planning out my compositions, I allowed the story to unfold and the deeper meaning of the work to be revealed as I created. In turn, I grew in my confidence and knowledge of what makes strong artwork and added to my style more abstract and free-flowing forms. Ultimately I have grown to allow myself freedom in creating even when at times I feared failure, which has not only taught me about my creative process but also about myself.

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Kosta Kalamaras

Class of 2022

Within my AP portfolio, I experimented with capturing different photos of images under the theme, “time captured within a split second” to reveal my love for nature and the beauty that happens within it. My love for nature photography started when I was 12 and I took a small point-and-shoot camera into the ocean. Ever since then, I’ve wanted people to experience the beauty seen within nature that only occurs within a few seconds. The immense power and color displayed between waves or within a lightning strike are things few ever see.

In order for me to follow my theme, it took a lot of patience and planning. While learning and studying the conditions was essential, in the end, it came down to being in the right spot mixed with a lot of luck. From lightning strikes to big crashing waves, they happen so fast that you have to put yourself in the right position to even get lucky enough to get the shot. My best shots usually came from sporadic and unplanned moments when the conditions were perfect. For high-speed movement like waves, it is essential to shoot at a high-speed shutter in order to get a crisp shot.

Grace Kettler

Class of 2022

Hi my name is Grace Kettler. I have done art for three years at SFC. Throughout this class, I learned that my favorite medium is acrylic paint. My biggest challenge with this medium was finding out how to use it. I found that layers work best for me. This is also my biggest achievement this year was finding a way to use paint that worked for me. I think it elevated my pieces and made them look better.
For this body of work, I chose Nature. I have always loved being outdoors and also have always loved animals and that’s what inspired me. At the beginning of the year, I tried to do more landscapes but realized how much I really enjoyed painting animals. So I decided to carry that out throughout the rest of my pieces. I faced many challenges with this, though. I have never painted animals before this so every project, I was going in blind. The more I practiced, the more I came up with a system that worked for me. My biggest fear within my theme was the fear of it not looking how I wanted it to. And it wasn’t at first. It took many trials and errors to get my technique down. I also came to the conclusion that my art is unique to me, and it will turn out to be great. I overall grew in my artistic skill this year. All of my ideas come from personal experience or what the animal represents. All of the animals I painted have a connection to the theme. I create these pieces with an idea and just throw paint on a canvas and go from there. Every piece I did was a challenge but I never gave up and I think they turned out really well.

Emelia Mantz

Class of 2022

Hi! I’m Emelia Mantz, and I’ve been at SFC since second grade. I’ve been in art classes since I joined SFC, so I have experienced about 11 years of art. My favorite medium has to be graphite, as it is easy to control and is perfect for smaller details. I think the biggest challenge so far for my art has been learning how to paint, specifically with acrylic paints. It is one of my most underdeveloped mediums. With practice and experimentation, though, I feel my greatest achievement has been my growth with painting and my stronger grasp of color.

The theme I chose to work in for this body of artwork was the symbolism of worldly emotions and concepts through nature. I truly cherish and connect with nature, and it has always found a way to be part of my art all my life. It was a challenge finding a unique, non-cliche way to create symbolism from each project’s prompt through imagery found in nature. My biggest concern going through with my theme was my art piece’s themes being unidentifiable or too obscure. But through my work, I have discovered that nearly all things can be expressed through nature when you put in the time to think about it. Within my work, I experimented with different mediums that I am used to working with – such as colored pencil, acrylic, and graphite, and different styles, such as switching between realism and a more stylistic approach with my pieces overall. I’ve grown by using more dynamic poses and compositions within my pieces and being more experimental with the use of foreshortening and foregrounds. Movement was a major way for me to create movement within these dynamic poses leading the eye through each piece in a more narrative manner. I don’t have a routine way for coming up with ideas: many ideas either pop into my mind instantly, or I must labor over it through making mind maps and writing everything I can think of that symbolizes the given prompt such as “Time”. After working in various mediums (acrylic paint, colored pencil, digital art, and graphite), I have learned quite a bit more about their intrinsic properties and can more comfortably execute my style and meaning within the parameters they offer.

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Moriah McLellan

Class of 2022

My name is Moriah McLellan, and this is my fourth year of art at SFC. My favorite medium is colored pencil because of the skill and patience it takes, but when you accomplish it, the colors turn out so vibrant and nicely blended together. My biggest achievement in my art career is being confident and aware of my capacity and ability. I am able to play to my strengths without overextending myself while still producing high-quality work.
My theme for this year’s body of work was focused on creating meaningful, floral-centered compositions that reflect the values I have observed in society. This theme was inspired by my love of drawing, painting, and observing flowers. I knew I wouldn’t get bored of it throughout the whole year. Because my theme is rather specific and centers around the different meanings of flower species, it was sometimes difficult to come up with new ideas that fit into the meaning I was trying to achieve. However, it was also the specificity that gave me a foundation of ideas to build off of. I experimented a lot with different mediums and between realistic and abstract styles. I enjoyed the freedom to range in style from abstract to more realistic in this work. I think the specificity of my theme and how every piece focuses on flowers helps unify the piece as a whole. Along with this risk of varying my style, I took a risk in that my audience might view the work as only flowers and miss the meaning behind the societal statement. Personally, I find developing an idea that I really love to be the most challenging part of creating art. However, I push through this challenge by searching up the different meanings of flowers and finding ones that line up with the given one-word prompt in order to come up with my idea. I then think about any other aspects I want to add to the piece and which colors would fit the symbolism and meaning behind the piece. I then try to bring these all together and place them in a way that feels intentional and creates an interesting composition.

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Jenny McMillen

Class of 2022

For my inquiry question of exploring how to visualize Tally Hall songs through art pieces I had to listen to the song on repeat during the planning process and while finishing the piece so that each work continued to carry the mood of the song through the imagery I was using. In the beginning, for example, my “Good Day” piece, composition and materials were not something I focused on while planning my work.. I ended up revising this work later in the year using the golden triangle and the rule of thirds as well as changed the material to more accurately portray the vibe and meaning of the song. I started to find my style more in my “&” piece where for the first time I planned out my composition using classic academic techniques , the elements and principles of design, and how I was going to use color and contrast to portray the song. Due to being more intentional in planning my pieces my work became stronger. I learned through my process that just like how every song sounds different and doesn’t fit the same mold, so do the art pieces reflecting them. This led me to experimenting with different mediums for each song. This is best reflected in my piece “Turn the Lights Off” where I used mixed media gel sticks to get a crayon-like texture to emphasize the child-like fear portrayed in the song.

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Emery Mundis

Class of 2022

I chose to create under the inquiry question of: Where can we find healing and hope in the midst of brokenness? I chose this theme because it challenged me as I hope it will challenge others to find hope and the ability to heal despite the brokenness that surrounds us. My theme has evolved due to personally challenging the way society views different aspects of our own lives, physically and mentally, and trying to discover where there is healing in the midst of our struggles. Once I began exploring more struggles, I became curious about how I can make my art relatable to people and my own life. Throughout the creation of my art, I have tried to create movement towards one object or person. In my use of color and its absence, I have displayed emotion and placed emphasis on one area that society deems as broken. In some pieces, I experimented with mixing mediums I had never tried to join before and through the process I grew. My style throughout my creative process switched from prompts I was given to work into my theme, to discovering my own ideas. My theme became personal to me as I could relate each work to my life journey, and adding complexity to the symbolism I used and a deeper meaning to my art. You can tell the shift in my work where things became personal to me. When I needed shoulder surgery, I used my artistic theme to display my own struggles. While incorporating my emotions into my theme, I discovered my own art style. I became confident in the deeper meaning of my works and discovered mediums that are my strong suit.

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Alexis Ng

Class of 2022

My inquiry question is: from my diverse cultural background, how can I explore in my artwork my own family makeup and honor the cultures I come from in various mediums?
My family history inspires me to create emotional and personal artwork that attempts to honor their life stories. Through this investigation, I define my cultural identity and experience because if I don’t define myself I will be defined by others. I have learned more about my family’s stories that make me who I am today. This has been invaluable and has instilled a sense of pride in the rich history within my background.

I begin with inspiration photos and then create a sketch. Next, I paint using a washed-out acrylic creating a base. I paint additional layers to create dimension. Within my theme, I experimented in the revision process by combining abstract elements with my skill set for painting realism. It was challenging to combine these opposing styles together, yet I felt in doing so, I found my style. In my cello piece, I positioned objects slightly off the edge to create visual interest. Positive and negative spaces are equally important. In my Halmoni piece, I added strokes of color to create movement.

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Taylor Olson

Class of 2022

Throughout this year, I have worked and experimented under the theme and question, how did American pop culture affect the decades? The decades have always stood out to me, and I wanted to highlight the events that I felt shaped modern-day culture. It’s often music and the arts that have created celebrity status influence in culture. Travel is another thing that has opened up the world and shaped culture. Therefore, some of my work is European and American based. One part that stands out in my work is the lack of faces because I want people to associate the moment and not the person. In many pieces of art, I feel that people only focus on the faces and not the real meaning of the work; I wanted people to look at the work and see it as a whole, not just by people dancing. In the beginning of my experiment with this theme, I tried to describe the story using collage, but as I grew in my confidence, I began to use different compositions. It was hard for me to figure out how to describe the whole picture and deep meaning in the decade I was picking, but in making compositions I utilized size to create space and to emphasize visual hierarchy. Throughout my process, with researching about each decade, I learned more about the decades and have truly seen how they have influenced our modern-day culture.

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Sarah Osburn

Class of 2022

Hi! I’m Sarah Osburn, and I’ve taken art classes at Santa Fe for the past seven years. My favorite medium is charcoal pencil. Ever since I discovered it during freshman year, I’ve loved the amount of detail I can create with it! The biggest challenge I’ve experienced so far has been challenging myself this year to create paintings with a deeper meaning behind them. For example, this year, I worked on creating symbolic images that represent the message I am trying to get across. I consider my biggest achievement this year to be finding more of my artistic style in mixing realism and illustrative work, such that it invites the viewer to come inside and look around at a whole new world. I hope to continue developing my art through my college years and beyond as my skills improve!
The theme I chose to work in through this body of work is centered around exploration that I have done throughout my life, whether literal or figurative exploration. I decided on this theme because it reflects well the attitude I have towards change, new experiences, and new ideas as they come to me. You’ll see my optimism and curiosity reflected in my work. In beginning a new piece, I first came up with an aspect of exploration that I wanted to communicate, and then I used reference images to organize and plan a composition that worked well. Then I started drawing or painting the work. I chose colors and values that fit with the mood of the piece and helped emphasize my meaning. I’ve experimented several times throughout the year (on par with the exploration theme) in different mediums, such as colored pencils, ink, and gold foil, and experimented with different canvas types. I had never tried a square-shaped composition until this year, and I found I really enjoyed it. Through working with new sizes, mediums, and compositions, I discovered more of my artistic preferences and what works best for my ideas. I’d like to thank Ms. Hendrickson for guiding me through my art journey for the past three years and for teaching us skills as well as how to put meaning into our works!

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Cami Remy

Class of 2022

Hi! I’m Cami Remy, and I have been doing art at Santa Fe for 3 years. I would say my favorite medium to work with is acrylic paint, which makes sense since all of my works this year were done in this medium. In my first two years doing art, the main challenge I faced was not believing in my artistic abilities. It got to me just enough that I took a year away from art class. I wanted some time to grow creatively and hopefully get back on my feet. During junior year I returned back to art only to be a part of a “hybrid” classroom due to the pandemic. Though I once was eager to grow and explore my abilities, I didn’t push myself but got too comfortable with the option of zoom. Instead of a big comeback, I had exactly the opposite and turned in pieces that I was embarrassed about. This year, coming back to the full routine of school was definitely my biggest challenge. It took a lot of hard work to get back into thinking creatively. It was honestly a lot of pressure knowing that each one of the projects that I turned in this year really mattered and would be viewed and judged by many in this art show. The fear of having laughable art pieces motivated me to get back on track and push myself even more. My biggest challenge then turned into my biggest achievement! I am so proud of how hard I pushed myself to expand my creativity and ultimately be better. It is so cool how a little bit of motivation can visibly change a person’s ability and confidence in their work.

I chose to work under the theme Ways in Which People are Disconnected from the World. For this body of work, my original theme was actually Greek Gods, but halfway through my first Greek God piece, I decided it wasn’t for me. Finding my current theme took a lot of research and meant finding out my artistic style. I come up with all my ideas through researching and brainstorming. My typical process is sketching out my idea and then just going for it. I usually end up changing things along the way and learning different ways to improve my process. I did, however, experiment with photo printing, collage, and watercolor.
The main challenges I faced while working through this theme was finding a way for all of my pieces to look uniform as a whole. My main concern was that I wanted every piece to have a deeper meaning and stand alone in its style. I overcame these concerns by just focusing on creating pieces I loved rather than worrying about the outcome of them altogether. I experimented mostly with different colors, hoping to illustrate specific emotions throughout my works. I especially grew as an artist within the process of experimentation! This especially helped me grow creatively, ultimately bettering my work throughout this year.

Avery Steele

Class of 2022

My name is Avery Steele, and I have taken art here at SFC with Mrs. Hendrickson for three years now. I will be attending Texas Christian University in the fall and plan on majoring in Interior Design. I absolutely love creating and experimenting with new mediums and methods. My biggest achievement has been creating these projects that perfectly exemplify my initial vision for my work and will hopefully give my viewers a new perspective and view on life and what makes people who they are.
My theme is identity. I wanted to create work that gave people insight as to why we are all different and beautiful in our own ways, derived from our unique individual experiences. I faced many challenges with my theme, even after completing a project, because I wasn’t sure if it truly showcased the message I wanted to portray. There are so many different aspects of life that make a person who they are. Sticking with acrylic paint and a light-hearted and colorful theme allowed my work to have a more bold and clean look to it. Adding ink to incorporate details at the end of each work brightened the coloring and created a more defined look. Coming up with my ideas pertaining to each separate topic incorporated a long brainstorming list accumulated by my peers and my teacher and researching the history behind each idea. The worst outcome was creating a project that failed mid-way through and being brought straight back to the drawing board to brainstorm an entirely new idea. The best way to create art that I love is by utilizing a common medium I know with a new experimental subject or method, whether it is a new texture, painting a different subject than I am used to, or the use of a new material. Creating these projects taught me that no matter how big or seemingly significant and overwhelming any piece of work may be, taking it step-by-step and working hard to complete something is the most rewarding thing you can do.
I hope you enjoy!

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Anna Travasos

Class of 2022

I chose to create under the inquiry question: how does my mind perceive dreams? My dreams have always been unique, and I decided to experiment in how I could portray the imagery outside of my own head. The exploration of this theme began with synopses in my dream journal and rough sketches. I kept the distortion of how dreams appear in my mind, how there is always some proportion or perspective that is a little off as well as something that doesn’t quite make sense. From there, I created whimsical spaces while keeping the integrity of the dream from an interpretive state of mind.
I have evolved this theme with my interest in experimenting with different mediums like watercolor, acrylic pouring, and using palette knives. I explored these mediums individually as well as combined them. My favorite have been pairing palette knife painting with acrylic pour or pairing watercolor with pens. In the majority of my works, I used the rule of thirds for an off-balance tension and color to create contrast. Creating this balance and emphasis in mediums that don’t go together and creating tension because things are off-balance have grown my skills to portray my dreams.

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