By Jill Gosche
Staff Writer
jgosche@advertiser-tribune.com
Seven pieces of art created by six students from Calvert and Columbian high schools have been selected to be part of Ohio Governor's Youth Art Exhibition.
According to the exhibition's website, 12,000 entries are entered at 15 regional sites. About 2,500 are selected to enter state judging, and 300 are selected for the exhibition.
Senior Nicki Brose, a student in Columbian's art investigations class, landed two pieces in the state show. It was her first time to have work chosen.
Instructor Bob Johnston said she is only the third Columbian student to have two pieces selected for the state show in the same year.
"I didn't even expect one to go," Brose said.
Brose's pieces were titled "Unknown," which was created with a "washout" technique, and "Pearls," a still life of pearl necklaces.
Brose said the washout technique was new to her, and she used it on canvas.
"You use India ink and white Tempera paint. ... It's very messy," she said.
Brose said the still life was done in dry pastel and sepia tones. She set out pearls, photographed them and drew on tan and pink paper from the photograph.
Drew Smith, a senior in Columbian's senior portfolio class, had "The Darkness Within" selected for the show. It was his first time to have work selected.
Smith said he used black and white charcoal for the piece, which is an internal perspective of a person's spine and ribs. He said he was taking photographs of a skeleton prop and liked a picture's composition.
"(I) decided to use it," he said.
Smith said he originally did not put enough work into the piece, and the edges were fuzzy. He set it aside for a few weeks and later refined the edges and added details. He said he ended up liking it when he was finished with it.
"I love working with medical pieces like that," he said.
A piece titled "Psychedelic" by Columbian senior Dylan Dunn, who also is in the senior portfolio class, was selected for the show. Dunn had a qualifier piece last year, but this year marks the first time he has had a piece selected.
He said the piece is a linoleum block print of a person sticking out his tongue. He carved into a piece of floor tile, used ink to make a stamp out of it and then stamped the design onto a piece of paper.
He took the photograph that appeared on the stamp.
"We were just messing around, trying to find something to do," he said.
Columbian senior Savannah Stark, an advanced art student, had "A Woman's Intuition" selected for the show, and it was her first time having a piece in it.
"I was really surprised. ... I didn't think it was that great," she said.
Stark said she used gesso for the texture of the piece, which is a watercolor self portrait. She created the piece using a photograph of herself.
"Looking through some of the art, it was a technique that interests me. ... I was pleased (with how it turned out)," she said.
Stark's "A Woman's Intuition" and Brose's "Unknown" are among the 25 works selected for the governor's office display.
Abigail Sullivan, a senior at Calvert High School, had a drawing of the 1884 Seneca County Courthouse, "Attention To Detail," accepted in the show. She said it was a close-up image of the bricks, and she used charcoal on orange paper.
"It was about two and a half weeks (of work), I would have to say," she said.
Sullivan said it was a big honor to get selected for the show, and only two Calvert students, prior to this year, had gotten in. She said she didn't think she could make it because there were so many pieces in the judging. It was a great way to cap off three years of art instruction, she said.
Cassie Recker, a Calvert sophomore, had a charcoal piece titled "The Court House" selected for the show. She said she took a photograph of the courthouse and then drew it.
It was her first time getting a piece in the state show, and she said it was exciting, especially because she is just a sophomore.
"I wasn't expecting it," she said.
Recker's art is one of 25 pieces to be in State Department of Education's display.
On the Web:
Ohio Governor's Youth Art Exhibition:
