The Chesterton Art Center recently featured a gallery of CHS student art projects from March 5 to March 14, featuring a wide range of mediums. Projects included prints from Mr. May’s printmaking classes, necklaces and earrings from Mrs. Smoker’s jewelry class, photos from Mr. Schultz’s photography classes, and landscapes and animals from Mrs. McGuirl’s painting classes.
One impressive piece of work was a painting titled “Golden Memories 1.” The painting is part of a set of three paintings by Senior Elizabeth St. Marie (other two featured in the photo gallery above). Her paintings consist of watercolor, with ink outlines.
“They are three buildings from Chicago, where I have very fond memories from, so I wanted to represent that. Painting is a great class because I enjoy it and it is very relaxed. Sometimes projects you don’t expect to turn out well look great, and projects you expect to look amazing don’t turn out very good,” St Marie explained.
Junior Louis Raffin printed a red white and blue work, titled “America”, for a project in Mr. May’s Printmaking Two class. The vibrant colors and smooth outlines give it a very clean look.
“I felt very accomplished seeing it come together step by step,” Raffin began.
“The prompt was freedom and I did a bald eagle in front of an American flag. I believe America represents freedom and the bald eagle shows that in the print. I think printmaking is a great class, and it challenges you,” he concluded
Freshman Brooklyn Towner displayed a trio of paintings “Chroma Ridges” for a watercolor landscapes project. The intense detail in each piece makes it possibly the most marvelous in the entire gallery. The detail in the clouds, the precision painting in the flowers, and the mountains and trees in the background, all mesh together to make a very eye-catching artwork.
“Mrs. Mcguirl helped me a lot. I wanted to show a good foreground and good background. Painting was a very interesting class. Mrs. Mcguirl is a great teacher. Her personal input helps so much,” Towner said.
Finally, junior Karina Vazquez’s painting titled “The Call of Dreams” is a large oil painting on a stretched canvas. It shows a field with a few whales flying through the air, with one prominent whale front and center.
“It’s probably one of my best paintings. I wanted to make it realistic, but also I wanted to add in some surrealism, so I mixed those elements together,” Vazquez explained. “I made it in IB Art over the summer. It’s a really fun class, and I get to work on whatever I want. You can work at your own pace.”
Although those works will be taken home by the artists at some point, new works are put up in the art hallway all the time. As of current, some very vibrant and cool printmaking portraits are in the showcases outside of Mr. May’s classroom, so be sure to check them out.
