The Falcon Flyer

Jamie Bennett just might be the next Tim Burton.

“I really like the darker side of art. I don’t really like to do floral stuff. I like to do stuff that’s more Tim Burton-esque; more morbid and dark,” said Bennett.

The senior has been honing her talent in AP Art, which she took after enjoying Draw/Paint I and II her junior year.

Although Bennett considers herself an artist now, she did not always think that to be true. It took the motivation of a friend for her to finally think so.

“Everybody saw me as an artist, but I didn’t see myself as an artist until my sophomore year. Junior year, I took my first art class,” said Bennett.

One of the reasons Bennett loves doing art is it allows her to shut out distractions of the outside world.

“I love art because it’s really the only thing that I feel completely calm while doing. The rest of the world disappears,” said Bennett. “I also like showing people the beauty in things that they wouldn’t normally see.”

Surprisingly, Bennett does not do art for the way it makes her feel. For her, art does not ignite emotion. Instead, emotion ignites the art.

“Usually, art doesn’t make me feel something. What I feel makes my art. So whatever I’m feeling in a situation really reflects on my art pieces,” said Bennett. “I usually don’t let my art dictate what I’m feeling, rather than letting my art dictate my emotions.”

While creating art, Bennett prefers sketching. One of her favorite pieces is a nude sketch, made with charcoal. “I like sketching things … I hate paint. Paint is my kryptonite. I like anything that allows me to make my mistakes part of my artwork. I don’t like being held down by my medium,” said Bennett.

Bennett plans on incorporating art into her plans for the future. She hopes to become an artist similar to Tim Burton.

“I think it would be really cool, but really unrealistic, to become a female Tim Burton. You become your own professional artist, and your own director,” said Bennett. “You basically create a world. [It is] a new way of seeing things that inspires people ,without bounds.”

Creating jewelry is more than just throwing beads on a string, and selling it at a church bazaar. It is a relaxing hobby; that can produce original or designer-esque designs each time.

English teacher Tamara Barnhart has been making jewelry for the past three years. “Ms. Gianola was the one who actually taught me how to do it. I can’t remember what got us to start doing it. I think we were just looking for something to do for fun,” said Barnhart. If you are looking for a new hobby or just a chance to relax, then try combining some gems and beads together to create accessories.

Her inspiration comes from the depth of colors she discovers when perusing for new beads.

“We go to this place up in Lacey where there is a big warehouse,” said Barnhart. This exact shop goes by the name of Shipwreck Beads, which has everything from feathers to pewter and Swarovski beads. It is just located in the town of Lacey.

There is a ton; just rows and rows of different kind of beads, different colors, different shapes,” said Barnhart.

Barnhart has made herself a fair share of jewelry to wear at her own whim, “The glass starfish I wear…it has three strands in one clasp that hook it all together, it’s real colorful,” said Barnhart. She has also made quite a lot for friends and family. These gifts can either be more formal or casual in wear; “It’s funny, you can either make something that looks like something from a department store or match it, or you can make your own and make it completely unique.”

Imagine yourself rushing in the department store to find the perfect cardigan to go with the new Toms. Numbers rise up while mom is waiting to scan her credit card. Sound like a typical shopping trip? However, some students make their own clothes; they sew, knit, and like to wear their own name brand.

Senior Emma Levine not only designs clothes, but also constructs them as well. “I love creating things I can actually use and so clothing is one of the great things to create and use,” said Levine.

Levine’s adventure started at a young age. “I started designing around age four” said Levine. “I like doing skirts [and] I’ve done a lot of Halloween costumes.” This is just the beginning of her creative designing life.

Levine’s favorite work piece she designed was a Halloween costume

A few years ago. “[I made a] recycle fairy costume, sophomore year for Halloween,” said Levine. “The bottom was made out of recycling bags [and] the top was made out of packaging.”

Though Levine’s passion for designing is great, she does not know if she sees it as a future job, but she will always be designing throughout her life.

Her style is unique, most people do not dare to wear what she wears, but her choice in clothes is not pricey. Pink yoga pants, real Uggs, or the other expensive clothes are the last things on her mind to buy. All Levine needs is fabric, a sowing machine, her hands, and creativity.

Most inspirations come from everyday life but not most art materials. The tedious seasonal chore of raking the leaves is something that normally is only an exciting if you are the one getting to jump in them. The leaves may come and go, but the results of leaf carving, a new up and coming art form, are ones that will be admired even after all the leaves are raked-up and winter begins.

A new twist on sculpting, leaf carving is a tedious process dating back to 1994 where it emerged from urbanized Chinese culture. This way of giving a new life to leaves supposedly branched off of Chinese paper cutting. With leaf carving images are scraped into the outer skin of delicate Chinar leaves. Chinar leaves are come from the Chinar trees which only grow in India, Pakistan, and China. Resembling maple leaves, Chinar leaves are ideal for carving due to the distribution of veins. For some though these leaves rarity is not the only thing that gives them value, in Chinese tradition they are considered lucky.

Creating these is no easy process, finishing a single leaf carving is said to take months of calculated work. With a 60 step process this task is only for one up to the challenge. Leaves are 8- 10 inches in length, only mature unbroken leaves are used. They must be picked in autumn when the leaves are changing color, and can have no insect bites.

After being dried for at least a 10 month period the leaves are boiled in water for more than five hours to kill bacteria and small worms. The boiling also reduces the chance of the leaves breaking during the carving process.

Finally an anti-aging treatment is applied to the leaves making them like thick, durable paper. Only special tools can be used to carve, after that step the carving begins. Only a skilled artisan can complete this task, making these works that much more valuable. Once finished and framed these art pieces will last for ages. Who knew that all along leaves could be the perfect canvas?

We all know big stars such as Leonardo DiCapario and Jennifer Aniston, but they all had to start somewhere. With our school’s very well-known drama program, we must wonder about the work the actors put in.

We have many dedicated drama students at our school; they stay hours late perfecting each scene, line, music note, and dance move.

They produce encore worthy productions such as, The Phantom of the Opera, but such jaw dropping productions do not just happen overnight and neither does the skill level of the cast. “You have to be committed. It’s not easy to do. You can’t just walk in read a scene and become an actor, it’s a process,” said sophomore Julia Payment.

Just thinking of being under the spot light in front of a crowd terrifies most people. To famous celebrities it is just a walk in the park; they appear so naturally talented and at home on the big screen.

Of course they did not start off like that, finding yourself as an actor and being able to let lose on stage is a key skill. “I don’t really get nervous anymore thanks to Mrs. Cressey she makes me feel comfortable on stage,” said sophomore Taylor Harris

Pam Cressey is the master mind behind all these brilliant productions, she herself was an actor “Us actors are like drugs, we make people happy,” said Cressey.
The roar of an audience, the laughs, the “Oh-ah’s” can certainly affect any actor’s performance. Which very well could be the reason why television companies add the fake laughter of an audience on sitcoms; it encourages the actors.

“A big part of acting for me is being fueled by the audience so to speak, if you don’t have the connection with the audience that you’re working with then your performance isn’t that great,” said senior Zachary Vermilion.

The drama department is one of the strongest at our school; anyone who is interested in expressing themselves should give acting a shot.“You can easily learn to act you just need to connect with yourself,” said Payment.

You could be surprised, maybe one day you will be on the big screen right alongside with Leonardo Dicaprio.

Photo Courtesy from holtonrowers.com

Artists are always trying to find different ways to express themselves, and some even have developed their own art forms. I recently watched two captivating videos, one of Holton Rowers and his painting process called tall paints. The other was a calculated version about pouring paints by Amy Shackleton.

Rower’s and Shackleton’s works are an unconventional form of pouring paint. It seems insanely simple, but nevertheless both result in surprisingly beautiful, psychedelic works.

Tall paints patterns are made with such vivid colors that the art pieces are almost hypnotic. Many have poured paint on a canvas to create a drip effect, but none have created sculptures such as Rowers.

Rower’s new spin on pouring paints uses many different colors of paint that are poured in small amounts from cups onto structures or square columns. This makes it so that gravity can take its part in creating the piece.

If you put a canvas down flat, it would not flow as dramatically as it does over the columns. The columns make the paint flow over multiple levels giving it the interesting bends and shapes in the pattern rather than just the look of a colorful bull’s eye. To many, the tall paint technique reminds them of an updated spirograph.
Shackleton has combined the classic technique of pouring paint with her own personal style.

Shackleton uses many different tools, but not one of them is a paint brush. She uses mustard-like bottles for each color, wires to guide the paint in lines, she rotates the canvas to create designs with the dripping paint, and moves it from the canvas on the wall to the floor to make different effects.

One may say “Oh sounds so simplistic, rotating a canvas and dripping paint,” but Shackleton creates entire cityscapes without ever touching a paint brush. She even creates cars just with a rotation of the canvas.

Although it takes days for the acrylic paint to dry, the end product of this modern art is something worth waiting for. It may not take a genius to ‘pour paint’ but Rowers and Shackleton have made an art form out of it.

Artist: Ayla Hill

Inspiration: She modeled the painting after herself, “The one on the left is how I am naturally, and the one on the right is how I am perceived to the extreme.”

Assignment: Dual portrait

     -Two different sides of yourself represented within a portrait

Time spent: Three sessions within three days

Medium: Acrylic paint

Artist: Dillon Cornelius

Inspiration: A love of tortoises and that “It just came from my imagination.”

Assignment: Mythmaking

-The Chinese saw the tortoise as a supporter of the world, its four feet being the four corners of the earth.
-In Hindu tradition, the world rests on the back of an elephant, which in turn stands upon a tortoise.
-North Americans believed that they are descended from a turtle that rids itself of its shell, and that the earth sits on the back of the Great Turtle.

Time spent: Ten sessions in two weeks

Mediums: Prisma colored pencils and chalk pastels

Artist: Brandon Johnson

Inspiration: The colors within the peacock feathers. “This is a new type of thing for me, I don’t usually draw animals, I usually like drawing people and cars.”
Assignment: Nature explosion patterns
-Up close colorful shots of nature

Time spent: Four sessions in about a week

Medium: Prisma colored pencils