Q: Since we profiled you last spring, which work of art created this school year are you the most proud of?
A: I think, as a collection, my hand pieces from my overall Wicca collection for AP Art. I really like those a lot.

Q: Why?
A: They’re very simple, but I think that’s what captured my style the most.

Q: Describe the process you took with this piece.
A: I started with the general concepts from my concentration, which is Wicca, and then I looked into the smaller parts of that. I focused on divination for at least the majority of the pieces. I also think hands were a very integral part. When you think of magic, you think of your hands as your tools, so I really wanted to focus on the hands working with tools. Also, hand are notoriously difficult to draw, so I thought it’d be very interesting to do that in my own style.

Q: What challenges did this piece present?
A: Like I said, hands are very difficult. Also, coloring skin is a very difficult process because you have a lot of different undertones. You have blue undertones, you have yellow undertones, and especially with watercolor, it was a little bit of a difficult process to make the skin tone look really nice.

Q: How have you grown as an artist this past year?
A: I think I’ve found more interest in having meaning behind my pieces. Definitely having more focus on nature, femininity or things that are meaningful or important to me at the time.

Q: What do you hope people take away from your art?
A: I hope people can enjoy it, not only aesthetically, but also be able to look for symbolism and deeper
meaning within it. But I definitely put aesthetics at a very high place. I want them to look at it and think it’s beautiful first off.

Q: What advice would you give to younger Cougar artists coming through our art program?
A: I would say definitely focus a lot on working with realism and drawing the human forms, and just practice things in realistic ways. That way, when you apply your style, because I know a lot of people have a cartoon or anime focused style when they start out, but working on those foundations will really improve anything you do style wise. I would also encourage them to look at other artists and decide what they like about other artists, how they develop their style, what they personally like doing with their art, and how that can shape their style and make them more unique as an individual artist.

Q: What are your plans for next year?
A: I’m attending NC State for exploratory studies and will hopefully learn more about myself and figure out what I want to do with my career. And hopefully, I’ll be able to continue creating to some capacity.

Q: What role will art play in those plans?
A: Hopefully, I will continue to create and be creative to some capacity.
And if it ends up not being my primary line of work, I would like to continue doing it in my free time because it is a very relating and fulfilling activty for me.

Q: Where do you, hopefully, see yourself in ten years?
A: I really look forward to living a family life, like having a house, having a kis, being married, so I really look forward to that. Having a steady income, and living a standard life.