Students show their creativity with 3-D art shaped from clay.
It’s a talent that Hilliard Middle-Senior High School senior Tyson Nikkola didn’t realize he had.
The art student took a cue from teacher Vickie Whigam and used a paper clip to shape the bottom of a jar. After the art piece is shaped to his liking, it will be fired in a kiln.
“It’s pretty fun,” Nikkola said. “I like making stuff. This is the first time I’ve done it.”
Meanwhile, classmate Meihui Wu concentrates on folding an orange piece of paper into an origami tulip. She has also crafted a cat from paper maché and fashioned other origami flowers. With plans to study business to become a furniture designer, creative ideas come naturally.
“I can create my own style and I don’t have to buy it,” Wu said.
At West Nassau High School, junior Jesse Fromknecht brushes light blue paint onto a square ceramic piece that he plans to use to amplify music from his smart phone.
“I listen to music a lot and I’m getting tired of spending money on Bluetooth and stuff,” he said. “I like taking and making stuff from the past and using it for technology purposes.”
In the 3-D art classes at both schools, students have opportunities to relieve stress associated with academics. Yet they may also stress over art projects as they stretch their artistic boundaries. Students often encourage their peers as they work on class projects.
WNHS art teacher April Eason strives to eliminate students’ fears. She also leads a 2-D art class.
“I want them to explore art without being afraid to do it,” she said. “Because of the anxiety associated with it, I don’t want them to shut down on me, because I want them to do different art.”
She embraces the challenge of helping students do the unexpected, especially since she began drawing and painting at age 30.
“If Mozart never touched a piano, he probably wouldn’t know he could play music,” Eason said.
Fromknecht has flourished under Eason’s teaching style.
“(She’s) amazing,” he said. “She’s very energetic. She’s good with students. She gives meaning to creativity.”
HMSHS’ Theo Anderson fashions an urn as he molds the clay with his hands.
“It feels pretty great,” the senior said. “I thought it would crack up in my hands and break. But it didn’t.”
Anderson most recently fashioned a pitcher to pour water on his flowers at home.
“It turned out nice,” he said.
Whigam visited students, answering questions and offering advice as they worked, each in different phases of his or her art projects. She moved throughout the room, stopping to work the potter’s wheel or reshape objects.
Whigam has taught art for nearly 30 years in various schools in the U.S. and abroad. She utilizes objects like paper clips to help students trim the clay or etch designs. She also teaches 2-D Art.
“I want them to have the experience of working with unusual supplies,” she said. “I want them to learn to use their imagination even though they are close to the grown-up world. I want art to be an enjoyable and memorable experience for them.”
HMSHS student Haylee Kruger has taken a few art classes from Whigam.
“I’ve had her a lot, so I know her really well,” she said.
HMSHS senior Brooke Swanson displayed a ukulele she constructed from a cardboard gift box and colored rolled paper. Construction paper comprised the instrument’s strings.
“I play the ukulele so I wanted to portray it through art,” she said.
Swanson plans to study computer programming in college. She also enjoys the intellectual freedom found in art.
“I like that we get to be creative and innovative,” Swanson said.
At WNHS, Emma Brinson paints a ceramic container with symbols related to “Star Wars.”
The art class gives her time to decompress. She plans to become an event coordinator and she appreciates the value of artistic pursuits.
Likewise, classmate Terrence Singleton leans in to paint pink flowers on a small bowl.
The senior enrolled in the class for fun. But he also learned that he has special traits.
“I’m a perfectionist,” Singleton said. “I like colors.”