Senior Art: Covid Art Series 2020

Lauren Savage:

OCD Wars-White Gel Pen on Regular Paper Impulsive/ Obsessed--Acrylic on Canvas Freedom?- Digital

I decided to do these for my project, because it was linked to things that actually happened during my quarantine. I didn’t leave my house much, but when I did, I had gloves, a mask, and I stayed away from as many people as I could. I got bored with how I looked and decided to do a pretty dramatic change to my head. I dyed it a dark brown, and cut it by myself. There wasn’t many times that I left my room, because I was so absorbed in everything going on with the people around me, well digitally not literally. I was on social media a lot of the time. This was not good for me, but I couldn’t take breaks from it longer than a week at a time. I decided to make the last piece about our somewhat freedom. We still have to wear our masks and keep our distance, but again, we’re able to do so much more than we did just a few months ago. I thought this should be done digitally, because I have more access to bright colors, and although this part of the pandemic still stinks, it’s a lot better than what we had.


Donovan Kurt

Too Soon - PhotographWhen I See You Again - Colored PencilKey to my Heart - Sharpie
The meaning behind this series is losing someone you love. Through this difficult time many loved ones have been lost, however each one has a different story and way they may grieve. I wanted my pieces to tell a story of the process someone may take when thinking back to their loved one, but I also wanted to make it relatable enough that each person can have their own unique interpretation of the series.

Lily Parks


Binge watching- pen
Some good news?-watercolor
Cabin fever- charcoal

My series art is based on the different things that I watched during Covid time. During this time I didn’t have much to do other than watch TV and that’s were I sought joy and entertainment. Each scene is supposed to be something that I did or felt during the Covid, “cabin fever” is how I felt internally, having to stay in a small house with my family of 5 all the time, “some good news?” is what I looked forward to watching every week when it was on youtube, and “binge watching” is for all of the TV that I watched. I used different mediums to show the tone of each piece, “cabin fever” is a dark tone, “some good news” shows the joy so I used watercolor, and “binge watching” has a neutral tone to show that lack of focus.


Hailey Blanchard

Phone, markers

Sears Island, acrylic paint, small wood

Denki Mask, watercolor, watercolor paper

For my first project I decided to use markers and draw a picture of my phone with headphones. During quarantine I was always on my phone unless I was going somewhere. The headphones in the drawing represents how much I listened to music and how music always took up a lot of my time.My second art piece I did was the painting of Sears Island on the wood. Sears Island was the place I went the most and it’s one of my favorite places to go to. I used an actual picture I took while I was there as a base for my painting.My third piece is a watercolor painting of the mask I drew on. Masks are a big thing right now and I wanted to paint a picture of the one I drew on.I also made a fourth painting with acrylic like the Sears Island one, on this wood piece I painted a picture of Hawks, who is my favorite character from the anime that I obsessed over the most during quarantine.



My series title: Faces I Know

By: Nancy Dauphinais


My Covid art series called “Faces I Know” is a project that will consist of a grid of 49 watercolor, gel, and ink pieces once it’s complete. The title of each one of these pieces will be the name that belongs to the pair of eyes painted on the paper. Neatly however, these names when displayed inside of my school will not be directly disclosed, but instead listed below the series, encouraging viewers to interact with my paintings. Hopefully in the process of painting eyes that are familiar to me around Nokomis, I will have also painted eyes that are familiar to other people within Nokomis. In this way, my viewers should not require a name attached directly below each painting, for even if just one set of eyes is familiar to them (as each set has become to me over the past few years), they will be able to picture the rest of that person’s face in their mind’s eye. The paintings that I have done feature uniquely muddled backgrounds that draw the central focus towards the eyes pictured in the center of each painting. I made the careful decision to include the upper portion of each person’s mask in my paintings, since this is not only a symbol of the pandemic, but each mask adds a little bit more to the character and distinct personality of each set of eyes. The primary medium that I worked with in this project was watercolor, which I thought would produce the imperfectly intentional effect that I wanted to carry through in this series. My objective was not simply to recreate faces, but to relay a feeling through them -- through each pair of eyes. My work captures honest and candid moments, and it features the most intimate transaction most people have with each other nowadays, that is looking into one another’s eyes. Lately it’s been staring at laptops. Lately it’s been staring at the news on television. Lately it’s been google hangouts staring at icons instead of faces. In just a moment of meeting eyes with a friend in the hallway, or a family member, or a teacher, one can be reminded that in some ways, nothing has changed at all . . . and this, to me, is comforting.

Paula Dauphinais

Art piece #1: If Tornadoes Were Pink -- watercolors, gouache, pastels, gel pens -- 18” by 24”

Art piece #2: The Bridges That Bind Us -- watercolors, gouache, pastels, gel pens -- 18” by 24”

Art piece #3: Only Up Fro m Here -- watercolors, gouache, pastels, gel pens -- 18” by 24”


Throughout the pandemic, life has felt similar in quality to a dystopian novel or a weird dream. Right when life seems like it couldn’t possibly get any stranger, the impossible happens: sharks in Maine waters, killer hornets, wildfires in California, and on a more positive note, the tension of these times has pushed America to undergo some much needed reform. Despite the sense of discomfort that accompanies not knowing what tomorrow will bring, this pandemic has been a source of deep connections, personal projects, and new adventures. My family and I spent the summer hiking, and exploring different parts of Maine each weekend. Never before this summer had I realized how much Maine had to offer, and my appreciation for Maine’s natural beauty has grown immensely. This appreciation shines through in my art series, wherein nature is a key component, meanwhile the vibrant colors and unrealistic landscapes portrayed are indicative of the dreamlike vibes I’ve experienced throughout Covid-19. Moreso, these happy elements of fantasy convey the optimistic outlook I’ve maintained throughout the pandemic, which I wish to share with others. Growing up, my twin has always been my best friend, and isolating together during the pandemic reminded us of our younger selves when we relied on our creativity and imaginations for entertainment; this is the basis for certain childhood references in my art. Three main themes included in my series are isolation, connection, and hope. Altogether, my art is intended to put a fun and whimsical twist on the events that have unfolded since Covid-19 broke out. I realize that I’ve been fortunate during this time, so I do not mean to minimize or make light of the devastation that many have experienced and are experiencing as a result of Covid. My only goal is to bring smiles to the faces that have been hiding behind masks for so long, to bring lightness to the hearts that have been heavy with anxiety about tomorrow, and to remind people that this too will pass.



Brooke bagley

The woods

The masked girl

Tree

For my Covid art I did One drawing of a girl wearing a mask, a painting of a tree because that's all I would see when I looked out my window during quarantine Then the last one is a picture I took of the latest adventure with my family.



Autumn Grignon

Exhaustion-pen & marker-10x8 1/2Standing Still-pen & water color-17x11Carefree-colored pencils- 7 1/2x8 1/2
During covid and quarantine different people were doing different things, living different lives. While somewhere struggling, others were not. Of course everyone had to deal with the fear that came with knowing there was deadly virus outbreak occurring in our country, but life styles differed. The first art piece represents an essential worker, in this case a nurse, who is tired and exhausted from all the hard work they have put in during these times. The second piece represents someone who has all these ambitions and creative ideas that they want to pursue, but during quarantine are caused to be stuck still and held back from going out and pursuing those dreams. The last piece represents someone who ultimately was that affected by quarantine, someone like a celebrity, that is financially stable and was able to just relax during their time alone during covid.

Marissa Scholten

So Close- marker- 8.5 by 5.5

A Murders Warning- digital- 11” by 8.5”

Runaway-Oil- 11” by 13.5”

The pieces that I made show a more personal side of this situation. The crow is a mimicking bird and is shown to repeat the words we all have been hearing nonstop. The lucky cat wandering the empty streets outside is the hopeful future when this is all over. The runaway girl is the frustration we feel about to wage war with ourselves as a society. It is also a parallel to the many native americans who died due to disease during colonization because of our very society. I can hear them say how does it feel now?

Logan Wilson

I made four pieces that I believe captured what I mainly did over quarantine which was work, art, sleeping, and games. I made these four pieces all on digital and I tried changing up my style in each piece.

The first piece I did was digital art over a picture. I was inspired by other artists that have done something similar and I'm glad I tried it out. The tricky thing about it is that you need to keep some of the picture there and still have a digital piece on top of it.

My second piece was Art and I just did a regular digital piece with shading.I think it turned out alright. I'm not a huge fan of it but it's not bad.

The third piece was gaming. It's another digital piece and I tried not using shadows. This one is my least favorite out of all the pieces. It feels rushed and just doesn't look good at all.

The fourth and last piece was sleeping and I tried making it with only colored lines and this piece was by far the best digital piece that i've probably ever made. I love the messiness of the piece and the colored lines on top of it.

Olivia Royal


Blooming Again --- Embroidery --- 8 inch hoop I made this piece because I wanted to capture the moment of how I felt about this pandemic. I used embroidery because I wanted to do something different then the typical drawing or paint medium when creating this piece, so I used a medium that I had not used in while that I enjoyed doing. The meaning of this piece is to spark hope that the world “will bloom again” and we will get through this.
Essential Worker --- Acrylic --- 16 x 20 During this pandemic there was a saying that “essential workers matter” and as an essential worker that worked over the summer in the heat of the pandemic I took it personally. This self portrait is of me in my work uniform with the repetition of the saying “essential workers matter” in bold black print as the background. This is a message that we still matter evnen the young workers working in the front lines. For this piece I just used simple acrylic paint on a canvas to get my message across.
We Breath Too --- multi media display piece--- 10 inches So this piece was just something that just came to me. I just had a feeling that I should put a mask on a plant. And that's what I did. I know plants don't technically breathe but the whole idea of plants breathing I had the idea to put a mask on a plant. It's a statement piece, the person who looks at it can interpret their own message on how they feel about this piece of art.



Zander Ysewyn