Flora

Mega Shroom Hidden In The Forest

Calvin Fokkens, Grade 10

Pencil/Graphite on Paper

School: Port Colborne High School

Teacher: Ms. Sandra Palencar

Principal: Mr. Paul Taylor

Artist Statement: The inspiration for this artwork was an old conversation with my sister and subsequent idea that I sketched on a paper. I built it up slowly and divided by parts, and the sketch style works well. It involved a lot of playing around with techniques and references to match what I was going for.

To even get to the drawing portion, I had to think for an enormous amount of time on what I wanted to compose, in fact I'd say I spent more time brainstorming than drawing. From thinking about themes, styles, line media etc… it all came down to time, thus I chose what was more comforting and time efficient, so I used pencil and my piece has this “organic”/nature theme.

Change and Transitions, The Cycle Of Life

Kieran McCann, Grade 12

Photography

School: St. Catharines Collegiate

Teacher: Ms. Cassie Randall

Principal: Mrs. Johanna Provost

Artist Statement: The inspiration for the work came from wanting to try and create something of my own. Nature and seasons constantly change over time and, sure, it's something most of us are used to, but to break it down it goes from warm colours in peaceful environments to early fall to cold winters with a sense of giving off a mysterious type of vibe. The progression in seasons every year when taking photos is something that definitely stands out to me because of change. When looking at my style for photography I always try to do things different compared to others by striving to capture and make these photos my own by making them unique. I took this photo on my iPhone 8 and there were no post-edits done.

I got on the ground and took the picture. I found taking more than one photo really helped. Mainly because I could go through all the pictures that I did for that shot and do the process of elimination to see what worked and what didn't. It also wasn't one of those things where I took a few photos, got off the ground and left; I was probably on the ground taking pictures for about 10 minutes. But I don't regret it. My perspective is, you can't rush anything in life especially in art because the longer you wait and the longer it takes to work on something the better results you will get.

Elements used in the photo when looking at it was the Rule of Thirds and a complimentary color theory using the dark red from the leaf and the dark green grass.The foreground, middle and background create a depth of field. The image/photo represents a seasonal transition from summer to the early stages of fall. The photo also uses line shown by the direction of the vertical grass.

When looking back at this image/photo I'm happy with how it turned out. I was able to draw the attention/main focus of the photo to the leaf while making other elements in the photo (such as the grass) background stand out. If there was anything I would change about this photo I would have liked to have used a proper DSLR Canon models. But other than, that I don't think I would retake this photo again because I’m content with how it turned out.

Spring Fungus

Abi Serfas, Grade 9

Printmaking 9X12 in

School: Welland Centennial Secondary School

Teacher: Mrs. Lori Thibault

Principal: Mrs. Tammy Zonneveld

Artist Statement: My theme for my first Artisan card was spring and mushrooms. I was inspired by basic mushrooms but I wanted to add a surreal element to it by making them bright and happy colours. I did printmaking for my final copy, and used the special ink to create my artwork. I used the colours blue, red and black, and for one of my designs mixed blue and black. One of the challenges I faced was trying to actually print onto the paper because I didn’t want it to smudge or get any excess ink on the paper. I struggled with making the transfer as clean and smooth as possible, but I think the end results were pretty good.

Rose

Bethany Vanderlaan, Grade 10

Clay in CD case 5.5 X 5

School: Beamsville District Secondary School

Teacher: Mrs. Kristel Niemi

Principal: Mr. Matt Wilson

Artist Statement: Hi I am Bethany E. Vanderlaan I am a grade 10 student at Beamsville Secondary School. I have 3 cats and a couple of fish. Let's talk about my art. This Rose has a special place in my heart. My grandpa and I used to plant roses and vegetables. This piece of art is made of clay inside a CD case.