Pictured: Izzy Garrett’s untitled piece
Lou Neal, Editor of The Spark
As the spring semester opens, AP 2-D Art students of Watauga High School are beginning to delve further into their portfolios. In this unique college-level course, students must create a sustained investigation (SI), or theme, that they will follow throughout the course while creating pieces that explore and expand their chosen SI, culminating in a scored portfolio at the end of the year. Each SI is unique to the student and usually explores themes like identity, culture, nature, and more.
Olivia Flores, a current Watauga High School senior, is choosing to explore the nuances of fashion, ballet, love, and pain as she prepares to pursue fashion design after high school.
“I have always been conscious of the good and the bad in the things I love, like fashion and ballet, so I wanted to put that into art because I think it explains the feeling better than I can with words,” said Flores.
Creating an SI takes time, creativity, and thought. Larisa Muse and Izzy Garrett, two other seniors, are choosing to highlight the parallels between nature and humanity in their portfolios.
“I chose this topic so I could highlight personal milestones, or events that have had an impact on my life without doing portraits. Instead I chose to share these memories through the lens of frogs,” said Muse. “How do milestones in the life cycle of animals parallel to milestones for humans?”
Animals, geography, bodies of water, and flowers are often utilized in SIs, like those of Muse and Garrett. Garrett, who plans on attending Penland Art School after graduation, is studying how flowers can represent and mimic her personal features.
AP Art allows for free range over mediums used in portfolios, and the students are taking full advantage of this freedom.
“I tend to use a variety of different mediums in my art, but i'm probably using mostly colored pencils, acrylic paint, and charcoal,” said Flores. “These are mediums I have been using forever and I am super comfortable in, but also that I would like to challenge myself with more to do new things with them in my portfolio.”
Though mediums like watercolor, paint, and graphite are common, Garrett is planning to branch beyond the traditional media and incorporate fabric into her pieces.
AP 2-D Art, though challenging, is a creatively invigorating class that allows students to explore more technical art forms and mediums while learning to describe and add depth to their pieces.
“AP Art is by far the most influential class I’ve taken at this high school,” said Garrett. “I truly love AP Art.”
“I would definitely recommend this class! It's a great way to step away from structured assignments and branch out to your own interests and really be able to tell a story through your art work,” said Muse.
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