“FALLING INTO HEAVEN”

PHILIP ALTVATER

HOLLAND CHRISTIAN GRADE 12

This piece came from a series of work which as a whole depicts many different structures flying into pieces. Most of these are different buildings such as an office/apartment, house, suggested wall of a cathedral and a factory. Even if the building is not seen in the picture, there are definable parts to the structure-like furniture, walls/rubble, bricks, pipes, or iron I beams. In this series I wanted my work to look more orderly than an actual explosion. I wanted it to be apparent that these buildings and people were being sucked up by something intentionally. I displayed that by making a stream of rubble with somewhat defined boundaries. This suggests order in an extremely chaotic situation. I enjoyed taking a serious and somewhat dark, chaotic situation and putting life into it. One of my goals was to make a dark situation into a playfully beautiful one that is ultimately not just about destruction but also about transformation.

“KUBUKI”

CONNOR BADE

WEST OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

I was given the assignment by Mrs. Propst to look into a specific culture and research their art forms. I chose the Samurai/Japanese culture because of their artistic style, vibrant colors and subject on nature.

“AUSGEWAHLT IDENTITAT (CHOSEN IDENTITY)”

JACOB BECKER

HOLLAND HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

My work began as just a side project for when I finished my work, a little work to strengthen my current and more advanced Photoshop skills. Once the project was assigned, I realized I could turn this extra work into something more than intended. My work reflects my unique individualism and how each and every one of us chooses who we are and who we become in the end. The distractions and obstacles of life (color assorted leaves) only keep us from the true self we can become (chrome apple). Making this piece took me more than just a few moments, it took me many steps. The first of the steps was to make the original red apple into a chrome apple, to get the proper shine and reflecting correct. Step two was to put the face in the apple and fade it enough to make it appear as a reflection. Next, making the bare hand into a stone hand, and finally, adding smoke affects on top of the leaves I colored.

“MERCURY”

JAMES BROE

SAUGATUCK HIGH GRADE 11

This piece originally started as an experiment with waterproof paper and watercolor. Once the background was under, we were told to make it into something that defines us. The first thing that came to my mind was running, seeing as portraying artistry in the piece would be a bit redundant. So, I drew a picture of my hand holding my cross country spikes. Cross Country is very large part of my life, and has therefore been heavily influential. As for the title of the piece, “Mercury”, in Roman Mythology, is the messenger god, characterized for his speed. Obviously, when I’m running, I want to go first, so it’s understandable that I would chose someone known for speed. Short of being cocky, I find the title suitable.

“PAINTED TURTLE”

ALLISON CHARNELY

SPRING LAKE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11

I’ve always loved painted turtles ever since I was a kid. I thought it would make a great 3D painting. I used my love of painted turtles as my inspiration for this project.

“FALLING WATERS”

FORREST CHERRY

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

This famous house located in Pennsylvania was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. I was inspired by my architecture class I enrolled in at Grand Haven High School. During this class I learned about many famous houses and architects but Fallingwater was much different than the others. The architecture of this house showed great lines, while the nature added balance. Wright made mistakes within the foundation of his house, but he worked through the troubles until he was finished. Just like Wright, I made mistakes, but I molded and fixed the odd areas until it was also complete.

“SUBLIME”

EMILY CHILVERS

ZEELAND EAST GRADE 12

“LAVENDER”

ELYN COUREY

HOLLAND HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12

This past year I have unknowingly developed a theme of balloons. Why balloons? I wasn’t sure at first why I always ended up with balloons - but this is the best of my theories: I love balloons! Simple but true. They make me happy in a whimsical, childlike, sunshiny way. Art is one way I can share my thoughts with others. So, this year I have been spreading joy through my work. Why is it named “Lavender”? There’s no deep meaning just that it seems to be the only color I didn’t incorporate in the piece. The background is blues and greens, and the foreground is warm colors. So, if not in the piece itself, I let the color have the title. Enjoy!

“TEATIME”

KATELYN DATEMA

HOLLAND CHRISTIAN GRADE 10

This is a painting of a picture I found. I didn’t know if I wanted the same blue-gray color they had, but with playing around with it I found a blue-green-gray color that really worked for it. It was an assignment I had to do at my school (painting class) and Miss Ridle (my awesome art teacher) really helped me see things I was missing.

“MAD ABOUT YOU”

LINDSEY HEILEIN

HUDSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12

Our assignment was to paint a portrait in the style of Chuck Close; this was fantastic news to me, as I’ve always relished drawing faces. However, I was unfamiliar with painting so it was with a new experience for me. I chose Twiggy as my subject because I have always been enamored with vintage fashion, and she was of course a style icon of the ‘60’s.

“ABANDONDED TIME”ADRIAN GONZALEZ

ALLENDALE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12The inspiration for this work came from a class that I took under Erin Overmeyer at Allendale High School.

“MYSELF INCLUDED”

LINDSEY JONES

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

Mrs. McElfish gave us the assignment to paint a self-portrait in the style of a painter well-known for their portraits. I chose Philip Iverson, because I was inspired by the harshness of his brushstrokes and bold colors. I wanted to use his style to create a new version of myself.

“NO TRESPASSING”

SARA LAARMAN

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12

With my photo I wanted to depict a sense of rebellion. I took it in the Upper Peninsula while visiting in October. The photo makes it seem like you’re walking towards the buildings, like you broke the rules and trespassed. The no trespassing sign is off to the side, giving a sense that you’ve already gotten passed it. I was lucky with this picture and it turned out better than I could have imagined.

“COMING THROUGH THE SHADOWS”

KELSEY LOTHSCHUTZ

COOPERSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

“SELF-PORTRAIT”

HENRY MANGELSDORF

CAREERLINE TECH CENTER GRADE 12

This was done for a self-portrait in my Visual Communications class. My self-portrait is a modern take on cubism and I started by making the cubic face over a photo of myself and then on Photoshop filled the cubes with different pictures of myself. Then I used some lighting effects and gradients to get the coloring how I want it. After the picture of me was done, I then made the explosion coming out my head. The creative colorful explosion coming out of my handsome, almost expressionless cubic face is making the point that there is a lot more to people then you see at first glance and that getting to know them is what gives “color” or personality to them, which is why I made the side of my face away from the explosion de-saturated, to point out that without looking into people more deeply, they have no color and are bland.

“ SKITTLES” STEPHANIE NELSON CAREERLINE TECH CENTER GRADE 12Curiosity, one of the most powerful urges a person can experience. It opens doors to new possibilities and expands knowledge. By this impulse, I began to make art. As a young child, I grew surrounded by art. When I drew stick people and stick animals, I realized I was not satisfied with the unrealistic pictures that only my mom could love. So I began to teach myself ways to draw better. Since then, the thrill of creating something’s new has compelled and inspired me. My art reflects the good things in life. Life can be hard and cruel, but there is more to life than just the negative. So anything that makes me happy, I use as a subject in hopes to remind my viewers of the happiness life can bring. As people view my work, I always hope that they will smile, laugh, or reminiscent on a fond memory. I created Skittles for a prismacolor class at Kendall College of Art and Design. My goal was to learn as much as possible from creating one piece, so I picked something challenging. I picked skittles as my subject because they are one of my favorite candies. Creating this piece holds a lot of fond memories for me, so I hope you enjoy my skittles. Try not to get too hungry.

“UNTITLED (SPOON)”

BRIANNA OVERKAMP

CAREERLINE TECH CENTER GRADE 10

This painting was an assignment for my 2-dimensional design class. We were required to choose a simple object to paint in acrylic as an opener to the next medium we would be working with. I chose this spoon because its form was very simple, but its reflective surface gave it an intriguing complexity.

“SUNFLOWER”

KATHERINE PAPERELLA

SPRING LAKE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12

When I was younger I didn’t really like art that much because I wasn’t the best at drawing or painting. Freshman and sophomore years I took art classes just because that’s what my guidance counselor told me to do. I ended up in a multimedia art class and for the first time, had the opportunity to experiment with 3-dimensional art. This is when I began to love art. My teacher, Mr. Tiano, taught me everything I needed to know about clay. I did a few clay pieces and worked with copper a little bit and decided to combine those skills. This multimedia style has influenced this piece, and almost every project I do.

“WOODCUT-6 PANEL FLOWERS”

LAUREN ROBERT

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 9

I am originally from northern Michigan but have recently moved down to the Grand Haven area. I have lived near Lake Michigan and northern Michigan forests all my life. I let the world around me inspire my art work, but I tend to add my own abstract touch. When I was doing the Six Flowers piece, I wanted it to be different from everyone else’s design but also different from designs I have done in the past. So, instead of copying my sketch out of a design book, like most of the other kids, I came up with my own design. First, I had to copy my design onto a piece of rubber that I would carve the picture out of. After all of the carving was done, I painted washes with watercolors on rice paper. I printed my first layer in white onto the rice papers. Then I had to carve away the parts of my design that I didn’t want to show up on the second layer. For the second layer, I chose black. I chose black and white to make the flowers an interesting shadow look that would pop out on top of the colorful washes.

“HOTEL CALIFORNIA”

HOUSTON SALDIVAR

HOLLAND HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 12

The inspiration that I needed to create this piece was given to me by my art teacher, Mr.

Rife. He taught me that even the most simple of things that surround us in our daily lives.

“CROWS IN A WINTER SCENE”

PAUL SHEPHARD

ALLENDALE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11

I chose to do this illustration of a bleak cold landscape, riddled with carrion birds, in hope that it may cause people to think upon how life should not be wasted on one’s self, but should be used for the good of others. Without love, the world will fall to this.

“KORN”

DARIO SHUMPERT

COOPERSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11

The title of my photograph is Korn. The meaning of this piece reflects the idea that corn in our generation has double meaning. Most teenagers hear the corn, they think of the band Korn and its controversial lyrics and obscene manners. Most adults hear the word corn and think of the natural qualities. This image plays on the double sided meaning of words and how each generation interprets the words meaning.

“PEACOCK”

BRIANNA SLAGH

ZEELAND WEST HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

My inspiration for my artwork was the beauty of nature. Too many people these days are too busy and don’t take the time to just look around them and appreciate the beauty of our world. If you never take time to stop and smell the roses, you can miss so much. All the different colors and textures that are within this peacock really jump out at me and that is why I chose to do it.

“SIAMESE SEA HORSES”

REBECCA VU

HUDSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11

In my design and crafts class, we were assigned to do a painting in which we had to first draw an animal, then draw the same animal at a different angle and overlap it with the previous animal. The requirements were to use solid black and on other color. In my painting, I drew a close-up of a sea horse and overlapped it with a full body image of the animal. I used a technique where I did a lot of connecting of lines to make different shapes in the painting, so I could individually paint each shape either pink or black. I chose to do a sea horse because I have a profound love for the sea and sea horses, I think are enchanted creatures.

“THE GUARD”

JANE WILEY

SAUGATUCK HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 10

“MY LITTLE SISTER”

HALEY WOLTERS

ZEELAND EAST HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11

In my advanced drawing class we were given the assignment “Art with Text.” I wanted to make a picture for my biological father who I inherited my artistic genes from. This is a portrait of his second oldest daughter, Raelyn.