ACCLAIMED ARTIST — Brooke High School art students, from left, Ava Rohr, Anneliese Schupbach and Kasey Johnson were among top winners in a contest held by the West Virginia Art Education Association. Their winning entries as well as the works of other winners and nearly a dozen other Brooke County students will appear in the organizaton’s State Youth Art Month Exhibit to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. — Warren Scott
WELLSBURG — Using a variety of materials, three Brooke High School students created art that was among top entries in a statewide contest.
The works of Anneliese Schupbach, Kasey Johnson and Ava Lohr will be displayed, with other winners and contest entries in the West Virginia Art Education Association’s State Youth Art Month Exhibit, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center.
The organization includes art instructors at all levels, from pre-school to college, and has teamed this year with the West Virginia Watercolor Society; Dick Blick, a supplier of art supplies; and Camden Clark Medical Hospital to hold the annual competition.
In addition to receiving cash prizes and art supplies, the winners have been invited to bring a portfolio of their artwork to be reviewed by a group of college art professors who have been encouraged to offer advice and constructive criticism.
“That would be a good opportunity. I may do that just to see what they think,” said Anneliese Schupbach, a Brooke High School sophomore whose entry in the three-dimensional category earned her first place.
Entitled “Fragile,” the symbolic piece was created first for a Valentine’s Day art show and features an anatomically correct heart covered in the ornate pattern of a blue china dish perched below a descending spider, all within a wide glass bottle.
Schupbach used clay and paint to create the heart while the spider and its webs were assembled from old jewelry.
She said she’s interested in becoming an art teacher and hopes to obtain a scholarship to further her studies.
Brooke High School junior Ava Rohr’s “Sunny’s Adventure” placed second for digital art, a category established for art created using a computer.
It’s the medium of choice for Rohr, who said she was inspired to create several scenes of Sunny, a spunky, white cartoon cat bearing a red neckerchief, in various exciting situations, including a jungle confrontation with a large Venus flytrap and the threat of giant spiders.
Rohr said Sunny is her own creation, and some have suggested she create a series of children’s books featuring the character.
A fan of such television shows as “Adventure Time” and “The Amazing World of Gumball,” she hopes one day to work in animation.
Placing third in the photography category was a set of pictures entered under the title “Elapse of Time” by Kasey Johnson, a junior at the school.
Johnson used photographic effects to bring out the vivid colors of a holiday light display he had visited.
“My friends took me and I thought, that’s cool,” said Johnson, who often takes time to snap a photo of unusual things he encounters, from man-made lights to sunsets and other natural phenomena.
He said his favorite photographic effect was one he discovered accidentally.
After his broken phone camera produced a blurred shot, he has replicated the dreamy effect multiple times.
“I don’t like to edit them (the photos) much. If one is a little dark, I might lighten it,” said Johnson.
He plays saxophone in the school band while also learning other musical instruments and sees his future in that direction.
Sara Walden Roark, their art teacher, said the contest was very competitive, with no more than 11 entries accepted from each school, and it was difficult to choose from the work of her many talented students.
“We had to gather together our best work and determine what to send,” she said.
But Roark added that she’s pleased all of the entries will be displayed in the art exhibit.
In addition to Schupbach, Rohr and Johnson, art was entered by Brooke High School students Cam Harris, Logan Frame, Landen Frame and Katie Anderson.