At the VASE state art competition, our team received the highest score of four, with several competitors even receiving scholarships. Congratulations to Geethika Ramesh, Anaya Jaybhay, Dogen Lee, Johannah Paolo, Gray Haviland, Ash Dwyer, Yousuf Ali, Alyssa Valencia and Bella Rodriguez. These students have expressed their passion for art and excelled at the state level. However, they had not always recognized this passion. Junior Geethika Ramesh expands on how and when she embraced creative work.
“I found it to be almost meditative — it was enriching to focus my attention on my creation and forget all my troubles, and it was fun to experiment with colors and patterns and see how they could work together,” Ramesh said. “As I got older, I found a special love for capturing moments, feelings and ideas in art.”
As Ramesh explains, she had always loved art from a young age, and she found peace with herself when experimenting with pieces and emotions. Senior Alyssa Valencia has similar origins.
“I recognized my passion for art at a young age as I was introduced to different mediums in elementary school,” Valencia said. “Not only did I find love for ceramics/3D art, but I found passion in music, playing instruments and theater as well.”
A similarity between Ramesh and Valencia is that they did not have a specific “time” when they realized their passion for the work, instead it is something that they had developed from a young age. Junior Johannah Paolo also believes the same.
“For me personally, I wouldn’t say that there was a specific ‘moment’ that I recognized my passion for art,” Paolo said. “Since I can remember my older sister and I simply loved to doodle and craft with whatever materials we could get our hands on.”
Although these students have similar origins in terms of art, they have differing views on what to do with their art skills going forward in college and career.
“In the future, I plan on continuing ceramics and music performance throughout university, and I hope to start selling ceramic pieces and sharing my passion with those who’d like a piece,” Valencia said. “I’m definitely keeping art as a hobby as well.”
Valencia wants to keep studying art and music in college, but the other two students believe otherwise.
“I plan on further honing my art skills as a deep and continued passion of mine” Ramesh highlights. “As such, even though I do not plan to pursue art as a career, art will remain a permanent anchor in my life that I deeply value and appreciate. ”
Ramesh wants to keep art as a dedicated passion rather than a career option, similar to Paolo.
“Honestly, my plan for my art skills is to simply continue to learn and grow more not out of a desire to perform, but out of a passion to create works that let people see through my eyes,” Paolo said. “Instead, my hope is to incorporate the perspective I have gained through art as I study another passion of mine — engineering.”
Paolo agrees with Ramesh to some extent, not creating art out of necessity but rather out of fondness. However, Paolo wants to integrate his art skills into engineering instead of keeping it a separate hobby.
Ramesh, Valencia and Paolo also have messages to fellow and aspiring artists in order to encourage them.
“While there are several granular details you can learn in an effort to pursue art, never forget what it truly means: at its core, art is your expression,” Ramesh said. “No matter what it is or how people may critique what you make, art is meant to convey and explore ideas however you see fit.”
Likewise, Paolo has a similar takeaway based on freedom of expression.
“A piece of advice I would give to aspiring and fellow artists is don’t hold back out of fear of what other people may think,” Paolo said. “One of the beautiful parts about art is it’s an expression of your perspective, don’t let fear hold you back from sharing what God has given you; what they think doesn’t change who you are.”
Valencia conveys a different theme, regarding the way art how mistakes show growth and perseverance.
“To aspiring artists, beauty is found in the cracks of your pieces or the misstrokes of your paint brush,” Valencia said. “It shows resilience and humanity, no matter if you think your pieces are good enough, please pursue your passion it if it brings you any sense of joy.”
This article was edited by Kate Duncan, Tejas Konka and Trisha Panicker.
