As many alumni have discovered, life after high school is often filled with chances for success. Few grasp possible opportunities, but Jamie Meadows believes she has.

Meadows attended the campus from her early elementary years in 1993 through her senior year. Throughout high school, she found interest in art and took the class every year.

“Jamie was one of my students that always stood out from the crowd,” Sharon Scharf, art teacher, said. “She loves art and it showed in all of her work. Every year, at least one of her projects went to the art fair.”

Now, four years after graduation, Meadows’ work and dedication seems to have paid off. Her newest collection of paintings, As We Are Becoming, has been put on display at Azusa Pacific University for several dates in March.

“I love to paint,” Meadows said. “It’s what I have been focused on with my art, but there are still so many things I want to try.”

Meadows’ other interests include a number of other artistic mediums. She values Performance art and printmaking.

“Performance art combines my love for art and my growing interest in theatre,” Meadows said. “I also enjoy writing and I love that I was able to incorporate it into my exhibit at Azusa Pacific.”

In As We Are Becoming, many of Meadows’ paintings correspond with a quote. This is one of the many ways she has been able to blend art and literature. The majority of her inspiration behind her work comes from literary works such as Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.

“Its amazing how Meadows is able to incorporate the feeling of classic literature into her art,” Megan Joy, ’07, said. “It gives the paintings that much more symbolism and meaning.”

Meadows hopes spectators bring their own interpretation to her work. Many of the themes intended by the artist circle around the search for redemption and truth.

In the painting featured above, Meadows spent months with the development of the idea and additional time to choose the correct model, costume and props to use.

“What was neat about this painting was that it really turned out different than my original plan,” Meadows said. “We shot the reference photos at night, when I had wanted them in the day and the entire focal point of the painting shifted.”

An inspiration of the painting was the theme of never growing up from Peter Pan. The painting features a man and his shadow as he holds a deflated balloon. The shadow symbolizes the idea that adults often find themselves faced with childlike problems.

“I wanted the balloon on the wall to be a symbol of what things used to be as the man looks at the deflated balloon in his hand,” Meadows said, “The balloon used to be a good thing, but its become something old that he is unable to part with.”

Meadows sold two of the paintings in the series at the exhibit. She also received a commission to do an identical version of one that had already sold.

In the future, Meadows plans to continue painting, but also plans to delve into performance art as many of her paintings were inspired by it. Although Meadows hopes for continued success, she intends to continue with art no matter the outcome.