Whether it is an award-winning painting or magazine clippings pasted on to a board, students are encouraged to demonstrate individuality and express their personalities through a variety of mediums in art class.
While some students are given the space and time to work on individual pieces, most of Sharon Scharf’s art classes are currently working on collages.
?The collages don?t have to necessarily be made on a poster board,? Scharf said. ?Katie White (?09) cut out clippings of cowboys and cowgirls and put them on a head made out of Styrofoam. She also made a hat, and put on straw hair an a handkerchief around it?s neck.?
Scharf will choose select pieces that will be entered in the ACSI Art Festival in April. She plans to send four to five collages to the festival, including White?s western-themed artwork.
?I decided to make the cowboy head because I live out in the country and grew up with my dad and other friends who are cowboys,? White said. ?I like to make collages because it?s not a simple thing, and I like the challenge. When I?m bored some times I make collages outside of art.?
Like most art teachers, Scharf introduces new mediums throughout a semester, hoping that an idea will ignite interest and students will take ownership of their piece.
?When the students make collages, it gives them a chance to make some thing interesting, that they can be proud of,? Scharf said. ?Unlike a lot of other things they make in art, collages are something that they may hang up in their bedroom. Collages are able to show their special interests, some make them of cars, flowers or sports.?
Though the art class has begun making mobiles, students who show devotion to their collage are given extra time to finish them.
?Making collages brings out a lot of creativity from the students,? Scharf said. ?Some students say that can’t draw and a collage gives them an art opportunity without having to do any drawing. Collages have so much variety and there is so many different ways to make them.”
Last spring, Mary Sargent, ?09, won ?Best in Show? as well as ?Best in Class? for her Monet inspired collage at the ACSI Art Festival.
?Mary?s collage took about two to three months to finish,? Scharf said. ?It turned out absolutely incredible.?
Scharf allowed her to work for such extent period of time because she was able to see her focus and drive to perfect her work. Scharf stated that she would rather have her students make just a few spectacular pieces than a daily lackluster piece.
Some students such as, Ie Roon Jung, ?08, and Jennifer Boudreau, ?10, are offered to take advanced art in which they are able to choose what do make.
?My collage is based on the redemption of music,” Boudreau said. “It has a song I wrote on it and lots of guitar cut outs. However, I think that what Ie Roon has been doing is really cool, too. She?s really talented.?
While Jung has already completed her collage, she has taken advantage of Scharf’s encouragement to build her art portfolio. Jung?s most recent painting, The Tree of Life, was inspired from the Bible’s book of Genesis.
?The tree represents God, because he is the center of life,? Jung said. ?The people in it represent that we need to grab on to God to survive.?
Scharf will be sending two of Jung?s watercolor paintings to the ACSI Art Festival and one to the Congressional Art Competition. It is sponsored by Congressman George Radanovich and will be held at the Fresno Metropolitan Art Museum in Fresno in April.
Recently Scharf’s students have faired well in competitions, including grad Corrine Pogue, ’06, who placed her oil painting, ?A Fireman?s Strength?, in Congressman George Radanovich’s office for a year and Jung?s pastel of a “Young Girl Holding Sunflowers” received an honorable mention at the ACSI Fesitval in May 2006.
?I am very impressed with Ie Roon?s work because she has a natural talent,? Scharf said. ?She has been doing mainly watercolor art; I just critique it a little bit.?
Jung also recently finished a painting she titled, Lady in a Chair. She painted a portrait of her friend, Hwang Young, while trying to practice painting a human body.
?I like doing watercolor because its really fun and I like how it comes out,? Jung said. ?It was hard when I started because you can?t erase watercolor but I really like it now because you can always add more layers and more depth. It?s really expressive.?
Scharf feels that Jung has some of the highest qualities that is possible to have in art. Those interested in seeing Jung’s work only have to find her in a hallway or Scharf’s classroom (625) upstairs in Building 6. She is often working during lunch.
