Talented Wilsonville artists recognized in scholastic program
“Envy” Maile Campos
Several gifted visual artists from Wilsonville High School emerged in the regional Scholastic Art Awards. The gold key, silver key, and honorable mention winners were announced on February 4th. Over two hundred art pieces were initially submitted from Christopher Shotola-Hardt’s and Angennette Escobar’s classes. However, thirty seven students received gold key recognition. This year, the Scholastic Art Awards saw an abundance of new and experienced artists with breathtaking original pieces.
Jasleen Bhullar, a junior, transformed a candid photo of her mother into a striking piece. Bhullar chose this particular photo to recreate because of the dramatic lighting and the dark contrasting tones. In the painting, vibrant beams of light cast an idyllic and heart-warming feeling.
Bhullar described her reaction to the gold key, “It was unexpected, I didn’t think that my piece was going to win.”
Sophomore Carly Shanklin received a gold key for her symbolic acrylic painting of war pigeons with detailed gas masks. She employed multiple techniques including photo-transfer, soft blending in the background, and creating shadow boxes for unexpected depth. However, Shanklin took it to the next level, adding a three-dimensional aspect. She placed artificial pigeon eggs with rolled-up messages inside the shadow boxes.
Shanklin expressed her inspiration, “My art has showed pigeons since I was a young kid, and it is a piece of history.”
Junior Maile Campos had an Art II drawing called “Envy” straight from our childhood imaginations. The detailed drawing is nothing short of magical and seamless. Campos used charcoal, graphite, and focus on shading to complete the piece. However, it had a dark twist, showing the emotion of envy in the character. The muse has a tear streak, and is gazing into the distance at something unknown.
Junior Cole Eagles’ stand-out pieces called “Mind Garden” and “Giraffe Toy” both won gold keys. For Giraffe Toy, Eagles utilized a skeleton of wire, and gradually built it up with palm and clay. The piece was then baked, and put on a wooden base and wheel.
“I have always loved animals and nature, it has become kind of my style to incorporate animals into my work,” recounted Eagles.
These phenomenal gold key winners are few of many that will be evaluated for a second time by judges, and a select few will receive gold medals. The gold medalists’ work will then be presented on display around the country. The Charbonneau Art Society’s helpful donations allowed Wilsonville High School to send a vast amount of student work from 2019 to the scholastic program.
