Student/Artist’s Name: Nicole Breiting
School: Dimond High School
Grade: 10th
Artist Statement: We all have pondered the idea of what happens to our souls when they leave the body. The dramatic dark background with the smoke curling upward, makes us ponder.
Student/Artist’s Name: Laurie Balstad
School: Juneau-Douglas High School
Grade: 10th
Artist Statement: Ballerina’s hold their hands like this. Charcoal is so messy, but it’s magical and exquisite, like ballet. I’m a dancer and I love charcoal!
Student/Artist’s Name: Amanda Gassan
School: Thunder Mountain High School
Grade: 11th
Artist Statement: During five years of our school, we always used somebody’s falcon, taken from the internet. This year I created a falcon that became our school logo. I am very proud! To create the falcon, I merged three different reference photographs together and based on them drew the falcon image completely the way I wanted. I traced my new falcon creation, added color and incorporated thunder and lightning because we are Thunder Mountain High School! I had two layer font – one was white with a glow and the other was black.
Artwork Dimensions: 10 inches high x 8 inches wide
Student/Artist’s Name: Lily Grey
School: Eagle River High School
Grade: 9th
Artist Statement: I think that the ability to capture a moment by creating a drawing is an amazing experience. I love to sit down a let my emotions out through a pencil. My drawings usually reflect myself in some way or another.
Artwork Dimensions: 11 Inches High x 8 Inches Wide
Student/Artist’s Name: Jamie Yerkes
School: Nikiski High School
Grade: 9th
Artist Statement: I chose to make my portrait of a wolf because I was attracted to the wolf’s qualities. Its fearlessness and brave attributes. Plus, it’s a great representation of an Alaskan animal.
Student/Artist’s Name: Erin Buhler
School: Thunder Mountain High School
Grade: 11th
Artist Statement: This piece is a combination of who I am, what I like. I love the color purple and chose this indigo color to go with the dark graphite. The decorative line work shows a part of me that is not tangible.
Student/Artist’s Name: MiAnna Dillon
School: Lathrop High School
Grade: 12th
Artist Statement: I used colored pencil to try create the light and airy feeling of the dandelion fluff. I enjoy texture, and trying to create the appearance of many textures with just colored pencil.
Student/Artist’s Name: Emma Zayon
School: Lathrop High School
Grade: 11th
Artist Statement: I enjoy drawing with colored pencils on dark paper because of the contrast and intensity of color I feel I can achieve. This piece is about the seasons changing from Winter to Spring.
Student/Artist’s Name: Joseph Carr
School: Mat-Su Central
Grade: 12th
Artist Statement: I adore equipment and mechanisms from past eras. One of my many passions is collecting vintage film cameras and projectors. The pride and joy of my collection would be my beautiful Pollard Bolex 16mm camera. To me the precision, mechanical and aesthetic achievement represents an old beauty that combines form and functionality in a totally analog system of synchronized beauty. This rendering is my attempt to convey its intrinsic form and beauty.
Student/Artist’s Name: Aidan Barlow-Diemer
School: West Anchorage High School
Grade: 12th
Artist Statement: I am an IB Baccalaureate developing a portfolio on portraits of Alaskan Wildlife. The drawing of this wood bison derived from a photo that I took at the Wildlife Conservation Center. I free handed the outline of the bison and then used stippling to finish the image. This piece is important to me because it represents a piece of Alaskan culture and environment; the Wildlife Conservation Center’s annual release of wood bison into the interior of Alaska has a significance in representing our state’s relationship with our unique environment and wildlife.
Artwork Dimensions: 24 inches high x 20 inches wide
Student/Artist’s Name: Laura Horton
School: East Anchorage High School
Grade: 11th
Artist Statement: This drawing represents generations in Alaska. It depicts a tree, my father, and myself. The layout of the drawing lets the viewer see, in a less obvious way, the number 100, because it is the 100th anniversary of the city of Anchorage. The people are wearing fur trimmed hoods to acknowledge the Native heritage in Alaska. It is drawn in graphite and white gel pen.
Student/Artist’s Name: Katie Buchanan
School: Juneau-Douglas High School
Grade: 11th
Artist Statement: My focii in this piece were rendering convincing masculine features and creating believable, not “drawn-on,” freckles. I chose to experiment with layering ink, charcoal and graphite, aiming to achieve the depth and translucence of skin, and to unite the 3 drawing medium seamlessly. It was a challenging project that I hope you enjoy.