3rd Place – Printmaking
 
Title of Art Piece: Nature Continues
Category: Printmaking – 2023
Student/Artist’s Name: Emily McPhetres
School: Haines High School
Grade: 9th
Artist Statement: “Nature Continues” is a drypoint etching, made using a plastic sheet instead of copper, that symbolizes death and new life. The elk skull uses shading of hatching, cross hatching, and stippling, this adds the effect of a more complete and rounded finished piece.The inspiration for the mushrooms in this piece comes from finding these tiny mushrooms growing on pine cones as I go foraging with my mother. The tiny mushrooms thriving on such a small ecosystem fascinates me, and mushrooms are essential in decomposing dead things, and giving new life a chance to live. So of course I had to add these into this piece. Butterflies symbolize purity, innocence, and grace, butterflies also symbolize new birth and transformations, making a butterfly the perfect addition for a more soft, graceful side of the etching. The process of making a drypoint etching is fascinating, and fun. Now that I am finished with this project, I am very content with how it turned out, and the message that it sends to the viewer.
Artwork Dimensions: 9.5″ x 12″
Adjudicate Artwork

Original Images:
https://artalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/52-a6a69575a0bcf9c504f5378a8b3c8199/2023/04/EmilyM-Printing.jpg