8The Reporter • October 2011

9(features)The Reporter • October 2011

ailey Barney, senior, has been drawing ever since she first picked up a crayon. Typically, Barney prefers doing oil paintings and portraits, but she has dabbled in art with unconventional materials

a few times. Barney said that she once created a sketchbook painting out of nail polish.In a world where technology seems to have taken over and where kids’ creativity seems to be at a null, there are still

a few kids defying that trend. Whether they’re making a painting out of nail polish, bracelets out of Starbursts wrappers, or chain mail out of pop tabs, these students are the epitome of creativity.

Kenzie Getz, sophomore, doesn’t typically do things involving art. “I wouldn’t really consider myself an “artsy” person,” Getz said. “I usually just doodle on my homework.”However, Getz also said that she makes bracelets out of Starbursts wrappers sometimes. She found out how to do it

on the internet and says it only takes about 15 minutes to make one. She said she has made up to 50 of them in the last year or so.

Nicholas Hermes, freshman, uses his ingenuity to make numerous items. “I made chain mail out of soda pop tabs and I’ve made blow dart guns from pens, but that’s just scratching the surface,

really,” Hermes said. Hermes’ chain mail required a lot of dedication, as it took him somewhere between four and six months to create, but

he said the end result was well worth it. “It was definitely worth the time because I wouldn’t have been doing anything else as productive or as awesome with

my time,” Hermes said. Susan Blankenship, art teacher, also uses unconventional materials from time to time, both for

her art classes and for her own art. “I like to have my classes bring things from home, usually two-dimensional ob-jects,” Blankenship said. “And right now I’m planning a mosaic where I’m asking people to bring in any old glass or pottery and we’ll smash it and use it to create a

recycled mosaic.” Blankenship often incorporates recycled or reused objects into her art. “I like to use recycled paper to make sculptures,” Blankenship said. “And we

have a lot of various items that students will bring in to see if we can find some use for them. Even if it’s not right away, we eventually find a use for everything.”

Blankenship said that incorporating unconventional materials into artwork takes a lot of inventiveness.

“I think that to find a really creative use for an otherwise common material just requires a lot of creativity,” Blankenship said.

Luke Larson, sophomore, and Lindsey Holtz, senior, both put their creativity into their photography.

“I once took a long exposure picture of myself and went over my face with a laser so that it only recorded the lines and contour of my face,” Larson said.

Larson said that he prefers unconventional forms of photography to typical ones.

“I definitely like photographing in unusual ways better,” Larson said. “I’m a very abstract person.”

Holtz had two different things come to mind when asked what atypical types of photography she’s done. One of which includes photographing

a dead squirrel.“It just looked so peaceful lying there,” Holtz said. “It was the alternative

of being energetic and squirrely.”Holtz has also taken photographs in which she filled her bathtub up with

red food coloring and wrapped up Aaren Connell, senior, like a mummy and Connell yelled underneath the water.

“The red food coloring was supposed to represent anger, and that’s why I had her yell under the water,” Holtz said when explaining her inspiration

for the photograph.Holtz also prefers unconventional photography.“Why take pictures of normal things?” Holtz said. “People get tired of

seeing the same things over and over again.”

ART on the edgeB

Senior Lindsey Holtz likes to do unusual photography. To create the illusion of anger, Holtz had senior Aaren Connel scream underwater. Holtz said she took the pictures of the dead squirrel because of its peaceful expression.

Freshman Nicholas Hermes poses with the chain mail he made out of pop tabs. He said it took four to six months to make. Sophomore Kenzie Getz displays four Starburst bracelets she made. She said she made up to 50 last year.

aly johnson reporter

Artists showcase creativity through unique mediums

Photo by Aly Johnson