Junior Sydney Dwyer has grown to be a talented and creative artist at KO. She first became interested in art in Middle School, and although she does not have a favorite artist, she is captivated by realistic drawings.
As a sophomore, Sydney took a drawing class with art teacher Katie Burnett. One of her pieces was chosen to represent KO at the annual Avon Old Farms Dreams art exhibit in the Ordway Art Gallery.
In the first semester of her junior year, Sydney took the Portfolio Prep class taught by art teacher Scott McDonald.
Sydney said that while working on portraits, she focused on a sketch of an eye using charcoal and has been working on details and realism. “Although the project took a long time, I am happy with how it turned out,” Sydney said.
Sydney especially enjoys using different mediums to create her art. She said that she really loves using acrylic paint and charcoal. “Even though charcoal is really messy, it offers an opportunity to go back and fix parts of a piece,” Sydney said.
Mr. McDonald was able to see her grow as an artist and as a learner in the first semester, “Sydney is a great artist because she uses realism to tell stories with interesting ideas, all based on using technical skill,” Mr. McDonald said.
“She is not afraid of a challenge and likes projects that will push her,” he continued. “For example, she jumped in the self portrait unit that way because she wanted to hone her drawing skill,”
Sydney always sets a great example for her peers. “She is a very hard working and supportive classmate that inspires people in the art room,” Ms. Burnett said.
“She is very self motivated and an incredibly patient artist,” Ms. Burnett added. “She can focus on a piece of work for a long period of time, which is an amazing talent for an artist to have.”
More recently, Sydney has been working on a mixed media project that resembles a tree using wood stain to stain pieces of paper. In the future at KO, Sydney is interested in continuing art and plans to take Advanced Studio Art and Photography next year.
