Seniors Show off Their Work at Art Exhibit

In an exhibition that will light up any underclassman’s creative embers, the Liberty University studio art majors are having their senior exhibition “ until April 25.

 

The senior exhibition features artwork of various kinds: photographs, drawings and paintings, jewelry, pottery and sculptures.  Some artists enjoy classic art, drawing and painting, while others prefer a more diverse medium such as sculptures and photography.

 

Many of the artists sell their work and also have some just to observe.  Some artists have some of their finest pieces on display but they will sell their concepts or give them a business card and the artist can recreate the art on display.

 

Just like each artist, each piece of artwork is unique and diverse throughout the exhibition.

 

Since there is no central theme for the art show, each artist is allowed to choose his or her own theme.  This is great for them because it allows for their creativity to flow through, not just their artwork, but how they present it as well.

 

One of the first exhibits is a beach-themed exhibit designed by senior artist Natasha Fifelski, who is also the assistant at the front desk of the gallery.  Fifelski is from southern Florida, so painting a beach scene comes natural to her.

 

“Every artist has their own coherent theme that goes with their artwork,” Fifelski said.

 

Fifelski enjoys all unique pieces of artwork in the exhibition, however her favorites are any kind of classic art such as drawing and painting.  Most of the work Fifelski has on display and on sale are paintings and pottery work.

 

“We are all very different,” Fifelski said.  “looking at each artist, some have similar concepts but almost everyone is very different.”

 

Fifelski has an array of different paintings.  Fifelski has mostly acrylic paint but she also has some oil and watercolor.

 

Fifelski is selling her pottery, oil and acrylic pieces, however for her watercolor pieces she is only selling prints, not the original watercolor artwork. Fifelski’s artwork ranges from $90 to $150 depending on the size, and her watercolor prints are $5.

 

Amy Padgett is a graduating senior and has a display of different artwork she has done.  Her central theme is characteristics of people.

 

Padgett has four sections of artwork, black and white sketches, paintings, photographs and posters.  Each of these aspects represents the four areas of art that she is able to do.

 

For her drawings, paintings and photography she uses already-made ideas from online sources and recreates them, but for her posters she creates the ideas herself.

 

The challenges that she looks for when trying to recreate an art piece is ethnicities, hair color and emotion.

 

Padgett is a student teacher at Liberty Christian Acadamy and she likes to instruct her students on how she views art and the challenges she likes about art.

 

“I was teaching my students how to do portraits,” Padgett said.  “I wanted to pick something that would challenge me just so they know I still have challenges but that I can still work through them.”

 

The drawings that Padgett created were originally an assignment in one of her classes on an anatomy unit and so she decided to use the best ones in her exhibit.  Each drawing features a different emotion within the eyes she drew.

 

Padgett said that the paintings did not take long.  Each of the paintings took a day to create, except for one she created overnight right before the opening show.

 

Padgett decided to do a fairy-styled theme for the photography section in her exhibit.  Padgett used model Hannah Kauffman and then went into Photoshop to add effects to the photos to make them look mystical.

 

The posters that Padgett created, all on her own, are floral and galaxy themed.  Padgett is selling prints of each poster for $20.

 

Fifelski explains that this is an art exhibition for only the senior graduating class, however the art gallery also does exhibitions for other students and faculty. Liberty University will invite other artists from around the country, and some come in from around the world just to showcase their artwork.  This can be a great opportunity for the students to reach out to those other artists for advice on art, whether they are aspiring freshman with blank sketchbooks, or seniors with proudly mounted work.