You wouldn’t know that it was a cool and dreary day when stepping into the high school cafeteria. There was a loud chatter of people everywhere that warmed the atmosphere. The room was packed with family members, friends, teachers, and community members- all looking at student artwork. The lunchroom no longer looked like a lunchroom. Instead, it was transformed into a makeshift gallery. six by four foot black felt boards lined the walls. Each board contained dozens of student artworks that ranged from pencil and charcoal drawings to chalkings and paintings. There were tables set up with countless sculptures of metal and ceramics. Other tables were layered with photographs of flowers, sunsets, various objects like pencils and crayons, people and animals. It was exciting to see all of the students’ art work on display for all to see. Above the crowd, I could hear a familiar high pitch laugh. Without seeing her, I knew exactly where my niece was- I’d know her giggles anywhere. I followed the sound of her voice and found myself standing in front of a six foot tall black felt board with a dozen and a half pieces of art, and my niece beaming from ear to ear. This is exactly what I came to see!
For as long as I can remember, my niece Kelsey has been a talented artist. She began by drawing people, animals, and buildings. As she grew up, she began dabbling with charcoal and paints. Kelsey has always had a love of animals, so it’s no surprise that a lot of her artworks are of animals. A few weeks ago, Kelsey graduated from high school with the plan of attending college for Veterinarian Science. For this reason, her course load has always been full of Science and Math courses, but she always found a way to include an Art class or two into her schedule.
One of her final Art classes was her Senior Portfolio class where she spent most of the class creating art that she wanted to do in the mediums that she was most fond of. The final project would consist of a portfolio of her favorite pieces along with any that her instructor favored. The class would then put their portfolios on display for the public to view.
In front of Kelsey’s board, on the floor lay a two by three foot piece of white canvas. On it, a scene of brown and green rolling hills with a beanstalk flowing from the corner, surrounded by white clouds. It was a scene from Jack and the Beanstalk. The piece was designed from the perspective of the giant looking down on Jack as she climbed down to the country side. At first glance, the canvas looked to be painted but after closer examination, I realized that it was a digital rendition of one of her paintings. As it turns out, Kelsey originally drew this design for the school’s Varsity Winter Guard team to use as their floor mat for their performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. I had seen the larger, full size version of this during their performances but never knew she had designed it. Seeing it and putting it together blew my mind!
The board itself had a colorful array of some of Kelsey’s favorite art pieces. In the top corner was her name written in bubble letters, filled in with intricate colored designs of flowers alongside a self-portrait of herself, drawn out in pencil and charcoal. 
Her ability to shade in even the smallest details such as her eye brows and eye lashes down to the light reflecting from her necklace was amazing. Another self-portrait was displayed in the opposite corner. This one drawn in oil-based chalk was of her and the rifle she spins during Winter Guard performances. Half of her face is hidden behind the butt of the bright white riffle, but looking in her eyes it’s clear that she is smiling. A pencil drawing of a broken light bulb was displayed below a portrait of a girl with long brown hair putting on stage makeup. As I looked at this painting, I noticed the smallest details that Kelsey managed to include, such as the girl’s stray curls in her hair and the wrinkles in her sky blue shirt. Mindfully scattered on the board were pictures of different animals that Kelsey drew. Elephants, leopards, dogs, and wolves; but the most prominent one was of a tiger. 
The orange, white, and black face took up the entire piece. Its stripes perfectly spaced around his nose and bright green eyes that pulled you in and held your attention. If you stared for too long, you could easily forget that you were looking at a piece of 8 by 11 card stock and water colors. Viewing her display, it was easy to see what Kelsey valued most.
Looking at my niece’s art work, made me realize how unfamiliar I am with the different kinds of mediums that she used. I was unaware of the color variations that could be made with water colors and colored pencils. This experience raised the “how” questions for me. How did she do that? How was she able to make her art work appear to have a reflection, with only using a pencil shading technique? How did she make her portraits look so realistic? Of course, I asked her these questions and her response with a huge smile that brightened the room was that she would be happy to teach me.