Junior Lauren Wright begins to sketch out a new design on a white piece of paper, forgetting about all of her worries while getting lost in her work. Sketching with pencil and charcoal, she is able to express her creativity through her daily artwork. Art is both an escape and a stress-reliever for Wright, which allows her to explore her individuality and pursue one of her passions.

According to Wright, she is required to draw in her sketchbook five days a week for a grade in her Honors Studio 3 class. All together these sketches can take between one and two hours each week.

In the beginning of any project, especially her sketches, Wright says she doesn’t have a final product for her art in mind. However, as she progresses, she is able to bring more and more structure and detail to her piece. There is a moment when she realizes that her work has taken a path of its own. According to Wright, this moment of triumph and happiness is one of the many reasons why she loves to create art.

Wright has explored her creative abilities from an early age, but when she got to high school, she was able to branch out and try different styles and working in a more structured artistic environment. “When you’re little, you have your crayons. I guess I just never put the crayons down,” Wright said.

In addition to pursuing art early in life, she took art classes during middle school. However, Wright says her fine art electives in high school are a much heavier workload. This year, she will be taking Honors Studio 3 during the first semester and Studio 4 second semester.

After years of experimenting with several different styles, Wright was able to find that her favorite kind of art was creating charcoal or pencil sketches. “I like sketches the best because it doesn’t have to look good. It’s just fun,” she said.

According to Wright, she finds art to be both an escape and way for her to relax, but it is much more than just a stress reliever. “It’s like you’re not here. You’re kind of dreaming when you do art, and it’s just nice,” Wright said.

Although Wright is not currently working on projects outside of class, she is still thinking about art and her future pieces everyday. To find inspiration and ideas for her different projects and assignments, Wright looks to her daily routine and typical everyday items. “Everyday you look at stuff and part of you is just like ‘Wow, I want to draw that, it’d be a lot of fun,’” Wright said. 

According to Wright she was able to present her different pieces last year during the Fine Arts Showcase, where she surprised herself and won the first place award for underclassmen art. Wright is excited for the different projects she will be working on throughout the year and becoming a stronger artist as she learns new techniques and styles.

Anna Sullivan is an Entertainment Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com