With his bow set, sophomore Hunter Kothenbeutel aims, staring down his arrow and focusing his attention toward his target. His knack for archery, like his passion for ceramics, requires both precision and concentration.

“You really have to put all of your focus into what you want to do. Like in archery, you’re looking to hit the bull’s-eye, and in ceramics, you’re looking to create a shape,” Kothenbeutel said.

Over his semester one Ceramics course, Kothenbeutel found inspiration in the natural world, creating pieces of art that mimicked nature. His first piece was a tree-themed cup with a styled tree branch handle. It featured a stoneware glaze, a treatment which produced a final piece that resembled an actual vine-clad tree trunk surrounded at its base by grass and dirt.

But according to Ceramics teacher Michael Gaudreau, Kothenbeutel didn’t stop there. He continued to explore different aspects of nature in his work and showed signs of true artistry.

“Hunter was on his own path of exploring an idea. That’s the difference between an artist and a spectator: artists explore. Normal people may discover something and move on, but an artist is an explorer,” Gaudreau said.

Kothenbeutel’s design for his teapot project budded from his tree-themed cup, as he researched and set out to create a teapot that one could possibly mistake for a natural pile of rocks.

“Hunter took an idea that came from a little coffee mug, explored it, took it in his own direction, and created this very complicated teapot idea. These weren’t just projects for him, they were ideas that he wanted to build on to see where they would go,” Gaudreau said.

The teapot is currently on display in the school lobby, and starting April 1, the Harford County Public Library will display teapots made by the first semester Ceramics students.

Despite his success in Ceramics, Kothenbeutel’s first love is drawing. During the summer of 2010, he enrolled in drawing courses at Harford Community College to further develop his talent.

In Ceramics, Kothenbeutel turned to drawing for his inspiration and design, planning his ceramics projects on paper before creating his artwork. He found that ceramics offers something more than drawing ever could.

“I like the creative expression that you can do in three dimensions instead of just a two-dimensional drawing that you have to make look three-dimensional. You can actually form the clay into a real shape,” Kothenbeutel said.

While Kothenbeutel doesn’t see art as a future career, Gaudreau believes that his creative technique will last a lifetime.

“Hunter could pick up a lump of clay 30 years from now and make something because he knows what to do. He will always have that skill, and whether he’ll be an engineer, architect, or a chemist, he will always be explorer with creative artistic thinking. We all need that,” Gaudreau said.

Joey Hoff is the Editor in Chief of “The Patriot.”