COLLEGE STUDENTS
CL1 – BULBASAUR
Artist: Leonardo
“’BULBASAUR’ – a character from Pokémon”
CL4 – Flower Under The Thunderstorm
Artist: Shweta
“From my childhood, I always felt lonely, because in school I had a lot of biological issues within my body. The second I needed help friends used to run away. But my family never ran away that includes my parents, sister, and grandparents. Therefore I used metaphor to explain how I feel. The flower is me, standing straight being strong under any circumstance. Multiple flowers are far away, there are multiple people around me which resembles the petals where some petals are broken. But in that one flower, there is one big petal that shows the support I have from my family, they will never leave me.”
CL7 – One Heart
Artist: Harshini
“Medium: Colored Pencil
Description: This piece explores the relationship between humans and nature. Animals play a vital tole in preserving the biodiversity of the planet. Without them, we wouldn’t have access to food and other important resources for survival. The artwork aims to shows how animals and humans both need love and support towards each other to survive and thrive. In the modern world, as a result of the actions of human beings, pollution and global warming is harming the environment the that animals share with humans. This impacts the survival of animals directly, as well as the survival of humans indirectly. During this changing times, it is important to remember how both animals and humans have “one heart.” It is symbolized in the artwork with the heart shape that is formed with the human’s hand and the horse’s head. They both need the the same “heart,” which is the environment that they depend on in order to survive. It is important for humans to take actions cautiously with other animals and the environment in mind. Not only is it important for the survival of humans, but it is also moral duty.”
CL2 – Deserved Bliss
Artist: Marissa
“Is this fanart? Yep. Inspired by the popular anime/manga Jujutsu Kaisen, I recently made this piece for the three main characters. Each go through, and will likely continue to go through, really emotionally and physically taxing traumas… And I just wanted to see them happy and careless. None of them older than 16, they’re still children and it breaks my heart that they have gone through so much. So here they are. Happy. Just best friends enjoying themselves.
Regarding the technical skills of this piece, I’ve been exploring with different ways to shade and color digitally. With that, lighting has been a huge struggle. I’m incredibly proud with how I managed to work the scenery for more complex shadows and lights than my normal pieces.”
CL5 – The Sound of Silence
Artist: Shweta
“Hearing the sound of water waves
Wind blowing at you
Sun rays that fall on you, to keep you warmer
Flowers growing in the huge field
Closing my eyes, sitting in a comfortable place
With your arms and legs crossed,
Focusing on my breath
Seeing cloud floating in the air, birds searching for food
Knowing that everyone around me, family and friends love me, brings the inner peace within me
Feeling the cool air entering into my nostril, will happiness, enjoyment, and love.
Realizing that our breath changes every moment, when are sad, stressed, happy and crying
We have an imbalance between our mind and body that causes us to be unproductive which leads to stress
Feeling my body release tension, stress, and anxiety out of me when I breathe out.
How my body becomes heavy and connected to the energy around me,
The only thing I had to ever worry about is to convince the mind to let go because our heart knows how to heal on its own.”
CL3 – Don’t Be Beautiful
Artist: Shweta
“In today’s world attractiveness is looked at from a singular lens. If you search up beauty, you will end up with fare skinned, tall, thin, and young woman with long hair, as if looks don’t come under any other form. When we see people around calling them beautiful and pretty, we start thinking they have it all, we think that beauty is defined by you being fair. We start to think we are not good enough, we are lacking in some areas, we do not belong. It more about media portrays skin colour, we tend to think the way they portray it, we need to look pretty like them. Even though women are taking our business, a country, etc…we still think beauty and our look are the most important.
For example, Serena dominating the tennis court and Hillary running for president. How crazy is that ?. Look at them yourself in the mirror see all of you, look at all of the greatness that you embody, accept it and love it, say it yourself. “I am beautiful I am pretty”. You should know that you are beautiful just the way you are, you don’t have to change a thing, for the world to change its heart. When you leave the house tomorrow try to extend the same love and accept someone who doesn’t look like you. Make a small change that will awe the world.”
CL6 – Goddess Power
Artist: Corryn
“”Goddess Power” oil on canvas, 24″ x 26″
This painting is based off of three artworks that I pieced together and recreated in order to tell a unique and interesting story. The artworks that I took inspiration from was “Samhara Kali” by Raja Ravi Varma (within 1848-1906), “Woman Bathing” by Mary Cassatt (1890), and Gerhard Richter’s “Abstract Painting, Blue/Red” (1997). I wanted to incorporate art from three different styles and background and create a narrative story that the viewer can follow along to. This painting follows a woman’s inner goddess, and how instead of the gracefulness and beauty that we have seen before, she is deadly, powerful, and so much more than a demure woman underneath the surface.”
HIGH SCHOOLERS
HS1 – Memories at Kinoko
Artist: Zoey
“The inspiration behind my artwork was based on three different characters from my favorite show sharing one of their happiest moments together even if it is a dream.”
HS4 – Unity
Artist: Alex
“This painting was inspired by unity; the sky and land coming together to form something beautiful, just like how people often come together and create the most wonderful things. In such radically divided times, I wanted to highlight how we all can join together and make peace.”
HS7 – Free
Artist: Williams
“This piece is called Free. It’s all about being able to escape a rough era in your life. There’s so much joy and gratitude in that moment because the darkness is over and now everything is vibrant.”
HS11 – Madonna n’ Child
Artist: Vivian
“This work depicts the clashing of classical renaissance Madonna and Child and the modern interaction between a mother and her child. Within this painting, you can see both figures in an affectionate position, yet they are both captivated by their devices. My main inspiration for this piece were traditional Madonna and child paintings since I wanted the same composition and mood to be created, yet with the addition of a new piece of modern subject matter: technology. My goals of this piece were to effectively incorporate these devices into the style and to paint both faces accurately. The primary compositional similarities between this work and Madonna n’ Child are the fact that both have a mother sweetly cradling her child, are the same size in regard to the canvas, have layers of folding fabric cascading around them, and a halo crowning Madonna’s head. The main difference in composition is the proximity of the two figures, since in my painting they are a bit further from each other which induces a more distant, distracted affection.”
HS14 – Oblivious
Artist: Vivian
“The photograph was taken by me at a local art museum. I thought it was fascinating how the girl was juxtaposed against the background, standing with a phone in hand while beautiful art surrounded her. It reminded me of the Musee D’Orsay in Paris, where the majority of the people were staring into their phones screen in order to capture the painting, not even absorbing its beauty with their eyes. I switched the previous paintings in the back with my favorite famous paintings to better represent my feelings about great art not being properly respected and appreciated.”
HS17 – Embarrassment
Artist: Isabella
“I was inspired to make this piece after attempted to make an acrylic painting for a friend. I seldom work with acrylics and after several long hours of trying to create my own vision, I broke. The result was this, which I’ve titled “Embarassment” because that’s how I felt about my sub-par acrylics, and not being able ot finish my friend’s painting.”
HS2 – Hearts
Artist: Lexi
“I chose what I did because I used to have a close friendship with the person on the other side but since Covid happened and everything got split I kinda lost the bond. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to show what happened and what it did to people.”
HS5 – Hope
Artist: Amaiya
“2020 had been quite the year for all of us, it was difficult and we all were deprived of something in many similar and different ways. Entering the year of 2021 we had a lot more “surprises”; a lot of it surrounding the government and the deaths of those of color. This painting was made just because I wanted to express the hope that most have, including myself. A hope for a better future and a belief that all are equal no matter what race, age, or sex.”
HS8 – Bonding With Nature
Artist: Nicole
“I believe all creatures love their moms, and I like the feeling of being surrounded by nature.”
HS9 – Ceramic Bottle
Artist: Skylar
“Ceramic bottle made from a slab of clay and and attached handmade facial features.”
HS12 – Les Oranges
Artist: Vivian
“The title of this work is “Les Oranges.” I choose to paint oranges on a cutting board because I thought the pattern within the orange from different perspectives would be interesting. I’ve studied old French/ Dutch (hence the title) still life’s and find them fascinating in tone and technique, so I wanted to incorporate that into my painting, using only the primary colors and white. I painted a murky background and focused the color and detail on the oranges and cloth to create contrast. For the boards of the cutting board, I went with a slightly more illustrative style so the detail there would not compete with the oranges. The lines there were left to draw the eye into the painting.”
HS15 – Lockdown
Artist: Vivian
“This self portrait represents my personal, and the general public’s response to COVID-19. The calendar with a cage layover represents how one feels trapped in 2020; the red, white, and blue shirt representing how life is currently in America; the face shining through February– the last show of freedom. The days are not labeled because they have begun to mix together, becoming a blur in time. Not only did I choose to paint a red background to draw the viewer’s attention in, but also to symbolize the danger of the unknown that surrounds us right now. My solemn expression and hands grasping the cage show how lonely this time can be and how badly I would like to be free of it.”
HS3 – Hearts
Artist: Alexendria
“The project presented to you today represents the struggle of learning during this pandemic. As the months have gone by students went from complete virtual learning to having a choice of whether or not they felt comfortable coming into the schoolhouse, this choice has shown the struggle students have amongst themselves as they see the separation this has caused. I want this project to convey the strength of our student body who have fought valiantly throughout this pandemic and have come out victorious.”
HS6 – Vibrant Woman
Artist: Alyssa
“I call this piece “Vibrant Woman.” This year was my first year of high school, and I was extremely focused on my studies. I was so focused that I did not really have time for my art. For basically the whole year I drew nothing; but, when summer came along I got back into drawing. I drew a picture that made me feel happy and joyous. I am drawn to specific things when I draw, mostly the eyes of a person, or if they are wearing really colorful clothes. I wanted to draw something with these two attractions so I could get back into my art. And when I drew this picture I felt much better. I was happy to finally be artistic again. So, I have submitted this drawing for the Young Hearts to Art Contest because the topic was happiness, joy, and gratitude. With this piece I found happiness after a rough year, and I was grateful to find myself again.”
HS10 – Still Life
Artist: Brianna
“Both of these pieces are using my favorite mediums and show my talent when it comes to still life’s. I hope anyone viewing my pieces can appreciate my work, everyday I am practicing, and I can see my mistakes over time as I’m always trying to correct myself and get better day by day.”
HS13 – Climate Change
Artist: Vivian
“At first look, this piece looks like your average still life with an array of objects, but when you observe a little closer you may notice the connection. I incorporated the following objects to represent climate change. The water bottle represents landfill, the candle represents fires, melting ice represents growing ocean temperature, the little marbles represent the animals and plants’ (elephant, cranes, and succulent) own world/ lives, and the almost empty hourglass represents the little time we have left to fix the problems we have created.”
HS16 – Date Night
Artist: Vivian
“This piece reflects the interaction of two people on a date in modern society, both too immersed in their phones to even pay attention to the other. It was created from the perspective of an onlooker, looking into the glass of the restaurant / the lives of these two figures, and noticing the interaction. As a person who is constantly observing the world, this represents my point of view and the sadness that overcomes me when I realize what the world has come to. In this piece as a whole, I hoped to emphasize the problem of technology when it comes to relationships and the isolation and distraction it creates within an individual.”
MIDDLE SCHOOLERS
MS1 – Hearts
Artist: Ariel
“This picture represents virtual kids and brick and mortar kids. It represents the struggles we all had together. The heart we made shows that we were all in this together.”
MS4 – Love Yourself
Artist: Olivia
“Pride is the inspiration of this piece. I created this piece thinking about pride and freedom and equality for everyone and how it’s not fair that some people are treated differently because of their sexuality. The rainbow flag design resembles the pride part of my piece and the drip part resembles how lots of problems in 2021 are melting away. Sadly though, the dark parts of my piece represent how other problems are sprouting and how there is still lots to deal with, but that hopefully these problems will die out soon and all the good will outshine the bad.”
MS7 – Me
Artist: Phoebe
“This picture was inspired by my OC. If you don’t know what an OC is, it’s basically what you want to look like. It can be anything you want it to be. Anyways, I wanted to draw my OC because she’s what makes me happy. Her hair is a bright pink, she has beautiful green eyes, so I thought that would be a great fit for the “bold colors” theme. Anyways, I hope you have a great day, bye! <3”
MS12 – Sparticus
Artist: Aiden
“The artwork is of my bearded dragon which I raised him from a baby. His name is Sparticus and is fearless as he looks. I believe I was able to capture his personality in my drawing.”
MS15 – Escape From Reality
Artist: Jordyn
“The materials that were used was made with sharpie and watercolor. This artwork brings out joy & happiness. This project is about escaping from reality, when you read a book you’re either just reading words or in-vision it in your head. When reading a book, I see things from their point of view—feel scared when they are threatened, wounded when they are hurt, pleased when they succeed. This artwork is showing a woman dancing in the ballroom, filled with happiness, dancing her heart out. The words in the background is song lyrics from Matt Maltese, As the world caves in.”
MS18 – Mortal Kombat Scorpion Vs. Sub-Zero Joy
Artist: Aidan
“This shows joy because I finally passed the 3 levels which were hard for me on the Mortal Kombat game which made me super happy. It brings joy to me because my dad told me about that game and then I started to love it with all of the amazing characters. My favorite would have to be Scorpion!”
MS19 – Flavors of Characteristics
Artist: Isabella
“This peace of artwork brings my joy because my fish at night brings me soothing noises it’s like tuns to my ears. Also my dog brings me lots of memories and happiness & Rip chopper we ♡︎You. Also I included pumpkins to my drawing because it reminds me of people anytime you pick out a pumpkin it will never look the same just like people you will never have the same characteristic’s.”
MS24 – Windborne Bard
Artist: Cheyenne
“This is a drawing of a character I like! he represents freedom, and is very nice :)”
MS26 – The Joy of Christmas
Artist: Alivia
“I wanted to display the Joy of Christmas brings all around the world. I made this for my Mom because I know Christmas brings lots of joy to my Mom. I hope this brings you just as much joy as it brings us!”
MS2 – Seeing Things in a Different Light
Artist: Haidyn
“I drew this piece using watercolors and charcoal. It represents how we all view the world in different ways.”
MS5 – Flower Land
Artist: Evelyn
“I drew this because I always think that flowers make a lot of people happy.”
MS8 – Reading
Artist: Sterling
“This photo makes me happy because I love to read.”
MS10 – Unbreakable Friendship
Artist: Alexa
“This work is an imitation of Jean Michel-Basquait. It is not a style everyone might like, but I wanted to do something different than everyone else. It signifies an unbreakable friendship.”
MS13 – Happiness
Artist: Sophia
“My theme for my art work is happiness. I drew spider man because I love marvel, and when I watch the movies I feel happy because spider-man is my favorite super hero.”
MS16 – My Future Up Ahead
Artist: Isabelle
“I get inspired by thinking about my goals and my future. The balloons reference the dreams and achievements and the they are holding me up high with no limits. Goals remind me of the sky because it feels like a path for my journey.”
MS20 – My Sweet Boy
Artist: Mia
“This is my dog koa this is my favorite picture of him. He’s my happiness. I love to make memories with him and cuddle with him.”
MS23 – Emma and Andrew
Artist: Elena
“This is a drawing of two of my OC’s (original characters.) I usually don’t add color to any of my sketches but I spent my time adding color to this drawing and I like how it looks. It shows “Emma” and “Andrew” and they are good friends. Friendship is very important to me.”
MS25 – Me and My Best Friends
Artist: Veyda
“This is me and my best friends! My best friends make me happy and I love having them at school with me.”
MS28 – Facial Expressions
Artist: Rhys
“I chose this because erainboes and different face expressions make me happy I love to see when people have different emotions and i like rainbows because of all the color.”
MS3 – Grateful for the Female Artist Before Me
Artist: Anaiah
“Mixed Media- oils, collage, 3D elements”
MS6 – Lulu the Yorkie
Artist: Danna
“Lulu is my dog, she is 2 years old and she makes me very happy. She has a lot of energy and she loves to garden. She makes me very happy because she is such a happy dog.”
MS9 – Mountain Escape
Artist: Adis
“This piece was inspired by the Northern Lights. I feel this piece portrays happiness through nature’s beauty.”
MS11 – Ranboo
Artist: Brooke
“Favorite youtuber- Ranboo”
MS14 – Wolves and the Moon
Artist: Kianna
“Wolves make me happy and my girlfriend is the moon in the relationship and she makes me happy.”
MS17 – Happiness, Gratitude and Accomplishments
Artist: Jovani
“I did 3 words for my drawing: happiness, gratitude and accomplishments. I am very happy and gracious that people can be who they are as a person thanks to all the accomplishments people made. It’s thanks to people like Harvey milk, and Martha P. Johnson that we have all the rights we have today.”
MS21 – Barrel Racing
Artist: Alexandria
“My art illustrates happiness and the enjoyment I have while riding my horse and the bond him and I share.”
MS22 – Waves of Happiness
Artist: Treigh
“I did the theme of happiness using bold color. The colors make me feel strong and the vibrant colors uplift me with happiness. The smile represents me and the way I feel daily. I like to share my smile to brighten other people day.”
MS27 – All Heroes Don’t Wear Capes
Artist: Olivia
“In this piece of art I was inspired by every day heroes Nurses played a huge role during the pandemic saving lives as part of their jobs. Working long shifts not knowing what would come next. I am grateful to have everyday heroes right in my community.”
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS
ES1 – The Greatest One I Ever Made
Artist: Elijah
“I would say this is the one I like the most because it’s beautiful. It’s rainbow and I like rainbow.”
ES4 – Beach Sunrise
Artist: Savanah
“I made this painting using acrylics. Beach sunrises are very bold and joyful. They are my specialty.”
ES7 – Playing in the Garden
Artist: Kolina
“My daughter Kolina Lau, who’s in Kindergarten at the moment, likes to play in the garden. So she drew and painted herself playing in the garden.”
ES13 – Happiness With My Red Flowers
Artist: Madison
“Happiness with my red flowers ‘Inspired by Frieda Khalo’”
ES14 – Morning Sunrise
Artist: Natalia
“The sunrise in the morning makes me feel alive! I looked at the Aztec Sun and I used my favorite watercolors.
I am in 2 grade.”
ES19 – Connecting Colors
Artist: Amelia
“My inspiration for this artwork was a vision of colored glass starting from primary colors connecting to make secondary colors. I used acrylic paint on a canvas and a plastic cup for my stencil. At first, I only had the colors with white space. But I learned that in art you should never leave a blank background, so I did a black background to make the colors pop.”
ES2 – Circles Forever
Artist: Lincoln
“I made this piece after learning about Kandinsky’s Circles in an abstract art unit with my mom. I used pastels to make this. It was my first time using pastels.”
ES5 – Happy Dog
Artist: Emily
“This Dog is happy and has bold colors because I have dogs and they always seem happy. Also, I colored the dog in bold colors because dogs are outgoing and bold colors are outgoing.”
ES11 – Seize The Day
Artist: Amelia
“Seize the Day is a painting of the sea because I love the water and beach, I spend a lot of my time surfing, water skiing, and diving. The beach and water brings joy and happiness in my life!!❤️”
ES15 – Moon Over Mexico
Artists: Adeline & Haven
“We loved working together and creating the moon and sun. We looked at the Sun in Mexico and in our yards. We used watercolors and crayons. The colors make us feel calm and cool and healthy! We are in 1st grade and learned!”
ES17 – Happiness
Artist: Akshaya
“My family with the nature is my happiness!!”
ES20 – Sunset After Sunshine
Artist: Victoria
“Florid has the most beautiful sunsets. I find happiness when I watch the sunset at our local beaches. The bold colors are my favorite and make me smile.!”
ES3 – I Love Space
Artist: Martin
“The universe is all the things we love and care for, and when I think about space, it makes me fell happy and free!”
ES6 – Pug Love
Artist: Giada
“Pugs make me happy because of their jumpy personality and cute face. Lastly, it reminds me about my pug.”
ES9 – Golden Pheasant
Artist: Juan
“Golden Pheasant”
ES10 – Dots on Paper
Artist: Destiny
“This is a Random piece of art that just came to mind after connecting dots on a paper. :)”
ES12 – ‘Chip’ The Cow
Artist: Amelia
“’Chip’ (the cow) represents my love for animals and the out doors. Chip is funny and makes me smile every time I walk by him.❤️”
ES16 – My Love For Toucans
Artist: Leona
“Birds make me feel happy and I love looking at their colors. I am in 2 grade and I added crayons and watercolors to my work! I love nature and want to help our environment!”
ES18 – A Girl
Artist: Natalia
“This is a portrait of a girl that I drew. I like drawing realistic portraits.”