Clara, Grade 2, created a ceramic piece titled Monet's Lily. After learning about the French artist Claude Monet and his famous paintings of flowers, Clara was inspired to create her own interpretation of a water lily. She began by carefully shaping clay into forms that resembled a flower. Once the piece was formed, she applied glaze and had it placed in the kiln for firing. Clara shared that she was happily surprised by the colors after the firing process. To finish her artwork, she added a gem at the center of the lily, giving it a touch of sparkle.
The Argyle Public Library is hosting its 4th Annual Student Art Show, on display through the end of April and featuring the work of 23 students from Argyle Public Schools. The exhibit offers a vibrant mix of styles, subjects, and materials, reflecting the creativity and dedication of young artists in the community.
Fourteen of the artists attended a reception at the Library on the evening of Tuesday, April 21st, where they had the opportunity to talk about their artwork and share a bit about their creative process. It was a lively evening with families and community members gathering to celebrate the students’ accomplishments and hear directly from the artists themselves.
Art Teacher Laurie Pledl was also in attendance. She shared that one of her goals is to help students develop an appreciation for craftsmanship – the skill and attention to detail that go into making something by hand. Events like this, she noted, give students a chance to take pride in their work and reflect on the effort behind it.
Pledl added that this year brought broader participation than ever before, with interest from students across all grade levels. For the first time she was able to select pieces representing a full range of ages and abilities, resulting in a varied exhibit that highlights the growth of artistic skills over time.
The Friends of the Argyle Public Library once again helped organize the event, continuing their strong support of youth programming and the arts. They are already looking ahead to an expanded Student Art Show next spring, when the Library is in its new home at the Argyle Community Center – “a space that will allow even more students to participate and share their work with the public,” said Friends’ President Garry Rossing.
Argyle High School student Kie created a mixed-media sculpture titled Monster High after studying how art is used in design. Crafted from clay and embellished with gems and other decorative elements, the work takes the form of a boot inspired by one she would have liked to wear in grade school. Using themes in Monster High stories, Kie built her concept around the ideas of “glitter, fashion, friendship, and being empowered to be who you are.” A serendipitous find – a skull-and-crossbones ornament – became a focal point on the front of the boot, adding to the ideas of “acceptance and uniqueness.” Kie hopes to continue her artistic practice and pursue a future career in art and art education.Aubrie, Grade 6, created a mixed-media piece titled Laser Tag that explores depth. For this assignment, students were challenged to combine splatter art with geometric shapes. She began by building a background using bright paint and strands of yarn to achieve a splatter-like effect. She then used a “one- point perspective technique and made a horizon line and single point” on which to center the composition. The shapes – cut from separate pieces of paper – radiate from the central point. Aubrie said she used value, blending colors from light to dark so the shapes appear to pop off the page. She also added unique designs into the shapes, adding interest and detail.Sophia, Grade 1, made this self-portrait in an animation style. She combined a variety of materials – colored paint, Sharpie, crayon, and marker – to bring the piece to life. For the eyes, she used “shiny crayons,” giving them a bright sparkle. Sophia chose a purple t-shirt for her portrait, explaining that purple – along with teal – is one of her favorite colors. She said she especially likes how the hair turned out.Aurelia, Grade 6, created a mixed-media piece titled Skittles, designed around the assignment of producing an illusion. To make it mesmerizing, she began with dark circle forms at the center and gradually built outward, adding additional circles that ripple in wave-like curves throughout the composition and giving the impression that the lines are stretching through the space. Using colored pencils, Aurelia shaded each “skittle,” with deeper colors on the edges and lighter colors toward the centers, adding dimension and depth. She said she particularly likes the way the circles overlap in the middle, “because they look like eyes.”Axton, a student in the Kindergarten class, created a mixed-media work titled Imaginary Cat. He shared that he began with the lines and made the face, then used chalk and marker to finish it. Axton said he likes how the picture turned out, and especially enjoyed adding lots of details to make the picture more interesting.Natalie, Grade 4, created a mixed-media piece titled Japanese Fish Painting. The assignment introduced gyotaku, a traditional Japanese way of printing fish that was used by fishermen to prove the size of their catch. To begin, Natalie formed an outline of a fish and pressed it into a piece of foam. She used a roller to apply paint, then printed it onto paper. She chose a background of purple, pink, and blue, and printed the fish in red for strong contrast. Natalie is especially pleased with the colors and how much detail came through in the final fish print.Maya, Grade 1, created a piece titled Flower, Heart, Star using paper and wood as a loom to weave colorful yarn. She began at the top with green yarn and carefully worked her way down, adding a variety of contrasting colors until the space was completely filled. Once the weaving was finished, she decorated it with three small ornaments down the center – a flower, a heart, and a star. Maya shared that her favorite part of the project was the weaving process itself.Norah, a kindergartener, created a piece titled Melting Snowman in a two-stage process. She began with combining glue and shaving cream to form the snowman itself, giving the artwork a puffy look and a three-dimensional quality. Norah then added paint, eyes, glitter, and ribbon details, sinking them into the wet white paint, before letting it dry. She said she likes how the texture of the snowman “makes it fun to look at.”Reyn, grade 3, created a mixed-media painting titled Flowers as part of an assignment inspired by the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. For the composition, Reyn focused on close-up sections of flowers, rather than showing the whole blooms, similar to O’Keeffe’s work. Reyn’s favorite part of the painting is the way the ends of the petals overlap. She said she used the cool colors blue and purple for the petals, and warm colors for the flower centers and background, to create contrast, and really likes how it turned out.Fifth-grader Gauge turned his initials into a piece of street art for his assignment. He explained that street art, unlike graffiti, is created with permission – an important distinction. Gauge built the design in layers, starting with shadows to give the letters depth, then adding an outline to make them stand out. He then added a brick wall background, using the classroom wall to add texture – and then an American flag. Outside the classroom, Gauge enjoys drawing pictures of farm equipment, a subject that reflects his creativity and personal interests.Elaina, Grade 8, created a ceramic piece titled Snake Mug as part of an assignment to “reinvent the mug.” She began by forming the main gray section before deciding what to add next. She chose to design a handle in the form of a brilliant green snake that wraps around as if it’s guarding the beverage inside. Her favorite detail is the snake’s bright red tongue, which adds color contrast to the piece. Elaina enjoys working creatively and especially likes painting with water colors.Elsie, Grade 4, created a mixed-media work titled Pop Art Hand Print. She began by applying black paint to her own hand, and making a handprint on the paper. She had to give it a couple tries to get the full hand print she was happy with. Once the handprint was set, she added an outline using oil pastels, then blended and softened the edges by pulling the paint outward with her fingers, creating a dynamic effect. Elsie chose a bright yellow background, which she feels works well with the blue around the edges.Zuzu, Grade 2, created a piece titled Chloe, and wrote a short narrative to accompany it. The assignment asked students to design a cartoon- style picture. Zuzu used Sharpie, crayon, and marker for her work. She especially likes how the hair turned out, noting the bright color at the front as her favorite detail. She chose the name “Chloe” because it feels calm and peaceful to her. Zuzu said Chloe is someone who feels that, “it’s important to be kind to others so that people don’t feel bad.” Outside of the classroom, Zuzu enjoys writing and illustrating her own books.
