Meet our Grade 12 IB Visual Arts Students

Our Grade 12 IB visual arts students are preparing for their final exhibition and exam in April, so please mark your calendars for our Opening Night Reception on Thursday, April 11. The exhibition will then be displayed for two weeks in our Stanfield Dining Hall/McLellan Annex.

After March Break, our students will focus on planning their display, writing a rationale and exhibition texts, and uploading their artwork. It has taken months of preparation, and each student is required to produce a number of art works based on their own direction or theme. This year, we have 26 Grade 12 students who will be exhibiting their work. The Grade 11 IB art students will be assisting our Grade 12 students with their displays as well as showing their work.

Until the art show, we will be showcasing our artists in our weekly newsletter highlighting one of their favourite projects during this two-year course. I hope you enjoy reading the profiles of our young artists. This week, we are highlighting Arianna MacDonald '24, Sabine Wellard '24, and Addi Velden '24.

Arianna is from St. James, Barbados, and has attended KES for two years.

I have chosen to share my print called: Fish Fry, Oistins (Blueprint). I wanted to try using a new medium, so I decided to try printmaking. I also wanted to use an image from Barbados and especially a street scene, so I decided on a popular area called Fish Fry, Oistins. I was interested in capturing traditional, architectural buildings. The buildings on this street are made from concrete construction with metal roofs. They are usually very colourful. I chose a photograph with a one-point perspective view.

After designing the drawing of the street, I then carved the image on a lino block. After the carving was completed, I then printed the board using the block, with blue ink. I made multiple prints using different types of paper and different colours.

I chose to share the blueprint because it reminded me of the bright colors of Barbados. I was influenced by the Barbadian artist, Alison Chapman-Andrews. Alison is a painter and a printmaker, who began painting the local landscape. Her early work was realistic, but as her career developed her paintings became more stylized.

I have chosen to share my drawing called Childhood. I have always loved to draw. When looking for a few ideas for my direction in IB visual arts, I came across a photo that my mom had taken of me when I was young. I was attracted by the backlighting and the light source from the window. The little details of the photograph, such as the giraffe wearing glasses and the headband.

I was inspired by the idea of innocence and the Surrealist movement. A dreamlike quality, this direction also influenced my IB comparative study. While I was researching surrealism, I came across a contemporary, Surrealist Polish artist, Igor Morski. I found his work fascinating and how he was able to hide messages about serious topics in his art. This idea inspired me. I compared Morski with the themes of the innocence of childhood with the Impressionist artist, Mary Cassatt.

While drawing Childhood, I wanted to capture the mood of this momentous event with photo realism. I did struggle with the measurements of a child’s face which are different from an adult's. Overall, I am very pleased with the drawing.

I have chosen to share my artwork called Black Swallowtail Butterfly made with transfer and watercolours.

While I was planning for my first IB project, I was inspired by my memories from my childhood in British Columbia. This along with my fond memories of my grandfather, Mark Scott.

My grandfather passed away and at his funeral, a rare Black Swallowtail butterfly with a broken antenna landed on my shoulder. The butterfly wouldn’t leave me, and I knew this was a sign that my grandfather would always be with me. This fond memory influenced the composition for my first project. The flower Hydrangea is also one of my favourites.

The technique I used for this project is a transfer of images, and then I added watercolours for colour. This theme of the Black Swallowtail butterfly is continued throughout my artwork. It has also influenced my comparative study.