At North Bend Library’s Teen Art Show, creativity is in full bloom | Photo gallery
Published 2:13 pm Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Outside of its context—a roomful of art at North Bend Library—you might have a hard time guessing painter Stefan Van Handel’s age.
His landscape, which appears local but is based on the green hills of Tennessee, looks like it could come from the hand of a grown-up painter. It’s only the placard underneath that gives him away as a seventh grader.
Looking around at other works in the room, from black-and-white comic-inspired images to serious collages and original paintings, Van Handel is impressed.
“Other people have put a lot of heart into this,” he said.
“Art is not someone drawing something,” says this teen artist. “It’s them expressing how they feel.”
Van Handel’s work is among a room of surprising creations by the Valley’s teen artists. The Teen Art Show, on display at North Bend Library through the month of February, showcases teenage expression.
Hannah Granby, the middle-school first-place award-winner in the show, has been painting for about two years. Taking classes with Fall City artist Miska, her winning piece, a self-portrait in Miska’s style, was part of a class exercise, one of several such academic explorations that young people submitted to the show.
Talking about art and painting with friends, “it gives me freedom to go wherever I want,” said Granby, a Chief Kanim Middle School seventh grade student.
Art helps Twin Falls Middle School eighth grader Emma Haskin relax, and push stresses and grades to the side for a moment, “just like when I ride my horse.”
An equestrian enthusiast, Haskin submitted three pencil drawing to the contest, each about horses. One, of three horses grazing, is special to Haskin. It’s an analogy of her and her two best friends—they always sit in that order at lunchtime, too.
Horse art is challenging, says Haskin.
“You have to know the whole anatomy of the horse, how they work.”
It was hard for Haskin to submit her works.
“I’m never done,” she says. “They’re still not done. I might take them home and work on them some more.”
Teen Art Show Award Winners
Middle School
1st Place – Hannah Granby
2nd Place – Jessica Stringer
3rd Place – Nari Emerson
High School
1st Place – Sydney Tulip
2nd Place – Brooke Bonner
3rd Place – Journie Kirdain
Above, Hannah Granby’s entries including “A Little Bit of Heaven,” left, and a self-portrait, helped her win a first-place award at North Bend Library’s Teen Art Show, on display in the multipurpose room through this month.
Below, librarian Sarah Lynch helps Stefan Van Handel hang his landscape.
