Columbia students show their flair at the fair

Photos of art by John Larson

“COUGAR COLOR” BY HOLLY CHESTER

The creativity of Columbia Junior High School students is on display at the 21st annual Junior/Senior High School Art Show currently on exhibit at the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. Thirteen of Melissa Brownell’s students participated this year in the show, which draws entries from around the Puget Sound region.

Megan Wright’s “Boat” is an abstract work in oil pastel. It consists of nine disjointed panels, with red, blue and yellow the dominant colors.

“Reflection,” a watercolor by Brendan Rydman, is an interesting piece. The young artist painted a mountain and trees rising above a lake in the upper half, while the reflection depicted below is a ship. Light hues of blue and pink on the mountain are a nice touch.

Paige Jergensen offers a self-portrait in “Me.” The girl has black hair with splashes of red. The face is white with one red eye, while the other half of the face has no eye. The lips make a slight smile.

Jergensen’s other piece, “Tidal Wave,” is a mixed-media composition. A huge wave is approaching the shore, spelling impending destruction of the lighthouse. There are four circular objects, two full of colorful dots, in the piece. In the upper corner is an interesting depiction of the moon.

Anna Vykhovanets offers a vibrant depiction of herself on “Self Portrait.” Her eyebrows are green, while the skin is in flesh tones, yellow, purple, blue and pink. Her eyes are looking to the left, and she appears to be deep in thought.

For “Home,” Vykhovanets clipped part of a photograph of a living room from a magazine and placed in the lower left corner. The rest of the piece is her ink drawing depiction of the rest of the room, done to the scale of the photo.

“Still Life,” an ink drawing by Angelica Kalmykova, depicts typical objects a teenage girl would have – a can of lime-flavored Diet Coke, lip gloss, a wristwatch and pendant.

“Out Of The Box” by Josilyn Vankat has boxes connected by rods. She does a good job of creating a three-dimensional effect.

At times it can be puzzling why an artist selects a title for a piece. “Dolphin” by Julia Quinci is an example of this. There are no dolphins in the watercolor painting, just people holding umbrellas looking at trees. The objects in the painting are all done in purple on an orange background.

Holly Chester shows her school spirit in “Cougar Color.” It depicts a cougar, the Columbia mascot, in quite a whimsical fashion. The lower part of its face looks like an actual cougar, while the upper part is done in purple, yellow and blue. Its tail and a paw appear amid a variety of designs. Polka dots dominate the upper part of the painting.

Monica Sauer’s “Panda” shows two of the lovable bears, one upside down, the other upright. Each wears a crown tilted to the left. Stalks of bamboo, a staple of the panda diet, form the background, while a border of various designs in black and white frame the piece.

Devin Boren depicts a girl’s head and upper torso, with the same design connected facing up and facing down. Squiggly lines in purple are the only facial features. Running diagonally are strips of various patterns; one repeats the name Devin.

Navkiran Randhowa depicts two smiling faces in “Colorful Life.”

Kara Kindt uses a classic subject, a bowl of fruit, in her mixed media piece titled, appropriately enough, “Fruit.” A bowl with a floral design contains grapes, an apple and a peach. The latter is partly painted, partly a photograph of a peach clipped from a magazine.

The show is located on the first floor of the pavilion. It runs through the final day of the fair, Sept. 21.

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