“Art is not a thing; it is a way,” said American artist and writer Elbert Hubbard. Not surprisingly, his words still ring true to many artists nearly a century after his death. Art can be a path of life, or an outlet for expression. Plenty of people will say that doing their craft makes them feel alive or just plain happy. And the demand and passion has only grown. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, there were just over 750,000 people in the United States who listed their occupation as “artist” in the year 1970. Jump forward a few years, and there were almost 2 million artists in the year 2005. However, this total does not account for the students who do it for fun.
Take Tammy Ng, for example. Ng, a senior, revived the Jabberwocky, the Aragon literary arts magazine, two years ago. “I wanted to submit to [the Jabberwocky] in my freshman year, but it was no longer there. So, in my junior year, I decided it wasn’t worth not being able to enter, so we started it again,” she says. Ng, who is an artist herself, confesses, “I find visual art more interesting than writing. I do sketches, and I think they’re more visually appealing.” When asked why it was important for the Jabberwocky to stay on campus, Ng answers, “Lots of people are talented, but they don’t always get to show it. This is a way to get them to show off.”
Freshman Cecily Bochannek may be new to Aragon, but she is not new to the theater. “I took [drama] for a semester in middle school and also was in a theatre company for one year,” she says. “I like drama because it gives people a chance to be who they are and express themselves. Some people have the impression that theatre people are divas, but it’s about getting out of your comfort zone, and that’s important for people to learn.”
“I think art is the easiest to think about, and it reaches to a lot of people,” junior Jamie Morgan states. Morgan, who usually draws fan art for TV shows, also does one thing that sets her apart from other artists. Sometimes, her canvas is not on paper. “I like to draw characters on shoes. It’s more of a project, so I don’t do it as often,” Morgan says. “I’ve done about seventeen to eighteen pairs.” The shoe-wearers have ranged from Morgan herself to her parents and some of her friends. “It would be weird if I stopped [art],” she says. Senior Danielle Gomez, who does a mixture of art forms, including painting, photography, paper mache, drawing, sketching, cartooning, costume design, and stop motion animation, agrees. “If I’m not doing art, I feel depressed,” she confides.
Junior Travis Kwee has an interesting craft as well. “I do paper cutting with an X-Acto knife, and sometimes I do origami,” he says. “I’ve been doing it ever since I remember; my sister liked to draw and paint, so I sort of learned from her.” Kwee sometimes does themes in his art, such as The Hunger Games or Avatar. “It mostly interferes with sleep,” Kwee laughs. “I usually do it after I’ve finished my homework or after a test.” Kwee attests to making around 370 origami cranes after STAR testing and finals week last year. “It’s cool to take a sheet of paper and create something great out of it,” he concludes.
All artists share one common goal: to create. They take pride in making something that they and other people will love.
