Senior Advances to State Art Competition With Two Original Works

Fuller set a goal at the beginning of the year to make it to state for at least one of her pieces. She is pleased to have exceeded her expectations, and advanced for the two original works.

¨It feels quite nice, and is a relief for me, as I had been working quite hard on both of them (to the point I was developing symptoms of RSI in my wrist from the constant movement), and was admittedly rather anxious and stressed about how I’d do, as I tend to be quite competitive,¨ Fuller said. ¨I’m very pleased to know that my effort had been worth it, for both of them. However, the work I had put into both, regardless of outcome, was what made me feel the most fulfilled in all of this.¨

Fuller´s pieces are entitled “Biolescence” and “With and Without.”

“‘Biolescence,’ and is a combination of the words ‘Bio,’ which of course means ‘life,’ and ‘Coalescence,’ which means ‘the merging of elements to form a whole,’” Fuller said. ¨It is my depiction of Earth (I had included horseshoe crabs to represent its early stages). ‘With and Without,’ is a lot more abstract visually, and is more vague in terms of meaning. The name itself is supposed to represent the holes of negative white space that (I hope) balances all the ink I dispersed throughout the page, as well as the sections which contain shading or certain details that are juxtaposed to those sections that are intentionally without it.”

This is Fuller´s third year competing at the state art competition.

¨I had attended [state] during my freshman year and 8th grade year,¨ Fuller said. ¨Albeit, the 8th grade competition was a youth version of this competition, and thus a little different than the one I’m attending now. The youth version is Junior VASE.¨

Art teacher Michelle Silcox claims this competition will impact Fuller´s future in art.

¨[This competition] is going to boost her self-esteem,¨ Silcox said. ¨If she continues to do art in the future and in college this is going to go great in her portfolio and will only help her.¨

Fuller claims that her teachers and instructors contributed to her success.

¨All of the people who had given me advice and support [contributed] , which includes my family, relatives, loved ones, and my teachers (particularly Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Kuehne, Mrs. Silcox, Mrs. Cimino, Mrs. Shropshire, Mrs. Randolph, Guszak, etc.),¨ Fuller said. ¨My past art teachers, Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Corbin, and my other art classmates were also a positive influence on me throughout all of this. There were also two other individuals (named Boyce and Thomas) who I had actually met when I entered in my auction art piece I put in during December, who have since been a continuous source of help and encouragement. Basically, everyone who knows me and has helped support me, even those I didn’t have the space to list, I feel has helped me reach this point.¨

After many years of dedication to art, Fuller hopes to pursue this is a possible career in the future.

¨I am looking into trying to do commissions of my art as a start while I work another job, but it is difficult to get a foot in the door in the art business, and even more difficult to gain enough traction and attention to be able to separate oneself from other artists enough to make a name, and thus make enough money to live off of,¨ Fuller said. ¨It is something I’ve always felt very passionate about, though. I’ve been drawing since I was 4, so growing up doing art has eventually made it part of me.¨