CSFOA Annual Scholarship Winner (2015)

For as long as I can recall, art has been a part of my life. Creativity has exuded from me since I was able to hold a crayon, until now. Art had always been an outlet for me throughout childhood, whether I did it to cope with emotions or simply to get lost in what I loved to do. Putting a pencil or paintbrush to my paper has always kept me occupied throughout my childhood and many adults saw potential in my work, even when I did not. However, it was not until high school that I finally understood the role my artistic talent could play in my future. Art has completely transformed from a hobby to a passion.

After taking art classes almost every year of my school career, my technical skills have developed as well as my artistic maturity. In my senior year of high school, I enrolled inAdvanced Placement 2D Design. This experience was not only challenging, but helped me understand and learn more about time management, as well as being able to thoroughly examine a specific focus of interest. I have ultimately decided to take my love for art and turn it into a career. Come next fall, I will be attending The Ohio State University and will be in the pre-design program for Industrial Design. I am confident in my plans and am eager to continue my passion for art and being creativity into a new realm of my future.

Adrianna Andretta – Artist Statement

American writer and social activist, Thomas Merton, once said, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” I feel perfectly content when I am fully immersed in my artwork.

Creating artwork is an activity that brings tranquility to my day. In comparison to the overflowing stresses of school, work, and rigorous sports practices, art is a “place” for me to free my mind of worries and simply get lost in creating. I could spend an entire night, dusk to dawn, working on one piece, without realizing the passage of time. Working on my art puts me in another realm, one in which I feel perfectly content. Any frustration or worries instantly dissipate once I get involved in a piece and the sense of accomplishment I feel once I finally complete a time-consuming, detail-oriented piece is an incomparable sensation.

Currently, I am a fourth year art student and senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. I am enrolled in Advanced Placement 2D Design and Honors Portfolio 2D Design classes. My mission as an artist is to create quality pieces, which people can enjoy purely for the visual image displayed. My work usually does not contain a powerful or thought-evoking message, but the absence of such messages is the overall theme of my art. My artwork is often used as an escape from reality for me therefore I wish to evoke similar feelings in those who view my pieces.I have explored a wide range of media throughout my artistic career including ink, oil paints, watercolors, acrylic paint, graphite, colored pencils, collage, transfer methods, and charcoal. I strive to create photo-realistic artwork and excel in my use of dry media, particularly ballpoint pen, graphite, and colored pencils. My most commendable pieces include still-life and portraits, although I employ the use of various subjects. My favorite subjects are architecture because I appreciate the technical skill involved in creating such a masterpiece and portraits because I love to capture the expressions of those I draw. Art has played a major role in my childhood and will continue to be a part of my life as a creative outlet and career; I will be attending The Ohio State University for Industrial Design.

More than any other aspect of my life, my time spent involved in art has shaped me into the person I am, in ways I could have never anticipated. My love for art as a creative outlet combined with the impact it has made on my life, makes it forerunner as a place where I can find myself and lose myself simultaneously.