The following students have been named as nominees for the 2021 Artist of the Year in handcrafted visual arts. We received 60 nominations from teachers and private instructors at Orange County high schools and arts organizations.
This arts discipline has been divided into three specialties: ceramics, hand drawing and painting, mixed media, and sculpting and metalwork. Semi-finalists in each specialty will be chosen by a panel of visual arts teachers and announced in April at ocregister.com
The nominees are listed with an endorsement from their nominating teacher and a link to the student’s work.
CERAMICS
Nicholas Paul Blumberg
See artist’s website
“He is one of the most daring art students I’ve ever had, he is constantly evolving as an artist and experimenting with different processes. He is also the hardest working student I’ve ever had, most days in the last two years he averages about 4 hours of studio time per day! He is a glowing example that art is a discipline that needs time and energy to grow.” — Jeffrey Picou, El Dorado High School
Carter Bruning
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“Carter is a bright, vivacious young artist. She is humble about her artwork and creates purely for the love of it. Over the past three years, her technical skills and creativity have grown. Now, she hand-builds functional ware with a clean and minimal style. She is exploring food waste and sustainability in the kitchen.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
John Graether
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“John has excelled in virtual learning in ceramics class this year. His work goes above and beyond expectations and is exceptional. I have been very impressed with each project he turns in this semester. It is more advanced in technical skill and creativity than any other student enrolled in my classes this year.” — Jennifer Parsons, Pacifica High School
Hannah Marie James
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“Hannah is passionate, curious, creative, and is open to feedback. Hannah is fearless in her approach to trying new things. She spends time improving her technical skills in a of a variety of media and is consistently producing quality work. Hannah often works on multiple projects at a time, and is able to problem solve through obstacles. She embraces the evolution of each of her projects and her work overall.” — Christina Rising, Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Hannah Kang
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“Hannah is an unusually mature individual who demands the very best from herself in all capacities whether it be artistic or academic. She is quiet and very thoughtful, yet bold and investigative, she simply works harder than the other students and her creative works and her skill level reflect that extra effort.” — Randy Au, Orange County School of the Arts
Kate Kurimay
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“She is an excellent student, a leader in the classroom, and kind and uplifting to those around her. She is also an Art Chair this year, serving as a student representative in the arts. She puts time and effort into the work she creates and gives back to her program!” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Brooke Medina
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“While Brooke is only in her second semester of Ceramics, she stands out for the effort and growth she has demonstrated. Given an assignment, Brooke may do more than one with increasing refinement. Over the Winter break there were no assignments, but having clay at home, Brooke made ceramic pieces to be fired on her own initiative.” — Jill Christensen, Rosary Academy
Heather Lynn Rocheford
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“She is a naturally gifted ceramic artist that right away was awe inspiring to watch work. She is especially adept at the sculptural aspects of ceramics, specializing in decorative clay work more than functional pottery. In a year unlike I’ve ever experienced as an educator, she has been prolific, not only doing the assignments given but over 10 other artworks just because she loves working with clay.” — Jeffrey Picou, El Dorado High School
HAND DRAWING AND PAINTING
Claire Ahn
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“She readily displays her skill in drawing and painting, and her artistic interests and inquisitive intellect draw her to explore many approaches to making. From stylized portraits to exquisitely rendered plants and flowers, Claire explores her perception of the world from many angles. Her images are both intricate and evocative, and her presence as a student is always thoughtful, inquisitive and kind. She has also designed specialty botanical lighting fixtures, as well as textiles.” — Phillip Griswold, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
Jenna Barre
“I have enjoyed getting to know her and watching her develop her artistic skills. She has demonstrated to me that she is an extremely talented individual with a lot of ambition and creativity. Jenna is a diligent, hard-working student who is eager to try new and more challenging tasks. Her work is polished and refined, demonstrating an excellent understanding of the elements and principles of design.” — Sheila Colcord, Pacifica High School
Luna Blanchard
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“Luna Blanchard is a dedicated and patient artist. Her inspiration comes from architectural design. She looks into elements of things that inspire her. Her artistry revolves around what she sees within her environment. Her admiration of different cultures helped envision her travels.” — Alberto Yap, Villa Park High School
Tera Chant
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“Tera has such an illustrative vision in her work that comes so naturally — watching her create and collaborate, you can tell that making is just like breathing for her. Tera is soft-spoken, sweet, thoughtful beyond her years, and diligent as they come.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Christine Chen
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“Christine approaches all of her artistic endeavors with passion, enthusiasm, and great care. She is completely open to feedback along the way and incorporates constructive criticism to move her ideas forward. She always goes the extra mile in order to take her work to the highest level technically and conceptually. Christine thrives in the creative process; she meticulously works through multiple ideas before committing, delving into brainstorm sketchbook pages that are in and of themselves, works of art.” — Karen Carrie, Fairmont Preparatory Academy
Yici Chen
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“Emily thinks like a true Artist. She explores her ideas visually and communicates deep, layered meanings in her artworks. She is thoughtful, diligent, and remarkably hard-working. She never fears investing her time and effort to achieve her artistic vision.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
Ziqian Chen
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“Alice loves to see the beauty in nature; I love how she spends her time with the little details and her joy while studying color. Alice is a student that any teacher would love to have in their classroom. She is not only extremely talented, but she is humble, and hungry to learn. I am so incredibly proud of Alice and I can’t wait to see her grown artistically in the future.” — Zaidy Olivarria, Orangewood Academy
Elaine Wen-Yi Chi
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“She is exceedingly concerned with the preservation of the earth. As of late, her work has focused on sustainability in art making and using her art as a way to draw attention to environmental issues. From making her own paper from recycled cardboard to her use of used aluminum cans to create aesthetic bird repellants for gardens, she is creating a new paradigm of art making from reuse and recycle.” — Therese Conte, Pacific Academy
Elise Cho
“Although quiet and reserved, when she opens up, Elise has the funniest sense of humor and everyone loves to be around her. She takes her artwork very seriously and is hard on herself. It makes her a wonderful student because she is always eager to learn, but she is also very uplifting and kind to others. She has what it takes to make it in the art industry.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Alexia J. Cipres-Soto
“Alexia is and exceptional artist and person. She has a strong passion for art and is compassionate toward others. Alexia inspires me everyday, is hardworking, dedicated, and I can’t imagine anyone more deserving of this award than her.” — Ashley Does, Esperanza High School
Katie Fang
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“She demonstrates a high level of skill and craftsmanship. She excels at rendering faces and has been gradually experimenting with media beyond her trusty watercolors. Through the last semester during distance learning and hybrid, Katie also brings enthusiasm and a positive attitude to every class.” — Jill Christensen, Rosary Academy
Jered Matthias Frigillana
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“I consider Jered to be in the top 1% of art students I have ever taught for his artistic talent, vision, maturity, and his consistent drive and passion to challenge himself. Jered exemplifies independence, creativity, organization, eloquence in thought and speech, and grace under pressure to always do his best work. Without question, Jered has a brilliant and fascinating imagination. Throughout his artwork, Jered exemplifies a passion for creative problem solving through unique and personal interests, and an incredible talent for communicating his message while mastering all materials and art making processes.” — Lynn Magnin, Esperanza High School
Alyssa Ayumi Fukumoto
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“During her time as a student in my classes, she has shown tremendous attention to detail when completing projects as well as personal artwork. She gives her full effort in each project, no cutting of corners. Alyssa is receptive to feedback, while also being capable of defending her artwork. She is a creative problem solver who thinks outside the box and will go above and beyond the requirements of each project every time.” — Samantha Squieri, Arnold O. Beckman High School
Tahlia Elizabeth Garcia
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“While I mostly know Miss Tahlia Garcia’s face through the narrow frame of a Zoom screen, her graphic designs have shown her to be a steady, skilled, clear-eyed artist whose visions project all that’s right with the world. She’s applied her sensitive eye for mood and sure touch in a variety of media and techniques, but she certainly deserves recognition for her paintings and illustrations in traditional media.” — David Lyons, Rosary Academy
Katherine Sophia Gasper
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“Her formal artistic objective continues to be learning about color theory through painting, but the function of the work is now serving a more personal in nature as she determines to visually communicate her feeling about the people in her life that she feels loved by. “I paint people I love and want to capture not only the resemblance of their outward appearance but also the beauty of their personality in the form of how I perceive them in painting and color.”” — Christine Adolph, Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Elijah Guptill
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“Elijah is a prolific artist. He has grown from being a doodler and sketcher to an artist who captures his imagination with the stroke of his pen. He is a master mark-maker and is able to manipulate perspective and composition to capture memories and emotion. Elijah is also a well-rounded student who is fascinated with math and science. He sees the connections between disciplines clearly and values the problem-solving skills needed for creative solutions in all areas of life.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
Kaylee Heartman
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“Kaylee is very mature for her age, and she approaches her art with that same sense of maturity. She processes constructive criticism well and is always willing to take the extra steps to propel her work to the next level. Kaylee develops her concepts thoughtfully, explores different ideas, experiments with different media, and executes them. Her work displays a high level of skills and craftsmanship, and she has incredible attention to detail.” — Debbie Jara, Newport Harbor High School
Grace Hong
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“Grace is thoughtful, creative, skilled, and kind. Her rendering skills in drawing and painting are unmatched, and she adds to that her own unique voice, bold compositional choices, experimental materials, and a message to the wider world. Each time, I am impressed with the work she submits and I struggle to find critiques or issues to address, as her works always are submitted fully formed and thoughtfully completed.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Ashley Kim
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“Ashley Kim is a dedicated and prolific artist. As a junior in high school, she has an individual artistic vision, while still being inspired by art history. She makes work that is complex, contemporary, and collaborative with the art of the past.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Maggie Lazo
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“(She has) proved to be a skillful artist with an interest in mutualistic relationships in the natural world. Maggie puts a great deal of effort into her process as well as her finished work. Each piece begins with pages of reference photos, sketches, and notes which are interesting in their own right. She has begun to stretch beyond her favorite medium into mixed media and this more experimental approach has brought a new vitality to her work.” — Jill Christensen, Rosary Academy
Joyce Lee
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“Joyce is an unusually mature individual who demands the very best from herself in all capacities whether it be artistic or academics. She is confident and loves to share her ideas and unusual creativity. Joyce works harder than most high school art students and her artworks and her accelerating skill level reflect her extra effort.” — Paige Oden, Orange County School of the Arts
Elisabeth Leiby
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“She always goes above on beyond requirements, advancing her drawing and painting skills to the next level. Creating art has become a part of her daily life, and experimenting with different techniques. She has a keen perception of color and value, which males her artwork stand out above her peers.” — Vicky Schwarz, Cloud Campus
Esther Liu
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“Esther creates distinct, expressive works with visible experimentation. While focusing on mark making and value, she considers underlying factors, such as sensory impacts, that activate her subjects. Moving in-between realism and abstraction, she concentrates on dry media and explores found media for 3-D works. Ultimately, art is Esther’s instrument to criticize modern society. Instead of creating art for aesthetics only, she uses it to highlight uncomfortable, yet relevant topics.” — Michelle Lee, Ryman Arts
Luomei Lyu
“Luomei is never afraid to take risks in her work and is always, always experimenting and trying new and innovative ways to express her ideas. No matter the direction, her finished work is an exceptional and beautifully crafted work of art. Her ability to render coupled with a powerful imagination makes everything she does as an artist stand out. Luomei is able to move seamlessly from one media to another, whether it is a precise oil painting, digital collage or or super intricate colored pencil illustration, Luomei is a visionary in every way!” — Karen Carrie, Fairmont Preparatory Academy
Aubrey McGrew
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“Aubrey is one of those fantastic students that all teachers hope to get. She listens to direction and implements them perfectly. Aubrey is such a kind and humble star at our school. She quietly goes about her day and shines brightly on all of her endeavours.” — Andrew Edlund, Villa Park High School
Alexa Mejia
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“Alexa Mejia is a very talented artist. She has been making art all of her life. She is always drawing and creating art at home. She is dedicated to expanding her knowledge and skills in art, and pursuing art history classes, as well. Often her drawings have a haunting, other worldly, quality to them.” — Vicky Schwarz, Cloud Campus
Seohyun (Sarah) Park
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“An exceptional characteristic of Sarah is the true joy she finds within the process of creating her artwork. Sarah’s work draws the viewer in with her enticing using of gesture, line, and mark. Her work deals with the present and memory; the juxtapositions of the two creates balance and visual interest.” — Kate Doss, Crean Lutheran High School
Stella Rhee
“In the end of her junior year, and especially this summer, Stella made great strides in her personal and artistic growth. Her work now is a reflection based on her personal experiences and she is experimenting and exploring with materials in new and inventive ways.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Molly Roberts
“Our year began ambitiously studying the design process and jumping into the John Wayne Airport Competition which had the theme — My Dream to Fly. Our class received 5 awards, but Molly’s work was not chosen. In my opinion, Molly’s work was overlooked. She chose not to incorporate the obvious aircraft themed art for her piece. Rather she illustrated a free-spirited woman scantily clad with her hair flowing as she skimmed along the surface of the ocean. It was truly reminiscent of the Botticelli Venus. In my opinion her ideation, figurative expression and artistic technique were masterful.” — Rudy Gardea, Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Samantha (Ziyao) Su
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“As she looks ahead at college she is interested in studying engineering with a shared focus in Fine Arts. She is very unique in that she understands the symbiosis of design and code. She dreams of creating digital products that are beautiful, practical, and meaningful to the world. Digital products that will positively impact the lives of others.” — Paige Oden, Orange County School of the Arts
Jianfei Sun
“Jianfei has always been one of my most independent artists, able to think for himself and remain unwavering in his confidence. What has grown is his ability to accept and receive criticism and feedback, and participate in group critiques in a meaningful way. He has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and I believe he will pursue a career that will allow him to do this, but he has grown in his areas of weakness and now accepts his part in the classroom community, and even enjoys his role among his peers.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Natalie Yu
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“Natalie is diligent, intelligent, creative, and constantly pushing herself to be all of those things more and better. With her own brand of thoughtfulness and attention to detail, she is not satisfied with anything less than the best she can possibly be when it comes to her artmaking. Her work is sprinkled with her tenacity: she grabs each and every piece by the horns, ready to conquer it and not stopping until she does.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Pengzhi Zhao
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“Pengzhi is slow to speak and quick to listen, observe, and reflect, which her peers notice and admire. She describes her art as “absurdism” mixed with surrealism. Reflecting on the universe, she sees paradoxes and opposing forces, but instead of wrestling with and dropping them, she views them as existing harmoniously.” — Vanessa Valdes, Corona del Mar High School
Yuxuan Zhou
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“She has always struck me as a deeply respectful, humble, and diligent student. She pays close attention to her work and does her best on every assignment. One of the most impressive things about her is that she allows her art to speak for her, and when she does speak up to compliment her classmates, it is always 100% genuine. Her work is primarily about how she views the world, her own insecurities, and it is the insight into her observations.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
MIXED MEDIA
Julia Cuddyer
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“She is willing to look at a problem from multiple angles, come up with multiple solutions, and with the drive of a caring and attentive perfectionist, see her plans through to the best of her ability. The drive of any perfectionist is to know one “has not yet arrived” and must bear the weight of knowing one may never arrive, but to abandon the effort is not an option, so one must carry on.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Rachel Gwon
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“Rachel has worked very hard at honing her skills during the pandemic. She is stretching herself technically with momentum during her junior year. She has used this time of virtual learning to develop and explore new mediums and techniques. She has begun mixing many different mediums together that she may not have done had she not had the boundaries of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those boundaries have been useful to focus her attention.” — Christine Adolph, Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Lanyi (Olivia) Jin
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“Olivia consistently shares her voice as an artist by using metaphor and a range of media in her work. Olivia demonstrates bravery by exploring media and materials. Her determination to create and invent pushes the way she lives.” — Kate Doss, Crean Lutheran High School
Sarah Suhyeon Kan
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“Sarah’s work highlights the human experience. She has been able to pivot and produce meaningful work describing the experience of others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Creating impactful work beyond oneself is admirable for any artist- Sarah tells the stories of others with a maturity and insightfulness beyond her years.” — Kate Doss, Crean Lutheran High School
Sage Kessler
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“Sage Kessler is a talented artist and a resilient person. Sage lives with mental illness and finds solace in creating. Confidence in her art bloomed when she learned how to make it personal. Her process starts with writing, then photos, and then sketches used to inspire a finished piece. When her vision doesn’t materialize she moves on and is willing to take new risks.” — Angela Brown, Aliso Niguel High School
Hong Yuan Lin
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“He is working on a collection of pieces that blur the line between couture and wearable sculpture while exploring the impact of fast fashion on the environment. With this new body of work, Eric combines his ability to draw his ideas with his keen spatial design understanding and mixes traditional fabrics with sculptural materials. He is sewing and building the wearable pieces himself and sees this as a possible launching point for a future fashion line. Eric is a deep thinker, clear-eyed visionary, and compassionate soul.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
Aidan Masayoshi McGee
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“Despite having no experience with traditional media, he took a deep dive into designing and producing his own fashion line inspired by the concept of a hero’s journey. He began sketching, sewing, altering, and producing jackets. Aidan is fearless when it comes to experimenting and learning new media and approaches. He synthesizes his experiences into his work – seamlessly integrating concept and experience with mixed media fashion.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
Mishtee Shaw
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“When asked about her top three strengths as an artist, she listed: “Perseverance, Passion, Participation” — and as her teacher, I couldn’t agree more. Mishtee really works out issues within her work, sits in the discomfort of it not initially turning out as she expected, and continues to work until she can display it proudly.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Jade Stankowski
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“Jade embodies what it is to be an artist! She feels life’s experiences and emotions deeply, and she uses art to share it with the world. What stands out the most about her work, is that there are no limits to materials, size, medium, space to define her as an artist. She is brave. In more ways than I can count. She is brave in her choice of materials, she is brave in her willingness to try new skills even when she fails, and more than these, she is brave because her work is RAW.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Wanyu Xiang
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“In her work, she is innovative in experimenting with new materials and complex concepts with deftness of skill. Her drawing abilities and depiction of form and depth are exquisite, yet she still takes feedback on her work with a sense of positivity and readiness to grow. Her voice is unique, daring, strong, and vulnerable.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Vivian Xiao
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“Vivian is kind, hard-working, and curious — so many things that make up a great artist. In her work & in her research, she is drawn to hope, simplicity, and creating peaceful welcoming spaces for her viewer.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Mia Zappala
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“Mia possesses a passion for creativity that is unparalleled in my career as a teacher. Making seems to be her main mode of being — like a joyful little machine — she always has about five projects going at a time. Mia is one of a kind, and she creates a beautiful world for herself to live in.” — Kearci Moir, Portola High School
Junzhu Zhang
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“Deeply thoughtful. Emotionally resonant. Culturally connected. Layered with meaning. These are all ways that I would describe the artwork of Junzhu Zhang. Of course, these are all descriptions reflective of who Junzhu is a person as well. As some of the best artists do, Junzhu is someone who prefers to let his artworks do his speaking.” — Cara Nilsen, Orange County School of the Arts
SCULPTING AND METALWORK
Brooklyn Anthony
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“Brooklyn has grown from a freshman who just wanted her Art credit into a creative, passionate Artist, bursting with ideas. She started out in Ceramics 1 and discovered her love of making things in clay. Now in AP, she is combining her interests in Art, music, and psychology to create a series of portrait busts (another new approach for her) that represent what Enneagram types would look like if they were songs.” — Dawn Hamby, Orange Lutheran High School
Jennifer H. Kim
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“Jennifer is an all-around amazing student! We are so blessed by her in our program, she shines a light to all she meets. Her sculpture work has continued to improve and grow, But she is also an excellent 2D artist. She is kind, genuine and uplifting to her classmates as well.” — Anna Bloomfield, Crean Lutheran High School
Juhyun Park
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“Juhyun excels and always intends to excel. She listens and is observant. She asks appropriate questions and retains information. She thinks and creates both two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally. She seems to like working through challenges. Whatever prompts are given, she makes the projects her own.They show her personality and design aesthetic.” — Kathleen Fochtman-Gambs, Orange County School of the Arts
Jake Quinlan
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“Jake Quinlan is an introspective and inventive artist who deconstructs familiar objects and reconstructs them to show a new perspective. He has an inventor’s mind. He has primarily focused on making assemblage sculptures the last two years and prior to that his focus was on developing strong observational drawing skills. I consistently observe him studying the original object to understand context and material, almost like a scientist. He then carefully deconstructs his found objects with precision, like a surgeon.” — Christine Adolph, Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Nicole Swensen
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“Over the past three years, she has made the most outstanding sculpture installations and furniture. She has the drive to see projects through from start to finish which has resulted in some large-scale pieces. She once built an installation by constructing an eight-foot pillar in our gallery and has taken ideas like form and function and crafted functioning chairs.” — Jesse Standlea, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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