By: India Evans, Staff Writer
Olivia Dyer has always liked to paint, even when she was little. Growing up, art was always with her. Her mother went to school for illustration and is even currently studying to become an art teacher. Olivia knows that her passion is art and that it will always be a part of her.
Olivia is a freshman at USM, but last year she took an AP Drawing class that helped shape her to be the artist that she is now. It was her most intense art class to date because the goal was to create an art piece a week. It challenged her to do different styles of art, even though they were not her favorite.
For the twelve weeks of class, she completed one painting a week that was focused on a single theme, which was difficult for her. One painting resembled Henri Rousseau’s “The Jungle” piece. “In our National Art Honor Society, we had to choose a refinish old furniture with our own famous works. I decided to pick “The Jungle” with floral life and entangled plants. I enjoyed creating this piece because I love vibrant colors and the free-flowing nature of flowers.”
This class helped her grow as an artist and as a person. “The AP art class developed my confidence as an artist and I discovered that painting flowers were a strength where I can incorporate in all my paintings.”
For many of her other paintings, she draws inspiration from “Camp on Eagle Lake,” one of her favorite art pieces. “From the flowers that grow on the bank by the lake to the leaves that fall from the trees, these natural subjects that I choose to focus my artwork on lend themselves into more experimental works that I use color to convey the emotions of what I’m seeing. I further explored the experimental, less structured side of art in my AP concentration of florals and color splashes that were centered around the idea of growth.”
Olivia uses flowers in her art because it can relate to real life. “Flowers start by being confined beneath the soil but then they overcome and they burst through and climb to their most beautiful form. People are like flowers. We all overcome struggles in our lives and we are beautiful for it.”