Cheney High School seniors showcase art portfolio

Eight Cheney High School graduating seniors had a chance to display some of their work at the 31st annual Senior Art Thesis and Dessert Banquet, June 1.

Students developed their portfolio pieces in the Art III – Junior/Senior Studio class. Art teacher James Scarcello said the seniors in the class were a small, but "very dedicated" group of students.

"This is their time to show off their best," Scarcello said.

Solace Enterline's portfolio selections included a piece where she used the "push and pull" method, the technique used to create the illusion of space in a painting or drawing, an illustration of the language arts hallway and a portrait of literature teacher Sara Leonetti.

"Since she's a literature teacher I incorporated literary elements into the painting, including a river to represent 'Huckleberry Finn,' and champagne glasses for 'The Great Gatsby.'"

Enterline, who described her family as "artistic," said she enjoys art because it gives her an opportunity to "put ideas down on paper."

"You get to make your own universe," Enterline said.

Sierra Barrio's portfolio consisted of pieces that represented different chapters in her life, like a dark tree, which represented the time when she "fell into depression." Scarcello noted that Barrio was the first student to work with oil paints in his class. Barrio enjoys art because it allows her to express her emotions.

"I find it relaxing," Barrio said. "It's fun, messy. Seeing people's reactions to my art makes me happy."

Barrio plans to work after she finished high school, but she hopes to attend art school in the future.

Some of the art on display was based on childhood passions and memories. Jonelle Winner's portfolio consisted of various character designs, which she said was inspired by her love for cartoons and video games as a child.

"I loved Pokemon as a kid and I'd sit there and draw those characters," Winner said. "Over the years I started drawing more people."

Winner added that she incorporates aspects of herself into her character designs. She will attend Eastern Washington University to study visual communication design and would like to go into filming and design computer generated images.

One of Arseniy Tepp's portfolio pieces was a digital 3D model of a cave using Unity, a video game engine that creates two- and three-dimensional models. Passersby who stopped at Tepp's station used a video game controller to explore the cave's five separate paths and teleport to different areas.

Tepp said he's always had an interest in art and special effects after he watched Sam Raimi's "Spider-man" movie when he was a kid.

"It's like computer programming," Tepp said in reference to using the Unity engine to create the cave's texture maps. "If something doesn't work you can go back and fix it."

Tepp has a couple of different options after high school. He plans to attend the Lake Washington Institute of Technology. He would also like to join the military where he can use his skills in different areas.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.