RMA is lucky to have wonderfully creative individuals with us who are willing to share their talents with the school. One of these student artists is Audrey Roeder, an RMA senior whose love of art has earned her a spot as our first featured artist of the year.
Audrey became interested in art when her mom (librarian Mrs. Roeder), who is also an artist, bought her an easel when she was three, at which point Audrey started painting and never stopped. At home, her parents have supported her artistic endeavors by keeping her supplied with canvases, paintbrushes, and paints, while at school, Audrey has taken many art classes: Art I, Painting, Ceramics I, Sculpting, Digital Photography, and Drawing and is currently enrolled in Mrs. Hunter’s Art III class. This study has culminated in the production of an impressive new painting that students and teachers have oohed and ahhed over since it went on display in Mrs. Hunter’s room a couple of weeks ago.
Audrey was inspired to create this untitled piece because she loves rainy weather and has seen several similar paintings that she admires. She drew elements from each of them to make one piece that she really loved. To do this, she printed out the paintings she saw, used graphite pencils and a lightboard to create an outline, and began sketching the different elements. Once she completed the sketch, she started painting with acrylic paint and used a paint scraper (a diamond-shaped tool used for texture effects) for the road and reflections; this a tool she had never used before but will continue to experiment with. Audrey chose to use cooler tones in her painting because she felt it would make the painting more “dramatic” and the sky more “powerful.” She believed this would enable each item in the painting to have its own moment, even though the focus is on the girl with the umbrella. “I’m really proud of it because in the beginning, it went through a really ugly phase,” Audrey comments on the piece. “I changed a lot of things, but it worked out in the end and I’m proud of accomplishing it.”
She says that this piece has made her realize that she loves the dramatic, rainy city style and would like to make additional similar pieces and practice with her ability to use detail. She is currently working toward creating a similar painting of cars lining a rainy city street. In addition to cityscapes like these, Audrey’s other art interests include landscapes and pointillism (a method of painting made by small dots). Our artist clearly has a lot of experience with painting, and we cannot wait to see her future works.
