Hunter Thomas, Senior 
I’ve been making art since a very young age, and it’s something that I imagine myself doing for a long time, to say the least. Back then, becoming an art teacher seemed inevitable. I remember sitting in my elementary art room, dreaming of the day when I’d be at the front desk, explaining the color wheel, demonstrating different lines and patterns, and so on.
My opinions on art have definitely changed since those early years. I used to believe that everything should be drawn exactly as seen, and that if a piece wasn’t realistic, it was somehow “wrong”.  How did I not realize that I had limited my creativity, and why did it take so long for me to branch out? It’s been over a decade since I set these restrictions on myself, and I’m still learning to embrace the bold, exaggerated style I’ve developed. Bright colors, large, round eyes, and symmetrical compositions tent to occur in my portraits. Abstracting my art, even by the slightest degree, has given me a whole new perspective on the world around me.
Creating art can be one of the most frustrating things, though. I feel like I’m in a constant state of artist’s block, working piece by piece until I can finally express an idea (almost) exactly how I desired. There are nights when I turn on “Arrested Development” and just start painting, usually hoping that something better hits me.