Art acts as a great platform for self expression, activism, to release creative thoughts and ideas, and is an excellent coping mechanism for emotion. Many students at SJHHS create art and incorporate it into their everyday lifestyle.

Senior, Lauren Skinner, likes to portray the presence of God in her art pieces. A mission trip to Africa her freshman year sparked her interest in art in the beginning. She now teaches art to students ranging from preschool to high school. Skinner describes, “I usually go for realism with my art, though I love to branch out to all different sorts of art and expression.” As she believes persistence and practice helps her grow to become a better artist, Skinner explains that, “every piece I create, I improve, so I’d say my latest self portrait is my favorite, at least technically speaking, though the concept of my set of three portraits from Africa holds a special place in my heart.”

Her inspiration and favorite thing to paint is faces. “Separating all of the layers of colors in each face and putting it on a canvas is one of my favorite things to do in art.” Skinner plans to further her career as an artist. She will begin her journey by attending Laguna College of Art and Design to pursue her passion.

Daniela Bagan, junior at SJHHS, loves creating art to emphasize self expression. She enjoys capturing others with her art and releasing the personal emotion that comes with it. She explains, “My brother is a huge inspiration for my creations. He likes to draw and always has. My desire for being artistic steams from him.” Bagan emphasizes that art is very personal: “I usually keep my thought-provoking pieces to myself, only because art is a very personal action, and it evokes many differing perspectives.” She loves art because it is a great way for her to put her emotions on paper, and helps her sort her thoughts.

Senior, Monica Sivayavirjna, has been inspired by art since she was a child. Starting with popular Ghibli films, Sivayavirjna drew anime, mimicking what she saw on her television. She slowly started to improve, “other technical elements of art such as realism and architectural perspective drawing. In order to avoid being a one-trick-pony, I use a variety of mediums such as ink, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencils, and even digital art on my iPad.” The phrase “practice makes perfect” repeated by her father, motivated her to attempt new aspects and techniques of art. Sivayavirjna explains, “My current favorite piece is a portrait of River Phoenix because I had no idea I was capable of drawing portraits this realistically using only a mechanical pencil.”

As she likes to stand up for what is right in her art, Sivayavirjna emphasizes that, “Through my artwork, I want to address the seriousness of mental illnesses and how impactful it can be on one’s lifestyle. By portraying the psychology of how humans interact with each other into my work, I hope to increase people’s awareness of why some people act the way they do and be more accepting of everyone’s circumstances.” Sivayavirjna emphasizes modern fashion trends, American pop culture, and cityscapes such as Los Angeles and Tokyo in her art. As she uses social media platforms to post her artwork, she enjoys meeting others with similar interests and showing her appreciation for TV shows she creates art of. Sivayavirjna plans on majoring in entertainment design at ArtCenter College of Design and hopes to work in the film industry as a concept artist.

These are only a few of SJHHS’ many talented, artistic individuals.