Senior Spike Lopez was truly honored when they learned that their painting would be displayed at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center for the district art show, but transporting the oversized 4-feet high by 4-feet wide canvas was going to be tough. Three days before the opening, Lopez carefully loaded the piece in their pick up truck, but when they reached Bastanchury Road, the painting flew out of the back. Just as they started pulling over, Lopez saw an SUV drive right over the piece.
Senior Spike Lopez used acrylic paint and a custom-built canvas to create their piece “Begin Again.” Lopez originally used primary colors then dulled out the background to make the bright colors pop even more. Whites and darks were then added to create depth. (Photo by Spike Lopez)
“I didn’t feel anything other than the adrenaline. I immediately pulled into a nearby parking lot. I waited for traffic to pass then ran into the street to grab it,” said Lopez, who was grateful the painting landed close to the gutter. “Fortunately there wasn’t too much damage. Only the wooden canvas stretcher was busted. I dropped it off at the Muckenthaler hoping they would be able to fix it. Their staff member, Adam, was able to rebuild the canvas stretcher and hang it just in time for the show.”
Lopez’s piece “Begin Again,” created with acrylic paint and a homemade canvas, showcases the process of building yourself up again after a break up. Lopez actually painted the piece a year ago. It was originally titled “Like This,” but Lopez says they wanted to express a different feeling. “I changed the name from ‘Like This’ to ‘Begin Again’ because it was no longer about my ex, it was about me,” Lopez said. “I was focusing too much on other people and not enough on growing as a person.”
Glad that they and the painting survived the transportation ordeal, Lopez says they plan to display their piece in the hallway near Room 86 because they don’t yet have enough wall space at home to accommodate the oversized painting.
Lopez, along with four other Fullerton students, showcased their pieces at the Muck for the annual district art show Jan. 18–Feb. 11. Students were encouraged to submit their favorite piece, whether for its technical merit or for its artistic message. This year’s honorees showcase FUHS’s wide range of visual art studies including photography, painting, 3D design, and drawing. The Tribe Tribune has also included a few photos of pieces submitted by other schools in the district.
Isabella Curiel and Katie Hudson, 3D Design
These costumes were custom fit for the actors in the November production of “A Monster Calls.” (Top left) Maddie Englehardt was the crone (oldest). (Top center) Molly Cooper was the maiden (youngest). (Top right) Katherine Timmerman was the mother. (Photo by Jonathan Piña-Villanueva). (Bottom) The costumes were honored for their 3D design at the Muckenthaler on Jan. 18. BEAST students Isabella Curiel and Katherine Hudson designed color schemes for the different ages of trees: (left) reds for the oldest tree; (center) yellow-greens for the youngest tree; (right) yellows and oranges for the mature tree. The 12-inch claws were made from about 150 individually cut foam pieces.Seniors Katie Hudson and Isabella Curiel spent two and half months perfecting the prosthetics and the armor for the three-person monster costumes. (Top) Curiel used plastic wrap and duct tape to create a custom body cast for actor Maddie Englehardt. (Bottom) Katie Hudson mixed water and alginate–a thickening agent–to create the face cast for actor Katherine Timmerman. After the face molds were formed, they filled the molds with hydrocal. Then, clay was sculpted onto the hydrocal mold of the face to create the design for the prosthetic, which was then casted in hydrocal. From that cast, the foam latex was run through the mold to create the actual prosthetic mask. (Photos Jonathan Piña-Villanueva)Katie Hudson makes sure the mask is safely applied before dress rehearsal using pros-aide adhesive. (Photo by Katherine Martinez)
Nathan Vaughn, Photography
Senior Nathan Vaughn took his photograph “Don’t Stop” while walking through the streets of San Francisco. With a passion for capturing everyday life, Vaughn says the repetition of the lamp posts along with the people underneath caught his eye. He converted the photo into black and white but thought it would be interesting to reapply the red. He then photoshopped “Don’t Stop” onto the sign. “It was to kind of have a conflict between the two. Even though those images mean stop, the sign says don’t stop,” Vaughn said. (Photo couresty of Nathan Vaughn)
Emily Kugelmann, Drawing
Senior Emily Kugelmann’s piece “Heart over Head” represents the idea of thinking with your heart rather than with your brain. As an assignment in her special studies class, she crumpled up a brown paper bag with a brain and kept the one with a heart not crumpled. She then translated them onto paper using charcoal. (Photo courtesy of Emily Kugelmann)
District art show winners (left to right) seniors Spike Lopez, Isabella Curiel, Katie Hudson, Nathan Vaughn, Emily Kugelmann.
More District Honorees
Jennyfer Lopez, Buena Park High School
(Left) Buena Park’s Jennyfer Lopez used photography, Photoshop, Prismacolors, white gel pen and artificial flowers to create her piece “Utopia.” (Right) Lopez used a male model applying make-up to capture a glammed feeling for her acrylic piece “Inner Self.” She wrote that the gems in the background “show his inner aura.” (Photos by Spike Lopez)
Jasmine Mercado-Cruz, Buena Park High School
(Left) Buena Park High School’s Jasmine Mercado-Cruz explores how holding onto past relationships and one-sided yearning affects our growth in her acrylic piece “Please Let Me Go.” She added the skeletal overlay and flowers to symbolize death. (Right) Mercado-Cruz created “Era of Reconstruction” to show friends supporting each other in trying times. She wrote that the piece, created with acrylic paint, depicts friends “recovering from hardships and taping them back together to build community and love.” (Photos by Spike Lopez)
Laurencia Chmielarski, Troy High School
Troy High School’s Laurencia Chmielarski created her piece “Imperfect” with colored pencils. She drew a woman facing a camera then added ripped pieces of paper to cover the face. About her piece, Chmielarski wrote, “We see something unappealing and imperfect and try to get rid of it. Regardless of how hard we try, nothing will ever be perfect.” (Photo by Spike Lopez)
