(Left to right) Cecelia Cummins, Abby Davis, and Katie Lannon pose next to their work. 

COURTESY | James Joski 

Senior Cecelia Cummins singled out her favorite painting at her art show: a portrait of Julio Suarez called “He Taught Me How to Do This.”

Suarez, chairman and associate professor of art, has taught Cummins since her first art class.

“It was a really good lesson,” Cummins said. “There was a lot of pressure behind it because he’s my painting professor. I have to get his likeness down.”

She was one of three seniors who displayed their work at the senior art exhibition “Wide Eyed” on April 11. With her were Abby Davis and Katie Lannon.

Each senior brought a distinct style and personality to the exhibit, displaying landscapes, graphic designs, and portraits.

“I just love painting all different mediums and all different things,” Lannon said.  “I really like to portray beauty in my art.” 

Among Lannon’s works, natural and religious scenes dominated the exhibition.

“I love saints, and my faith is really important to me,” Lannon said. “I love painting things that are religious, but then I also love nature.”

Lannon’s favorite work, “Assisi,” features an Italian church nestled among smooth rolling hills. 

“My sophomore year we studied abroad in Austria, and we went on a pilgrimage to Roman Assisi, and I just fell in love with Assisi and the beauty there,” Lannon said.

Cummins’ section featured a greater emphasis on portraits and the human form. Always looking to grow as an artist, Cummins said she often chose subjects she knew would strengthen her craft.

“I try to find challenging things,” Cummins said. “For example, Suarez had cut out hands as inspiration to put in the oil studio, and I saw those, and I figured they would teach me a lot.”

Also present were a series of portraits executed in the studio using real models who posed in three-hour sessions with breaks every 20 minutes. 

While oil typically takes days to dry between layers, Cummins worked while the layers were still wet in a technique called “wet on wet” to complete the portraits in as few as three days.

In the middle of the exhibit, stood Davis’ dioramas, drawings, and graphic designs.

Davis took most of her art classes in drawing and graphic design.

“A lot of [the pieces] start with class assignments,” Davis said. “I think that it is really cool to have an idea of a project or subject that I want to do, and then find a way to fit that into the guidelines for an assignment.”

Davis pointed to a Russian-themed cover for the board game Clue as an example. 

“There was a thematic art competition, and the theme was family. I really liked the game clue, so I did a board game for graphic design.”

Of all her displayed works, Davis singled out a diorama of whales in space as her favorite.

“We got to do whatever we wanted for our summer project, something we wanted to do for a while,” Davis said.

A lover of stars and sea creatures, Davis had made similar dioramas in high school.

“The idea was fun.” Davis said. “The craftsmanship was really shoddy, so I was really excited to get to try it again.”

Suarez said his students are capable of wonderful careers after graduating.

“Just the mindset of hard work and dedication and you just have to earn things,” Suarez said, “It’s going to help them do whatever they want.”