LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — She didn’t know the exact story of the old truck in the photo. Why was it left sitting in the woods with no one driving it? How did it get there?
But even without knowing the story, Annie Hegarty said she knew the truck had a cool tale to tell. So she chose to paint the photo in a 2011 summer art class at Jefferson High School. In the spring, the then-junior entered her painting in the Fourth District Congressional Art Competition. And she won.
Now the painting of the old truck is hanging in the Cannon Tunnel, an underground passageway between the Capitol building and the House office building in Washington, D.C.
Like many artists, Hegarty said she sees art as a form of expression. But unlike other artists, she also sees the similarities to science.
“You have to think creatively in art or science,” she said. “It’s putting it together piece by piece, like putting together a puzzle and then going back and tweaking the layers.”
This painting, titled “Forgotten,” was an oil painting that Hegarty said took her about 15 or 20 hours to complete during the class. Summer art classes at Jefferson High School serve as preparation for the advanced art class during the school year. Hegarty took the June class both last summer and this summer.
She said she found the photo of the old truck, with the woods visible through the windshield, in the classroom and used it to create the painting. This summer, she did more painting of living subjects, such as her classmates and herself through a mirror. She also worked with printmaking.
LuAnn Lamie, her art teacher this summer at Jeff, said she’s had Hegarty as a student only once but thought her work was “awesome,” and the printmaking she did in Lamie’s class was “sophisticated.”
The congressional art competition allows high school art students to submit art projects to their representative in Congress, and a winner is chosen from each district. All the winners are displayed together, becoming a tour highlight for visitors to find the winner from their district.
Hegarty said it was one of her art teachers
Brandon Bass who encouraged her to enter the contest. She said he knew that she won before she knew, but he waited to say anything until Hegarty received a letter in the mail.
As the winner in the 4th District, Hegarty visited the capital in June and saw the passageway lined with art. She said it was so cool to see all the different works and impossible to pick a favorite among the winners.
During her visit, she met with Rep. Todd Rokita and toured the Capitol building. She said her favorite place was the Capitol’s rotunda because of its beauty and detail.
Although the winning painting was only the third or fourth oil paintings she had done, Hegarty said oil and watercolor painting along with printmaking are her favorite media.
In the fall, Hegarty said she’ll take advanced placement art to build her portfolio. She said she plans to study engineering in college her favorite areas of science being biology and genetics. But having the art portfolio allows her to do something she enjoys. And it will always be good to have in case she decides to study industrial design instead, she said.
But no matter what, she said she’ll keep making art. And when her winning painting is no longer on display at the capital, she said she’ll hang it on her wall at home.
“I really like art,” she said.” I can express myself.”
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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com
