Read Along with Madeline Schnittgen’s Artist Talk

Hi. My name is Madeline Schnittgen. I’m 10 years old.

I want to tell you about my art classes and my art. I’m inspired by what’s around me or what’s going on or the things I like. It’s why there are so many dogs! I like making art because I can take my feelings and convert them into art and I can just be myself and feel comfortable.

In this piece called “Running With the Wind,” I painted many layers on over and over and over again, brushing it smooth — like the wind. My piece feels like Freedom, because a horse can do what it pleases and has no worries.

      The colors yellow and blue honestly spoke to me when I was making this sculpture. Yellow is happy, but as you notice there are just little circles of yellow here and there. That’s to show that life isn’t always how you want it to turn out. Blue is sad, and as you can see it consumes most of the horse, but that doesn’t mean that life is always sad. Sometimes you’re so happy you’re in tears — like if you won the lottery or get tickets to see a pop star.  For me, the horse represents that it’s okay to have feelings and show your true self. Even if you don’t think you’re cool, you will always find some way of how you’re cool. 

      I used a smooth texture in my piece because I wanted to make it feel smooth like the wind, or water. That’s so you can understand that life is like a river — fast and unexpected. The piece of wood I chose for my horse isn’t completely smooth though. That’s because life isn’t how you expect it to be. Life has some bumps in the road and it’s not like you can just ignore it. 

     This horse is one of the ways you can escape, because a horse is one of the most majestic creatures on Earth! So that’s the story behind “Running With the Wind.” And, that’s why I chose to create a horse and use that particular piece of driftwood and those colors! 

      Thank you for listening to my talk and I hope you enjoy my art. This has been Madeline on Channel 100 news. Back to the other kids.