Kendall, Age 7

ARTIST STATEMENT

Kendall Bachofner

I am 7 years old. I live in two homes with two guinea pigs, Henry and Caramel. We have one dog, Bali and one cat, Charlie. We also have a goldfish named Tangerine. My mom is a cleaner and a waitress. My dad is an engineer. I get my ideas for my art from nature – for example, plants and trees. I like to go outside and draw what I see.

I like making art because it’s satisfying. When I paint I love the feeling of the paint and the brush going on the paper or wood or canvas. It feels soft. I also like to pick my own colors and that is very satisfying.

I like to paint. I like to build with art. I like sculptures because it helps me to learn. It’s fun to build 3D things.

My cardboard sculpture is a whale in the ocean. I liked building it up. I thought of putting the waves on it because whales mostly live in the water. They come up to the top of the ocean and they breathe with a big spout of water spraying out. I think this whale is cute.

I liked making the 3D paintings. Even though I like to choose my own colors, this time Maureen made us pick a card and on the back was the colors orange, green, pink. So that’s the colors I used. I liked them. I wouldn’t normally choose those but I learned I liked them. We glued the shapes. I arranged and rearranged the shapes until I got the design I wanted. It’s called “Squigglys.”

I think art is fun and I love it. Someday I would like to be a veterinarian because I really like animals and I’m interested in helping them. Thank you for coming to my show, buying my art and supporting the organizations that we picked.

Charlie, Age 8

ARTIST STATEMENT

Charlie Brouwer

My family lived in a wood and stone house but it is getting remodeled so we moved to our grandpa and grandma’s house. My sister’s name is Sal and my mom’s name is Becca and my dad’s name is Ben. Everyday I play games at school or home. On Monday my sister goes to dance. My sister and I sometimes watch tv and sometimes it’s interesting and gives me ideas.

I also get my art ideas from books like our big animal book. It has many different kinds of animals and it’s really big. Plus other pictures from stuff. Drawings help me calm down. I like art class because we do fun things like play music and do art, and paint. My favorite piece of art I made is the “Trees and Leaves.” I just thought of the title because I have trees and lots of leaves in my backyard. I have five large trees.

You might wonder how I chose my colors. I made the design look kind of like branches. I chose a card that had colors and shapes on them. The cards told me what colors to use and what kind of shapes and since they looked like leaves and branches, that’s what I was thinking when I made it.

I am friendly, playful, sometimes silly, sometimes serious, mostly quiet, and I am kind. I think my art fits my personality because things like my “Trees and Leaves” are playful and some of my art is serious. I love using crayons, colored pencils, markers and paint.

“Ghost Town” is another piece I enjoyed. It kinda looks spooky and I like that. One of the houses kind of looks like a haunted mansion. My teacher says it looks like an architect designed this tiny village. But I don’t think an architect would design a ghost town.

Thank you for reading this article. And for buying my art.

Eleanor, Age 7

ARTIST STATEMENT

Eleanor Dow-Connolly

Hello, my name is Eleanor Dow-Connolly and I would like to take a moment to tell you about myself, my art and how I get my inspiration. My family is very sweet, and my brother Graham loves to play with me. My baby sister Margot gives me hugs and kisses, and that makes me feel so special. Margot is so cute. She’s one year old and Graham is 4. In my free time I like to do things like sing, dance and create art. Singing gives me confidence and I love doing it because it is fun. I also love to dance because it moves my body and warms me up. Most of all I love art, I have my own art desk and using it makes me feel calm.

I get my inspiration from my trampoline and my family. Jumping on my trampoline I get ideas from just jumping up and down. My Mom gives me ideas and she gives me inspiration, because she is beautiful and a great artist. I also believe in magic and magical creatures such as trolls, gnomes, mermaids and unicorns.

I love Nature because there are so many beautiful animals and plants. I love love love love love love love love love love plants. I love roses because they smell good and used to grow in our garden. I also love plants that make us food like vegetables. Me and Graham work in the garden sometimes with flowers and plants.

One of my art pieces, “Cat in the Cosmos” is so creative. It was from my imagination. It’s so colorful and beautiful! I love tigers and it kind of looks like one or a cheetah. I just love that drawing so much it’s so cool. I really like the cosmos in the background. There is a sketch I did called “Moms are the best.” I like this one because my Mom was just sitting on the table doing yoga and she inspired and I love her. “The Black Girl,” I drew her eye so close because I wanted to see her soul. My collage, I made with my Mom and I chose Paris because my Mom loves Paris and I want to go there with her someday.

I would like to thank my Mom for helping me with art and inspiration. I would like to thank my teacher Maureen for all of the fun art lessons she gave me. Last but not least I want to thank everyone for coming to this art gallery.

Opal, Age 7

ARTIST STATEMENT

Opal Haladay

Hello, my name is Opal. I live on 8th Avenue. I have three cats. My favorite project in here is tiny house villages. I painted mine red and green because they’re my favorite colors. I like fruit and vegetables. My favorite subject in school is handwriting.

Working in my sketchbook is also very fun. I love every way to do art. But my favorite was probably drawing with pencils, markers and pastels. My sketch, “The Forest,” is made of oil pastels. I like oil pastels because they are smeary and easy to use. Also oil pastels are more colorful and I am a colorful person.

Another art project I liked is my flying pizza. I made a flying pizza because I love pizza! It was amazing. I like cheese pizza but I put pepperoni for eyes and an olive for a nose.

I like to draw wild animals. Once I went to Yellowstone and saw a fox and a wolf. But we did not see many geysers because it was winter. I drew a fox and some wolves in my sketchbook.

Now let’s get back to art. I like art because it is very relaxing. Is it nice to do art. If you have not done art you should try it! I love art so much because it is fun. But it does not need to be perfect. Have you ever done art?

Goodbye. Thank you for reading this. I hope you buy my art so we can give a big donation!

Zahari, Age 7

ARTIST STATEMENT

Zahari Lane

Hi! My name is Zahari and I’m in 2nd grade. I’m seven. My birthday is April 16 and I go to school at Central Elementary. My mom and dad are divorced. So I get to live with both of them but week to week. My dad’s house is actually my grandparents’ house. And my mom’s is an apartment. I have 3 dogs in my life and 2 guinea pigs that are kind of both mine because my sister is allergic and I wish I wish I wish I could’ve brang them.

My favorite activities are basketball and playing with my dog and guinea pigs … My dog loves my guinea pigs. And Kona, our dog, is an Australian Shepherd and Cocker Spaniel. And my guinea pigs have a bunny costume.

I really like making art with Maureen. My favorite thing was making the little wooden town because I got to put the pieces in however I wanted. My favorite thing to use in art is pastels because you get dirty and I love love love getting dirty! I like to get messy when I do art. And I do not care how messy but I hope it’s a lot always. I just randomly think of things and that’s how I get my ideas for my art.