Senior Claire Sullivan said that she has loved art since she was little, and she discovered her knack for drawing while doodling on restaurant menus as a kid. Now, she takes her passion seriously, as she is enrolled in five—nearly every offered—art classes: AP Drawing and Painting, Design II, Ceramics I, Printmaking and Mixed Media and Interior Design. For her dedication, The Rebellion recognizes Sullivan as September Artist of the Month.
“I just always liked drawing,” Sullivan said. “When I started taking art classes in high school was when I started doing it on my own.”
So far this year, Sullivan’s proudest work is her most recently finished painting for her AP Drawing and Painting class.
“My favorite project this year is my concentration piece for Drawing and Painting,” Sullivan said. “It’s a picture of my cat where he looks like a unicorn and a picture of me where I look like a princess; I really like it.”
As a true artist often does, Sullivan pours her heart into every piece she creates, though sometimes they prove to be a real challenge. Some of her most difficult pieces are intricate doodles she creates in her free time.
“I have these little pen drawings where I get super detailed, and they take me a really long time,” Sullivan said. “The second most challenging piece I’ve done is this big picture, and that took me a really long time because it’s just massive. It took me two weeks, and I stayed after every day to work on it.”
Additionally, Sullivan delves into art in her free time with her passion for fashion. At home, Sullivan sews and designs her own clothes, and she often shows off her hard work on her Instagram page dedicated to her art.
Last spring, Sullivan went to a pre-college program at Massachusetts School of Art and Design in Boston, where she made clothes for a week and put on a show with her peers to showcase their work. “I do fashion design out- side of school because I don’t have any classes in school like that. I make clothes in my room,” Sullivan said.
The 2018-2019 school year will also mark Sullivan’s third year in the Walpole High School Dance Company. She began dancing at Commonwealth Dance Academy, like her other teammates, when she was in elementary school. As for dancing in college, Sullivan is unsure if she will continue because not all of her de- sired colleges have the opportunity, though the track athlete does think she will continue to run as a hobby.
Every artist has a muse, a source of inspiration, and Claire is no exception. Her favorite painting— “Women of Paris: The Circus Lover”— Instagram designer Ilse Valfré and her cat are just a few of the things she draws inspiration from for her pieces. On any day, Sullivan can be found working hard for one of her five proj- ects, painting, sculpting or designing.