BATH

For a look at some local talent in the community, art lovers may want to head to the second floor Community Room at the Patten Free Library in Bath to check out the Teen Library Council’s annual student art exhibition this spring.

Roberta Jordan, an outreach and instruction librarian at Patten, commended the students for their submissions and noted the “different mix” in artwork compared to last year.

This year’s annual show displays 27 works from 25 student artists, which includes pencil and charcoal drawings, watercolors, photographs, acrylics, scratchboard media and painted masks.

“This … is really a way to showcase local kids’ talent,” she said on a Friday afternoon. “I think it’s hard in a place like Bath to find venues and I think a lot of kids are pretty shy about putting themselves out there, so it’s a non-threatening way to put yourself out there.”

Art teachers at Morse have also played a role in encouraging students to participate in the exhibit.

“I’m thrilled with the response and I appreciate the art teachers in particular,” Jordan said. “They corral, which is nice. (Students) need that little push.”

For Morse High School sophomore Tyler Ealy, this was his first time having his artwork on display in public.

“This is the second sunset I’ve done,” he said, pointing to his canvas painting. “I’ve never done one on this big a canvas — it’s usually a small canvas that I’ve done them on. So I’m really happy with this one.”

Coming from a family artists, Ealy said he learned by watching what they do.

Below his painting was also a poem he had written in poetry class titled “Sagittarius.”

“With poetry, I’m extremely more comfortable in,” he said. “I read a lot of Shakespeare so I kind of have more of a rhyme than most other kids in my class because that’s what I’m used to.”

“With this, it’s … kind of like a warrior where the pencil is my weapon and the journal is my shield,” Ealy said about his poem. “And once I sit down, I can just write.”

Madison MacDonald, a junior at Morse, shared two of her art pieces this year for the exhibit, including “The Librarian,” a pencil sketch she completed for class, and an ink drawing titled “Into the Woods,” which was something she had pursued in her own time.

In MacDonald’s ink piece, a bright red, cloak, presumably Little Red Riding Hood, catches the eye in the midst of the dark forest — where a large wolf is also poised among the gray trees.

“I just thought I could work on classic fairy tales, things like that,” she said. “And then I thought maybe I could do a series of them.”

It’s a theme MacDonald hopes to continue, and the story of Cinderella may be her next subject.

“I just thought maybe doing them all in black and white and grays, and then this like one color popping out,” she explained.

In addition to sketching and drawing, MacDonald said she’s been branching out and trying other mediums of art.

“I’ve been trying to do a lot of different things. Like I’ve tried sculpting and I’m trying to get better with painting, and recently I’ve tried sewing clothes,” she said. “I just kind of like to try a bunch of different things.”

The student exhibition is free and open to the public during regular library hours, and will be on display until Saturday, May 7.

dkim@timesrecord.com