East Valley’s Kirsten Stobie receives special art honor
A SOLDIER IN IRAQ washes his hands and feet after a hard day in the field. The young artist who painted this image sought to convey a more symbolic cleansing for military service members who face difficult tasks each day. For her work, Kirsten Stobie of East Valley High School has won the U.S. Congressional Art Competition representing the 5th District.
The acrylic painting, “A Hard Day’s Work,” features a soldier from the Iraq war with his hands and feet in a bucket to wash. Inspiration was given by East Valley alumnus Gilbert Castillo, who had just returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq when he came in uniform to the classroom to pose for Stobie.
“The idea behind it was he was sort of cleansing everything he had done that day, all the hard work that soldiers do,” said Stobie, 18, a senior.
“Soldiers have to do things that are harder than most people have to do. It was kind of a healing process to show what they do for us.”
It’s a painting that her EVHS art teacher, Pam Smith, said captures emotion and uses powerful color and compositional techniques. Castillo is one of Smith’s former students, and he agreed to pose after Smith approached him with Stobie’s idea.
With the award, Stobie’s painting will now show in Washington, D.C, in a tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol throughout the summer.
Stobie said she first got the idea for the painting while returning from a trip to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to see works of Renoir, and other classic paintings.
“We went to the MAC, and on the way back, I was thinking. For me, it is kind of a religious thing, like how they have all the biblical pictures when they’re cleansing feet. It was kind of like that with this painting.”
Castillo posed for a one-time session, allowing Stobie to arrange the composition for the body, do some sketches and take a photo. She and Smith then asked a fellow art student, Ian Bergevin, to pose for the face to capture expression and emotion.
“We actually changed the face a bit,” Stobie added, “but we used the body formation that he (Castillo) posed for.”
“It’s a pretty abstract piece with coloration and form. It’s realistic in that you can tell it’s a human washing feet and hands.”
She said she hopes her painting is taken in the right spirit.
“I’m extremely proud to be an American and of what soldiers have done for us. I just want everyone to know how hard they work for America.”
Stobie probably won’t make it to the June 14 award ceremony in Washington, D.C. She graduates June 13. U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris is scheduled to meet Stobie and Smith in Spokane next week.
After teaching art 28 years, Smith said, Stobie is one of those stand,out students.
“She’s a real talent, a joy and pleasure. She has team-led us into higher levels of evolution as artists. To express emotion through paint with compositional technique – bringing the two together, is just rare. Kirsten took us there.”
U-Hi photo students honored
Five students in the University High School photography program have been recognized for their entries in the Photographic Society of America annual Youth Photography competition.
The PSA has both a local and national competition each year. The local competition was held at the end of April and includes hundreds of entries from high schools in the Inland Northwest.
The local competition gives cash prizes to individual category winners. The local judges also choose a select group of images to be sent to the national competition this summer, to represent the Spokane chapter of the PSA.
Kayla Haas, a senior at University, was awarded a $50 prize for her entry in the photographer’s choice category titled, “The Big Fall.” Four other University students had photographs selected for submission to the national competition. The students and their subjects are: Jamie Utesch, “Faith on a Plate”; Leah Wilson, “Red Barn”; Jillian Wilson “Mirabeau”; and Danielle Garrett “Flyin’ High.”