Valley Voice: Talent on display for OSPI regional art contest

Hundreds of Washington high school students sent their drawings, paintings, photos and ceramics to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for its annual art contest. Nine Spokane County students were named regional winners and two of those went on to win awards at the state level.

Central Valley High School junior Lauren Moe was a regional winner for her oil painting titled “Rocky Creek.” It depicts a creek rushing downhill in a rocky channel, with lush vegetation all around. “My painting was of a picture I took in Oregon,” she said. “It took about a month because I put a lot of detail in it.”

She took the photo on a family vacation as she traveled with her parents, grandmother and cousin. She said she can’t remember where exactly the creek is and doesn’t know its actual name. “It’s just what I named it,” she said of the title. “It was just a small creek by the ocean.”

She originally created the painting as a present for her mother’s birthday, but her art teacher suggested entering it into OSPI’s annual contest. It was the first one she had ever entered and Moe didn’t have high expectations and was surprised when she learned she had been named a regional winner.

“I was kind of shocked,” she said. “I was also really happy that I won. It was a good experience. I’m definitely going to enter more pieces of my work.”

Painting is a relatively new form of art for Moe, who has been practicing for about three years. “I normally do a lot of pencil drawings,” she said. “I started getting really serious about drawing in the seventh grade.”

Before the seventh grade, she didn’t consider what she did art. “I’ve always kind of liked to doodle,” she said. “I doodle on every piece of paper I come across.”

She branched out into painting in high school, which she said she usually just uses to create pieces for people’s birthdays. She’s also painted a couple of pairs of jeans, but said she needs to refine the process so the jeans aren’t so stiff.

Moe said she has used both oil and acrylic paints, but usually prefers oil because it dries slower, and she can tinker with the painting as it dries. That’s not possible with acrylic paint, which dries in 20 minutes, she said. There are other reasons she likes oil paints as well.

“I prefer oil paint because it gives it a shinier look, and I can be more realistic,” she said.

With high school graduation a year away, Moe has been looking at art schools she might attend. She wants to use her artistic skills in her career and is exploring options like animation or tattoo artist. “I have a few pathways,” she said. “I definitely want to continue drawing and painting, maybe selling some of my work.”

The other regional winners in the OSPI art contest are: Gillian Chappell, Ferris High School; Kyla Gurkowski, Ferris High School; Damien Baldwin, Cheney High School; Kevin Nesterov, Cheney High School; Ben Moran, Cheney High School; Quentin Swett, Deer Park High School; Linsey Scarlett, Mt. Spokane High School; and Anthony Browning, Mt. Spokane High School.

At the state level, Scarlett also won the Washington Association of School Administrators Award and Browning won an honorable mention.