Medium: watercolor and pen

Inspiration: I love liminal spaces and video games. During the cold snap in January, I didn’t really have much to do, so I decided to create an abandoned mall scene based on my favourite video game, Breath of the Wild. I wanted to go for a food court vendor which drew very minor inspiration from BotW and the culture in game, while mixing in some modern aspects. It all really goes down to me being burned out with playing video games, and just thinking “What if BotW’s Hyrule existed in a modern world, and there was an abandoned mall?”

Takeaway: When I made this piece, I wanted to evoke a sense of loss, depicting a once-bustling place from a bygone era. I wanted to find a good mixture of darkness and light to be able to capture that essence of time, and how it took its unfortunate toll on this once-beloved location.

About Emma Chou, class of 2025: I enjoy playing video games, doing art, and writing fanfiction. I work when I am inspired, and often create my own characters. I love to build worlds and create in-depth stories. When I’m not playing video games or creating stories, I like to go out and walk around town.

Media: Ink, colored pencil, pen, watercolor, crayon

Inspiration: I liked the idea of the soul being like fire, and I was inspired by ancient civilization writings with meanings lost to time, needing to be rediscovered by modern society.

Takeaway: I wanted to create an art piece that congratulated the viewer for analyzing it. It’s about the soul in a broad sense.

Jaz Bryant, class of 2025, loves creating art and telling stories, wishes to major in fine art and animation in college.

Medium: gouache

inspiration: My music teacher commissioned me to paint one of her cats, Pickles.

Medium: digital

Inspiration: Summers in San Diego

Takeaway: Simple things can make you smile

Elinor McKenzie, Social Science teacher, began drawing digital art during the pandemic. She is self taught and believes it’s never too late to learn a new hobby.

Medium: Silver Gelatin Photographic Print

Inspiration: I was looking for projects to do with my Photography 2 class (new this year) and I wanted ideas that dont rely on Photoshop, Filters or AI-I wanted to get back to full creative control of creating photos and this was something that came up in my research. It worked out so well and everyone really enjoyed it!

Takeaway: I hope that it causes the viewer to appreciate the beauty of a traditional photographic print, and to stop and think “I wonder how she did that?”Mrs. Jenkins has been teaching at County for 10 years. She is not just a teacher, but a practicing artist and photographer, and has works on display at the Firehouse Gallery in Charles Town WV. She has 2 kids, 2 cats and 2 dogs. She loves Harry Potter and Pokemon as much as she loves art and teaching!