Congratulations on receiving an Fine Art Honorable Mention/ Fall 2022 and best wishes ongoing to:
LeeAnn Skinner is a Junior at Washburn University and is majoring in Studio Arts and minoring in Environmental Biology.
“I have taken many art classes and explored different mediums including: photography, design, drawing, painting, ceramics, woodworking and metalsmithing. My favorite medium is watercolor, I started painting in the fall of 2018, during my Junior year of high and I fell in love with the medium. I love the look of watercolor, the way an image is formed with overlapping transparent layers, and I think it captures light in a more interesting way than other mediums. In 2021 I was able to take my first class with watercolor, and I have learned about combining textures such as wet on wet layers with elements such as paint splattering and salt. I have used watercolor to make paintings that won awards such as the NASAO aviation art contest 1st place on the state level in Kansas in 2019 and 2020. I have also had my paintings exhibited at the Topeka Art Guild in 2020, the Mulvane Art Museum student exhibition and Hays smoky hill art exhibition in 2022. In 2022 I started using watercolor to make pet portrait commissions which has been a way I have earned additional income. During the fall of 2021, I got an on-campus job at the Mulvane Art Museum. Outside of classes I have also attended meeting with the Biology club at Washburn University and I am active member of Christian Challenge. I have been a volunteer with Helping Hands Humane Society for the past 6 year where volunteer at some events, help with socializing cats and my family fosters kittens. In the past year I have been putting more consideration into what area of art I want to explore, I know that I want to use my work to promote conservation and showcase the beauty of nature. I have been considering different ways to do this by practicing landscape and wildlife painting, and experimenting with other 3d dimensional mediums to create forms such as a 3dimensional life size wood model of a fox.
After graduating I am considering doing either a masters degree with a concentration in painting or going to graduates school for scientific illustration. In the future I am hoping to work as an illustrator or as a studio artist, I have also considered careers with the national park service. I have been working to create more realistic wildlife and botanical paintings with watercolor. In the summer 2023 I am hoping to go on a study abroad trip to Italy that is part of a course with the art department at Washburn.”
“Chickadee in Aspen Tree” © LeeAnn Skinner
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