AP Art Studio students design holiday greeting cards

AP Art Studio students at CVHS designed holiday greeting cards for families of students to use for the holiday season. There are five different designs created by five different students, each with unique art and perspectives. They are available for purchase on the online student webstore; packs of 10 with 2 of each design, are $10. 

AP Art Studio teacher Alexis Knudsen found the idea when her old art mentor sent her a  note card that featured some old student artwork. 

“The card was from 2012 or so, but the artwork was still relevant and beautiful,” Knudsen pointed out. 

She liked the idea of people being able to buy the holiday cards this year even if they don’t use them right away, and thought that this was a perfect way to showcase student artwork from home and give it the attention it deserves. 

The five designs were chosen initially by Knudsen, who asked students to put forward a piece of work they were distinctly proud of and wanted to see on a notecard. She received over 60 submissions, and from those she chose 16 designs to show a committee of seven staff members who then helped pick the five designs that students can now buy on the student webstore. 

The five artists decided to leave the notecard unattributed, so the people who receive it can focus solely on the artwork itself. 

Senior artist Charlize Tran shared her thoughts about the creativity of her classmates. “I’m always taken aback at the skill level, creative exploration, and artistic choices of my classmates. You can really see the differences in creativity and how people similar to our age express their own experiences, emotions, hardships, thought-processes and imagination,” she said. 

Each card is beautiful in completely different ways. An abstract blue note card was designed by senior Lola Reed using a mixture of watercolor and acrylic paint. Reed found her  inspiration in the song ‘Busted and Blue’ by the Gorillaz.

“It represents how the song makes me feel when I listen to it, peaceful and a little sad,” shares Reed.

Another card designed by senior Eden Hughes of a scarab beetle with Egyptian-inspired designs that overall represents life, and was a drawing made for an earlier project, “triptych from collage.” 

Junior Analysa Williams’ card was based on symmetry. “I wanted to create the work abstract from the symmetry but also realistic from drawing flowers,” says Williams. 

AP Art Studio is not a class for everyone, but has many benefits if you enjoy drawing and creating art, including being around people with the same passion as you. 

“This class is for students who are completely immersed in making artwork and allowing their creativity to flow through art,” described Dominique Mallari, a senior in the class and one of the artists of the notecards. 

The class only gets two art shows at the end of the year, and with COVID-19 interrupting our school year, they will be taking place digitally. Not only was this a great way for students to showcase their work, it helped many artists realize how much they have improved over the years. 

“This opportunity has made me feel more confident in my work and has even encouraged me to even start creating more prints that others can enjoy,” Mallari explained. 

So far, the CVHS Art Program has sold 85 packs of greeting cards, even with the difficulty of trying to sell a product without being on campus. They are available on the student webstore for $10 a pack, so buy a pack and support the artists here at CVHS!