by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
When Taylor Daniels’ mother woke her up from a snooze one day last week, Taylor couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about and why her mother seemed too excited.
Then, rubbing sleep from her eyes, she heard her mother say, “I think you won. Yes, you won!”
Her mother was holding an invitation that had just arrived in the mail. It was from Visual Arts Minnesota, inviting Daniels’ to the opening of its high-school art exhibit and informing her that her acrylic painting was named “Best of Show” – the very top award possible.
Daniels, at first, was stunned – dazed by the good news.
Daniels is a junior at Sartell High School. Her art teacher, Deb Rollings, was also stunned when she heard the news.
“I was just overjoyed,” Rollings said. “It’s the first time a Sartell student has won the Best of Show award in that contest. It’s like an art student winning the “best” in a state competition. Sartell students have won awards before, but this is the first for Best of Show.”
Rollings is one of three art teachers in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District.
Sponsored by Visual Arts Minnesota, the High School Art Competition involves the top art works of students throughout central Minnesota – works that include painting, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, photography and jewelry. There were 108 entries this year, which is the 32nd year of the competition.
All of the art works are on display at the Paramount Theatre lobby until April 23.
Daniels’ winning entry was actually a school assignment, which suggested the students try out acrylic paints just to get a feel for them. Acrylic paints have the rich colors of oil paints, except they are water-soluble and fast-drying. The assignment was part of the “Art 100” unit at the high school, which gives participating students college credits for their work through Southwest State University.
Using a 12-inch by 16-inch canvas, Daniels painted a picture of five friends walking through the woods on a rainy autumn day. The predominant colors are green, red and yellow.
“I painted that because I just love painting pictures of people,” Daniels said. “It’s not a realistic painting. It’s more stylized than realistic. I love art. I think about it every day. It’s part of who I’ve always been.”
Daniels estimated she’s painted more than 20 pictures, but she also loves to draw. She’s taken some basic painting classes, besides her school art classes, but mainly she has learned her art techniques on her own, just by having fun with paints and pencils.
She suspects art may be in the family’s genes, on her mother’s side. Her mother enjoys taking photographs, her mother’s mother is an artist and her mother’s brother is an artist who married an artist.
Daniels’ favorite famous artists are Claude Monet, Alphonse Mucha and Edgar Degas.
Taylor is the daughter of Mark and Ellen Taylor of Sartell. She plans to attend the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; or the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Design.