Color, composition and kids

Suzie Harrison

It is the most extensive youth art exhibition in Orange County. It

also is among the most competitive.

On Sunday, a sea of families and friends flooded Laguna College of

Art and Design for the 31st annual Color It Orange juried youth

exhibit.

The long-standing show, which is open to students in grades

kindergarten through 12, drew more than 4,000 entries. Only 700

pieces were juried into the exhibit, including works by 30 Laguna

Beach High School and Thurston students.

Scholarships were awarded to 10 high school students to attend the

college’s portfolio development class.

Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider applauded the students’ artistic

gifts.

“People with creative talents are able to think out of the box and

are able to contribute in ways that others cannot,” she said. “If you

are creative, you not only have an aesthetic talent; you have

developed a way of thinking that will make you successful, no matter

what you do.”

Laguna College interim president Helene Garrison stressed that art

education at an early age is one of the purposes of Color It Orange.

“As schools’ funding for art gets cut back, as it is, at least we

offer a venue to recognize talent and show the art made by students,”

Garrison said.

Garrison said there are few opportunities in schools to shine in

visual arts, unlike the performing arts.

“[This exhibit] is like a recital. Everybody shows up -- families

and teachers -- to encourage making visual arts,” Garrison said.

Color It Orange fills three galleries on the college’s campus.

“I heard a lot of interesting conversations about composition and

space, with beaming students posing in front of their pieces,”

Garrison said.

Family accompanied Jonathan Zalomek, 11, from Tarbut V’Torah in

Irvine. His mother readily snapped pictures of the artist, including

one with his teacher.

“I like thinking of different things to do, experimenting with

electricity, engineering and making clay models, expressing ideas

through clay,” Jonathan said.

He created a ceramic piece with exacting detail and color.

“We had to make a chair that represented whatever we liked or

maybe even about ourselves,” Jonathan said. “I decided to do an ice

cream sundae chair. The first idea, I sketched it out. I had to draw

each angle and made a paper model to make sure it would work.”

A bowl-shape piece cradled the bottom, which he thought worked

better than his original idea of using legs.

“For the banana I choose yellow and brown, so it would look

semi-ripened; and three ice cream scoops, vanilla, strawberry and

sherbet, with some of it dripping down,” Jonathan said. “The ice

cream scoops were the pillows in the back; the banana was the seat

and the cherry on top was for a head cushion.”

Rachelle Bautista-Meeks, 15, from Capistrano Valley High School,

said she chose a subject she thought other people could relate to.

“I got my idea from a National Geographic magazine,” Rachelle

said. “I read an article about two kids who suffered from anorexia

and were in a hospital for a while.”

Rachelle used prisma pencil, which is her favorite medium.

“It’s a cross between pastel and a color pencil; it blends really

well,” Rachelle said. “I used light brown, dark brown and white. I

used the peach and yellow on their foreheads to stand out against the

black.”

Rachelle said to her art is personal.

“It’s a way to express yourself without people judging you,”

Rachelle said. “There’s not a right or wrong.”

Laguna Beach High School student Trevor Walker, 18, combined a

computer-driven medium, Photoshop, with her original photography.

“I like the freedom of art; you get to choose what you want to do

with no limitations,” Trevor said.

Color It Orange is on exhibit through Sunday at Laguna College,

2222 Laguna Canyon Road. For more information, call (949) 376-6000.