High school offers many ways for students to show off their potential and their talents, whether it be english, science, history, etc. Fine arts, however, can present more unique opportunities for a student’s work to be seen and enjoyed.
Some students at South have chosen the path of either selling their artwork or commissioning for others as a way for them to share their passions with other students and anyone else who enjoys what they create.
Junior Natalia Kropf-Estell commissions portraits of people made from ink and copic marker.
“I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and I haven’t ever seriously thought about trying to make a profit off of my artwork, but it is something that I am interested in,” Kropf-Estell said.
Kropf-Estell said that the benefits of commissioning include establishing a network of people who are interested in your art and becoming more well-known, which in turn helps with any sort of business you decide to do with your work.
“I think that if it’s something [students] are interested in, and if they are able to keep up with that kind of demand, then they absolutely should,” Kropf-Estell said.
She has an art Instagram (@illutalia) where she showcases her portraits and takes messages for business inquiries.
Senior Carter Makice sells ceramic mugs, bowls, vases, and all kinds of functional wares.
Makice has spent most of the year practicing and getting better at creating high quality pieces that he uses himself, gives to others, and sells them because people told him that they would be willing to buy them.
“It’s really cool to see people using my pieces, and I’ve sold stuff to a lot of my friends who are going off to college, and it’s cool to know that they’ll have one of my mugs with them,” Makice said.
When it comes to students making the decision to sell their artwork, Makice said, “I wouldn’t sweat it. I spend over three hours a day in the ceramics studio, and I produce stuff really fast. It’s really convenient in my case to sell it, but it’s also great just to make stuff for yourself, and sometimes when people worry about trying to sell their work it stops being fun and starts being a job.”
He also has an Instagram (@makiceceramics) where he shows off his pottery and where buyers can contact him.
Junior Lydia Amos creates acrylic paintings of abstract dots using bright, fun colors.
Amos said, “My paintings typically take a long time to do, usually like 20 hours a piece depending on the size, but I think it’s really worth it. A lot of times it’s very therapeutic to do intricate designs.”
“A moment that made me start selling was my mom asked me if she could hang one of my paintings in our dining room to replace a painting that was already there. I mean, that’s my mom, but I thought maybe other people would like my stuff as well,” Amos said.
She believes that the most important benefit to selling her art is that she enjoys the reaction that she gets from others when they see her artwork.
Amos said, “I definitely recommend it. I think that it’s a really great experience to do and it’s always good to start early; you never know what could happen.”
Her art Instagram (@acrylydia) has many photos of her artwork and is also where someone can contact her if they are interested in buying one or many of her pieces.
Ultimately, it takes a lot of responsibility and time to keep up with selling artwork which can be bad, especially for high schoolers. However, there are many personal benefits for students like gaining an audience for your work, and obviously, it’s nice to earn a little cash while also doing something that they love.
