Her peers try to work around her pile of books, papers, clothes, and lunch food that she “didn’t have time to eat.”  Her teachers pick up after her and remind her of meetings, deadlines, and even the current day and time.   She may get lovingly teased about her forgetfulness; but Artist of the Month, Sarah Simmons, is quite focused when it comes to her artwork.

Sarah, a junior at Salado High School, was chosen for her beautiful colored pencil drawing called, “Brooke Adeline.”  It is just one of many family-centered artworks that she has completed this year.  The style of the drawing is photo-realism, and she used a photo of her cousin for her source.  Sarah has produced several pencil and pastel drawings, as well as a few paintings, of family and friends during the school year.  As a matter of fact, Sarah’s submissions into Regional VASE this year were both in the style of photo-realism.  One was a pencil drawing of her brothers and herself as toddlers, and the other, a self-portrait done in pastel.  Both pieces earned her Superior medals.

“Creating art is very calming,” Sarah explains.  “I also think it is very satisfying seeing the end product.”

Sarah first became interested in art in the fourth grade, when she got to paint two times a week.  She did not take her first official art class until high school, but she has always been crafty.  She always liked to make things to decorate her room or to make things just for fun. Pencil, charcoal, and pastels are her favorite because she likes to be able to smudge, rub, and blend her medium.

“Sarah’s creativity is like a waterfall,” says Kyra Mann, her high school art teacher.  “She has new ideas all the time; she comes up with something that she would like to try even as she is working on a current project.  She is so excited about her ideas, the process… her artwork.  Sarah may leave a mess in her wake, but out of those messes comes very precise and detailed artwork.”

Sarah is involved with FCA, was a member of the track team, and served as a manager for the boys’ basketball program.  Sarah has no long-term plans for the future.  She wants to take it day-by-day and stay active.