Years of hard work and commitment to art were shared with the community during the Oxford High School senior art show last week, which featured the works of 32 local student-artists.

The event is held at OHS each year and gives seniors at the chance to create booths which showcase their works created throughout their high school careers.

Seniors Carlee Thompson and Alexis Jahlas decided to work together to create a joint booth, which paired black/white works of art with vibrantly colored artwork for their theme “Black and White Meets Color.”

“Some of our pieces were inspired by class and some were from our personal lives,” Thompson said.”I’ve been sketching since my freshman year, but our art classes this year brought it out a little more because we got to work with watercolors, ebony pencils, acrylic. It widened what we got to try working with and really helped us grow as artists.”

Senior Sydni Schwab designed her display to serve as a “home away from home,” by erecting a tent and shining soft lighting throughout to bring to it a comfortable ambiance and to recreate her bedroom, where most of her works of art are created.

Many of Schwab’s pieces, which featured colorful animated characters, were created using simple art tools, according to Schwab—like colored pencils and Sharpie markers.

“I like to keep it simple,” Schwab said.”With the simple things that I do have, I think I can make some pretty amazing work… When it comes to art in general, you can be an artist no matter what you use. I’m someone who came to this using Crayola and Sharpies and I was able to make all of this. If I was able to make my art using ‘the little things,’ anyone can do it.”

Schwab hopes to work in illustration or in animation someday.

Senior Raquel Escamilla focused her display on the theme, “nature,” which exhibited oil paintings and drawings of animals and floral design dating back to her freshman year of high school.

Escamilla said she’s been practicing art since elementary school and plans to continue art as a hobby as she makes her transition into college next year, where she will study business.

“My mother used to do face painting and she would practice on us and I would play with her paints. It’s definitely something I want to keep doing,” Escamilla said.

Senior Jillian Senger, who said art has been a lifelong passion of hers, kept her focus on faces by displaying various acrylic-painted portraits at her booth.

“A lot of my art is emotionally-driven and shows different sides of me… It helps me to let go of things when I paint and serves as a coping mechanism for me,” Senger said.