Art is an integral part of the world. It can impact color, clothing design, personal style, how people view the world, how people get in touch with emotions and so much more. Senior and AP Drawing student Jennifer Kaechele sees art as this beautiful force.

“I probably started getting into art in middle school, in seventh or eighth grade,” Kaechele said. “I started drawing and stuff like that. I guess I just thought it was a great way for me to get in touch with myself and express my emotions through art.”

Kaechele prefers making art that showcases memories or events. Since Kaechele is choosing an art career path, she experiments with different forms of art in addition to drawing to discover what allows her to create her best pieces on a frequent basis.

“I would say my art style is realistic if it were a style,” Kaechele said. “My art is definitely colorful, and I try to dabble in some surrealism. I’ve tried all sorts of different art mediums, not just drawing. I’ve done painting [and] a lot of sewing. I think it’s important if you’re into art to try different things.”

Kaechele did not start off as an amazing artist. It took her years of practice and work to get to where she is now and is still improving today. AP Drawing teacher Jillian Tebay has watched Kaechele improve from the beginning of the school year until now.

“She is a lot more experimental,” Tebay said. “Before, she was focused more on spaces and objects and now she’s focusing more on conceptual experience that she’s talking about, like family experiences and how it affects the child. She’s going from her own point of view to other peoples’ own childhood.”

Being an artist for so long, Kaechele has also gained experience and improved using her imagination. Just as students experience energy losses, artists can experience creativity losses, and no artist is exempt from this. Yet, Tebay acknowledges Kaechele’s motivation.

“What I think stands out to me about Jennifer is that right off the bat she was able to think about her art and what she wanted to make crucially,” Tebay said. “Art is so open-ended that it’s so much harder than you might think to come up with a concept. [Kachele] was able to create something that meant a lot to her, and [for] every piece she was able to expand her thinking.”

Kaechele likes to focus on the mental part of art and how it affects its audience. Being an artist for five years has allowed her to understand more about the artist’s intention compared to what the picture looks like to the naked eye.

“I think growth is a really important part of being an artist. My technical skills and the way I’m interpreting things have changed,” Kachele said. “I get my inspiration from people, so spending time with friends and family or going out and meeting new people help me find things that I can use to create my piece.”

No matter what one is doing, there is always room for improvement. According to Tebay, critique is one of the many reasons Kaechele is an amazing and successful artist.

“She is always looking for feedback whether from me or people around her,” Tebay said. “Being an artist, it’s easy to get stuck in your own head. [Kaechele] needs to get feedback from people around her to make sure her art makes sense. She is really good at taking and finding feedback.”

Although she loves creating emotional pieces with stories behind them for fun, Kaechele realizes that in order to succeed in the art world and make a career out of art, she has to modernize what she is doing and take her art to a business level.

“I’m trying to see how I can apply myself more to industry,” Kaechele said. “My major is going to be communications design, so [I will be doing] branding or creative marketing, just trying to see how I can incorporate art and business.”

Kaechele also acknowledges her acceptance of critique of her art and how it has helped her. Although Kaecheles’ art journey has helped her become a better creator, it has also helped her grow as a person.

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“Don’t be afraid of critique. I feel like that’s something I feel people hold their work back from,” Kaechele said. “It’s important to get people’s input [because] it helps [you] develop as a person through your artwork.”