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I personally LOVED everything that Anna Dittmann, from San Francisco, CA submitted for the cover contest … The Savannah College of Art & Design is LUCKY to have such a talented artists attending its school!

Desiree Zielinski graduated from Mid-Valley High School in Throop, Penn., in 2008. She is currently a student at Marywood University, Scranton, Penn, where she is majoring in graphic design. She should earn her bachelor’s in fine arts in the spring.

Her work, My Subconscious in Trying To Break Through, came in a burst of imagination after looking into a foggy mirror after a shower. “I took the photo and then brought the photo into Photoshop and created the image I sent in for the contest. I suppose inspiration comes at the weirdest times and the weirdest places. The essence of the piece is about looking inward and listening to your inner self. In the end it is about listening to your heart.”

In high school Desiree took all the art and photography classes she could. She joined the art club and the yearbook club. As one of the photo editors, she helped select images and also designed pages with classmates. At college, she is part of CMYKlub, which helps members become student members in the local advertising club; Delta Epsilon Sigma, the school’s scholastic honor society; and Zeta Omicron, the chapter of Kappa Pi International Art Fraternity, a service organization for art majors.

“Graphic art is the perfect mesh of fine arts and technology. I enjoy both sides of the equation. There are lots of avenues for graphic design. I also exploring media and television … all my options,” she says. She has done work study at the university’s art galleries and served as an intern at a news station and at a T-shirt printing company.

“I also sing in a folk group that is part of the church choir and sometimes a group of students gets together at a café in Scranton as a sort of philosophical chat group,” she says.

Rosemary Gallegos, a junior at United High School in Laredo, Texas, is the best sort of example when teachers seek out a well-rounded student. She aims at creating art, especially art created from recycled materials to being part of her school’s robotics club.

Her painting, Goodbye, was painted on cardboard. The Austin Fair competition included a component to make art out of recycled materials. “I wanted to turn trash into something creative,” she says. The title of the piece comes from the band Best Coast’s song and Rosemary describes the image with the line: “Every time you leave this house, everything falls apart.”

In high school, Rosemary is part of the art club and hopes to join Advanced Placement studio art next year. She is also part of the debate and the chemistry clubs. “I plan to major in art and possibly minor in fashion. I am thinking about the State University of New York-Purchase or the Art Institute of Austin.” Contemporary artists and their art inspires Rosemary. “I hope to see myself at a good art school or university with a good art program. After graduation, I would really love to do design work for Old Navy.”

Reflecting to her childhood, Rosemary says she picked up painting and crafts from shows on television. As a kindergartner, she drew a detailed can of spinach. “Soon enough I was in the art club in elementary. I entered a contest with a collage that won best in show. I was inspired to keep going.” She has entered the Fine Arts Fiesta and her artwork was featured as the cover in the 2010-2011 Texas Education Agency Events Calendar.

“I work with lots of media. I reuse what I can find and that includes magazines, cardboard, whatever I can find. I like to create my own stencils. Then there is printing and drawing, plus oil painting too,” she says.

Senior Naomi Fiebelkorn attends Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Wash. The high school offers unique arts programming and advanced placement courses and Naomi has taken advantage of both. However, her art for the Creative Outlook contest has been of her own creation and on her own time.

“I mostly draw flowers with gel pens and colored pencils,” she says. “I use the same patterns and they are almost always colorful. I have not taken any drawing classes, but I have taken stained glass and graphic design.” She has also worked on stained glass projects outside of school and done some painting at home.

The flowers are her own invention and she often looks around her Bellevue community for inspiration. She also likes the Internet. “For about a week, I doodle while I am sitting in class. I really can focus more if I keep my hands busy. If I am drawing something more complicated, I will plan it out. Truthfully, I draw what I feel like.”

At Sammamish High School, Naomi takes AP psychology and English this year. Last year she took AP calculus and physics. She also takes a mix of classes including accounting and wood shop. “I just joined the art club and I have been part of the badminton club for my junior and senior years. We have intradistrict competitions.” She participates in community service through church events and her family plays instruments so Naomi has branched out into music too.

Naomi has not decided on a college yet. She is still looking at financial aid and scholarships. “I am thinking graphic design. Right now, I am enjoying my drawing. I find a great deal of satisfaction to draw and then complete a work.”

Merriam-Webster defines combine as the act of uniting into a single expression or the ability to act together. For Karen Li, a senior at Bob Jones High School, Madison, Ala., the act of combining her loves of piano and figure skating are as natural as sunlight and water. She mixes the best of her piano performances and her figure skating, including taking one of her favorite pieces, Liszt’s Concert Etude No.3 – Un Sospiro, and not only mastering the piece for solo piano, but also making it her performance music for her solo ice skating peformance.

Karen started playing piano the summer she turned 7. Her brother played piano and Karen kindly begged to play so her parents set her up with her brother’s piano teacher. “I have always been a good music sight reader. That has helped, but there is also lots of hard work,” she says.

The dedication to the piano is balanced with her love of figure skating and her devotion to her Advanced Placement classes. Her major piano practice occurs on the weekends. During the school week, Karen squeaks in an hour or two daily. “Piano playing is very individual so it is all in my control, much like the figure skating,” she says. “I knew I was doing well when I mastered playing Rachmaninoff’s Elegie. It was my favorite piece to learn.”

Figure skating came two years after piano. “I was 9 years old. I had taken ballet and gymnastics. I wanted to combine all the aspects I loved, including music and ice skating fit the bill. Figure skating and piano playing may be individual activities, but both are designed for playing to the audience. In piano, your posture can tell the audience if you feel the music. If the performer enjoys playing or skating and they can see you put your whole heart into it, the audience enjoys the performance too,” she says.

Karen takes piano lessons every week. Her figure skating includes lessons with two coaches. She says they are supportive of her piano playing. She even helps judge and teach once of the Saturday morning classes.

Academically, Karen has taken many accolades, including being a National Merit Semifinalist and AP Scholar with Distinction. Her leadership includes serving as president of Mu Alpha Theta math honor society where members serve as tutors and work on community service projects. She’s a member of National Honor Society, National English Society and National French Honor Society. She also has several Advanced Placement classes this year including French, English literature, biology, economics, European history and physics.

“I am pretty well rounded. Being involved in so many things means I have to manage my time wisely. The concentration to practice piano and the endurance to perform in figure skating helps in my school work too,” she says.

Karen has been a seven-year consecutive winner in the Alabama Music Teachers Association Piano Solo State Competition. She’s a two-time winner of the Young Artist Award that includes a performance with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. “My brother performed with them and I told my mother that I would do that some day. It was such an amazing experience. The conductor was nice and welcoming. I think I played for about 4,000 people. You have to wait a year after a win to try again. It was a wonderful experience twice over.”

Karen wants to attend a liberal arts college where she can continue piano and figure skating. Her music may be a minor. “I want to be an adult that can do both,” she says. She is working on another Liszt piece called Liebestraum; Beethoeven’s Appassionata, first movement; and Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B Minor. Karen will compete in the spring. Her YouTube channel is Aim High Girl.

Liszt Concert Etude No.3 – Un Sospiro