A piece of finished art may be looked at in wonder of how it came to seem so real. Each stroke on the canvas or shadow on the paper having been placed with precise intent by the artist. In the AP Art Show at the end of the year, you can find many people in this state of awe while looking at the finished pieces hanging all over the SAC (Student Activities Center). On display, is one artist’s work in particular, senior Grace O’Malley.

Currently, one of the things that O’Malley is working on is a group of 12 pieces that all have a common underlying meaning called a concentration. Even though all that is seen by viewers of O’Malley’s work is on the surface, there is intent and purpose to each one, according to O’Malley. In AP art class, the artists work on three different portfolios. One of them is called a concentration, which is displayed at the AP art show, she said.

“The idea for my concentration is masks that people wear in society, and the masks become people’s norms,” O‘Malley said. “So it mostly focuses on the struggle to break that norm that you have created for yourself, and that society pushed upon you.”

Art Teacher Stephanie Fuja gets to see O‘Malley in the classroom every other day and knows her strengths and weaknesses as an artist.

“She has significant strength in idea,” Fuja said. “She’s really good at having this really strong interesting idea, and then she has wonderful ideas of how to develop it visually. She has a reason for everything in her pieces. There is always an answer to why.”

According to O’Malley, who specializes in painting, she is doing something different with her concentration than she has before.

“My goal for AP Art is to paint on different surfaces,” O‘Malley said. “Like I’ve painted on cardboard, I’ve painted on wood, and I’m planning on painting on bricks [for my concentration project].”

Although outsiders only see the end product, there was a long road to get to that stage, according to O‘Malley. Every other day since the beginning of the year, Grace has been working on her most current piece in class. She gets feedback and constructive criticism from her fellow classmates and her teacher.

“The bond we form in our AP Art class is just so amazing that, I don’t even know how to describe it,” O‘Malley said. “We tell each other straight up if something looks really bad. We praise each other whenever we see something that we love, and we’re not competitive with each other, we really try to help each other.”

Just like the bond between O’Malley and her classmates, the one between her and her teacher is just as special, according to O‘Malley.

“I don’t know what I would do without Fuja; Fuja keeps me in line,” O’Malley said. “She wants me to push myself, and without her I never would have pushed myself. I wouldn’t be trying and experimenting on all these different things that I am.”

Although these people do inspire O’Malley to create, she had a strong foundation before even her first drawing class at South. According to O‘Malley, she started creating art and painting ever since she can remember.

“I don’t remember not doing art. I was always that kid who sat at the coloring table like all of pre-school,” O‘Malley said.

Up until high school, art was just a hobby for O’Malley. She never considered taking it seriously until her sophomore year at South. Having been stubborn about being graded on her art, she finally took the drawing class at South.

“When I did art my sophomore year because I knew I needed a fine art elective [to graduate], I fell in love with it,” O’Malley said.

According to O’Malley, she hopes to have job in the future where she can use her skills to help others with their art. Much of this decision is credited to her involvement with the art classes that she has taken during her high school career and the supportive environment they provided. O’Malley plans to go to college for art but is still undecided where to attend.

According to Fuja, O’Malley has the type of personality and communication traits to be a great teacher.

“She’s really passionate about doing really well; she wants to do really well, and she wants to consistently improve, and to me, as an artist, you’re always improving, and you’re always growing,” Fuja said. “And I think for her, the fact that she sees that now is really good.”

This year’s AP Art Show is in April, and O’Malley will be displaying her pieces for South students and faculty to admire.