Surreal talent

By JAMES LUMPKIN – Variety Writer

Clarke Central High School freshman Ella Sams’ skill level within art does not match her age. For her, it’s purely about passion.

Almost every day, Clarke Central High School freshman Ella Sams can be found sitting in her room, toiling with her latest creation. Her piece is intricate, seemingly professionally drawn.
However, Sams is not a lifelong artist, nor is she a professional one. Ella is a student with a passion for art.

 Many of Clarke Central High School freshman Ella Sam’s quick sketches, including her piece that depicts a bird and a snake in pen ink,  earn her admiration from her peers “I like to call her ‘The Freshman Sensation,’” Fine Arts department teacher Jeff Barnett said. 

“I love art. I have two hours of art now and it’s not enough for me. I want more,” Ella said.
Ella’s love of art began in the second grade.

“We all had to draw a portrait with surrealism,” Ella said. “I remember (my portrait) having a lot of animals and being very symbolic.”

Ella has adopted surrealism as her primary style and applies it to many of her pieces. Her favorite artist, Salvador Dali, was also a surrealist.

“I like how (Dali) did (pieces) that weren’t necessarily normal,” Ella said. “His melting clock is one of my favorite and (his) most famous.”

Since her discovery of the genre, Ella has expanded on her surrealism skills. Ella appreciates multiple aspects of the style.

“I like surrealism because it’s a subconscious thing. It just comes out of you in a way that you really don’t mean for it to happen,” Ella said. “I did this work of art recently, it ended up as a self portrait with a nightmare in the background and it was coming onto my face.”

Many of Ella’s pieces, such as her self portrait, began as merely a wisp of an idea.

“I really don’t know where it came from. I knew my face was going to be in there and I was going to have something in the background,” Ella said. “Somehow I got a tree turning into an octopus and a tire swing falling into it.”

According to CCHS fine arts department teacher Jeff Barnett, Ella exhibits a high skill level in regards to her age and grade.

“She’s in Art I, but she has the skills of an (Advanced Placement) art student,” Barnett said, “She has excelled in every assignment I have given her.”

Ella has gained recognition for this level of skill by earning a spot in the art display case in front of E.B. Mell Auditorium.

“She is one of the very few in the display case,” Barnett said. “(The case) is usually for the upperclassmen. It’s the winners circle.”

In one of Ella particular pieces, she illustrates a color wheel through the feathers of a parrot. Barnet feels this is one of her strongest pieces.

“Her creative color wheel is one of the best I have seen in all my sixteen years of teaching,” Barnett said, “She’s short in stature but she’s like a giant when it comes to her art skills.”

While she is unsure of the origin of her talent, Ella believes that it may be in her genes.

“My mom is an artist, but she is a graphic designer,” Ella said. “I think that’s where I got it. She really hasn’t taught me anything, but I think it’s in my genetics.”

The arts are not the only thing Ella’s heart, she also has a passion for animals and often volunteers rescuing animals in her free time.

“I have always liked drawing animals more than people,” Sams said.

In her piece titled “Rebels,” Ella puts a creative spin on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover that features a neon colored elephant. “Rebels” blends both of Ella’s passions like many of her pieces.

Despite most of her time being focused on her art, Ella is having difficulty deciding between pursuing a veterinary career and being a professional artist.

“It’s really hard to decide,” Ella said. “It would be sad to give up on art as a career.”

Despite her indecision of the road ahead, Ella is just currently focused advancing her artistic talent.

“For the future I just want to keep art in my heart,” Ella said. “Whether I go on the path of veterinary medicine or some other path, I want to always have my (art) skills.”

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