Clarke Central High School fine arts department teacher Amanda Price sits at her desk, showing her sketch of an elephant from her sketchbook on Oct. 19. Price has places she goes for inspiration when creating her art. “So, if I’m trying to come up with something like a subject, sometimes I (will) sit down with my sketchbook and kind of just play with it, but (I) definitely like walking outside.” Price said. “Looking at the trees and plants or just looking at different videos or animals interacting. I am really interested in exploring those different relationships of nature and showing that in my artwork.” Photo and story by Bria Echols.
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Clarke Central High School fine arts teacher Amanda Price’s love for nature is not only expressed by spending time outside, it is shown in her art.
Nature: that’s what Clarke Central High School fine arts department teacher Amanda Price lives, breathes and knows. It’s the only way she gets her peace of mind. The only way she feels free.
She studies nature, looking at every piece of life that dwells within it. Every blade of grass, the way the trees sway, each movement of wildlife. She takes it all in. Sitting in the grass, her sketchbook in her lap and her dog by her side.
Price watches everything. She captures it and stores it in her mind. Shades of greens, blues and reds. Every color nature has to offer. It’s comfortable. For her, it’s therapy.
Creativity flows through her mind, full of vivid images of animals and plants. Her mind races, picturing every detail.
As soon as her pen touches the paper, she starts going. Her sketches are playful and loose. She is expressive with every non-perfect stroke, almost like an emotion.
It doesn’t matter where she is in nature. At a local park, calm lake, outside her house or just along a path as long as she is there, that is what is most important.
For her, nature is her inspiration, her muse. A way for her to see the beauty of the world. This is her way of self-expression. A way that she can express her thoughts and ideas. She has an art: an art for nature.
She is nature, expressive and full of life. She is away from the world around her like a breath of fresh air.