From SCNOW

Purple, eight-legged, five-eyed monsters took over TthomasArts as students from Lucy T. Davis Elementary, Wilson High and South Florence High stormed the gallery to see their 2-D and 3-D creations.

The elementary students drew pictures of what they thought of when they heard the word “monster.” Some student said they thought of silly monsters, and others said they thought of scary. They drew whatever their imagination created, including color and tentacles.

Their drawings were given to the MYP/IB Art One students at Wilson and the 3-D design students at South Florence. Most of the 3-D sculptures were made of clay, but a few of the monsters created by students at South Florence included 3-D printing features.

The students at Wilson learned how to make these monsters as part of a lesson in clay. South Florence student Micheal Mason said when he looked through the pictures, he focused on colors and shapes.

“The monster kind of looked like a fish,” Mason said. “It could have been a water monster or something like that.”

Mason said the most difficult part for him was painting colors vibrantly enough to match the drawing, but Wilson student Annie Abernathy said it was difficult for many students to make the monster stand.

“We had to pick which one we wanted, and then we started working with the clay, trying to figure it out, especially since it’s so difficult translating it from 2-D to 3-D,” Abernathy said. “Mine, it had two heads, so I kind of had to roll it into a very thin spaghetti noodle. Some of them, you can’t even tell where the legs or arms are, so I think I got one of the easier ones.”

Lucy T. Davis student Andrew Orr drew a green monster with several oddly placed appendages. He said if he could pick a name for his monster, it would be “Leafy.”Lucy T. Davis student Tyler Holley was excited to tell everyone about his artistic idea for his monster. He said he hasn’t thought of a name for his monster yet.

“It does have four legs, and in the picture it does have the same number, but there is one more thing that the two monsters almost forgot,” he said. “The colorful monster actually had five, but the other monster had three. It’s a little bit close.”

Melissa Watts is the parent of a Lucy T. Davis student, and she said this experience made her daughter excited to see her 3-D monster.

“This is a really cute idea, and it really showcases their talent,” Watts said. “She was so excited. I think it’s a great idea. Her eyes got real big. It was so cute.”

Some elementary students, like Watts’ daughter, got to meet their high school partners. Tiffany Thomas, the owner of TthomasArts, said she was happy to host the event because the collaboration supported the gallery’s mission.

“We are all about partnering with the community, so we love to do different events like this to bring people together and showcase new and exciting things.”

This was the third annual Monster Masterpiece exhibit and the first year that Wilson High School participated.