Eli Pothier, a junior at NC, exemplifies a wide variety of artistic interests including poetry and ceramics, along with printmaking and painting. She began creating art to express herself at a young age; currently, Pothier participates in NC Creatives, Poetry Club, National Arts Honors Society (NAHS) and Magazine Club.
Pothier began her ceramic journey at North Hart Elementary School. After her fourth-grade creation of a “fish taco,” she fell in love with working with clay. In high school, Pothier returned to her artistic classes, completing Visual Art Comprehensive (V.A. Comp.) and ceramics. Now, Pothier does not work alone in her creative process but shares her art by showing or collaborating with others. For example, Pothier has drawn characters and cartoons by splitting the image in half and allowing another artist to complete the other side.
“You don’t have to be a thirteen-year-old prodigy at art to start. Even if you can only draw a stick figure, I urge you to pick up a pencil and try to draw something. Art helps a lot mentally and physically. Art will help you with whatever you need. I create art a lot as a coping mechanism, and it helps me feel better and, I think it can help anyone,” Pothier said.
Other artists inspire the creative process of Pothier, including Camileon and Van Gogh. Her art does not come only from inspirational artists, though, as Pothier creates art for environmental and social issues such as climate change. Her art process begins with simple brainstorming which later evolves into versions of her artwork before becoming the final piece. Each piece receives meaning after completion, as unpredictable events occur in Potheir’s art creation process, providing the pieces with individuality. For example, one of Pothier’s ceramic pieces exploded in the kiln, leading her to glue all the pieces back together and attribute meaning to it as it experienced unpredictable changes.
“I would say her art style is a good blend of cartoon and realism. Depending on what she’s making, she can make it more or less realistic which I think is cool and can bring more life to her pieces. I enjoy the art she makes for the characters of the novel she’s working on and I enjoy when she uses acrylic on canvas or makes another mural,” junior Allore Walters said.
Pothier does not stop at only visual art; she also contributes a portion of her creativity to writing. As president of the Poetry Club, Pothier writes poems and short stories, analyzes song lyrics and responds to visual prompts. Throughout her academic career, Pothier has accomplished spreading her art as she strives to perfect her creative skills. In 2023, she entered the Cobb County Writing Fair and won first place with her written work, “The Lone Bird.” This short piece told the story of a king whose people turned against him which caused a detrimental impact on his health, causing him to experience hallucinations. Throughout the story, he reaches out to grab birds that he hears outside his cell, and as his demise nears an end, he hears the birds sing again. At that moment, the king realizes that the birds’ screams belong to him.
Pothier plans to attend either University of Georgia (UGA) or Kennesaw State University (KSU) for a master’s degree, and by double majoring in psychology and art, Pothier plans to become an art therapist. In this position, Pothier wants to allow her patients to use a Thailand method of creation and destruction. In this method, a patient creates the face of a person who harmed them out of clay and destroys their face as a way of coping with their experiences.
Pothier prioritizes mental health in her artistry, and she dreams of helping people struggling. If the opportunity arose, she would love to create a mural or simply bring art into a mental hospital to cheer up patients or sad families. The young artist hopes her creations bring inspiration and joy into her community.
