Senior Andria Atkinson began creating art since her first steps, but transformed her abilities during the Covid-19 pandemic when she released her academic burden and focused on expressing her artistic urges. Atkinson adores the ability to move others through her art. She loves creating handmade gifts for her friends and family, ones that showcase not only her inclination towards artistry, but also the love she carries in her soul every day. Instead of partaking in the consumerist and chaotic culture of holiday gifting, Atkinson chooses to hand-draw and write cards to hand out on holidays. This gift exchange allows her to personalize the notes she cultivates, granting each person who receives them a special experience, as the notes represent their unique personality and interests. As gifts, she has created several origami-like bouquets for her parents.
Atkinson recalls one fateful day in elementary school when she created a ceramic dish based on an assignment allotted by her teacher. After this experience, Atkinson began creating bowls and other ceramics to gift her mother on her birthday. This sparked her love for ceramics, which Atkinson cultivated by partaking in all of the ceramic classes offered at NC.
“For my art, it’s not something to inspire people. Instead, it’s really something for my close friends and family to like and enjoy. That’s why I like making homemade birthday cards and things like that, specifically to make my friends and family happy and so they can feel that I love them and care for them through personal gifts,” Atkinson said.
Previously, Atkinson attended the Visual Art Composition (VA Comp) class her freshman year, Ceramics One and Two and continues in the process of completing printography, which serves as her final art class at NC. Atkinson specifically states that her favorite moments in the art classes highlighted the connections and lessons from teachers Karria Arana and Natalie Depietro. These instructors helped Atkinson grow significantly in her craft, from lifting her confidence about her pieces to teaching her specific skills that help develop her talent. In addition to her school curriculum, Atkinson attends the National Art Honor Society (NAHS), where she has volunteered for the Marietta Museum of Art and for Marietta’s Chalktoberfest. Atkinson also loves connecting with younger artists. For example, at her summer job as a camp counselor, she facepainted and recalls the experience with love and joy in her heart.
Of what she learned in art classes and in NAHS, Atkinson’s favorite medium remains charcoal. Using this medium, Atkinson loves using pencil and paper to create realistic portraits of people and nature mortes of flowers. This technique opens her creative eyes to other styles of drawing, occasionally incorporating colors. As her inspiration, she enjoys drawing her close friends or images she sees on Pinterest.
Atkinson’s father and grandfather both received an education to become artists. Funnily enough, Atkinson did not know about either of her family members’ career paths growing up, meaning that her artistic motivations came entirely from her own innate will that continues in the family lineage of art creation. Overall, Atkinson’s passion and dedication toward art remain as one of her strongest qualities that will certainly push her to success. She plans to attend College of Coastal Georgia to major in Psychology for two years, and to transfer to another school for an art major, hopefully earning herself a solid position in the workforce as an art therapist.
“I feel like art is a very common way of self-expression. You don’t have to be good at it to have it help you or benefit you. I’ve always been drawn to therapy and listening to people and helping people with their issues, and I feel like art and therapy together is like a perfect combination,” Atkinson said.
The Chant wishes Atkinson the best of luck on all of her future endeavors!
