Art In the Classroom

Senior and Her Art Through Years

Lauren Eurich, Design Editor|October 29, 2020

Faith Leiting
Favorite Project: While enrolled in Drawing Fundamentals, Leiting was able to participate in art activities such as grid drawings. “I would definitely say Faith’s pencil grid drawing is probably my favorite project that Faith has done so far,” Mrs. Oliver said. “She did a tremendous job at showing the perspective and going into depth with the picture.”
Clay Creations: In 3-D design, senior Faith Leiting was able to create realistic objects using clay and glazes. “In 3-D design, we have made food out of clay, teapots, and vases,” Leiting (21) said.” We each got to choose a food that we wanted to recreate and then using the clay we made a model of it. We wanted it to look as realistic as possible so we were able to order new glazes for the clay that we needed.” (Faith Leiting)

Art has been a choice for senior Faith Leiting since the beginning of high school. Art class has been on Leiting’s schedule every year since.
“I have had to take art classes all throughout school but voluntarily took them in high school,” Leiting said. “So far I have taken four art classes. I have taken basic art, 3-D design I and II and drawing fundamentals. For basic art, I had Ms. Rhode. For 3-D design I had Mr. Moore and for drawing fundamentals, I currently have Mrs. Oliver.”
Mrs. Oliver has been an art teacher at Gretna for 29 years. This year, Leiting is taking her drawing fundamentals class.
“The first class I have had with Faith is drawing fundamentals,” art instructor Mrs. Oliver said. “I would describe Faith as dedicated, hard-working and very positive when it comes to trying new things or new ideas being thrown at her.”
Leiting has always loved art and trying different styles and techniques. Leiting has created everything from weaving baskets to painting color wheels.
“I have always loved art and taking the art classes here was an easy way to improve my skills,” Leiting said. “I’ve always been interested in art and painting. I don’t really know what inspired me to keep taking art classes, but I knew that I loved art and I wanted to keep doing it. In drawing fundamentals, I wove baskets, painted portraits of ourselves and painted an animal in sections like the color wheel.”
Drawing fundamentals is a great class in order to improve artistic ability and find artistic style. For Leiting, her style of art is very naturalistic.
“Faith likes outdoor scenes,” Mrs. Oliver said. “It is interesting because she is a golfer and likes being outdoors, so it kind of fits with her personality. She takes her time because she wants to do quality work, not just to check the assignment box. She really wants her attention to detail to stand out.”
Participating in these art classes helped her art skills improve and in turn caught the attention of her art teachers. Through her creativity and hard work, Leiting shows her strengths through her art as she continues to grow as an art student.