The skill of evoking emotions from art is what junior Alex Hurt strives to attain in his artwork.

The involvement of art is what creates a euphoric and comforting feeling for Alex. Art is a safe place of expression, creation, and mood; he has been using this as a creative outlet, especially considering that there is still a global pandemic. And through exploring this outlet, Alex had found his signature style: various colors and patterns that bring the idiosyncratic nature of art to life.

“I’m really creative,” Alex said. “I’m always able to look at something and envision a way to make it look ten times cooler.”

The interest in painting, drawing, and different forms of art that Alex has described as “cool” was introduced into his life when he was a child. Alex has learned, grown, and created with his friends, all of who have influenced his exploration in art. A combination of his friends and advice from TikTok has helped him form and express his art, acting as support for him. With his passion and active love for art, his parents have also been supportive and caring. Their expression of their supportiveness has been through allowing Alex to create art on his walls and bed frame.

“Ever since I was a kid,” Alex said, “I would have drawing competitions with my friends, and I would draw in my free time. For a couple of years, I lost a lot of motivation to get better, but now I’m back into it, and I love it.”

The style of art Alex possesses and paints across his furniture reflects his chameleon-changing music taste. The difference in music taste Alex experiences could easily be described as spontaneous. One week can be entirely different from the next week, but he will listen to it as long as he can still enjoy creating full pictures of colors, patterns, and abstract ideas.

“Music is such a beautiful thing, no matter what genre,” Alex said. “So as long as I can bob my head and sing along, I’m totally content.”

As Alex grows, learns, and creates more in his life, he recognizes that his future is on the horizon. But he knows he wants to stay creative, involving pathways inspired from what he has learned in his classes such as ASL and the school’s broadcast class FX.

“I also have been enjoying FX,” Alex said, “and I think I might do something involving Film. I haven’t known [that] I’ve wanted these things for too long, but this year especially has been really eye-opening because I’m in both FX and ASL 3, and they’ve been my favorite classes I’ve probably ever taken.”

Both of these options allow Alex to be creative even if it is not painting directly. And as Alex moves closer to graduating high school, he has realized the far-reaching impact school has had.

His classes inspire him, but from being in high school, Alex has also concluded that he has become a better friend. He has realized this from looking back on what he used to think and what he has learned from high school. When he takes a step back from high school, he has realized not only his passion but also his community.

“I remember watching movies as a kid where every high schooler was mean to one another and didn’t get along,” Alex said. “For me, I’ve made a lot of great friends and met amazing students and even teachers.”

Through this community of friends and passion for art, Alex has enjoyed his life a bit more. For him, the little things like ASL and painting to any genre of music are ways he can finally be happier.

“I’ve learned to be true to myself,” Alex said. “When I expressed myself for who I am, I [became] 100 times happier. All the things I was scared about were just little fears, but in the end, it was all worth it.”