BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — Lee-Scott Academy junior Pie Clinard was chosen as a Competition Winner in the YoungArts Visual Arts Competition.
“The YoungArts Competition is a national competition,” she said. “It has 10 different disciplines across all of the fine arts. It has visual arts, which was the category I entered, dance theater — I think jazz and music are ones as well. They have thousands of applicants every year, and they choose from what they have, but it’s kids in high school from all over America.”
Clinard said she was looking forward to participating in this competition and is excited to have won with the nine pieces she digitally submitted.
“It’s a competition that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now,” she said. “I discovered it last year, but this was the first time I actually had a portfolio that I could put together and that I could use. I love doing competitions — I was really excited for this one, and I was not expecting to win — so I was very surprised — and I was very happy and proud of myself. I think it has some of my best pieces of work in it. So I’m very proud of the entire portfolio and what I was able to put together.”
As she collected her work to create her submitted portfolio, Clinard said she was inspired by those around her as well as some beloved 1900s artists.
“My biggest inspiration probably is my family and my friends,” she said. “I got into art because of my mom — she’s very creative, very talented and we did Bob Ross paintings and tutorials together, and that’s how I actually got into doing acrylic painting and having an admiration for art. I’m inspired by a bunch of different artists, typically [artists from] around the 1930s like J. C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell — and I think that’s shown through some of my pieces.”
Clinard said many of her pieces in her portfolio capture her feelings of growing older as well as showcase her skills.
“The portfolio itself is about growing up,” she said. “I would say the portfolio begins with a watercolor of me when I’m a child — I’m hanging by a stairwell with fairy wings on in a tutu. And it’s about being a child and living in that fantastical, idealized world. And as you move into becoming a teenager, [that’s] when reality sets in, and all of a sudden you have all these anxieties and you’re worried about what everyone thinks of you. So it’s about the relationships I’ve made growing up, the people I’ve met, my family, my relatives and also the mental aspects of my life — all the battles I’ve had to overcome.”
As Clinard navigated curating her portfolio, she said the support of her upper school art teacher, Lacey Basgier, helped her throughout the process, and she is thankful for the support of the Lee-Scott community.
“Mrs. Basgier is awesome — she’s great — she’s always supporting me, always letting me come up with crazy ideas, telling me how I can use those ideas and actually make them a reality,” she said. “Lee-Scott itself has also always supported me in art, and we had that class [where we were able to do] independent study for art, and now we have AP art… They’ve always been there and congratulated me — I really love this school. I’m able to grow here and become an artist. After high school, I do want to continue art — I want to major in art, hopefully in painting. Not sure about college yet, I like to keep my options open.”
Basgier shared her excitement and pride over Clinard’s win and the work she does as a student and an artist.
“It’s really exciting to see her get recognized for her work,” she said. “I think one of the things that I find the most inspiring is how much time, effort and just hard work she puts into all of her art pieces in the entire portfolio. She’s very self-motivated, and that really takes her talent to the next level. It’s very exciting, I’m very proud of her and I’m very excited to see what she continues to create. She’s kind of the total package — talented, a creative thinker and then puts in the time and effort.”
For others interested in sharing their skills or pursuing a new hobby, Clinard said she wants to encourage them to start somewhere and continue to practice.
“[When I was younger,] I would look up to different artists and people and be like, ‘Oh, I can never be that good. I can never reach that point,’” she said. “But really, it’s just starting — you have to begin. I would never be where I am without the practice that I put into it. I was not as good as I am now in sixth grade, but it’s the time and the effort. And it doesn’t matter how old you are — you can be a junior and you can have never touched a paintbrush, and you can pick one up and begin — just keep working on it. Just keep going.”
