The D-building has been drawing some attention recently, not only for its talented and hardworking students, but also for the new abstract canvases that have made an appearance on the hallway walls.

Drawing and painting teacher Lorena DeCristofaro is the one who put it all together. She had her Drawing and Painting 3 class recreate the canvases, but not as an assignment, due to the lack of time. “It was more of whoever was ahead and could help. There was one day I had the whole class work on it. It was not graded and it was not extra credit.”

DeCristofaro’s inspiration for the new abstract pieces came from an earlier assignment in the class. “We had done a previous project that was similar to it, so I used one student’s projects as an example. It was just the visual guidance of the two little samples I had.”

In recreating the canvases, the materials “were all at hand or recycled.” Some of materials these include old cardboard boxes, tissue paper, paper towels, Elmer’s glue, and acrylic paint.

The process was simple: smother the scrunched up pieces of paper towels in a mixture of glue and water, and plop them onto the canvas. Doing this created mini mountainous ranges. The same process was applied to cut up pieces of cardboard boxes, adding an organic flare along with some extra height.

After this, the team added a layer or two of tissue paper to the top, giving the canvases an added texture. To prep the canvases for paint, the students coated the projects with gesso (a plaster-like liquid used to prepare a surface for paint or gliding). After letting the gesso dry for a weekend, it was time to start painting. Using acrylic paint, the students mixed different shades of red, black, white, and blue to create Perry’s colors: cardinal red and navy blue.

The finished products were hung up the last day of school before fall break.

Art department chair Sharon Biemond says she likes “the paintings. They’re a nonobjective use of texture and color. ” DeCristofaro agrees, saying, “I like them and I like the texture.”

Drawing and Painting 3 student Madi Gavin says “they turned out a lot better than I originally thought.” Fellow Drawing and Painting 3 student Ceci Knaggs agrees and says the project was “lots of fun”, and especially enjoyed “collaborating with others on the design of the canvases.”