Student of the Week
February 20, 2019
The student of the week at Ridgeline High School is Catherine Daines. Catherine Daines was born in Logan, Utah and has lived in Cache Valley her whole life. Catherine is a very sweet girl who loves to read, stargaze, and do anything art related. Her favorite book series is The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, and her favorite constellations are Orion and Pegasus. Catherine’s favorite kind of art is anything with colored pencils. When I asked her why these were her favorites, she responded, “Well, art is something that has kind of run in my family. And I have always loved the mystery and beauty of space.”
I asked Catherine what got her into art and she said, “There are two things. One was boredom and the other was my mother. My dad was a carpenter at the time and we would often spend our weekends and afternoons with him at his shop. The problem was that it was really boring up there, so my sisters and I would make boats, castles, and anything our imagination could think out of wood scraps. And when we spent time at home, my mom didn’t like us watching TV, so instead of watching Disney Channel like normal kids, we did art projects. Finger painting, watercolors, shaving cream art. You name it, we did it. So with that being my childhood, it was hard not to want to be creative.”
I also asked her if she felt that art has helped her in her life and she replied, “Yes definitely. I think that constantly tapping into my imagination really helped me be more adaptive in life and take a more right-brained approach to things.”
Catherine’s last question was if she had any words of wisdom for anyone who is either struggling with art or may believe that they can’t draw well, to which Catherine responded, “The thing I have found is using references and constantly searching for new ways to draw things. Maybe the reason you think that your art isn’t good because you hate the way you draw trees or eyes. There is a million and one ways to draw things so explore before you judge yourself.”
Catherine is awesome and it’s been a pretty amazing opportunity that she has been able to be student of the week. She was very willing to answer my questions and she provided me with some wonderful answers. If you don’t know Catherine, get to know her! She’s a pretty amazing individual.
