Alyssa Ehr is a sophomore at Amherst High School. We are excited to have two pieces of her art on display at the Jensen Community Center this fall.

How did you start or plan “The 7 Wonders of the World”?

This project was actually not my idea. I knew I wanted to do multiple paintings of something, and, at the time, I was drawing a building. A fellow student looked at the drawing and gave me the idea for the 7 Wonders. To start off, I cut out 7 pieces of watercolor paper to the same size. I then did my outlines in pencil and, after that, got to work on water coloring. After all of the paintings were done and dry, I went in with micron pens to emphasize the detail.

What was the most difficult element to create in “Drapery”?

The shadowed areas of the fabric. I found it extra difficult trying to scout out where the shadows were, and there were a lot of them, so I had to make sure every shape was right and filled in very dark. It was also very hard to make sure that my drawing matched the image otherwise it wouldn’t look how I wanted. I found out the hard way that drawing anything with folds and wrinkles isn’t easy; it was very hard to make it look like an object.

What are your creative outlets?

My creative outlets are journaling, softball, painting, drawing, and embroidery.

What is your preferred artistic medium?

My preferred medium to create with is charcoal or pencil. I recently found a passion for pencil drawings and charcoal after making my drapery piece.

What other creative outlets do you enjoy?

Some other activities that I enjoy other than art are journaling, hunting, and spending time with family and friends.

Thank you so much to Alyssa for sharing her talent with us!

Artist Alyssa Ehr and her works, “The 7 Wonders of the World” (left) and “Drapery” (right). Both pieces are on display in the Jensen Center lobby for the next several weeks.