Since elementary school, senior Mercedes Sanders has been invested in anything and everything that is art. From clay projects to jewelry, Sanders spends most of her time in SHS’s variety of art classes working on one project after the other.

Because she’s been an artist for so long, she has developed a unique art style that reflects her interests and personality. Though she has her own style, art teacher Breanna Bierod has seen her ability to translate it into many forms of art.

“I don’t think I have ever seen anybody so well rounded … usually people focus on one thing, but, they were good at the mobile, they were good at the needle felting, and anything I can remember,” Bierod said.

Sanders has expanded her creativity into using more colors as well as using more patterns in her work. Some of those patterns being mushrooms, the moon and checkerboard patterns, which she has used in past projects

“I used to do a lot of just anything rainbow,” Sanders said. “I kind of look at the color palette now,” Sanders said.

She likes to make things that people appreciate for the amount of detail and precision, not just because they are pretty. She pushes herself to create things that have meaning and distinct features.

“I don’t like to be repetitive with my work. I like to go beyond the basic ideas or requirements to make something unique and creative, but still beautiful,” Sanders sent in a text to The Journal.

Sanders says the amount of time that the completion of her projects takes differs greatly depending on the project, the materials used, how intricate the design is along with just how busy she is at the moment. Her art usually takes from around two weeks to two months.

“A lot of students don’t really take that time,” Bierod said. “If they can finish it in an hour, then they want to finish it then and there because they want it to be there, but I feel like (Sanders has) a plan and they take their time.”

For Sanders, her projects are more than just required school assignments. They are opportunities to let her creativity fly and to display her likes and dislikes through the things that she creates.

Bierod taught Sanders last semester in Intro to 3-D Art and now teaches her this semester in Ceramics. Over the past two years of observing the way Sanders learns and performs in her art classes, Bierod has been able to watch her grow and develop as an aspiring artist.

Along with being in Bierod’s class during the scheduled class period, Sanders also spends time in the classroom during iPass, study halls, for art club and any other time that she is available to go and work on her latest projects.

The art classroom is a comforting and relaxing place for Sanders where she can be herself and just focus on her artwork. It helps to get her mind off everything that isn’t art, and it helps with her mental health extraordinarily.

“It’s like a little safe haven,” Sanders said. “I can be in my own little bubble to just design.”

It is not hard for others to notice Sanders’ passion for art and drive to perfect it. Her willingness to put her all into her work every time is encouraging for even her close friends.

“The amount of precision and dedication (Sanders) put into their work is incredible. They take hours upon hours just doing one little part of their artwork,” senior Will Satterfield said.
Satterfield, a friend of Sanders, has seen almost all of her art since near the beginning of her artistic journey. He is inspired by her devotion to something she truly cares about and spends so much time working on.

“The effort and time that they put into it, they want to make it as perfect as they can make it,” Satterfield said.

Throughout the years that she has been in her journey with art, she has been continuously growing and working to advance her skills and produce unique art that displays her interests and passion for what she does.

Sanders’ art journey won’t stop after she graduates from SHS. She works on art outside of school as a hobby and although she doesn’t plan to make a career out of it, she says she might sell a few of her pieces if she is able to in the future.

“Time slips away, and all I’m focusing on is what’s in front of me, no troubles or worries or stress,” Sanders said in a text to The Journal.