From a young age, Isabella Guerra had a passion for art. From watching her art teacher as a child to experiencing the lockdown in 2020, her love for art grew. As she continues to learn on her own and with the help of NVOT art teacher Donna Beekman, Guerra continues to evolve and expand the range of materials and styles she enjoys working with.
During quarantine, everyone sat alone for months and became their own entertainment. “I think COVID-19 was the most significant moment that shaped my art. I spent a lot of my time developing my skills, and it helped me realize how much I loved making art,” Guerra said. Alone time allowed her creativity to flow and discover what methods, materials, and genres of art she enjoyed.
Guerra also discovered her favorite form of art: clay. She says, “I like how I can really feel the art I’m creating. If I mess up with clay, I can just reshape it to my liking, or I can find a way to incorporate the mistake into my art.”
Beekman speaks very highly of Guerra while describing her incredible work ethic in her classroom. Beekman said, “She’s young but every project she does, she does with care. She is very diligent with everything she does. She looks at everything thoroughly she comes at lunch, after class, after school to continue. Additionally very talented, and artistically gifted.”
Guerra has a certain routine before starting a new art piece. This means discovering different inspirations for starting a project. She frequently visits Pinterest and searches through pictures of the topic of her choice. Guerra said, “The first thing that usually happens is I come up with a bunch of different ideas of what to do, and I slowly narrow it down to what I find most interesting. Most of the time, my original idea doesn’t work out, and I have to go back and rethink my ideas until I find one that works.”
Listening to music is another source of inspiration. Instrumentals from her favorite artists put her into an imaginative mindset. Whether it’s from her favorite artist or discovering someone new, Guerra utilizes music as a way to let her creatives flow.
With her challenges with artwork, Guerra has overcome them all with her dedication, patience and time to carefully create all of her projects she’s poured her heart into. From start to finish she will always attempt to create a perfect piece of art and she is just getting started.
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The image of this crying woman was described as an “expressive burst.” The emotion that was captured by clay displays Guerra’s skills in realism. Guerra states, “I was trying to portray real human emotion accurately with my piece.”
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With her interest in making 3D models, whether it’s with clay, a 3D printer or plaster, Guerra could do it all. This shark was created from cardboard, plaster and plastic. Not only is this a remarkable piece of art, it also has a message. Guerra created this art with symbolism behind making a sea life animal out of garbage/recycling. Guerra says, “I thought it would be ironic to make a sea creature out of garbage, especially with the current ocean pollution issue.”
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This fish is a great example of Guerra’s talent. She works well with just about any material, and this displays her creativity using 3D substances. She took a block of soap and made it into something more. All Guerra needed was to see the color of the soap to conjure up this creation in her mind and perfectly execute it. This piece was also just a warmup, Guerra says, “We were about to start the next unit and needed to practice on something small before we carved the plaster blocks.”
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This cake is a perfect representation of Guerra’s skill in sculpture work. She has experimented with a multitude of different styles and techniques—including realism. On paper and in real life, she can realistically capture an image in her head or photograph and make it come to life. Even with the challenges that plaster artists face, Guerra said, “It taught us patience and care with our art.”
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Since the beginning of her high school career, Guerra experimented with different art forms. This was one of her first pieces she drew in high school. No matter the material or style, Isabella always exceeds. This was done with a classic pencil sketch and captured a depiction of Alice in Wonderland. Although this is beautiful, Guerra said, “I just wanted to practice my skills with drawing and shading. Made me realize sculpture would probably be the better path for me.”
