The best homegrown young talent shone brighter than the midway lights at the 2016 Deep South Fair Youth Art Show.

The show was held in October during the annual fair, and numerous Thomas County Central High School art students placed in both the junior and senior divisions.

“Shows, especially ones in your hometown, can show people in your community how much dedication you put into art,” senior Brooke Hagan, a four-time show honoree said.

Hagan won two first places and two third places for pieces created using mixed media, oil pastels, colored pencils and collage. Hagan feels like the pieces entered in this show are “some of my best artwork” and she is proud of the recognition the pieces received.

“Placing first is still a very new experience to me, but I’m very happy that I placed at all,” she said. “It means a lot to me because it makes me feel successful in my artwork.”

Hagan enjoys how art offers hundreds of creation ideas, how art “is almost like an extension of who you are.” Her favorite piece entered is first place mixed media winner, “Apple, Snake & Ribs.”

“To create this piece, I drew out the ribs and used pointillism and geometric shapes to fill them in,” Hagan said. “Then, for the background, I used my fingerprints in a pattern. For the fridge door, I drew it out and then colored it with pastels to give it an effect that resembles fauvism.”

Senior Loren Osgatharp earned five awards: two first, one second, and two third places. Her pieces honored are from a wide range of mediums, from watercolor to printmaking and clay sculpture to mixed media.

“When I place, I look at it as if it means I am doing something right,” she said. “I take every ribbon and every loss seriously because they help me learn and grow as an artist.”

Osgatharp says art “has always been a part of me” and she uses it as both a coping mechanism and an opportunity to make people smile. She feels her pieces entered in this show are some of her best works.

These pieces include watercolor “Pumpkins and Melons,” which won first place in its division.

“I did a watercolor of different types of pumpkins and melons in the back of a hay wagon,” Osgatharp said. “This was the first watercolor painting I’ve done. I chose the pumpkins and melons because they remind me of my favorite season, fall.”

Junior Savannah Barrett, who earned four fair recognitions, loves entering her artwork in various shows.

“I like to see how well it will do in comparison to other artworks,” she said. “Winning or just getting an honorable mention helps me become a better artist. I learn how I need to improve.”

Barrett received two second place, one third place, and one honorable mention in the show’s junior division for pieces in the painting, graphics, oil pastel and printmaking categories. She said creating art “is relaxing” and she loves to see the finished product.

Her second-place painting is titled, “Purple Girl.” It was created using violet and orange tempera paints.

“I chose the Chinese girl because she looked different/original to me,” Barrett said. “I’d never really drawn many lighthouses before so that’s why I wanted to try the lighthouse in the background. I mixed tints, tones, and shades using violets and oranges.”

Wyatt Vinson, too, earned four awards in the show’s junior division: one first, one second and two third places. These recognitions were in the ink, oil pastel and clay sculpture categories. Vinson thinks use of “color harmonies, neatness, and realism” made the pieces stand out to the audience, like those found in the first-place winning ink piece, “Yacht.”

“The yacht I created by sketching the general picture with pencil,” Vinson explained. “Next, I used a thin sharpie pen to dot the sky and do other small details. Then, I used an ink-based paint to go over my pencil marks and add further cross-hatching and details. Finally, I used an ink-based wash to shade.”

Vinson enjoys learning new techniques, using new media, and learning from past mistakes when creating art projects. The finished pieces make the young artist happy because “I worked hard to get a good result.”

“Shows like this let me see fellow competitors’ work, and it gives me ideas on how to improve my own artwork,” Vinson said. “I find new techniques and creative ideas.”

Also, Vinson is “extremely joyful” to place in the hometown show and said it was “exciting” to know friends and family were “able to personally witness my artistic accomplishments.”

TCCHS art teacher Jocelyn Rivard said the Deep South Fair is “a great venue” for students’ art.

“More students, family, and friends seem to attend this show than any of the others,” she said. “They get to see a lot of county work all at once.”

First Place – Junior Division

Crayon Etching – Nykema Simmons 

Drawing – Kate Weaver 

Graphics – Emma Funderburk 

Ink – Wyatt Vinson

Marker – Jennifer Ramos  

Colored Pencil – Kate Weaver

Mixed Media – Carmin Fuentes

Oil Pastel – Kendall Lee

Printmaking – Riley Singletary

Paper Sculpture – Jada Moore

Clay Sculpture – Sheila Escareno

Second Place – Junior Division

Crayon Etching – Juan Lopez

Drawing – Beisy Lopez

Graphics – Maranda Newman     

Ink – Beisy Lopez

Mixed Media – Miriam Van Veen

Painting – Savannah Barrett

Watercolor – Beisy Lopez

Oil Pastel – Wyatt Vinson

Printmaking – Savannah Barrett

Paper Sculpture – Nykema Simmons  

Clay Sculpture – Wyatt Vinson

Third Place – Junior Divison

Crayon Etching – Zoey Reaves

Drawing – Rosendo Carrera 

Graphics – Savannah Barrett

Ink – Juan Lopez

Watercolor – Jennifer Wilson

Oil Pastel – Tamara Williams

Colored Pencil – Juan Lopez

Printmaking – Sheila Escareno

Paper Sculpture – Nasya Sanford

Clay Sculpture – Wyatt Vinson

Honorable Mention – Junior Division

Crayon Etch – Nasya Sanford

Graphics – Caylin Dollar

Graphics – Kendall Lee

Marker – Nykema Simmons

Mixed Media – Starla Fortier

Watercolor – Micah Carroll

Oil Pastel – Savannah Barrett

Paper Sculpture – Emily Hiers

Paper Sculpture – Juan Lopez

Clay Sculpture – Jennifer Ramos

First Place – Senior Division

Crayon Etching – Sharonda Dyson

Graphics – Courtney Davis

Ink – Maria Davis

Colored Pencil – Sheridan Hall

Mixed Media – Brooke Hagan

Watercolor – Loren Osgatharp

Oil Pastel – Brooke Hagan

Collage – Sammie Starling

Printmaking – Kiana Roman

Clay Sculpture – Loren Osgatharp

Second Place – Senior Division

Crayon Etching – Savannah Rosales

Drawing – Malori Deen

Graphics – Darius James

Mixed Media – Sammie Starling  

Oil Pastel – Brianna Parker

Collage – Macie Wheeler

Printmaking – Loren Osgatharp

Paper Sculpture – Brianna Parker

Clay Sculpture – Macie Wheeler

Third Place – Senior Division

Crayon Etching – Sedrick Lamons

Graphics – Loren Osgatharp

Colored Pencil – Brooke Hagan

Mixed Media – Loren Osgatharp

Watercolor – Maria Davis

Oil Pastel – Kiana Roman  

Collage – Brooke Hagan

Printmaking – Luvy Miranda

Clay Sculpture – Emily Hastings  

Honorable Mention – Senior Division

Collage – Chris Harry

Collage – Maria Davis

Marker – Darius James

Graphics – Izabella Rosales

Clay Sculpture – Katelyn Sotomayor