Her hands diligently glazed the damp clay, every movement intentional and meticulous. She was completely engrossed in her work. This is an admirable quality among many skilled artists, the way in which they can deliberately tune out the world and dissolve into their nimble hand movements. Her red hair is one of the first physical traits that jumps out to those around her; its vibrancy offers a stark contrast against a sea of mundane desaturation. If anything, it screams authenticity. She engages freely with the world, often by demonstrating genuine kindness to her peers. She possesses an innate ability to make others feel seen, a quality fairly infrequent in today’s society.
Lucy Shepard is a senior at Highland Park High School and a student who is involved in fine arts through courses offered at the high school. Shepard’s work is a creative combination of different types of ceramics, photography, graphic/visual arts, and tapestry/carpentry, synthesizing to make an art uniquely her own. Pieces of her work have been displayed throughout the halls of the school, as well as in the Art Center of Highland Park. In a personal interview, she described her creative process as a “stream of consciousness [that] involves listening to lots of music before and during,” ultimately embodying authenticity and originality.
Her ceramics are a captivating fusion of gemstone-esque colors that blend to make harmonious and original color combinations. The sapphire, turquoise, and amethyst hues dance across her pottery, transforming her art into a true treasure. The symmetry in her work reflects her dexterity and attentiveness during her creative process, despite her “flow of consciousness” approach. The sizes of her ceramics range from medium to small, many of which are bowls. Her choices in glaze color are effective and satisfying to the eye, as she often employs less saturated combinations of complementary colors that work harmoniously together.
Moreover, her photography evokes nostalgia, reminding us of comforting memories, because of the hazy and candid nature of her photos. With pictures of everyday settings, her photos help her viewers interpret the art in their own way, connecting it to their distinctive perspectives. Subsurface scattering makes her photography feel like it was retrieved from a moment so uniquely human and buried in time. The interactions depicted in her photography reflect the timeless bliss and vibrancy of the human soul. Examples of her visual art include a colorful skateboard, countless assorted graphics, and collages. One of her collages, in particular, reads “God respects us when we work but loves us when we dance.” It features religious and political visuals, highlighting the fun, timeless, and overall human nature of her work. Her carpeting is yet another example of her passion and aptitude for art in all aspects. The tapestry bursts with color and vividness that are one-of-a-kind and represent the distinct identity Shepard has created through her artwork.
Shepard’s art is an example of the harmony that is created through following your passions and staying true to yourself, combining new, fresh, and innovative ideas that represent the new generation of artists at Highland Park and around the world. Since Lucy Shepard is still a senior and active in the arts, her work is likely to continue to appear throughout the halls of the school, so the next time you walk through the halls of Highland Park High School, slow down and see if you recognize her work.