The arts at Western continue to develop and inspire the next designers, painters, and creators of today. This includes senior Eli Jessee, making his mark in a unique way. Jessee was inspired by his uncle’s art as a child and was moved to draw, saying, “I would just sit and draw in these spiral notebooks for hours and hours, and just let my mind go wild.”

Having someone in his family who was somewhat passionate about art showed Jessee that he too could produce pieces. Since these moments, Jessee has practiced drawing as he enjoys seeing how marks on a page can come to life.

Jessee, armed with a paint brush and hues of blue, depicts crashing waves of the sea. Inspired by watercolor paint and the ocean, Jessee sat down to see what pieces he could make out of it through his experiments. The summers his grandmother would take him to the beach also moved Jessee to begin painting with the sea as his muse.

“The beach and the waves have always been a very soothing and happy symbol for me since,” he says.

Jessee is also inspired by challenges and takes on the difficult subject of the sea. He explains he loves completing a wave painting mainly due to the difficulty of painting the moving water and the satisfaction that comes with creating the mobile image.

“The subject of water is so difficult to most artists, and practicing something that I know is going to be difficult from the start and be so nearly impossible, and finally making it to a point where I recognize my work and that feeling of accomplishment is just incredible,” he explains.

In addition to painting the ocean, Jessee is currently taking AP Studio Art, as well as working on the design and build of the musical set.

“I’ve always been fascinated by musicals here at Western and I’ve been in the pit for 2 years. I was really interested in directing and the set so I decided on working on all of these aspects this year. Getting to work on all these aspects is a great way for me to practice my talents because I can combine them all into one job that I’m seriously considering for a career path.”

Developing a passion and exploring new opportunities as Jessee has is the message behind arts at Western. And, brush in hand, Jessee will step out into the world along with other Western artists, as he graduates and goes on to influence those in the community.