Dallas Young Artist Exhibition

February 1, 2022

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Earlier this month, five Jesuit students were named Dallas’ top high school artists and featured in the Dallas Young Artist Exhibition. The five students included seniors Alex Wolpert, Jake Reed, James Paredes, and juniors Joseph Amador and Nick Archer. Each student created a different ceramic art piece that was entered into the competition. Junior Nick Archer won honorable mention for his horsehair ceramic bowl.

Interview:

I interviewed James Paredes ’22 about his experience in the competition.

How did the competition run, and how many people were you against in the contest?

“My piece was put into an art gallery in which a competition was held at.”

What did you create and what was the reason you entered your piece into the contest?

“I created a small pencil/pen holder piece during ceramics class and my teacher asked us to pick a piece to enter into the gallery. I made it out of clay on the ceramic wheel and it was fairly simple to make. What I think made it what it was, was the glazing. I did an initial glaze and then did three other dips into other glazes at different angles. I did not know how it would look because glazes turn into different colors after being fired. When I first saw the piece after it was fired, I really liked how the colors turned out, and that is what I think is the best thing about ceramics. You do not know how it is going to look after being fired and it is always really cool getting to see your finished product after coming out of the kiln.”

How long did it take you to create your art piece?

“One day on the wheel—a few days to dry and trim—-one day to fire-one day to glaze—-one day to fire again. So about a week.”

What was the most enjoyable part of the contest, and why did you enjoy making your art piece?

“I have never been in an art gallery and never really even been into art really so it was really cool actually having a piece in a gallery and that was my most enjoyable part.”